Nene Is The Most Improved Player of the First Half
NeneAbout a year ago, I had the privilege of talking about the Nuggets strength & conditioning program with their in-house fitness guru Steve Hess. I kept asking him about Carmelo’s routine, whether K-Mart was as intense in the weight room as he is on the court, and just how explosive Allen Iverson was in one-on-one sessions. But ultimately, Hess kept coming back to being totally amazed by Nene.
“You want to talk about the will of an individual?” asked Hess. “I’ve never seen anything like Nene. He ruptures his calf. Comes back from that. Tears a ligament in his right thumb. Comes back from that. Has testicular cancer, has a testicle removed, and has chemo therapy. Comes back from that, all in one season.”
That was last year. And now that he’s been cancer-free and injury-free (he hasn’t missed a single game), Nene is deserving of a mention in the conversation about the best big men in the West.
He’s posting career high’s in basically every major category – points, rebounds, blocks, field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and most importantly, minutes played. Last night he added another notch to his belt, posting a career best 28 points on 12-12 shooting from the floor (team record), capitalizing on drive-and-dishes from Chauncey, Anthony Carter and J.R. Smith. Nene ended up dunking all over Paul Millsap, Mehmet Okur and Kyrylo Fesenko.
Sure he’s been through a lot, which has probably taken its toll on his body. But Nene’s still only 26 years old, and he’s now playing the best basketball of his career. If he continues to stay healthy, how good could he be?
January 26th, 2009 at 11:51 am
Ian says:
mason jr should get some consideration
January 26th, 2009 at 11:52 am
Big Sia says:
He’s nice.
Maradona > Pele though
January 26th, 2009 at 11:53 am
Big Sia says:
And Devin Harris NEEDS to win this category
January 26th, 2009 at 11:54 am
Junio says:
Thanks Dime. Finally some Brazilian love.
January 26th, 2009 at 11:59 am
dukesman2000 says:
Big Sia…
Too many people will not admit that.
January 26th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
Luigi says:
damn got a testical removed?? DAMNNN i admire your work NENE
u havent been noticed b/c ur on the west coast and the basic NBA fan would know that Denver is only Carmelo.
but damn uve been killin it lately
January 26th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Sanpitch says:
nene deserves it. anyone that’s gone thru all that and come back to be a big contributor on a team.
hands down he deserves it.
very inspiring.
January 26th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
iannyb says:
liked him since he was on the Brazilian team.espn showed those games. can’t remember what tournament but himself an Varejeo were just dunking all over the place. Nice to see him hold his own after his ordeal last year.Keep on keeping on Nene
January 26th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
D.H. says:
finally some Nene luv, keep it up Dime.
January 26th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
John says:
I´m from Brazil, and once I met him at the airport, he´s very friendly, very crhistian and very, very big … Very big hands too. He works very hard, and he knows that he is not a very talented player, I think he can be a 16 ptos – 12 reb – 3 blocks – 60% Fg starting center, for 6 or 7 years from now. Thats justified his 10M contract
January 26th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Kobeef says:
Nuggets trade the defensive player of the year and 2001 NBA MVP and get BETTER. Someone stepped up. Chauncey is running the show but Nene is doing the dirty work.
Did anyone ever notice how big Nene is? He is 6′11 and built like a linebacker.
January 26th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
the_don_mega says:
cat deserves some consideration… he’s really living up to his potential now specially with a more traditional PG running their offense and of course being injury-free is a plus for him…
January 26th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
bamba says:
post your whole convo with hess!
January 26th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
karizmatic says:
Early in his career I thought Nene would definitely be a beast but then he got saddled with injuries and even when he was healthy he was an underachiever so I gave up on him. But it looks like he’s coming around, with his build, size, and skill, Nene could be a premier NBA power forward in my opinion. We’ll see what happens from here on out.
January 26th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Chaos says:
he is doing what we all thought he could. i think since hge been in the L they been trying to play him at the 4 and he’s obviously a 5. Karl has found balance in his line up and with carmelo eventually returning you can see that the team is headed for positive things. Nene can bang on the inside with the big time centers
January 26th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
dagwaller says:
Good for Nene. It’s great to see that in an era of big contracts that are followed by uninspired play/conditioning (Jerome James, I’m looking at you), Nene fought back as hard as he has to not only compete, but to excel. Birdman is also in this vein (vein? He was out of the league for drug issues? Too soon?).
As always, there are a lot of people to choose from in this category.
January 26th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Gerard says:
Pele>Ronaldinho>Maradona
January 26th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
jmg says:
Granger, Nene and Devin Harris are in the running for Most Improved…will be a good race to the end
January 26th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Yog friend of Jurg says:
Yog says:
Paul Millsaps is “MOST IMPROVED”
Nene is “Comeback Player”
January 26th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Me says:
Andrew, what was his answer about K-Mart?
January 26th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
heartbreaker85 says:
he should get an award just for playing on one ball.
January 26th, 2009 at 11:16 pm
pho says:
Nene = next wilt the stilt. Believe it
January 26th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
TheAnswer71086 says:
Nene>Bynum when healthy
Stronger, quicker, and more athletic… He’s craftier down low.
January 27th, 2009 at 12:13 am
Amar says:
nene will have trouble being the next wilt with only one nut. the benefit though is that he’s that much quicker against reggie evans . . .
January 27th, 2009 at 12:16 am
Jau28 says:
@ pho ur RIDICULOUS! Nene = wilt the stilt? i really hope ur joking lol cause there’s no way in hell
also im just curious about what ppl think about bargnani? avg 20+pts 7+rbs 49% from the field and 53% from 3pt as a starter… scored 15+ pts 16gms in a row… you have to admit that if he keeps this up… andrea should be in the discussion because he was TERRIBLE last year
January 27th, 2009 at 1:58 am
Lady Luck says:
Devin Harris, Paul Milsap, Nene, Bargnani(would have to finish the year with those number in that order.
January 27th, 2009 at 2:00 am
Lady Luck says:
That ^^^ sounded ridiculous. Wwhat I meant to say was….
Devin Harris
Paul Milsap
Nene
Bargnani (he would have to finish the season with those same numbers)
in that order to win MIP.
January 27th, 2009 at 4:10 am
iain. says:
Does that mean if he ever hits a game winner he’ll do the big ball dance?
Yeh that was cold but seriously, a lot of respect to this guy. Hes killing it currently.
January 27th, 2009 at 7:08 am
the Heckler says:
nene? i dont think so
Danny Granger has this award locked