NBA Christmas Carols - Denver Nuggets Edition.

It is a good thing these guys can play basketball. Because I haven't heard anyone sing so off key, since some drunk dude took the mic in a bar on karaoke night. Seriously, if you are going buy this "Holiday Jam" for someone, don't expect any good reactions. No one, not even your mother will pretend to like your gift. There is one thing I can take away from this video, Julyan Stone is awesome, from the way his name is spelt to his old school dance moves.

Just because of Julyan Stone, the Nuggets get a place ahead of the Lakers in my NBA Christmas Carol Power Rankings. While the Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, and Minnesota Timberwolves stay in front.

Jason Kidd played with a helmet on in the second half.

Via: @porsche4door

After deciding the headband was not a good look to cover the stitches he received from Lance Stephenson on November 18th, he went with a band-aid instead. Unfortunately, Ty Lawson elbowed him in the head last night and forced the New York Knicks medical staff to take precautionary measures. Jason Kidd was advised to wear the NY Rangers helmet that are currently not of use during the NHL lockout that nobody cares about it, if he was to play in the game again.

Okay, I lied. But he did wear it during the entire half time warm ups and it was hilarious.

Via: @netw3rk and @BeyondtheBuzzer

Notes: Denver Nuggets vs. Golden State Warriors [11/29/12]

Golden State Warriors 106 - Denver Nuggets 105

The Good

Warriors: They managed to put together a strong enough defensive effort in the 4th quarter to comeback for the victory. The offense was not a problem in the 1st quarter. They were hitting everything in sight, until other quarters came along, and they couldn't put anything in the basket. Here's the problem, the Warriors are a jump shooting team. Without Andrew Bogut, the only option inside is David Lee. Stephen Curry and Lee's two man game can be at times overwhelming for some teams, as Lee is very capable of being an offensive juggernaut. However, on nights without a massive game from the lefty, Golden State relies on the shooting of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, who hasn't given a consistent output. These two are of the few most dangerous shooters that can hit a barrage of shots in any given night, at the same time, they can also take you out of the game.

Luckily it didn't happen tonight, in the fourth quarter of this game, Klay Thompson came back to life and brought the energy back to the rest of his guys. The sudden outburst of effort on both ends on the floor caught the Denver Nuggets off guard and they crumbled in crunch time.

Nuggets: Kenneth Faried. This guy just does everything right, he might not always show up on the box score with huge numbers, but I can guarantee you that every second he is on the basketball floor, he is going to give you a 100 percent. He never gives up on a play, he will hustle back on defense even if he didn't get an offensive opportunity and will impact the shot on the other end. I think he pinned like 4 warriors shots against the backboard.

Danilo Gallinari looks like he finally found his stroke, hitting 3 of Denver's total 10 three pointers on the night. The Nuggets need his shooting to space the floor, with Ty Lawson struggling early in the season, he needs help. If his teammates can hit shots, it will open up the lanes for the little guy to attack the basket, if not he can still kick out to get other guys going.

The Bad

Warriors: Let's face it, GSW is not a great defensive team (Yes, they have dramatically improved this season compared to the last - it is still too early to tell though), they can go from holding their own for a few good stretches, to getting ripped apart like Christmas presents. Individually, if you look at the roster, there are a lot of liabilities. The starting back court can improve, Curry has good hands, and Thompson has the length. The rest of the team, is a bit worrisome. I am going by minutes here, Carl Landry is undersized, David Lee moves like his legs are chained to a ton of cement blocks and Andris Biedrins is genetically incapable of staying in front of his man.

Andrew Bogut is the potential solution. He is, when healthy, one of the best current defending big man (there is not a lot of them). What he is missing in athleticism, he makes up for with smarts and width. The best thing is that, he can help on offense as well, like every foreign center, he is very adept to the pick and roll, can stretch the floor with his mid range shooting and pass the ball effectively. His skill set will heavily benefit the shooters of the this team and make the Warrior half court sets better.

Nuggets: Like their opponents, Denver is not great in the half court. While they can score seamlessly in transition, they cannot for some reason find a way to execute a play. If they can not get a shot off early with their quick ball movement, they will usually take up the shot clock and throw up a tough one (see Andre Igoudala. He really needs to take shots closer to the paint). A lot of this has to do with Ty Lawson, as the point guard he can't seem to navigate as smoothly as he did last year. Hopefully, this issue will fix itself, or Andre Miller is going to take his minutes.

On the other end, their defense was lacking, rotations were especially slow in the 1st and 4th quarter.
Also, Andre Miller completely botched the inbound pass for their last possession. (Jarrett Jack of GSW did too, it just wasn't as critical).

The Feed: Denver Nuggets vs. Memphis Grizzlies [11/19/12]

Recap:

The Denver Nuggets edged out the Memphis Grizzlies for a 97 to 92 victory that snapped Memphis's 8 game winning streak. The Grizzlies that lived in the paint and grabbed every single rebound just got outworked by the Nuggets. They gave up 50 points in the paint and allowed Denver to grab 47 boards, 21 of which were offensive. Where as Memphis only had 12 offensive rebounds of their total 33.

The Nuggets defense held the Grizzlies starting front court to only 28 points. Zach Randolph (12 points (6 of 15 shooting) and 13 rebounds) didn't even get to the free throw line once and his partner, Marc Gasol (16 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists) was not given enough touches (only 7 shots attempted).

Despite the early season struggles, Danilo Gallinari finally found his shooting stroke today, leading his team with a game high 26 points and 5 rebounds. Javale McGee added 15 points and 8 rebounds off the bench. Denver's second unit combined for 34 points, outscoring the opposing bench by 11.

Down in the first half, the Grizzlies fought back with a 11-2 run that re-inserted themselves back into the game. However, in the final minutes of play, they suffered a drought, and allowed the Nuggets to end the game on a 8-0 run. Memphis had an opportunity to take the lead in less than a minute to play. In a 1 point deficit, Rudy Gay was forced into a bad pass by Andre Iguodala. The costly turnover turned into a game sealing three pointer on the other end by Gallinari.

Offensive End:

Memphis failed to consistently post up their big guys, if they don't get 20 points from at least one big, they are unlikely to win. The usual open shot from a kick out in the post just didn't fall. Their bench have finally returned to Earth, and the spectacular three point shooting in the 8 game winning streak crumbled. They did score 29 points on the Nuggets' 17 turnovers.

Denver survived off the charity stripe, hitting 20 of their 28 attempts. Gallo was aggressive to the basket and earned 10 points off the line. The offensive rebounding led to quite a bit of points. When this team pushes the tempo, they are at their best. In the half court, only Andre Miller can find something, Ty Lawson could not help his team on offense in any way.

Kenneth Faried's overall activity on both ends on the floor is amazing, he never stops moving, has great ball awareness and is the only person that can go toe to toe with Zach Randolph in rebounds.

Defensive End:

The Grizzlies transition defense was awful, they allowed easy layups and scrambled to find their defender.  Although Ty Lawson did not do much damage, he got to weave inside paint without any pressure. The lack of boxing out is very unlike this Grizzlies team, 21 offensive rebounds for the Nuggets is just unacceptable.

The Nuggets did a great job of collapsing on the Memphis front court, if it wasn't for the terrible perimeter shooting from the Grizzlies, they might not have pulled out with the victory. Kosta Koufos is a solid post defender, and Javale McGee was there to help.

George Karl tinkered with his line-ups during the game, defensively McGee and Koufos was the best. It was weird when he inserted his small line up that included neither of the above players, but he realized it early and made the substitution.