Denver Stiffs

Game 12 Preview & Thread: Nuggets @ Clippers (8:30pm MDT)

2009-11-20T18:39:23Z

LOS ANGELES - After losing to the Clippers in the 2006 NBA playoffs, the Nuggets have owned L.A.'s weaker NBA franchise, losing just twice since and their last seven straight matchups.

What was once supposed to be a season of renewal for owner Donald Sterling's Clips has been nothing short of a grand disappointment. After kicking off the season with an injury to first overall pick Blake Griffin, the Clippers came out of the gates losing nine of their first 13 games. And there's no reason to believe that tonight won't be 10 of 14.

Simply put, there's no one on the Clippers who can guard Carmelo Anthony on a normal night, and Melo has had three days rest. Good luck with that, Al Thornton.

The Clippers do pose one problem for the Nuggets, however: height. Both Chris Kaman and former Nugget Marcus Camby have a substantial size advantage over Nene and Kenyon Martin, and the Nuggets struggled against taller teams last season. And yet in spite of their height, the Clippers are as poor at rebounding as the Nuggets are (the Clippers rank 25th overall in total rebounds, the Nuggets 24th). If the Nuggets play intelligently, they should be able to poach some offensive boards when the Clippers are napping on the glass...as they normally do.

Splitting my time between L.A. and Denver, I've been able to attend most of the Nuggets at Clippers games during the Carmelo Anthony Era. The games are usually evenly fought in the first half, maybe even into the third quarter, and then the Nuggets remember that they're the Nuggets and the Clippers remember they're the Clippers, and our boys in powder blue and gold bring a W back to Denver. I expect nothing short of a confident Nuggets victory tonight, and here are some players the Nuggets (and their fans) need to keep an eye on...

Clippers Stiffs

-Baron Davis: Shooting a ghastly 40% from the field, Davis has shot the Clippers out of games all season long with poor shot selection. Even though he worked himself into great shape in the offseason, Davis is in danger of becoming nothing better than a more gainfully employed version of Allen Iverson. Oh, and Davis is due almost $15 million...three seasons from now!

-Rasual Butler: What I thought was a good offseason signing by the Clips, Butler is shooting worse than Davis, connecting on just 36.7% of his shot attempts and a near career low 29.3% of three-pointers.

-Blake Griffin: The overall number one pick succumbed to the Clippers curse even before the regular season tipped off by fracturing his patella.

Clippers Non-Stiffs

-Chris Kaman: The aforementioned Kaman is having an All-Star caliber season, showing why Nene making the All-Star team as a center remains a stretch. Kaman is putting up a career high 21.5 ppg on a career high 53.7% shooting from the field. I'm not sure where I'll be sitting tonight, but I look forward to confirming whether or not Kaman remains on my All Shoulder Hair Team (Rudy Fernandez has been taken off after conducting some offseason grooming).

-Eric Gordon (injured tonight): He may be undersized for a shooting guard and have the funniest-looking pair of ears since Popeye Jones played in the NBA, but this sophomore can score and does so efficiently.

-Marcus Camby: Say what you want about Camby, but the 14-year veteran still gets the job done with his rebounding and shot blocking. It also shouldn't be surprising that Camby has appeared in all 13 games and this just happens to be a contract year for the former Nugget center.

Opposing View: Clips Nation

Photo courtesy of AP: Gus Ruelas

THREE DAYS WITH GEORGE (Part 2)...

2009-11-19T15:54:49Z

This is the second of a three-part series chronicling the time I spent last week with Nuggets head coach George Karl and following the team from Chicago to Milwaukee. Part 1 featured my formal interview with our team's coach and Part 2 details the next two days thereafter. Part 3 - coming this weekend - will be my analysis.

PART II

Tuesday – Chicago

I probably shouldn’t have titled this series "Three Days with George" but instead: "One Practice, One Lunch, One Crashed Lunch and One Locker Room Run-In with George." But that would have taken up too much space.

At the invitation of Bret Adams (George Karl’s lawyer and longtime friend), I decided to stay in Chicago for the Nuggets game against the Bulls on Tuesday night and make my way up to Milwaukee on Wednesday, as well, to visit my grandmother during the day and catch the Nuggets/Bucks game on Wednesday night.

Having spent much of Monday with the Nuggets, Adams and Karl, on Tuesday I holed up in my hotel room and worked from there all day on my non-blogging ventures (you know, the things I actually get paid real money for!). When I stepped out for lunch, I texted Adams asking if I could meet him and Karl somewhere for a quick picture and Adams told me to meet them at The Cheesecake Factory.

I walk into The Cheesecake Factory and there’s Karl, Adams, Karl’s significant other and a collection of their family and friends. Like 15 or so people. Karl immediately introduces me to the entire table as "the guy who launched firegeorgekarl.com" to which everyone collectively replied: "That’s you?!!" (I get this reaction every time, by the way. I suspect it’s because people expect a blogger to be a short, fat, acne-faced, teenage weasel who hides in his mother’s basement whereas I’m 6’5", 210 pounds, 34 years old and only hide in my mother’s basement occasionally.)

Karl got up and we took the picture, and then he pulled out a chair for me and invited me to join everyone. Karl was noticeably looser this time, warmer and even more engaging than the day before. "Everyone here has a lot of questions for you," Karl said with a shit-eating grin on his face. This time, I was the one about to get grilled.

Karl’s significant other and her family grilled me first (in a non-confrontational way, however), noting the constant negativity about Karl in the comments concerned them and they seemed to attribute much of that to me. (This happens a lot, by the way. Many people who aren’t familiar with blogs or blogging associate the commenting with the proprietor of the site. It just comes with the territory.) I explained that as long as no one is saying anything libelous or slanderous, they can say whatever they want, but that Nate Timmons (my co-writer) and I moderate personal attacks that are over the boundaries of poor taste and delete them if necessary. And that, believe or not, Nate and I read every comment left at Denver Stiffs.

