Colorado
NBA Draft: Colorado State’s Nique Clifford Has Continued to Showcase Two-Way Versatility
Following a standout year last season, Colorado State’s star wing Nique Clifford chose to return for his final year of eligibility and appears to have made the right decision in terms of raising his draft value. He was typically viewed as a potential second-round sleeper ahead of the 2024 NBA draft, but his play so far suggests that he has taken another leap, polishing aspects of his game that were considered questions at this time last year. Let’s dive into Clifford’s performance through his first eight games of this season and how he has skyrocketed into first-round conversations.
Clifford is an extremely versatile wing who uses his elite athleticism and two-way instincts to impact games all over the court. At this point, he has averaged 18.9 points, 11 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 0.4 steals and one block, with shooting splits of 57.3%/38.9%/65.5%. He has raised his shooting volume while also improving as a playmaker, but what has impressed the most this season is his consistent scoring and increased versatility on defense. Though he is an older prospect, meaning his long-term upside may not be as high as that of some rawer players, his immediate two-way impact is very intriguing.
His most recent outing in an 83-54 victory over Loyola Marymount highlighted his do-it-all playstyle. He finished this blowout win with 19 points, 17 rebounds and six assists. Clifford showed his ability to make his presence felt all over the floor and regularly made quick decisions depending on how his opponents attacked or shifted defensively. While he was versatile last season, his game was not nearly as polished as it has looked to start this year.
One of the biggest concerns with Clifford heading into this season was how effectively he could lead an offense now that he is the clear No. 1 scoring option for the Rams. Last season, he averaged 12.2 points across 36 games, with several big scoring outbursts. It was clear that he would be asked to perform more consistently this year, and he has not disappointed. Last season, he scored 20 points or more in only three games, but in this year’s small sample size, he has already matched that total, scoring 20 or more in three games, including a 31-point, 13-rebound outburst against Tennessee State. His volume of shot attempts and three-point attempts has also increased, along with his shooting percentages.
Clifford also has the potential to translate to the NBA as a versatile defender. He plays with a high motor and uses his vertical and lateral athleticism to cover multiple positions. On the perimeter, he uses great anticipation and his length to disrupt ball handlers and create havoc in passing lanes. He can also compete with bigger opponents closer to the rim, with good timing on contests and smart positioning to secure rebounds.
His high level of versatility on both ends of the floor was one of the most intriguing aspects of Clifford as a prospect last season and seems to have improved this year. It now looks like a safe bet that he will be selected in the 2025 NBA Draft, but if he maintains this level of productivity as the competition intensifies, how early he is selected could very well exceed current expectations.
Nique Clifford continues to look like a top 20 pick after dropping 25 PTS, 12-20 FG, 12 REB, 6 AST, and 3 BLK. His defense, off-ball creation, improved passing, rebounding, and scoring versatility should make him an easy fit in nearly any NBA rotation. pic.twitter.com/JOdal8WySz
— Tyler Metcalf (@tmetcalf11) November 30, 2024
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Colorado
Two-alarm fire damages hotel in Estes Park, 1 person taken to a Colorado hospital
A two-alarm fire damaged a hotel in Estes Park on Friday night. It happened at Expedition Lodge Estes Park just north of Lake Estes.
The lodge, located at 1701 North Lake Avenue on the east side of the Colorado mountain town, was evacuated after 8:30 p.m. and the fire chief said by 10 p.m. the fire was under control.
One person was hurt and taken to a hospital.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. So far it’s not clear how much damage it caused.
A total of 25 firefighters fought the blaze.
Colorado
Warm storm delivers modest totals to Colorado’s northern mountains
Lucas Herbert/Arapahoe Basin Ski Area
Friday morning wrapped up a warm storm across Colorado’s northern and central mountains, bringing totals of up to 10 inches of snowfall for several resorts.
Higher elevation areas of the northern mountains — particularly those in and near Summit County and closer to the Continental Divide — received the most amount of snow, with Copper, Winter Park and Breckenridge mountains seeing among the highest totals.
Meanwhile, lower base areas and valleys received rain and cloudy skies, thanks to a warmer storm with a snow line of roughly 9,000 feet.
Earlier this week, OpenSnow meteorologists predicted the storm’s snow totals would be around 5-10 inches, closely matching actual totals for the northern mountains. The central mountains all saw less than 5 inches of snow.
Here’s how much snow fell between Wednesday through Friday morning for some Western Slope mountains, according to a Friday report from OpenSnow:
Aspen Mountain: 0.5 inches
Snowmass: 0.5 inches
Copper Mountain: 10 inches
Winter Park: 9 inches
Breckenridge Ski Resort: 9 inches
Arapahoe Basin Ski Area: 8.5 inches
Keystone Resort: 8 inches
Loveland Ski Area: 7 inches
Vail Mountain: 7 inches
Steamboat Resort: 6 inches
Beaver Creek: 6 inches
Irwin: 4.5 inches
Cooper Mountain: 4 inches
Sunlight: 0.5 inches
Friday and Saturday will be dry, while Sunday will bring northern showers. The next storms are forecast to be around March 3-4 and March 6-7, both favoring the northern mountains.
