Nuggets-Jazz: Off-Hand, On-Court Observations
Here are a few observations from the Denver Nuggets season opener:
Al Harrington looks eerily similar to Carmelo Anthony on the court, with his headband and his arm sock on his left arm just like Melo.
Harrington is a good shooter, but he shot too many three pointers for a power forward in this game.
Arron Afflalo is noticeably faster and he's been attacking the hoop ferociously. If Afflalo can play somewhere in the mid-20s minutes-wise, he could come close to averaging 20 points per game. He sank back-to-back beautiful three-pointers from the corner in the third quarter.
Nene's hair is in a new style, the "Cinnabun" if you wish.
Shelden Williams has played hard, positioning himself well under the hoop for rebounds. Although he did miss a few boards that were in his grasp, he's a player that will grow over the course of the season.
Head coach George Karl is looking quite svelte and it's comforting to see him on the bench once again.
Altitude (home of the Nuggets in Colorado) announcer Chris Marlowe is as annoying as ever.
Ty Lawson crossed Deron Williams magnificently and was fouled on the shot.
The Nuggets ended up winning the game easily in a blowout 110-88.
Afflalo was definitely the player of the game with 22 points on 8-11 shooting (3-5 from three) and he could end up being the NBA's Most Improved Player this season.
Afflalo after the game, "It's great man. Playing in this building is the best thing of all. The fan support here is unbelievable. It's a great home win tonight."
"Yeah, this is a great opening game for us and our main thing is maintaining a level of focus."
On George Karl being back, "He's unbelievable, his experience as a coach, his leadership. I'm very happy he's here."
In all, this team will definitely have to outscore opponents to win, but if they can play as well as they did tonight, Denver should have no problem doing that.
Rich Kurtzman is a Colorado State Alumnus and a freelance journalist. Along with being the CSU Rams and Fort Collins Beer Bars Examiner, Kurtzman is a Denver Broncos and the Denver Nuggets Featured Columnist for bleacherreport.com and the Colorado/Utah Regional Correspondent for stadiumjourney.com.