Karl then pined in, talking some trash: "I hear you’ve sold out to the NBA", referring to Denver Stiffs becoming absorbed by SB Nation, which has an overall deal with the NBA for credentials to league-wide events. I explained that that wasn’t the case at all, but that I’ve definitely evolved from an angry fan with lots of passion and few facts to a borderline full-fledged journalist with a lot of inside scoop on the team and the NBA. I told Karl that I call this the "blogger’s dilemma" (something I’ll address is great detail in Part 3), and it’s something that sports bloggers nationwide are dealing with right now.

From there, we talked about an assortment of topics while everyone wrapped up their lunch (and stuck Adams with the tab again). Given that the conversation was of a personal, informal nature, I won’t get into much of what was discussed but I did glean a few more insights into the man that’s been steering our Nuggets since 2005.

The topic of yelling at players came up again, and Karl addressed it in a new way this time. He said that as you evolve as an NBA coach, you go through several stages and he likened it to the three most famous World War II generals (for the Allied side, anyway). Karl: "There were three great generals in World War II: Patton, MacArthur and Montgomery. Patton wasn’t the smartest, but he was the toughest and the meanest and exactly what we needed at the beginning of the war. But as the war progressed, you needed generals like MacArthur and Montgomery in charge to manage the war; the politics, the aftermath, the rebuilding, etc. Coaching the NBA is a lot like that. When you’re young, you want to be a lot like Patton: yelling, mean, tough, loud. But as you get older, you start to manage the game rather than impose your will on your players."

This conversation segued into which players you can yell at, and which ones you can’t and Karl noted that Gregg Popovich can yell at Tim Duncan as much as he wants because Duncan can take it. I then asked Karl the same question I’ve asked everyone I ever meet involved in the NBA: "You can have any one of the following five players on Day One of their career – Shaquille O’Neal, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant or LeBron James. Which one do you take?" Without hesitation, Karl responded the same way everyone else does: "Tim Duncan." I swear I’m like 20-for-20 with this question being answered the same way.

After a little more back-and-forth, we stumbled onto to our thoughts on social policy and Adams jumped in, joking that I’m "a gene pool lottery winner", referring to my upbringing in the nicer suburbs of Denver. I countered: "I’m a gene pool lottery winner?! What about Coby? [Referring to Karl’s son Coby, currently playing for the Cavaliers.] Not only was he born to a rich dad but he was born with an awesome jump shot. Now that’s a gene pool lottery winner!" Karl was visibly touched and I left on that note so they could enjoy the rest of their lunch in peace without the pesky blogger loitering around.

That night, I accompanied Adams and Lori Hoch, who runs an investment firm out of Milwaukee and is the chairperson for Karl’s charitable foundation, Friends of Hoop, to the Bulls game. I had never heard of Friends of Hoop, and learned that its purpose is to raise money for financially-troubled high school basketball players who can’t afford to send themselves to national tournaments on their own, in hopes of getting on the radar of college programs who scout there. Adams wouldn’t get into specifics, but said that Karl has invested "a considerable amount" of his own money to get this foundation off the ground and keep it going. As I learn more about the foundation, I’ll be sure to write a column on it for this site.

On to the game, having spent some time with Karl and seeing how hard the players and assistants worked in practice; I can’t remember the last time I rooted that hard for the Nuggets in a regular season game. Moreover, watching the game alongside Karl’s closest friends makes for an entirely different experience. As I chronicled the next day here, the emotions that these people go through during a game are akin to Karl’s, because they’re so close to him. Karl, like all coaches, is probably the last guy you want to be around after a tough loss. And after Brad Miller sank what appeared to be a miracle game-winning shot with just 0.3 seconds remaining, everyone assumed they were in for a shitty night ahead.

But fortunately for Karl’s friends (and me as a Nuggets fan), the referees made the right call and reversed Miller’s made shot. Nuggets win!! Nuggets win!! When the call was finally announced (after 15 excruciatingly long minutes), Adams and I high-fived and embraced each other. We were ecstatic. Then Adams put both his hands on his knees and let out a huge gasp of air. Remember, when you’re in the middle of a contract extension, every game counts.

After our brief celebration, we left the United Center and I went back to my hotel for the night. I had to get up early and drive to Milwaukee early the next day.

Wednesday – Milwaukee

I headed up to Milwaukee first-thing in the morning so I could squeeze in as much time as possible with my 97-year-old (and lifelong Bucks fan) grandmother, get some work done and get to the stadium early enough to meet up with Adams. This time, Adams hooked me up with a media badge through his friends at the Bucks which meant I had locker room access. Yes!!

I met up with Adams a couple hours before tipoff and we headed into the Bradley Center. Since he’s basically an agent, he’s forbidden from entering an NBA locker room. Fortunately for me (on so many levels), I’m not an agent.

So I walked into the locker room by myself and saw Karl in there being interviewed by a local beat writer while Nuggets assistant Chad Iske was glued to his laptop preparing for the game. Not wanting to be a pest, I walked in gingerly. (Remember, I’ve never been inside an NBA locker room before. And while I might be a jaded / over-educated fan as a result of this blog, I’m still a geeky NBA fan at heart. This was a dream come true!)

Karl noticed me right away and gave me some shit for writing in my post-game recap that he shouldn’t have had Chauncey purposely miss the second free throw at the conclusion of the Bulls game. I reiterated my concern that leaving 0.3 seconds on the clock opens you up to getting back-doored into a loss. But I conceded that it’s a 50/50 decision and there’s no absolute right answer. I looked around the room a bit – which seemed a bit small for an NBA locker room – and commented on how I’d never been in an NBA locker room before. Karl pointed out that we weren’t in the locker room but the coaches’ room (I felt dumb), and directed me around the corner. I left Karl to his interview and headed into the other room…the real visitor’s locker room.