Colorado
Avalanche discipline, power play falters, Central Division lead shrinks in 5-2 loss to Wild
The Colorado Avalanche had a chance Thursday night to regain some real separation between them and the Minnesota Wild.
It didn’t happen, and special teams were again an issue.
Minnesota’s Joel Eriksson Ek scored a pair of power-play goals, while the Avalanche took too many penalties and did not convert its chances with the extra man in a 5-2 loss at Ball Arena. The Wild scored on two of six power plays, both in the second period, then added a shorthanded goal into an empty net for good measure.
“We took six (penalties). Six is too many, especially against a power play like theirs,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “We had a slow start to the second and then just kind of started getting going, then took a bunch of penalties and kind of took the momentum away and swung it back in their favor again.”
Mackenzie Blackwood was excellent early in this contest and stopped 31 of 34 shots for the Avs in his first start since the Olympic break. Colorado, which went 0-for-3 on the power play, has not scored an extra-man goal in back-to-back games since Dec. 31 and Jan. 3. The Avs are 2-for-31 with the man advantage since Jan. 16, and at 15.1% are last in the NHL.
The Wild are now just five points behind the Avs in the Central Division, though Colorado has two games in hand. Filip Gustavsson made 44 saves for the visitors.
“I think we crated enough chances to win the hockey game,” Bednar said. “We give up the (second power-play goal) and that’s the difference in the hockey game for me. We had a chance (on the power play) … we score and it’s a tie game. We haven’t had an easy time capitalizing on some of our chances that we created in the last month.
“I’d like to see that turn around a little bit.”
Minnesota took advantage of three penalties on Colorado in a span of 53 seconds to take the lead with 2:23 left in the second period. Captain Gabe Landeskog was sent to the box for elbowing Eriksson Ek away from the play at 14:15 and Valeri Nichushkin was called for cross-checking at 15:04.
That gave the Wild a 5-on-3, but it went from bad to worse in a hurry for the home side. Brock Nelson won the 3-on-5 in his own end, but Brent Burns’ backhanded attempt to clear the puck out of the zone went into the stands for a delay of game.
Minnesota had a 5-on-3 for 1:56, which Colorado successfully killed off, but because Burns’ two minutes didn’t start until Landeskog’s penalty ended, there was more 5-on-4 time and Eriksson Ek scored his second of the night. The Swedish Olympian was trying to send a cross-crease pass to Kirill Kaprizov, but it hit the inside of Blackwood’s right leg and pinballed across the goal line.
Because of the extended penalty time, both Eriksson Ek and Boldy officially logged a shift of more than four minutes, leading to that goal.
“I’m not a big fan of the penalties we took, necessarily,” Landeskog said. “Obviously, mine is a penalty. Val, I felt like he was protecting himself and Burns, that’s a penalty. There’s nothing to argue about there. But yeah, that tilts the ice for sure and just gives them unnecessary momentum.
“So yeah, undisciplined and we’ve got to be better there for sure.”
Eriksson Ek put Minnesota in front at 7:48 of the second period. Cale Makar was called for slashing when his one-handed swipe while Yakov Trenin was attempting to shoot from the left wing. Trenin’s stick broke, so Makar went to the box.
Blackwood made the initial save on Matt Boldy’s shot from the high slot, but Eriksson Ek was there near the left post to clean up the rebound.
Martin Necas continued his hot run with a goal to even the score at 13:30 of the middle frame. Nathan MacKinnon picked up the puck in his own zone and carried it into the offensive end. He left a drop pass for Necas near the right point and then played fullback, driving Wild defenseman Daemon Hunt back to give Necas space and then providing a screen on a lethal wrist shot from his Czech linemate.
That was Necas’ 24th goal of the season. He added a second goal in the final minute after the Wild had built a three-goal advantage to give him 25 on the season.
It’s also three in two games since the Olympic break. Necas had three goals and eight points in five games for Czechia at the Olympics in Milan, equaling his country’s record for points at the event.
MacKinnon missed Colorado’s first game back on Wednesday because of maintenance. He actually slipped to third in the NHL scoring race as of Thursday morning, in part because Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov has now has 53 points in his past 23 games to track down MacKinnon and Edmonton’s Connor McDavid to make it a three-man race for the Art Ross Trophy.
McDavid (five times) and Kucherov (three) have combined to win the Art Ross in eight of the past nine years. MacKinnon has never won it, but has finished second each of the past two seasons.
Minnesota scored a second goal off a Colorado player to make it a 3-1 game and then added two empty-net tallies around Necas’ second goal to seal the Wild’s sixth win in a row.
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