Quote (dng-andre @ Sep 7 2010 10:03am)
In case you haven't noticed, Chauncey Billups made Denver contenders,something that AI couldn't do.
It was an instant change of looks in Denver's game and it got tons better.
Chauncey billups has absolutely nothing to do with ai deserving to be in the hall of fame. but just for the record.
nene had a long stretch where he wasnt healthy, and he developed alot when he returned, and i remember nene being a very big help to denver in the playoffs when billups played. as well as kmart. dantay jones played great defense. they had a solid bench with jr smiths improvement.. and not to mention carmelo anthony was atop his game and alot happier being the total #1 option as apposed to sometimes being shadowed by iverson who isnt the same team player that billups is. didnt iverson lead the nuggets in scoring the whole 07 08 season? dont you think melo was pissed off? i think so. but aside from all that shit.
in 2006-2007 the nuggets won 45 games (the year of melos 15 game suspension, and a.i was traded in December i believe, not bad to finish 6th after all that drama). lost to the spurs in the playoffs 4-1, no doubt spurs were champs that year so. the 2007-2008 season they won 50 games and finished LAST, thats how strong the west was, highest win total for a 8th seed ever. lost to the lakers, swept. lakers just too good.
08-09 billups comes in, denvers healthy, and they win 54 games. (contender btw +4 wins improvement) they beat new orleans and dallas, and again lost to the lakers. next year they win 53 games and finish fourth. got fucked up by the jazz. literally dominated. idk if thats what u call a contender because again the lakers beat the utah jazz ass just like they would have denvers. billups didnt make denver a contender he made them a better team instead of just a 2 man game.
and theyre roster undoubtedly improved from when iverson was there. not hating on billups, denver just didnt have enough to be contenders, with a.i or billups.. but its not like billups is > iverson. add in all the factors and i think if ai stayed im sure denver would have won those 4 extra games that next season that made them "contenders" so to speak.