On the way to the locker room I passed the training room where Kenyon Martin was getting some treatment on his leg by Nuggets trainer Jim Gillen, while Nuggets assistant Tim Grgrich was showing K-Mart something on a lap top computer. (Can you imagine Doug Moe showing Blair Rasmussen a scouting report on a lap top computer?) I passed through the training room and – voila – entered the real locker room where most of the Nuggets players were getting themselves prepped for game time: Chauncey Billups, Carmelo Anthony, Nene, Joey Graham, Johan Petro, Chris Andersen, etc. I have to say – and this goes back to being a geeky NBA fan at heart again – being in an NBA locker room and right up close with your favorite players is a surreal experience. Most of the players didn’t seem to notice or care that I was in there (they must be used to strangers with "media" badges being around all the time), so I just stood in the center of the locker room and took it all in.

In the middle of the locker room was a table of food that a few players were picking at, but most were sitting in their own locker stations with headphones on getting ready for the game. I didn’t say anything to anyone figuring each player has his own pre-game routine and didn’t want to be a distraction (the Nuggets were going to have a tough enough game against the Bucks that night...they didn’t need me jinxing anything for them). I was tempted to say hi to Chauncey since we’re essentially the same age and I watched him kick my high school’s ass in the state tournament for three straight years, but he seemed more focused and serious than the other players and I let him be.

After a few more moments, I walked out, wished Karl and his assistants good luck and joined Adams in the media dining room where he introduced me to a number of people associated with the Bucks. Since Karl coached there for five seasons, both he and Adams have a number of friends still with and/or covering the organization. From there, Adams and I went into the stands where we ran into Nuggets announcers (and Denver Stiffs Hall of Famer) Scott Hastings and Chris Marlowe. And even though those two guys were just about to go on air, we renewed the debate on the strategy with 0.3 seconds left. Hastings noted that it’s not physically possible to grab a rebound and call timeout in just 0.3 seconds, and thus the Bulls shouldn’t have had any time to work with in the first place. I wished them both a good broadcast and moved on.

I then saw a giant man who looked like an exact clone of Chris Andersen if Andersen had suddenly aged 30 years and, sure enough, it was none other than Claus Andersen, the Birdman’s father. The elder Andersen was proudly wearing his son’s #11 jersey and we chatted for a bit. Claus had never seen his son play and this was his first NBA game (according to Claus they reconnected just a few years ago when Birdman reached out to him). When I told him I was the guy who launched the "Bring Back Birdman" petition, he enthusiastically thanked me. You could tell he swelled with pride over his son the same way Karl does over Coby.

I’ve been to NBA games in about six or so cities and I might like the Bradley Center the most. Believe it or not, it’s the second oldest stadium in the NBA (it’s like 18 years old) and some people in Milwaukee are already talking about the city needing a new stadium. That’s total bullshit. The Bradley Center is a great venue. It feels like an intimate college arena more than your typical cavernous NBA arena. It has suites, but not three levels of suites like Staples Center (if you’ve ever seen an NBA game from a third-level Staples Center suite, it’s actually worse than watching the game on TV).

But like all the stops on this recent road trip for the Nuggets – with the exception of Chicago – the stadium was more than half empty. The Bucks do, however, have a boisterous contingency of young fans who have costumes, and drums and perform synchronized chants throughout the game (kind of like Pepsi Center’s Melo’s Yellows). But unlike in Denver they aren’t banned to the upper rafters and instead get to sit at the top part of the lower bowl, making their presence felt. Every NBA team should have a group of fans like this and offer discounted seats, on a rotating basis, that gets teenagers and college-aged kids at the games, in costumes and involved. How could this be a bad thing?

As I recapped on the blog late Wednesday night, the final game of the Nuggets six-game roadie was hard fought but ultimately, not meant to be. ESPN.com’s J.A. Adande wrote recently that the Nuggets late effort at Milwaukee that night actually showed more about them than the blowout win over the Lakers the following Friday. But unfortunately for us, the Bucks never remembered that they’re the Bucks, while the Nuggets missed a bunch of good shot attempts and played atrocious defense. Fatigue at the end of a long road trip featuring three pairs of back-to-back games would finally do them in.

When the game was over I said my goodbyes to Adams, a truly gracious host and a fun guy to be around, and headed straight back to my hotel to write a quick recap for Denver Stiffs and get my four hours of sleep before taking off for Denver first-thing the next morning on 6am Frontier flight. Like the team I followed for a few days, I was beyond exhausted and it was time to go home…for all of us.

Nuggets get pass happy against Raptors... (recap)

2009-11-18T06:40:05Z

The Nuggets outscored the Raptors in the second half 66-48 en route to their eighth win of the season. Along the way, Billups racks up 10 of his teams' 34 assists.

In the first half of tonight's game ... the Raptors couldn't seem to miss and the Nuggets couldn't seem to get on track defensively. With the score tied at 64 a piece heading into the locker room, I was a bit concerned with the Nuggets focus in their defensive rotations because the Raptors were getting a lot of open looks and making them.

Before the contest I said this could be a "trap game" for Denver after coming off a big win with a lot of rest. The first half didn't do anything to quell my fears. But then the second half began and once again Denver came out ready to go in the third quarter and looked to have their killer instinct back and took control of the game's tempo.

The Nuggets held down the fast-forward button as the Raptors moved in slow motion after the break. Being at the game I couldn't really count, but Denver may have had 152 straight possessions that led to fastbreak points. (A bit of a stretch?) The Nuggets came out of the locker room and just owned the tempo of the second half. The Raptors started missing contested shots and the Nuggets took advantage in a major way. You could see the Raptors become deflated and Chirs Bosh even earned himself a technical foul after getting whistled for a double foul along with Birdman.

There was a stretch in the third quarter where J.R. Smith and Chris Andersen walked up to the scorers table, but were not able to get into the game for a large chunk of time because there was no stop in the Nuggets' fastbreak action. By the time play came to a stop you could see Toronto was worn out and the Nuggets starters were a bit gassed themselves ... as Lawson, Smith, and Bird entered the contest.

