Whether I did this consciously or not- I know I predicted the change in the Nuggets line-up, which happened recently, a little more than a year ago. I spotted first round draft pick Danilo Gallinari out of a small crowd as the next wunderkind of NBA basketball. I hope I was right. He has very quickly taken Carmelo Anthony's place as Small Center. This was Melo's position through the nearly eight years which he played for the Nuggets and kept consistently high scores akin to that of Kobe Bryant and several other stars in the NBA.
Danilo was given the number 8 supposedly because they found out his birthdate, which is 8/8/88, could possibly be a lucky number. Well, I've been saying that for years even though I am no adherent to such superstitious ideas. What got my attention was his good looks and his stats which were very good for a European player. To me, basketball will always be an American sport because it was invented and perfected here. It makes sense that the best of the NBA would be here. Well, there are now quite a few Europeans proving us all wrong on that premise. I sincerely hope Danilo will be able to do just that because he's got some awesome shoes to fill and he'll have to do better than 2 points for a game. Maybe our climate is a little rough for him.
The first game without Melo is showing me that many other prodigious players are going to have to really step up their game and take themselves to the next level. On February 24th the Nuggets played the Celtics and won 89-75 which is wonderful considering that Kevin Garnett was very much in attendance. As a matter of fact Kenyon Martin, Power Forward, caused him to hit the hardwood and K-Mart (as we like to call him!) made the most points at this game at a total of 18. To exceed Melo he'll have to double that consistently with every game. He was his usual happy, mouthy self by the fourth quarter when he was fouled. To K-Mart that's money in the bank! Affalo and Chandler were right behind him in scoring but they'll have to bring their numbers up as well. With Chauncey and Carmelo gone they must do even better. Andersen aka Birdman is still day to day since that knee surgery but he'll get back to doing what he does best. Blocking slam dunks from the Big Birds ! !
In other news...... The Knicks lost to the Cavs ? ? 
Big kisses from
The Castle Lady !
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