NHL: AVALANCHE, RISING // NBA: NUGGETS “PLAYOFF-BOUND” //

NFL: AFC & NFC FINALS // WORLD TENNIS: AUSTRALIAN OPEN 

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           "SPORTS NOTEBOOK” will continue to post columns on Tuesday and Friday of each week, covering Colardo, national and world sports.  Editor/Publisher, Marvin Leibstone. Comments to: mlresources1@aol.com

NHL:   WAVES of determination and then delight swept across the ice at Denver’s Pepsi Center on Wednesday, January 18, as the Colorado Avalanche beat the Florida Panthers 4-3 (OT) from a blistering Ryan O’Reilly killshot, bringing the AV’s to 25 wins over 21 losses.

Now above .500, and in second place of the NHL-Western Conference’s Northwest Division (three wins ahead of third place Minnesota, three behind first place Vancouver), the AV’s potential as “playoff contender” has proof-of-life: the AV’s won 10 of 15 games in December, totaling 32 points, and since the start of the 2011/12 season they’ve managed four streaks (five wins straight, four straight x 2, and three in a row), plus six wins of five points each and five of four each.

Too, the AV’s completed eight games this season during which opponents were held to zip or only one point. Also, only three of the AV’s 21 losses were by more than three points. Of the 25 AV games played as of Wednesday, only five were scoreless, and only two of the AV’s 21 losses were by more than four points. Also, three AV players have scored more than 10 goals each since October 8, delivering a total of 47 points, and nine have provided double digit assists each, totaling more than 130 assists.

Next up in January for the AV’s are the L.A. Kings, Anaheim Ducks, the Minnesota Wild and the Edmonton Oilers, neither with as many wins as the AV’s have. Yesterday, the Kings recorded 23 wins, the Ducks 16 (last place of the NHL-WC’s Pacific Division), the Wild, 22, the Oilers, 17 (last place, the WC’s NW Division). It won’t be until Saturday, February 4, when the AV’s face a first place franchise, the now 28-15 Vancouver Canucks, at Pepsi Center.

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NBA:   HERE are reasons why the Denver Nuggets are likely to enter the 2011/12 NBA post-season with 30 or more wins by mid-April:

• Scored 100 or more points in seven of 12 games by mid-January, and no fewer than 83, the franchise now at 10-5, just two games behind the NBA Western Conference’s first place team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, one game behind second place team, the Utah Jazz, and two ahead of third place team, the Portland Trail Blazers .  .  . and the Nuggets are now tied for second place in the WC with the L.A. Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs.
• In each of the 12 games cited, the Nuggets scored a roughly equal number of points per quarter, indicating above-the-margin scoring consistency and full-out endurance, thus strong capacity for “game control.”
• Six Nuggets players have points-per-game averages in double digits re. all games played since the start of the NBA 2011/12 season.
• The total number of points scored by the Nuggets to date is more than 50 greater than yesterday’s recorded mean average re. points earned by opposing WC teams.
• As of today, the Nuggets have averaged 10 steals per game.
• The Nuggets have accrued more than 270 assists since the current NBA season began.
• Guards Arron Afflalo, Ty Lawson and Andre Miller and Timofey Mozgov, forwards Danillo Gallinari and Nene, Al Harrington, Rudy Fernandez, others and head coach George Karl’s emphasis re. teamwork over star power .  .  .   Starting tonight, this line of players + coach will play only two of their next 10 games against teams in their own division, and only half have the Nuggets facing WC division teams. More importantly for the Nuggets, several of the 10 events will be against teams below .500, among them, the Washington Wizards, the Sacramento Kings, the Toronto Raptors (each of these three are now in last place of their respective divisions), and the New York Knicks (yes, former Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony & Company, the Knicks now at 6-8).   Only one of the next 10 Nuggets games is against a major threat and first place team, the WC-Pacific Division’s L.A. Lakers, now 10-5. The point being made here is that the Nuggets have a nine game opportunity to pull ahead of all competition before meeting a key division threat, the Thunder, mid-February.   

NFL:   OF course, this Sunday’s winners of the AFC and NFC championship games will be the franchises that manage to pulverize the strengths and exploit the vulnerabilities of their opponents. If, therefore, the Baltimore Ravens can keep the New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s arm and receivers from connecting, with its Joe Flacco-led offense outsmarting the Patriots weak-by-comparison secondary, surely the Ravens will have a good shot at being at the Super Bowl. This being so, the Ravens could begin its mission with passing tactics, switching to a running game should the Patriots shield as effectively as it had against the Denver Broncos offense last week.

Yet Tom Brady’s efficient pass protection and fast and tricky short- and mid-range receivers have reflected escape and evasion expertise throughout the NFL season, slipping into openings for successful pass-catch connectivity, for example, the Brady/Ron Gronkowski match-up. Assuming that Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and QB Brady have watched enough film and have sufficient intel for dealing effectively with the Ravens defense and the Ravens ability to improvise, the Brady/receiver pass attack game will be the lock-in for an early ascension of NE points, forcing Baltimore into behind-the-eight-ball mode until endgame and a NE win.

It’s likely that the NFC San Francisco 49ers/New York Giants competition will be more of a "clash of the Titans event" than the AFC challenge, in that the defense squads of each are nearly equal in focus, speed and strength. Victory could be by only a few points, perhaps by a field goal, unless it’s possible for New York’s QB Eli Manning to have moved up a notch from his already efficient ability to avoid a pass rush and throw the football, for instance, passing to Hakeem Nicks in the manner that the two connected for yardage in the Giants last playoff game.

The year’s playoff data advises that against a series of Manning/receiver assaults, the 49ers QB, Alex Smith, will remain behind the power curve, for compared with Manning’s 44 completed playoff passes of 65 attempts, Smith has recorded 24 of 45, which suggests that Smith could pass well as long as the opportunities to do so aren’t squelched, and many opportunities for it have been squelched throughout the post season. Also, Manning has passed for 607 yards in the year’s playoffs, Smith for only 290. To beat the Giants, the 49ers defense will need increased speed and power for the pass rush and for covering receivers, especially for beating down the Manning/Nicks teaming.

WORLD TENNIS:  IT may never happen again: two sisters with more than 500 professional tennis wins behind them. This week, Serena caught up with Venus by prevailing during the Australian Open to achieve her 500^th. Seven-time Grand Slam winner Venus has won more than 590 games in her career, and Serena is hoping to match that. . .  Another U.S. player for dominance during the Australian Open has been Andy Roddick, to face last year’s winner and U.S. Open winner, Novak Djokovic, but Roddick has receded. Still contending are Djokovic, Federer, Nadal.

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