The passing got contagious as the game progressed and Billups (10), Lawson (6), Melo (5), Nene (5), and Double A (4) all finished with more than four assists. Sometimes the ball was being whipped around so fast that I thought the Raptors players were going to get dizzy and fall over ... then the play would end with a wide open dunk or shot for Denver.

That was a very fun game to be at with all the offensive firepower and Denver earned a 130-112 victory with a great effort in the second half. Definitely a tale of two halves.

Player Notes:

CB1 - logged his second game of double digit assists of the season. Denver is 2-0 in those contests. This was one of those games where the veteran guard realized his offensive prowess would be best served getting his teammates involved ... and he did just that tonight. Billups will probably always find ways to be useful on the floor.

Ty Lawson - "the Rook" logged meaningful minutes as the primary backup once again with A.C. on the shelf. Lawson's effectiveness allowed Billups to play just 27 minutes. More games where Billups plays less than 30 minutes and the Nuggets win, will prove very valuable down the road. Lawson made a play on a fastbreak that just shows his basketball I.Q. ... Amir Johnson was chasing him down on a breakaway and instead of trying to get the layup off over the bigger guy, Lawson used his body to shield Johnson off and almost made the difficult layup anyway. We've seen body defense on layups become a staple of the Rookie's game since getting some layups blocked in the preseason.

Double A - as he continues to get more comfortable with his new teammates we're starting to see the all-around game that Afflalo talked about wanting to be known for when he was traded to Denver. He shot 5-9 on the night and 2-4 from downtown ... it's nice to have a weapon like him. There seems to be some nice chemistry between Lawson and Afflalo as well. Lawson knows when he drives the lane that Afflalo is going to be in the corner waiting to launch one of his text book threes.

J.R. Smith - the Nuggets are a different calibar team with #5 on the floor. J.R. loves to toy with his defender ... especially if his defender is not as quick as him. Tonight Smith abused Marco Belinelli with his offensive arsenal. When Belinelli sank off and gave J.R. room he was burying threes (5-9) and when Belinelli tried to play J.R. straight up Smith would call for a clear out and take the ball to the rack. Belinelli had a nice night shooting the ball, but he was not up for guarding Smith. It was nice to see J.R. find his stroke and yet remain aggressive attacking the rim for 29 points.

Melo - had it going tonight ... his shot was falling, but it seemed like he knew he was starting to force some stuff so he started using his brilliant passing ability to find wide open shots for his teammates and they were WIDE OPEN ... maybe because the defense figured he was going to shoot. He scored 32 points in three quarters of basketball and didn't even play the fourth quarter as George Karl has adopted the superstar mentality with Melo ... meaning he may sit to start the fourth and then be used only if necessary. My favorite play that Melo made ... after stealing the ball with the quarter winding down in the third Melo drove baseline and drew a foul. He then walked over to the crowd and encouraged them to cheer the teams' effort in the period. Nothing better than players recognizing the crowd and mixing it up a little bit (no, Ron Artest does not typically mix it up correctly with the crowd.)

Renaldo Balkman - saw 11 minutes as K-Mart found himself in a touch of early foul trouble. Balkman wasn't effective and was trying to guard the massive Andrea Bargnani ... total mismatch. Balkman's hustle unfortunately didn't become a factor tonight.

K-Mart - had a nice game and got out on the fastbreak a few times and was rewarded for doing so with a couple nice throw downs. I don't know if there is another player on the team that can fire the crowd up with a dunk the way Martin can ... maybe Bird ... sometimes Nene, but a K-Mart dunk just has that anger behind it that lets you know it's a big dunk and probably a momentum changer.

Nene - had perhaps his best game of the season. He was attacking very quickly ... as soon as he got the ball he was on the move with it going to the rim with a pretty left baby hook. Usually Nene will get in trouble when he holds the ball too long, but when he attacks quick the way he did tonight ... guys can't stay with him. Nene notched his third double-double on the year with 20 points (season high) and 10 rebounds. Denver is now 3-0 when Nene has a double-dip.

Birdman - had a block where his elbow was just about above the rim it seemed. It was nice to see some of that Bird back. There was another play where he tried for a finger-roll on the baseline and came up just short ... he jumped a bit too early with the ball as his window for a clear path wasn't very open, so I don't think it was a lack of hops or anything like that. There were also a couple plays where after setting a pick, Bird rolled to the hoop and the ball hit him in the back as he wasn't expecting the pass. On the second one you could see the frustration on Bird's face ... I believe Lawson threw the pass and the chemistry will come eventually. Some of Nuggets Nation (including myself to a degree) are worried about the Bird and his ability this season. Suffering injuries to your legs (especially nagging ones like he's had) are very frustrating things ... I think we'll see a more explosive Bird as the season presses on.

Malik Allen, Joey Graham, Johan Petro - the end of the bench guys played very little late in the fourth quarter. I was surprised that Karl chose to use Balkman over Graham because Karl has a tendency to use guys who used to play for former teams ... Petro got some run against the Thunder whenever Denver played them. Speaking of Petro ... he was wearing sneakers that was white with a lot of yellow on it ... for some reason it looked like he was wearing two school buses out there. (I'm also a bit concerned about Afflalo playing in Adidas Superstar shoes ... they just don't seem like great shoes for bball, maybe he'd be even better in some Jumpman's?)

And speaking of former players ... Sonny Weems has found a home in Toronto this season. Weems played 27 minutes and scored 12 points. It was nice to see him get some burn in Denver and mix it up with his old teammates.

ntimmons73@yahoo.com

Photo courtesy of AP Photos: David Zalubowski

Game 11 Preview & Thread: Raptors at Nuggets (7pm MDT)

2009-11-17T21:26:09Z

Coming off a big win against the Los Angeles Lakers, it's time for the Nuggets to respond by taking care of a 5-5 Toronto Raptors team. Beating a high scoring team featuring Chris Bosh and Hedo Turkoglu isn't going to be easy.

