This week on the Daly Dose YouTube video, the new Utah NHL franchise is searching for a mascot and we have the top fan nominations, as well as some of our own suggestions.
It kind of felt like they were on the ropes, didn’t it?
The Denver Nuggets opened their postseason by beating the Los Angeles Lakers in five games. It wasn’t always pretty, but it was at least effective.
Next up, was the team that gave them more trouble than anyone on their way to the title.
The Nuggets beat the Wolves in five games last year, but every single game felt like a dogfight. Anthony Edwards is an absolute monster, and the length of big men Rudy Gobert and Karl Anthony-Towns provide some serious matchup problems.
Minnesota opened the series by punching the champs in the mouth in Game 1 and beating Denver at home 106-99.
Proving it wasn’t a fluke, the Timberwolves whooped the Nuggets on the road again in Game 2, routing them 106-80.
Not only were the Wolves going to beat the Nuggets, they were going to sweep them.
Not so fast.
You have to beat the champs.
And the Nuggets proved exactly that on Friday night in Game 3.
Denver went into hostile territory and smoked the Timberwolves 117-90. It didn’t actually even feel that close.
Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray each scored 24 points and Michael Porter Jr. added 21 points and the Nuggets ran away with an easy win.
Okay, so that was just an off game. Minnesota would bring their “A” game for Game 4.
And they did…at times.
Minnesota shot 48% from the field, while out rebounding Denver 42-31.
They also had lapses.
Their end of the first half sloppiness allowed the Nuggets to close the second quarter with an 8-0 run for the ages, as Jamal Murray splashed a three pointer at the buzzer, from beyond halfcourt.
Those eight points proved to be pretty big, as the Nuggets won Game 4 by an ironic score of 115-107 to even the series, and take back home court advantage.
Now we have a three game series.
So what has changed? How have the Nuggets turned things around?
For starters, their stars have stepped up. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray combined for 73 points in Games 1 and 2, but they shot just 35% from the field.
Compare that to Games 3 and 4 where Jokic and Murray scored 102 points at a much more efficient rate of 53%.
The bench has also stepped up their game. They managed to score just 38 points in Games 1 and 2, but have now responded with 50 points as a unit in Games 3 and 4.
This series is far from over, but the Nuggets are proving that they have the heart of a champion.
Game 5 is in Denver tonight, and teams that win Game 5 of a 2-2 best-of-seven series go on to win the series 82.8% of the time (164-34).
These Nuggets have already proven that they will not go quietly.
This week on the Daly Dose, we are joined by basketball coach Bill Benton to discuss his career and the current state of basketball and youth coaching.
Coach Benton has won two state championships and has an incredible winning percentage over his career.
We discuss the best and worst aspects of his job, and the most challenging obstacles that he faces in coaching.
We also discuss the current state of college recruiting, and how the college game has changed so much recently.
Finally, we discuss the NBA Playoffs and Coach Benton makes his prediction for the NBA Finals!
The Colorado Rockies are having a historically bad season on the field, posting their worst win percentage ever.
Yet, team ownership is still encouraged.
Despite the fact that the club has yet to even win 10 games on the season, the Rockies front office is looking at their home fan attendance, which is still surprisingly solid.
The Rockies are easily the worst team in Major League Baseball. They are already 13 games back in the National League West, and it is only early May. They have nothing whatsoever to feel good about. They are currently on pace to lose an insane 123 games this season.
The Colorado Rockies 2024 highlight reel is already insane 🤯
So why are the Colorado Rockies still ranking 19th in fan attendance, with an average of 24,155 fans attending each home game?
It seems that the answer to this question is more complex than you may think.
Sure, Colorado fans are loyal. The Denver Broncos have sold out an NFL record 423 games in a row.
We also know that Coloradoans love Coors Field. It is one of the most beautiful parks in all of Major League Baseball. Attending a game in downtown Denver is truly a unique experience, with fabulous views and a number of stadium amenities.
One aspect of home attendance that we may have missed however, is the concept that many fans in the stands aren’t actually even baseball fans.
The Daly Dose recently spoke to fans as they were leaving the Rockies 8-2 loss to the Houston Astros and the answers as to why they continued to attend games were varied.
“Game? What game? We just went to a park to drink beer!” said Corey from Northglenn.
“There was a baseball game?” answered Rebecca from Lakewood. “I remember going up to the balcony and smoking a little, and then I had some green chile cheese fries and a giant pretzel. I literally had no idea they even played baseball at Coors Park.”
“I thought I was at Meow Wolf.” Todd from Westminster told us. “I had a few drinks, and we smoked a little, and then there was some crazy food. I think I ate some Doritos nachos out of a bag, and some kind of a Rocky Mountain oyster thing…whatever that is. And I might have been tripping, but I swear I kept seeing this weird purple dinosaur. So I know it wasn’t a baseball game. Nice try though. Grow up.”
This week on the Daly Dose, we are breaking down the 2024 NFL Draft! We are joined by some friends of the Dose to hand out some way too early 2024 NFL draft grades to every single team in the NFL!
What about teams that may have made some surprising selections like the Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons? Are the criticisms of their draft classes valid?
