The South Stander Edition #10

Nuggets Thoughts of the Week:


Tebow Time in Denver may be over til next season, but his heroic last minute and overtime comebacks seem to have inspired Denver's other teams to never give up and to keep believing.


The Denver Nuggets finished a four game road trip to the East Coast this week, and came away from it with four wins. Two wins in overtime, including a double-overtime victory over Carmelo Anthony and his New York Knicks at Madison Square Gardens.


Saturday's game in New York marked the first time that the Nuggets played their former all-star, Carmelo Anthony, after he demanded a trade to the Knicks in 2011.


To start the game, Denver came out working together as a team, passing the ball, as usual. Andre Miller had a great alley-oop pass to Mozgov to put Denver up early in the first. By half time though, the Nuggets were down by 8.

Carmelo Anthony nearly led the Knicks back to victory as he tied the game at 98 in the final seconds of regulation. It was then all Anthony in the first overtime period, as he kept the ball and drove at the basket. Anthony though seemed as if he was going to win the game single handed for the Knicks, but the Nuggets began triple-teaming Melo. The Nuggets tied the game again in the final seconds of the first OT and Anthony tried to get the game winner, but ended up throwing the ball out of bounds, in what looked like an awkward pass.


In the second overtime period, the Knicks showed their lack of depth off the bench as the game wares on. The Knicks looked tired and exhausted as the Nuggets finally went up by 5 and on to win the game 119-114. Gallinari, Anthony's replacement from the Knicks trade last season scored a career high 37 points on 19 attempts. Anthony scored 25 points on the night, but it took him 30 attempts. Anthony was 10 of 30 in shooting attempts in the game.


Knicks fans left the game frustrated at Anthony's performance, calling him a ball hog. This is something that Denver fans are very familiar with and it was obvious on Saturday night that the Nuggets came away from the Anthony trade with the better deal.


Click here to watch the full game highlights of the Nuggets double OT win.


The Nuggets ended the week with a 12-5 record, 1.5 games behind the Thunder for the division lead. The Nuggets are also currently ranked second in the western conference, again behind the Thunder.


Avalanche Thoughts of the Week:


The only thing bigger than a quarterback controversy in Denver might be a goaltender controversy. And the Avalanche are in the middle of one. Giguere, the 13 year veteran and Varlamov the young 3 year veteran, have both shown great flashes this year. Unexpectedly though, Giguere has a better save percentage and winning record than Varlamov this season.


Like so many other Denver teams, the Avalanche have had their share of overtime games this month. In January the Avs are 2-1 in OT games, and 11-2 in OT this season. Most recently, the Avs beat Florida 4-3 in overtime with Peter Mueller scoring two goals with one assist in the game.


Last night, the Avalanche traveled to L.A. to take on the Kings. Mueller again scored the go-ahead goal, and Giguere showed his old playoff form once again to give Colorado a 3-1 win and move them into the eighth place in the conference. The Avalanche are one of many teams vying for the final few playoff spots as we approach about two months left in the season. The Kings are in seventh place.

Landeskog (left) and Galidari (right) talk to a group of teens at the Denver Bouldering Club.

19-year old Avalanche rookie, Gabriel Landeskog, scored an insurance goal for the Avs in the third period. Landeskog passed across the rink to Stansy who then gave it right back to Landeskog as he took a shot from the slot and scored.


With ten goals and 13 assists in his rookie season, Landeskog has quickly become one of my favorite players. Besides his play on the ice, Landeskog and teammate TJ Galidari have started a community service project that works with at-risk teenagers in Denver to get them in shape called the Avs Team Fit Program. Landeskog and Galidari took 15 of these kids to the Denver Bouldering Club to introduce them to rock climbing. Its rare to see professional athletes be involved in climbing/outdoor programs outside of their sport,  because of the risk of injury. I'm thrilled to see these two young Avs players doing programs like this and I am sure they made a big impact on the teenagers they took climbing.


Rockies Thoughts of the Week:


Dealin' Dan (O'Dowd) has been at it again for the Rockies, in one of the team's most active week's during this off-season.


Before ever even putting on a Colorado jersey, pitcher Kevin Slowey was sent to to Cleveland for relief pitcher Zach Putnam. Dan O'Dowd then focused his attention on finding a true starting second baseman. O'Dowd had been eyeing Red Sox shortstop Marco Suctaro, but the deal seemed dead by mid-week. The Rockies then agreed to send Boston relief pitcher Clayton Mortenson in exchange for Suctaro. Suctaro, 36, hit .299 last season with seven homeruns and 58 RBIs. He also has a .992 fielding percentage, which is the second highest for second basemen in MLB.