Records:
Denver: 7-3
Toronto: 5-5 (key wins: vs. Cleveland, Detroit, and Chicago)
Injuries:
Denver: Anthony Carter (hip) is questionable. Kenyon Martin (knee/leg) and Ty Lawson (calf strain) are listed as day-to-day.
Toronto: Hedo Turkoglu (Hip) and Antoine Wright (ankle) both are listed as day-to-day.

The Raptors feature a team that scores the fourth highest points per game in the NBA (106.9 ppg), the good news for Denver is that they have been giving up the fifth highest points per game in the league with 105.9. The key tonight is going to be for the Nuggets to play some defense. We saw a great defensive game last Friday ... topped off with a third quarter in which Denver only gave up 8 points.

We've seen these "trap" types games before. The team is coming off a big win, they've had a lot of rest (which was needed), and Toronto will give up a lot of points. Denver cannot get into a score-fest tonight because if they do this game will be a lot closer than it should.

The Raptors have a talented roster starting off with Chris Bosh (27.7 ppg / 11.6 reb), Andrea Bargnani (19.3 ppg), Hedo Turkoglu (14.5), Jose Calderon (12.5) and Carmelo Anthony's playoff punching bag Antoine Wright (from Dallas).

We know the Raptors can score, but Denver should actually have the advantage on the boards. The Raptors average 39.4 boards per game and the Nuggets average 43.7 boards. Again, it'll be key for Denver to not allow high-percentage opportunities and use what should be an advantage on the glass to jump-start the offense. The Nuggets play at their best when their defense is creating fastbreaks and they share the ball on offense. Against the Lakers, Denver made 37 field goals and registered 28 assists on those ... that's playing as a team.

A quick note ... if you are heading to the game tonight - they will be wanding all individuals walking in. Doors will open a bit earlier tonight (5:30 p.m.) to allow fans to hopefully not have to wait in crazy lines. There will be 10 games this season at Pepsi Center (mandated by the NBA) where all individuals will be wanded and this is the first of those games.

Opposition's Take: Raptors HQ

I'm a big believer in "balance = success" in the NBA.

To me the best teams in the league have that perfect mix of O and D, and a variation of players who perform all types of functions on the court; from scoring to getting loose balls.

When the Denver Nuggets acquired Chauncey Billups last season from the Detroit Pistons, I felt that they cemented a fairly balanced group; one capable of scoring with the Lakers of the league, yet being able to bang with the Celtics as well. (Go read the rest of the preview on Raptors HQ...)

ntimmons73@yahoo.com

Photo courtesy of AP Photos: Frank Gunn

THREE DAYS WITH GEORGE (Part 1)...

2009-11-15T20:27:50Z

This is the first of a three-part series chronicling the time I spent last week with Nuggets head coach George Karl and following the team from Chicago to Milwaukee. Part 1 follows my first day with Karl and the team, and the formal interview I conducted on Monday after Nuggets practice. Note that I'm just recapping what happened, and not doing much analysis (that will come later in Part 3).

Newcomers to this site may not know this, but my blogging "career" kicked off in late February of 2008 when – after watching the Nuggets drop two straight games at Chicago (against a bad Bulls team) and at Milwaukee (against an even worse Bucks team) and with a playoff absence looming – I launched www.firegeorgekarl.com; a hail mary pass of sorts to salvage a season that was slipping away in spite of having what I believed (at the time) to be the most talented roster ever assembled in Denver Nuggets history. I suppose it was fitting then that two seasons later during yet another Nuggets back-to-back at Chicago and Milwaukee, I finally got to spend some time with the man I once tried to run out of Denver.

For those who weren’t reading this site at the time, the thinking back in 2008 was that some long overdue heat would get Coach Karl up from the bench, working the refs, barking at his players and the team would respond with something better than an 8^th-seed and a fourth straight first-round blowout playoff loss.

But what began as a local stunt erupted into a national story when Karl’s Columbus (Ohio)-based lawyer, business partner and longtime friend Bret Adams threatened to sue me and, acting on my legal counsel’s advice, I posted the threatening email on the site where it promptly found its way onto Deadspin (Deadspin's readers and their founder, Will Leitch, deserve much of the credit for breaking the story nationally and having my back), ESPN.com, The Sporting News, The Wall Street Journal Law Blog and was covered thoroughly in the Denver sports media, as well. The blog caught on like wild fire among frustrated Nuggets fans worldwide (the site was even being translated into Chinese for a while for Chinese Nuggets fans), and suddenly I had a third job on my hands that required a lot of time and attention.

Much has changed since then to say the least.

Soon after launching the site, I got deluged with information – both on the record and off, good stories and bad – about the general state of the Nuggets organization, the players and their head coach and quickly began to realize that pinning all the blame for a lost season on one person was a misinformed mistake (even though Nuggets vice president of basketball operations Mark Warkentien contends that any 50-win season is a great success, I will forever beg to differ). Not only was this unfair to Karl – someone whom I’ve greatly respected and admired for as long as I can remember (and said so from Day One on this site) – but it wasn’t fair to me, either. I never wanted to be known as a fire[insert coach name here].com kind of guy and the site’s moniker tarnished whatever little credibility I would ever have as an NBA enthusiast. In other words, I knew better than to blame one person for a team’s demise because it’s never that simple (unless that one person is Bernie Bickerstaff, of course). If you’ve ever heard the phrase "success has a thousand fathers, and failure is an orphan", you know exactly what I mean. I had made Karl an orphan and no one in the organization had his back (at least not publicly).

So at the conclusion of 2007-08 season FGK.com was reborn as DenverStiffs.com and I made it a point to write a more balanced blog from that point forward. The result? The readership quadrupled, I got on SBNation’s radar and now – combined with my new partner in crime Nate Timmons – we’re reaching more Nuggets fans than all other Nuggets blogs combined and have the most vibrant, balanced and educated community of Nuggets fans online. And making things even better for us, the team finally played up to (and beyond) their potential. I even advocated for Karl to get serious Coach of the Year consideration at the end of the 2008-09 campaign, the best in Nuggets NBA franchise history. I’ve always said that you can’t take all the blame when the team fails and get none of the credit when it succeeds.

