Nuggets report: No Nene on All-Star ballot
By Aaron J. Lopez, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published November 10, 2008 at 9:26 p.m.
When: 5 MST tonight.
Where: Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte, N.C.
TV/radio: Altitude; KCKK-AM (1510).
| Denver (3-3) | Pos. | Ht. | Pts. |
| 15 Carmelo Anthony | F | 6-8 | 23.3 |
| 43 Linas Kleiza | F | 6-8 | 8.2 |
| 31 Nene | C | 6-11 | 16.2 |
| 30 Dahntay Jones | G | 6-6 | 9.2 |
| 7 Chauncey Billups | G | 6-3 | 14.0 |
Coach:George Karl
| Charlotte (2-4) | Pos. | Ht. | Pts. |
| 3 Gerald Wallace | F | 6-7 | 15.3 |
| 4 Jared Dudley | F | 6-7 | 6.7 |
| 50 Emeka Okafor | C | 6-10 | 11.5 |
| 23 Jason Richardson | G | 6-6 | 16.7 |
| 20 Raymond Felton | G | 6-1 | 11.8 |
Coach:Larry Brown
Injuries: Denver - F Chris Andersen (fractured rib) is out; F Kenyon Martin (sprained left wrist) is questionable. Charlotte - None reported.
Notes: Anthony has made 26 consecutive free throws, with 24 coming in the past two games. Despite the streak, Anthony said his shooting stroke doesn't quite feel right. . . . Since scoring 34 points in Charlotte's home opener Nov. 1, Wallace has fallen into a four-game funk. He is 11-of-34 from the field in that span and twice has failed to score in double figures. . . . Billups is 7-of-30 in his first two games with the Nuggets. He was 7-of-21 in his first two games of the season with the Pistons.
28.3-point average by Charlotte forward Gerald Wallace in his past three games against the Nuggets. Wallace put up 40 against Denver in a 119-116 victory Jan. 14.
"We just have to minimize their potential in the game. For some reason, they always play good against us and terrible against everybody else."
Denver' J.R. Smith, on the Bobcats, who have split the season series against the Nuggets each of the past two seasons.
Drew on the NBA
Scores and statistics
Nuggets starting center Nene is a no-show on the 2009 NBA All-Star ballot, which will be unveiled today in Phoenix, host city for the Feb. 15 game.
Nene's absence likely is because of the fact he played in only 16 games last season while recovering from testicular cancer.
Plus, only 10 of 15 centers are listed from each conference.
Through six games, Nene is averaging 16.2 points, nine rebounds and 1.7 blocked shots.
Representing the Nuggets as "official" All-Star candidates are forwards Carmelo Anthony and Kenyon Martin and guards J.R. Smith and Chauncey Billups, though Billups is listed on the Eastern Conference side because he was playing for the Pistons when the ballots were printed.
READY TO SAMB-A?
If Martin doesn't play and Nene runs into early foul trouble, don't be surprised to see newly acquired center Cheikh Samb get some playing time tonight against Charlotte.
"Play with who you got," Karl said. "We're trying to get him feeling comfortable to where we could play him maybe 10 minutes and go from there."
Samb, who played four games for Detroit last season, made his Nuggets debut Sunday night, missing two shots in 77 seconds of garbage time.
CAROLINA REUNION
Karl will face good friend and fellow North Carolina alumnus Larry Brown for the first time since Brown signed a four-year contract to coach the Bobcats, who are 2-4 after finishing 18 games under .500 last season.
"Larry's a very fundamentally demanding coach," Karl said. "Offensively, they're going to be team-oriented. Defensively, they're going to be very difficult to score easy baskets on."
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November 11, 2008
1:24 p.m.
Suggest removal
warrengfunk7 writes:
That is a load of BS!