Camby - Nuggets MVP

Marcus Camby was back in the line-up Friday night, the Nuggets played tolerable defense, and the result was a victory. The Nuggets played down to the competition for three quarters and then turned it on in the 4th for a solid win. Carmelo had another great game, but it is Camby who makes the Nuggets a contender. Without the dominating center, the Nuggets are no better than say the Utah Jazz. With him, they are one of the top 5 or 6 teams in the West.

Camby does so much on the floor that it's hard to imagine the Nuggets even making the playoffs without him. He is the centerpiece of the defense. The Jazz made layup after layup while Camby was in street clothes earlier in the week. Kevin Garnett, arguably one of the better 4's in the league, was forced to take 10 and 15 foot jumpers with Camby patrolling the paint. Plus the Nuggets clearly dominated on the defensive glass with Camby in the game.

He's no slouch at the other end either. He opens up the court on offense with his consistent ability to hit 15-20 foot mini-jumpers (I guess you don't really need a jump-shot when you're 6'11"). If he couldn't hit the mini-J on a regular basis then Melo couldn't post-up as often and as effectively as he does. And, playing away from the basket allows him to crash the offensive boards too. Melo may be the best player on the team, but Camby is the guy who makes it work. Heck, he even makes K-Mart look good which is pretty damn amazing considering it's, well, K-Mart.