All this led to an impromptu meeting with Karl and Adams during Las Vegas Summer League, which I chronicled in great detail at the time if you’d like to give it another read. I’ve kept in touch with Adams – a genuinely nice guy – and we arranged to meet in Chicago at his suggestion since the Nuggets had a three-day break and it’s best to catch Karl when he’s on the road without the numerous distractions at home.

And thus on Monday, I found myself in Chicago about to get a real education on the sport and the team I love the most.

On Monday morning, I waited for Adams in the lobby of the Nuggets hotel as the training and coaching staff began to gather. In walked Nuggets play-by-play broadcaster Chris Marlowe – whom I got to meet before a playoff game last spring and he couldn’t be a nicer guy – and we caught up a bit. I also spoke briefly with the Nuggets new PR man Tim Gelt and was introduced to a few other members of the Nuggets traveling staff. Then Adams came sauntering in, we shook hands and I handed him a pair of our new Denver Stiffs T-shirts, one for him and one for Karl (how’s that for a peace offering?).

Soon thereafter, the players started arriving – all a few minutes early, by the way (it’s embarrassing that I was impressed by their punctuality but this is the NBA, after all). It was 10:30am and the players seemed relaxed and in good spirits in spite of coming off two bad back-to-back blowout losses.

As the players departed for the team bus (which I was really, really hoping to ride on, by the way), Adams led me to a separate car where we were driven to a nearby college gym by a few of Karl’s friends who were in Chicago. Not wanting to be a distraction, we sat in a few seats in the corner of the gym. Before practice kicked off, Karl came over to say hi to me and we shook hands. "What the hell are you wearing, man?" Karl said, referring to my plaid shirt and brown velvet sport coat (I figured if I was hanging around NBA players, I had to look sharp). "You should talk," retorted Adams. I told Coach Karl that if he didn’t like what I was wearing he should get me some Nuggets gear and suit me up, to which he laughed and returned to practice.

While trying to pay attention to the practice, Adams and I started talking about an assortment of topics – I even shared my conspiracy theory about where LeBron James is going (I’m convinced he’s staying in Cleveland or why else would those Chinese investors pony up to buy into the Cavaliers?). I was able to see everything but hear nothing as we were too far away and the gym was filled with the sound of bouncing basketballs, barking players and assistant coaches yelling.

Having never attended an NBA practice before, I can’t tell you if this was better, worse or average compared to other practices. But from the start, it was evident that Karl wasn’t going to give the players a hard time for dropping those two games in Miami and Atlanta and instead got them going on an assortment of drills as if everything is going to plan (and at 5-2 and being early in the season, he’s probably right to approach things this way). From my vantage point, the players looked engaged and were working hard, notably during an intra-squad scrimmage where the starters – sans Kenyon Martin who was resting his leg – went head-to-head with the reserves as both teams worked through various plays at full bore effort. And yes, contrary to what many of us have thought over the years, the Nuggets have a playbook.

After practice concluded, most of the players continued to shoot individually. Watching J.R. Smith effortlessly hoist three-pointers was fun. Ty Lawson seems to have become automatic on his corner J. And Carmelo Anthony’s jumper is just text book, like he was born to shoot. Additionally, not a single Nuggets assistant coach was idle. Each assistant was talking to or working with a player on something (again, I could only see, not hear) and didn’t stop until time was up and bus was departing.

While the players shot around, Karl did a few interviews with the press that was there and then came over to discuss our lunch plans. When asked how the practice went, Karl happily said it was "an A+ practice" and was in a good mood. This boded well for our lunch.

Karl took the team bus back to the hotel while Adams and I got back in the car and headed to the restaurant (damn, I was 0-2 on getting on the team bus!).

We got to the restaurant and sat down, and soon after Karl joined us. As we perused the menus, I told Karl that I wanted to clear the air before we got started, and sincerely apologized for launching a website targeting him solely for the team’s struggles. Surprised, Karl said "why?" and I explained that to blame him squarely wasn’t fair, that I knew better and have since learned a good deal about the entire situation and in hindsight have a much better understanding of why that season didn’t pan out as anyone had hoped. Karl didn’t outright accept the apology but said he didn’t care about the site and even thought it was funny. I don’t believe him that he didn’t care, but I could tell he appreciated the apology and we moved on.

From there, we talked endlessly about basketball and it was a lot of fun (please note that none of this is in order, I’m just regurgitating from my pile of notes…and please also note that I’m not exactly a real journalist)…

On the contract extension…

For the uninitiated, Karl is in the last year of a five-year deal and all signs pointed to an extension during the summer. Then abruptly, nothing happened, making Karl a "lame duck" coach (to be fair, when you’ve won almost 950 games by winning nearly 60% of them and get paid several millions of dollars annually, "lame duck" is probably the wrong term). I could quickly tell that Karl was uncomfortable talking about it, which is understandable. Those of us who have followed the Nuggets closely over the years know that owner Stan Kroenke doesn’t like it when his employees negotiate their contracts through the media (see: Vandeweghe, Kiki). Karl did mention however that he’d be genuinely sad to leave Denver, that Denver is home for him now and regardless of where he ends up, he’ll continue to live in Denver and raise his young daughter there.

Karl also said that he’s more concerned about the fate of his assistant coaches – whom he claims are the best in the league – than his own fate. This didn’t surprise me as the fate of a lot of assistants around the league are tied to the head coaches they work for. You know, that whole "coaching tree" thing.

On Renaldo Balkman’s minutes…

This has been a hot topic at Denver Stiffs since Balkman’s arrival, so I asked Karl about it. He said it was a "fair question" but that he’s "not comfortable playing Balkman at the three because he doesn’t have great basketball sense and the playbook shrinks when he’s in the game." I countered that Balkman always seems to be near the ball, collecting rebounds at a frantic rate and, to quote ESPN’s Jay Bilas, has a great motor. How could a coach not like a guy like that? Karl said that Balkman is one of his "good/bad" players (a quote we’ve heard before used in regards to J.R. Smith), meaning he does a lot of things well but still does too many things poorly to get into the rotation with regularity.

