Nuggets Among Leading Vote-Getters in 2007-08

After a terrific regular season in which the Denver Nuggets posted their first 50-win season in two decades (50-32), a number of Nuggets players garnered some attention for their individual play in 2007-08. Each year the NBA honors its top players and coaches in a number of different awards categories, including: Most Valuable Player, All-NBA teams, Defensive Player of the Year, All-Defense teams, Rookie of the Year, All-Rookie teams, Most Improved Player, Sixth Man of Year and Coach of the Year.

Listed below is a breakdown of where some of the Nuggets finished in the voting for a few of these prestigious awards:

All-NBA First Team
Position	Player, Team	Pts (1st Team)
Forward	Kevin Garnett, Boston	612 (118)
Forward	LeBron James, Cleveland	610 (117)
Center	Dwight Howard, Orlando	546 (86)
Guard	Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers	635 (127)
Guard	Chris Paul, New Orleans	629 (124)
All-NBA Second Team
Position	Player, Team	Pts (1st Team)
Forward	Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas	189 (1)
Forward	Tim Duncan, San Antonio	397 (25)
Center	Amare Stoudemire, Phoenix	412 (30)
Guard	Steve Nash, Phoenix	311 (2)
Guard	Deron Williams, Utah	228
All-NBA Third Team
Position	Player, Team	Pts (1st Team)
Forward	Carlos Boozer, Utah	174
Forward	Paul Pierce, Boston	151 (2)
Center	Yao Ming, Houston	71 (2)
Guard	Tracy McGrady, Houston	137 (1)
Guard	Manu Ginobili, San Antonio	123
Other Players Receiving Votes, with Point Totals
Allen Iverson, Denver, 116; Carmelo Anthony, Denver, 89; Marcus Camby, Denver, 59; Chauncey Billups, Detroit, 38; Baron Davis, Golden State, 32; David West, New Orleans, 24; Rasheed Wallace, Detroit, 22; Tyson Chandler, New Orleans, 18; Antawn Jamison, Washington, 15; Al Jefferson, Minnesota, 14; Chris Bosh, Toronto, 11; Joe Johnson, Atlanta 8; Andre Miller, Philadelphia, 7; Caron Butler, Washington, 5; Shaquille O'Neal, Phoenix, 5; Pau Gasol, Los Angeles Lakers, 5; Kevin Martin, Sacramento, 4; Ray Allen, Boston, 4; Hedo Turkoglu, Orlando, 3; Jason Kidd, Dallas, 2; Josh Howard, Dallas, 2; Richard Hamilton, Detroit, 2; Andre Iguodala, Philadelphia, 1; Brandon Roy, Portland, 1; Michael Redd, Milwaukee, 1; Tayshaun Prince, Detroit, 1; Tony Parker, San Antonio, 1.

2007-08 ALL-NBA TEAMS

Just because the Nuggets did not have any players named to the three All-NBA teams this year, does not mean Denver had poor individual performances in 2007-08. As a matter of fact, the Nuggets received stellar individual seasons from a number of players, especially their tri-captains: Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony and Marcus Camby. Although none of the three were chosen for the 2007-08 All-NBA Teams, they did manage to finish 1-2-3 in votes among players who did not make the teams. With that being said, Denver is the only team in the league this season to have three players rank among the Top-20 in All-NBA points received. Not too shabby!

Appearing in all 82 games (for only the second time in his career), Iverson ranked third in the NBA in scoring (26.4 ppg), ninth in assists (7.1 apg), eighth in steals (1.95 spg) and first in minutes (41.8). Iverson also shot a career-high .458 from the field and notched a career-best 2.39-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio in 2007-08 as well. With 2,164 total points this season, he became just the fifth different player in Nuggets history to score 2,000+ points in a season. Fifty-one of those 2,164 points came against the Lakers on Dec. 5 as he poured in a season-high points and became only the sixth player in Nuggets NBA history to score 50+ in a game (the first since Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf also had 51 back on 12/7/95). Three times this season Iverson was named Western Conference Player of the Week, making him just the third player in team history to be honored as POW multiple times in a season. He also made his ninth-consecutive appearance in the NBA All-Star Game after being voted in as a starter for the eighth time during his illustrious career.

Like Iverson, Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony put together an All-Star worthy season despite failing to make his third-straight All-NBA team. Anthony appeared in 77 games and averaged 25.7 ppg (fourth best in the NBA) and 3.4 apg to go along with career-highs of 7.4 rpg and 1.27 spg. He also set new career-highs for both FG percentage (.492) and 3FG percentage (.354) as well. With his scoring average at 25.7, Melo joined Alex English as the only two players in Nuggets NBA history to average at least 25.0 ppg for three-consecutive seasons. He also scored 10+ points during every game in 2007-08, while pushing his NBA-leading streak of consecutive double-digit scoring efforts to a team record 207-straight regular season games. Against Dallas on Mar. 27, he scored his 9,000th career point to become the second youngest player in NBA history to reach 9,000 (behind only LeBron James). He also moved into fifth on the Nuggets all-time scoring list earlier in the year as he passed Byron Beck vs. Detroit on Feb. 25 at the Pepsi Center. In addition to yet another terrific scoring season, Anthony also posted a single-season career-best 22 double-doubles during the regular season -- after having 25 in his first four seasons combined. Twice this year Melo was named Western Conference Player of the Week, giving him a team record eight POW honors already in his young career. The highlight of the season for Anthony came at the 2008 NBA All-Star Game as he made his second-straight appearance, his first ever as an All-Star starter, and totaled a team-high-tying 18 points in just 22 minutes for the West.