One concern for the Rockies now is the age of their starting in field. Catcher Ramon Hernandez is 35 and 1B Todd Helton, Marco Suctaro, and Casey Blake are all 38. Troy Tulowitzki is the only starting infielder under 30, at 27 years old. The Rockies are hoping that this experienced and aging infield will allow promising prospects like 3B Jordan Pacheco and C Willin Rosario to develop for a year longer before taking their places at Coors Field. Pacheco helped lead his fall league team to a championship this offseason and won the fall league MVP award. The Rockies also hope that promising young outfielder, Charlie Blackmon, will make a full recovery from a broken foot he suffered last season.


The Rockies also obtained big name free-agent Michael Cuddyer, who has played his entire 10 year career with Minnesota. Cuddyer is expected to provide another big-bat in Colorado's line up to provide more offense. Cuddyer hit .284 with 20 HRs and 70 RBI's last season with Minnesota. The addition of Cuddyer allowed the Rockies to trade out-fielder Seth Smith to Oakland for pitchers Guillermo Moscoso and Josh Outman. 


The Rockies had recently been shopping Smith because of his lack of production at the plate against left-handed pitchers. Moscoso had a 3.84 ERA in 21 starts last season with Oakland, going 8-10. Outman was 3-5 in 9 starts with a 3.70 ERA.


The biggest question now for the Rockies as Spring Training approaches is who will make up their starting rotation. Jhoulys Chacin is expected to be the number one starter with all the other spots up for grabs from the many pitchers the Rockies have recently acquired. Juan Nicasio is also expected to compete for a spot in the rotation after recovering from a broken neck from last season. Nicasio says his recovery is progressing well and expects to be pitching in Spring Training.


Here's the Rockies projected starting day line up:

Projected Starting Day Lineup
	Player	Position
1	Dexter Fowler	CF
2	Marco Suctaro	2B
3	Carlos Gonzalez	LF
4	Troy Tulowitzki	SS
5	Todd Helton	1B
6	Michael Cuddyer	RF
7	Ramon Hernandez	C
8	Casey Blake	3B
9	Jhoulys Chacin	P

Rapids Thoughts of the Week:


The Colorado Rapids reported to training camp this week, and there were many new faces there, including the coaching staff.


Wells Thompson, one of the Rapids mid-fielder, won the beep-test (a multi-stage fitness test) and the Rapid's first round draft pick this year, Tony Cascio, finished second. The beep-test is meant to demonstrate a player's overall fitness and athleticism.

Tony Cascio, the Rapid's first round pick.

Cascio was a mid-fielder/forward at UCONN where he scored 24 goals and was named a 2010 NCSAA First Team All American, as well as the 2010 Big East Offensive Player of the Year.


"I'm very happy to get Tony with our pick," said Rapids head coach Oscar Pareja. "We thoughts he was going to go higher than this, so we were very excited when he fell into our hands. He's a disciplined, intense, and versatille player who caught my eye the first time I saw him play. I'm looking forward to bringing him to the group."


The Rapids have also invited to players from a try-out combine to spring training with the team, Defender Isaac Cowles and forward Sam Archer.


"I'm just very thankful for the opportunity," said Cowles afterwards. "That's what it is right now, another opportunity for me to come out and play my best. I just feel so blessed and thank everybody at the Rapids for this opportunity."


Cowles, a Denver native, attended Faith Christian High and played for club team Real Colorado before attending UNC-Charolette for school where he played in the NCAA Cup finals.


With new coach, Oscar Peraja, who will play a faster paced, Latin style of soccer in Colorado many players are hoping to have better seasons. Peraja's style will be more offense oriented which will hopeful serve Rapid's Forward, Caleb Folan well. Folan was not a fan favorite last year, and played poorly, despite having the second most shots on goal on the team. With a new coach who is more focused on offense, Folan may have a break out season with Peraja.


In other Rapids news, Jeff Larentowicz, made his third start for the US Men's National team in their victory over Venezuela.  Larentowicz has been receiving quite a bit of international attention this off season, while also training with EPL side, Bolton.


Broncos Thoughts of the Week:


Denver Bronco's Safety, Brian Dawkins was added to his 9th pro-bowl this week. Dawkins, who missed the final few games of the season with a neck injury seems unlikely to play in the Hawaii game though.


Dawkins joins five other Broncos in the Pro-Bowl inclusing Von Miller, Elvis Dumervil, Champ Bailey, Willis McGahee and left tackle, Ryan Clady.

After the loss to the Patriots, the Denver Broncos held an end of the season press conference. John Elway announced that Tim Tebow will be Denver's starting QB going into training camp. He would not yet name him the starter for the season, assuming he will bring in a couple other QBs to compete with Tebow in training camp. Elway also said that he looks forward to being able to work directly with Tebow this offseason to help him improve his passing motion and hopefully his completion percentage. QB Adam Webber, from the Broncos practice squad, is expected to be one of the other QB at training camp.


Finally, with the Broncos thrilling and unexpected season coming to an end, Denver Post writer Mike Klis has published a book chronicling the season's many great come from behind victories led by Tim Tebow. The book is titled "Will to Win: A Season to Remember". Excerpts from the book can be found here.