Patterson, Evans welcomed additions
By: Nate Timmons
thetobin73@yahoo.com
March 8, 2006
They have that new car smell don’t they?
Ruben Patterson, 30, and Reggie Evans, 25, can do no wrong right now with their new team. The Denver Nuggets are benefiting from the energy and hard work that the two newcomers are cramming down the team’s throat.
The difference in the Nuggets could be witnessed against the Minnesota Timberwolves back on Feb. 24, 2006.
As Patterson and Evans watched from the bench as their new team snuck out of Minnesota with a 102-101 overtime victory this team’s attitude had changed for the better. The Nuggets just days earlier struggled to beat a less superior Charlotte Bobcats team on February 21 with a 100-84 victory. The final score did not indicate what was apparent to live viewers.
The trade deadline had finally backed this team into a corner. Nobody was sure who was going to be there when the Minnesota game rolled around three-days later.
Kenyon Martin and Nene remained with the team after so much speculation, especially from yours truly.
Nuggets fans and head coach George Karl now know who their team will be from here until the last game of the regular season. Denver will face former three-point Nuggets ace Earl Watson and the rest of the Seattle Supersonics on April 19.
The bench is a much fresher place now with Evans and Patterson aboard; although Patterson has already cracked the starting lineup. The absence of Voshon Lenard aka the “Stinky Kid” who nobody wanted to sit by really livens up the place.
Lenard could easily have been mistaken for a statue of sulk at the end of the bench. Against the T-Wolves however Evans and Patterson both sporting brown suits did their best impersonation of the Denver Nuggets Cheerleaders road-trip edition.
Jumping up after key baskets, monster slams and blocked shots and leading the charge any time play stopped to pump up their tiring teammates even led to Francisco Elson thinking he was a Pittsburgh Steelers fan and waving his white towel as if it was gold.
It’s no secret that Carmelo Anthony plays his best basketball when he is happy. Since the trade Denver is 4-2 and Melo has averaged 27.8 points-per-game, that’s 1.7 points ahead of his 26.1 ppg average this season.
Patterson took over the starting shooting guard position March 1 in a 98-87 blowout of the leagues best team the Detroit Pistons. And it doesn’t look like Greg Buckner or DerMarr Johnson will be challenging one of Karl’s favorite players.
In his first five games with Denver, Patterson is averaging 12.8 ppg, 4.6 rebounds and 1.6 steals in just over 30-minutes per game.
Dennis Rodman clone Reggie Evans is doing exactly what Denver fans thought he would through his first five contests. Averaging roughly 22-minutes per game, Evans is pulling down 7.8 rebounds including 1.8 offensive rebounds and 5 ppg.
Evans gives Denver’s offense exactly what the second-half of the season is giving the Nuggets: a second chance.
Patterson and Evan keep possessions alive and battle the opposition’s best players every night. Plus the addition of the two big bodies has allowed Kenyon Martin to rest his aching body and hopefully will allow him to be near 100-percent when the playoffs roll in.
The Nuggets definitely look like a different team for the obvious reasons, but the intangibles that the two new guys bring may have given Denver the tune-up needed to escape the first-round of the playoffs and maybe more.
Notes
The Nuggets will be on the road starting Thursday March 9 in Philadelphia and will play six more games on the road before returning home on March 22 against the San Antonio Spurs.
Key games on the trip include: March 15 against the Indiana Pacers, March 17 versus the Memphis Grizzlies, perhaps the Nuggets first-round opponent, and March 18 against the Oklahoma City / New Orleans Hornets.
The Charles Smith era is over
Smith was released by Denver after coming over in the three-way deal from Portland.