There is no denying that Marcus Camby was one of the top centers in the NBA during the 2007-08 season. He played in a career-high 79 games during the regular season and averaged a career-high 13.1 rpg (second in the NBA) to go along with a league-leading 3.61 bpg. For more proof that Camby was one of the best post-men in the league this season, read more of his impressive stats in the NBA Defensive Player of the Year section directly below.

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Player, Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
Kevin Garnett, Boston	90	12	7	493
MARCUS CAMBY, DENVER	12	32	22	178
Shane Battier, Boston	11	33	21	175
Bruce Bowen, San Antonio	7	7	24	80
Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers	--	10	10	40
Josh Smith, Atlanta	1	6	11	34
Chris Paul, New Orleans	1	4	7	24
Dwight Howard, Orlando	1	4	7	24
Tim Duncan, San Antonio	--	6	4	22
Tayshaun Prince, Detroit	--	3	4	13

2007-08 NBA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR PRESENTED BY KIA MOTORS

Despite not defending his NBA Defensive Player of the Year award, Nuggets center Marcus Camby did finish second overall in the voting for this season's award -- behind only Boston's Kevin Garnett, the first-time winner. This marks the fourth-consecutive year that Camby has ranked in the Top-5 in votes for the top defensive honor, finishing third in 2004-05, fifth in 2005-06 and first in 2006-07 before this year's second place finish. He joins San Antonio's Bruce Bowen as the only two players in the NBA to have been voted in the Top-5 each of the last four seasons.

Whether he was named Defensive Player of the Year or not, that does not take away from the impressive season Camby put together on the defensive side of the floor -- while earning his second-straight selection to the NBA All-Defensive First Team in the process. Appearing in a career-high 79 games, he averaged a career-high 13.1 rpg (second in the NBA) to go along with a league-leading 3.61 bpg. This is the third-straight season (fourth time of his career) that he has led the NBA in blocks, joining Denver's Dikembe Mutombo as the only players in league history to have led the league three-consecutive seasons. Additionally, his four blocked shot titles tie him with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Mark Eaton for the most all-time since the NBA began tracking blocks in 1973-74. His 13.1 rpg in 2007-08 set a new team record for the highest single season rebounding average – surpassing the 13.0 rpg posted by Mutombo in 1992-93. He also set a team record for defensive rebounds in a season with 807, while his 1,037 total boards were the second-most posted in a season in team history.

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Player, Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
Manu Ginobili, San Antonio	123	--	--	615
Leandro Barbosa, Phoenix	1	84	26	283
Jason Terry, Dallas	--	9	17	44
Kyle Korver, Utah	--	7	13	34
Ben Gordon, Chicago	--	6	9	27
Josh Childress, Atlanta	--	5	8	23
J.R. SMITH, DENVER	--	4	10	22
James Posey, Boston	--	3	10	19
Jason Maxiell, Detroit	--	1	8	11
Travis Outlaw, Portland	--	--	11	11
LINAS KLEIZA, DENVER	--	1	2	5
Jordan Farmar, L.A. Lakers	--	1	2	5
Jerry Stackhouse, Dallas	--	--	4	4
Rashad McCants, Minnesota	--	1	--	3
Louis Williams, Philadelphia	--	1	--	3

2007-08 NBA SIXTH MAN AWARD PRESENTED BY KIA MOTORS

Although San Antonio's Manu Ginobili was named this year's Sixth Man of the Year, both J.R. Smith and Linas Kleiza of the Denver Nuggets received enough votes for this year's award to appear on the leaderboard. Smith, who averaged 12.3 ppg in just 19.2 mpg as a reserve in 2007-08, finished as the seventh-leading vote-getter in the NBA. Kleiza, who averaged 11.1 ppg and 4.2 rpg off the bench, was tied for 11th in the votes for this year's award. Incredibly, the Nuggets were the only team in the entire NBA to have two players finish in the Top-12 for the Sixth Man voting.

Smith put together a very solid season for the Nuggets in 2007-08, appearing in 74 games and setting career-highs with a .461 FG percentage and a .403 3FG percentage. He ranked first in the NBA in three-point field goals made per 48 minutes (5.3) and seventh in points per 48 minutes (30.6). He scored 20+ points 13 times in 2007-08, leading the NBA among all players to not record a start. Additionally, Smith made six or more three-pointers seven times during the year, which were the second most 6+ 3FG outings in the NBA (behind only Peja Stojakovic with eight). His 157 treys during the regular season stand as the fifth-most in a single-season in Nuggets history. Eight of those three-pointers came during his career-high performance at Chicago on Feb. 22, tallying 43 points in 33 minutes to set a team record for the most points scored by a Nugget in a non-starting role.

In his third year with the Nuggets, Kleiza put together by far his best campaign in the pros. He appeared in 79 games for Denver and averaged career-highs in nearly every statistical category, including: points (11.1), rebounds (4.2), assists (1.2), blocks (0.24), steals (0.56), minutes (23.9) and FG percentage (.472). Although he came off the bench much of the year, LK did get a chance to start 13 times during the regular season, while averaging 17.1 ppg in those games. Included in those starts was his career-high 41-point performance against the Utah Jazz on Jan. 17 at the Pepsi Center.

In order to be eligible for the Sixth Man of the Year Award, players had to have come off the bench in more games than they started. Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.