When I asked about Balkman getting more minutes at the four-spot, Karl said he’s more comfortable having Chris Andersen play there. He also said that they experimented with giving Balkman more playing time during the preseason, but it sounds like Balkman will continue to be used sparingly as evident by two straight DNP-CDs against Chicago and Milwaukee.

On not working the refs…

My biggest beef with Karl in the past was that he (appeared) to refuse to work the refs during games, so I had to ask about this. Karl retorted that working the refs is "overrated" and that Dean Smith (the legendary University of North Carolina coach whom Karl played for) didn’t believe in berating officials. I brought up the example of Doc Rivers from Game 2 of the 2008 NBA Finals. Noticing that his Celtics and the Garden crowd were flat at home during the second quarter, Doc purposefully took a technical on a harmless non-call and that technical fired up the crowd and seemed to be a catalyst for a Celtics run that put the game away. I even wrote about that moment on the blog in my June 18^th, 2008 column titled "5 lessons the Nuggets should learn from this NBA Finals". Karl conceded that there might be something to that but again stood by his statement that working the refs was overrated. (Don’t be surprised if Karl gets himself a big T at Pepsi Center soon.)

Fair enough, but I asked him how he could get only one technical – second lowest in the league – in 2007-08 and he quickly pointed out that he finished in the top three in technical fouls last season (which I haven’t been able to verify). Karl also noted that his health was much better last season (he was recovering from hip surgery in 2007-08) which contributed to him being able to work the refs more.

On Allen Iverson…

I asked Karl if he felt vindicated at all by what’s been happening with A.I. since he left Denver (in hindsight, Karl was successful with A.I. in Denver compared to Michael Curry in Detroit who clearly couldn’t handle A.I. and the same is happening now to Lionel Hollins in Memphis). Wanting to be diplomatic about it (that’s an understatement), Karl didn’t get too much into A.I.’s time in Denver but did comment that when he heard A.I. might be coming to Denver, he was hoping Andre Miller would stay to pair them together in the backcourt. Karl, a former point guard himself, said he had never coached without a true point guard before. He also felt that having a big, strong guard next to A.I. can possibly work and that to be successful with A.I., you need true veterans around him – a la A.I.’s 76ers teams that were so successful back in the day.

On Iverson’s future, Karl said he is optimistically hoping that A.I. will end up somewhere where he’ll be amenable to contributing off the bench. As one of A.I.’s biggest supporters on this blog for a while, it’s becoming painfully evident to me that he was a chore to coach.

On the possible Ron Artest acquisition…

I forget how this came up, but it did. Remembering back to the 2008 trade deadline: the Nuggets had the opportunity to acquire Ron Artest from Sacramento for Linas Kleiza, Eduardo Najera and a draft pick. Nuggets management was all set to pull the trigger on that deal, but Karl shot it down and was criticized in many circles for doing so. It was assumed that Karl wanted nothing to do with Artest, but Karl told me it had more to do with losing Kleiza than acquiring Artest. I then asked if he really wanted a locker room featuring Artest, Iverson, K-Mart, Melo, J.R. and Marcus Camby. Pondering that for a moment, Karl’s eyes widened, he took a deep breath and returned to perusing the menu.

On the 2009 Western Conference Finals…

We talked extensively about the Conference Finals loss to the Lakers and I really appreciated Karl’s candidness on this topic. Without me even bringing it up, Karl explained the insertion of the 6’1" Anthony Carter on the Game 1 inbounds play against the 6’10" Lamar Odom as needing someone he trusted to throw in the ball given that Kenyon Martin, who typically throws it in, had fouled out. Karl wouldn’t concede that it was a mistake but did mention that they "probably practice more" on inbounds plays now, even though that play – according to Karl – had been successful for them all season long last year.

I asked if he thought the Nuggets were just two inbounds plays short of going to the NBA Finals, and he quickly disputed that, noting that even if the Nuggets had passed the ball in securely the statistics show that you only make a game-winner in those situations 30% of the time.

I then brought up the only good quote Isiah Thomas ever authored when he was analyzing games at NBC (by the way, you should see Karl’s expression at the mere mention of Isiah’s name), stating that when two teams are evenly matched in the playoffs, the team with the best player always wins. (Isiah had said this before Game 7 of the Lakers/Trail Blazers 2000 Conference Finals game in which Portland blew a 17-point fourth quarter lead and lost.) Karl agreed there might be something to that, noting Kobe Bryant’s outstanding performance in the second quarter of Game 6 against the Nuggets at Pepsi Center that helped seal the series for the Lakers.

On to Game 6, I said that the energy that night was awful from the start, both on the floor and in the stands, and asked if he had sensed the same thing. I took a page from Bill Simmons’ theory that Lakers home crowds get worse as they march through the playoffs because that’s when all the girlfriends and wives and rich guys who didn’t go to a game all season suddenly want to go. And that’s exactly what happened in Denver that night. That was a flat crowd (not the reason the Nuggets lost, mind you) and you could just feel it. And Karl acknowledged that he felt the crowd was flat that night, too. So apparently the crowd doesn’t go unnoticed from the bench!

I asked Karl if ultimately the Lakers were just the better team, and we both again recounted Kobe Bryant’s amazing second quarter in Game 6 with displeasure but admiration. Karl conceded that the Lakers were the better team, but then commented to Adams, half-jokingly: "They sure get a lot of calls in that building [Staples Center], don’t they?"

Karl went on to say that Lamar Odom gives the Nuggets a lot of problems, which led to our next topic…

On the Nuggets needing a real big man…

I said to Karl that my concern going up against the Lakers is that the Nuggets are simply too short. I threw out my theory that if the Nuggets had a true center, Nene could be moved to the four-spot where he’d dominate. Karl didn’t out-right agree that the Nuggets need a true center, but acknowledged that the Nuggets "are a little undersized" compared to some teams, citing the Lakers, San Antonio, Portland and the Clippers specifically.