We take a look at every team, and assess the value that they got with their selections, in our way too Early NFL Draft grades!
This week on the Daly Dose, we are breaking down the 2024 NFL Draft! We hand out some way too early 2024 NFL draft grades to every single team in the NFL!
We know that the Chicago Bears had the top pick, but did they do enough to merit a high grade?
The Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs keep finding success in the draft. Did they do it again?
What about teams that may have made some surprising selections like the Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons?
We take a look at every team and assess the value that they got with their selections in the 2024 NFL Draft!
The Denver Nuggets eliminated the Los Angeles Lakers 108-106 last night to advance to the Western Conference semifinals.
Once again, it was resident Lakers killer Jamal Murray who led the way with 32 points, including the game winner with just :04 seconds remaining in the game.
Yes, the Nuggets dispatched the Lakers in just five games, but that can be a little deceptive. Denver has not looked as strong as we were hoping they would thus far in the postseason.
For starters, the Nuggets have had horribly slow starts. They were outscored 146-123 by the Lakers in the first quarter of this series.
The Nuggets have also been sloppy with the basketball, averaging 11 turnovers per game.
But maybe the scariest aspect to the Denver Nuggets so far, has been their inability to shoot the basketball, especially from long range. In their five games against LA, the Nuggets shot just 30% from three point range.
Yes, the Nuggets beat the Lakers in only five games. That’s the good news.
The bad news is that against their next opponent, the Minnesota Timberwolves, these types of performances won’t just get them beat.
They will get blown out.
This team needs to get healthy, and get back to playing at a championship level.
Meanwhile, the Colorado Avalanche seem to have found their playoff legs.
After closing the regular season by losing seven of their final 11 games, the Avs entered their first round playoff series with the Winnipeg Jets and were promptly smacked in Game 1.
Winnipeg won 7-6 and the concerns that goaltender Alexandar Georgiev might not be ready for prime time were growing louder and louder.
Georgiev had only faced 23 shots. That is a save percentage of just .696.
Since that loss, the Avalanche have outscored the Jets 16-5, and have taken a controlling 3-1 lead in the series.
There are a few reasons for the change.
One, Georgiev seems to have found his game again. In Colorado’s three wins, he has faced 81 shots, but allowed just five goals. His save percentage has jumped to .938.
1st star: Alex Georgiev 2nd star: Alex Georgiev 3rd star: Alexandar Georgiev Give that man his flowers, he earned them tonight.#GoAvsGopic.twitter.com/2awfOJ3NrD
— x – Tell It Avs It Is Podcast (@TellitAvsItIs) April 24, 2024
One of the other reasons for the marked improvement is the play of right ring Valeri Nichushkin.
Back in January, it was announced that Nichushkin had entered the NHL/NHLPA Assistance Program and would be unavailable for the team for an indefinite period. It was no coincidence that the Avs struggled without him. At the trade deadline, while the front office made moves to bring in more depth, it was the return of Nichushkin that has changed this team’s fortunes.
Through the four games against Winnipeg, Choo has been everywhere. He has logged six goals and always seems to be in the right place at the right time.
Obviously, this team is still led by Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, but the play of Gerogiev and Nichushkin is taking them to another level.
Finally, we move to the Denver Broncos, who raised more than a few eyebrows when they selected Oregon quarterback Bo Nix with the No. 12 overall pick of the NFL Draft last Thursday. After making a trade for Jet’s disappointment Zach Wilson, many thought that the Broncos might look at their many other needs instead of quarterback.
— Unnecessary Roughness (@UnnecRoughness) April 27, 2024
Time will tell whether or not Nix, who was widely considered to be a second round selection, is worthy of that early pick.
Word out of Dove Valley is that head coach Sean Payton held a private workout with Nix. The night before the workout, he sent Nix home with three packets of offensive play installations. The next morning at his workout Payton was highly impressed with Nix’s grasp of the offense.
So while the Russell Wilson debacle is firmly on general manager George Paton, this draft seems to be the work of the head coach.
No matter the outcome, it can’t be as financially ruinous as the Wilson deal.
The big question will be: “can the Bo Nix selection be the move that finally got the Denver Broncos their franchise quarterback?”
Broncos Country has been waiting eight long years for that to come true. Just remember, the greatest drafted Denver Broncos quarterback is probably a toss up between Jay Cutler and Brian Griese, and that isn’t saying much.
Nix and Payton will be making Denver Broncos history if this actually pans out.
Bill Belichick and Sean Payton talking ball about Bo Nix.
This week on the Daly Dose, we are attending to some business, but we are still getting you ready for the 2024 NFL Draft with some past Daly Dose Top 5’s!
We flash back to Daly Dose Top 5’s with a very distinct NFL Draft flavor for you!
We countdown the Top 5 times that quarterbacks were drafted No. 1 and No. 2, the Top 5 earliest times that NFL teams drafted a kicker or punter, the Top 5 greatest NFL draft classes ever, the Top 5 seasons that no quarterbacks were selected in the first round of the draft, the Top 5 NFL players that went completely undrafted, and the Top 5 draft busts that were drafted No 1 overall!
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