nbaliveleague.com - Game of the Week

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Expert Pick

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Contenders or Pretenders?

This week we feature a matchup between two teams who have been building their rosters over the past two seasons to make a push for the NLL Title. Both the Bucks and Nuggets won over 50 games last season but failed to make any significant noise in the playoffs. But this season the expectations are higher. Both gm's have essentially gone all in thus far and fans in both Milwaukee and Denver are expecting results. So lets take a closer look. Firstly we have the Bucks, led by the enigmatic gm badwolf. The one time 'evil empire' hasn't been so evil lately but what they have been is good bolting out of the gates to a 5-0 season start, (at the time of writing). They are one of only two undefeated teams in the NLL. And whilst Westbrook is still a force a new leader has emerged in KAT who is ranked the 6th best player in the NLL and currently features in the early MVP race. Then we have the Nuggets, led by gm rootsey. rootsey has pretty much stated that he expects this team to make the conference finals this season. But can his players cash the cheques he has been writing or will they crack under the pressure of expectation? It's only early days but this matchup will give us some indication if they can really mix it with one of the league's top Eastern teams.

Now to the matchups:

Centre: Nurkic vs Gortat

Both of these bigs are skilled offensively being able to face up and make the mid-range jump shot. Gortat is the better rebounder though giving him the nod in this matchup.
Edge: DEN - Marcin Gortat

Power Forward: Towns vs Ilyasova

This one is not really fair. KAT is quite possibly the best young big man in the NLL and whilst Ersan is an adequate stretch four there really is no comparison since Towns can do pretty much everything on the basketball court whilst Ersan is best at the long range bomb.
Edge: MIL - Karl-Anthony Towns

Small Forward: Greek Freak vs Otto Porter

A key mathcup between two young athletic small forwards. While KAT, Westbrook and Wall may get the bigger headlines these two guys have both been balling out for their ball clubs. Giannis has tremendous length and can do a bit of everything but so can Porter. Both guys have been shooting the ball well with Otto more from deep and Giannis in the paint. It's a close one to call but since Giannis is rebounding and dropping more dimes he gets the slight edge.
Edge: MIL - Giannis

Shooting Guard: KCP vs JJ Redick

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Another tight matchup featuring two sharpshooters. Although Redick is really a true marksmen shooting at 58% from 3. KCP does a little more defensively though and is a much better 2-way player whilst still shooting at 43% from 3 and adding over 3 rebounds and assists as well as a steal. It's close to call but I am leaning towards the more complete player in KCP.
Edge: MIL - KCP

Point Guard: Russell Westbrook vs John Wall

Arguably two of the best PG's in the NLL. Usually Wall can just outrun and out jump his opponent. But not vs Westbrook. This guy is a ball of energy and whilst to date he has taken more of a back seat to enable KAT to flourish he is still a danger to drop a triple on you on any given night. On the other hand, as Wall goes the Nuggets. He is critical to this teams success. He is currently ranked 14th among all NLL players but is easily a top 5 PG. Wall is dropping over 12 assists whilst still scoring nearly 18 points per game and close to 1 steal and 1 block per contest too. With Westbrook starting off a little slowly and how important Wall is to the Nuggs this time I give him the edge in a crucial matchup.
Edge: DEN - John Wall

Star

Russell Westbrook
Westbrook has been surprisingly slow out of the gates but maybe this week will be a different story as rumour has it that gm wolf has chastised him and let him completely off the leash. Look out!

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Star

John Wall
As discussed above John Wall is Mr everything for the Nuggets. He has the ability to dominate the game and needs to play angry to match the energy of his opponent. Physically Wall is one of the few guys that come come to Westbrook and he needs to go all out.

X-Factor
As can be seen in the early going the Bucks are top 5 in alot of things whilst the Nuggets hover around the top 10. Neither team has a great bench either sitting around middle of the pack. The one big difference is game pace. The bucks liking to slow the game down passing the ball around and often ending up with a shot inside for KAT, Nurk or Giannis. The Nuggets like to get out and run ranking 3rd in the NLL in pace. The team that can control the style of play will round out the winner in this one. Bold Prediction: The Nuggets at 4-3 really need to prove they are legitimate contender and John Wall steps up to the plate playing a monster game and handing the Bucks their first L of the season.

X-Factor

As can be seen in the early going the Bucks are top 5 in alot of things whilst the Nuggets hover around the top 10. Neither team has a great bench either sitting around middle of the pack. The one big difference is game pace. The bucks liking to slow the game down passing the ball around and often ending up with a shot inside for KAT, Nurk or Giannis. The Nuggets like to get out and run ranking 3rd in the NLL in pace. The team that can control the style of play will round out the winner in this one.

Bold Prediction: The Nuggets at 4-3 really need to prove they are legitimate contender and John Wall steps up to the plate playing a monster game and handing the Bucks their first L of the season.