He said, however, that "playing small ball expands the playbook" and that when the team gets down, going small is the quickest way to get back into a game. Karl noted that they tried this in Atlanta, but they just didn’t have the energy that night.

Speaking of energy, I served up another one of my theories that whichever team "owns the energy of the game" seems to always win. Hence why the Hawks clocked us last Saturday night. Karl – surprisingly – had never heard of this theory before and he nodded his head and acknowledged this is true. See, so even a 25 year veteran coach can learn something new from a blogger!

On yelling at the players…

This was an extension of our "working the refs" conversation, and I asked why Karl doesn’t seem to berate the players like he used to. Again, Karl cited lessons learned from Dean Smith. According to Karl, Smith said that whenever he saw an opposing coach yelling at players and calling lots of timeouts, he always asked: "What are they doing in practice?"

Karl also gave me an interesting tidbit that only a coach of his experience would know. He said that when your team loses by 20, it’s not the time to yell at the players because in those scenarios, all the players want to know what they did wrong. He said it gets tricky when teams lose by three or four points, because that’s when players start blaming each other and you have to nip it in the bud.

I then asked Karl if he felt there’s too much "over-coaching" going on in the NBA, something Simmons brings up in his new book. Karl immediately agreed that there’s too much over-coaching, again citing Smith’s credo that good coaches do their work in practice.

Back to the yelling, I questioned why Karl yelled more in Seattle than in Denver. He said it has a lot to do with the players. In Seattle, he said he "had two crazy guys" – Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp – and everyone else was a seasoned veteran, such as Hersey Hawkins, Detlef Schrempf, Sam Perkins and one of Karl’s all-time favorites, Nate McMillan. So Karl felt he had to be crazy to connect with his young, crazy stars, knowing those veterans could take it. Whereas in Denver, he has chosen to be mellow because so many of his players aren’t, and also acknowledged that age and health issues over the years have contributed to this, as well.

On the back-to-back road losses to Miami and Atlanta…

We then segued into how Karl was handling the back-to-back losses at Miami and Atlanta among the players, and he said there’s no reason to panic, citing the Nuggets third back-to-back in just a few weeks (including the preseason ending back-to-back). He said he didn’t want to make excuses, but there was definitely a "fatigue factor" in those two losses that kicked in.

That said, Karl mentioned that the Nuggets transition defense in Atlanta was "the worst" he’s seen since being in Denver and that the players "disrespected the game." That’s a bold statement considering how bad the Nuggets defense has been over the years. Karl also felt like Melo really forced his game with K-Mart out and he’s concerned generally about the Nuggets having no insurance policy for K-Mart should he go down again. I said that wouldn’t have been a problem had the Nuggets drafted DeJuan Blair, and Karl said that there was some serious consideration for drafting Blair on draft night in the Nuggets war room. (In case you forgot, the Nuggets sold their second round pick for a record number just before Blair was drafted by San Antonio. I’ll forever wish the Nuggets had just drafted Blair instead of taking the cash.)

I then needled Karl for his quote about how winning half the games on this six-game trip could possibly be considered "a great success" to which he countered: "Ask anyone in the NBA, and they’ll tell you that winning half your road games is a great success." I said: "Well, sure, if you win half your road games and 75% of your home games you win 50 games." And Karl immediately countered, jokingly: "Hey! You stole that from me! That’s my line!"

But I wouldn’t let it go. I asked: "But isn’t that setting the bar a little too low if you say it’s ok to win just half your games on a six-game road trip?" And Karl justified it by saying that statements like that take the pressure off his players.

On the Nuggets schedule…

I couldn’t resist bringing up the Nuggets arduous schedule, and said: "Well, I hate to make excuses for you and I probably shouldn’t do this, but I think the Nuggets schedule is egregiously difficult this season. Not only do we have a league high 22 back-to-backs, but a lot of them come after 8:30pm games and many are on the road." Karl acknowledged that scheduling can make a difference, citing that Portland had mostly home games on the second of their back-to-backs last season. Karl went on to say that the toughest back-to-back in the NBA is playing the second half of a double header the night before and then come into Denver or Utah for the second game. He said you really feel the difference with the altitude.

When I brought up the Lakers absurdly having 17 of their first 21 games at home, Karl wouldn’t touch that one. But he did say that the problem with the Nuggets opening their season with seven of their first nine games on the road is that they’ve missed a lot of practice time.

On my homeland security theory…

I shared my "homeland security theory" on coaching with Karl to see if he agreed with it. The theory goes that in coaching, like homeland security, you only have to be wrong once and everyone blames you for everything. Homeland security can defend our country 99 out of 100 times against a terrorist attack, but if they miss one they’re deemed incompetent and heads roll. Karl understood the analogy, and pointed out that he has to make between 40 and 50 decisions during every game – player substitutions, when to call a timeout, what plays to call, etc – and doesn’t always make the right decisions. He went on to say that sometimes you put a player into a game and you can tell right away he’s going to hurt you out there. I asked him if he has to purposely leave a player on the floor for a few more minutes than he should to preserve the player’s confidence (especially young players), and Karl said that absolutely happens from time to time.

On rookie Ty Lawson…

I pointed out that Karl’s proud expression was inescapable on national TV when Lawson came out of the opening night game against Utah (Lawson had had a tremendous rookie debut, and you could tell Karl was fighting everything he had inside him not to give the rookie too much praise after his first game). Karl didn’t want to over-praise his new rookie with me, either, but was quick to point out that only two former Duke players have won a championship in the NBA (Lawson is an alum of North Carolina, same as Karl). He also said that Lawson doesn’t make mistakes like most rookies do.

On starting J.R. Smith…

Since we were on the eve of J.R.’s return from a seven-game suspension, the topic of J.R. came up. Karl said that he "doesn’t think J.R. wants to start" and that he’d be starting Afflalo that night. Emphasis was on that night, implying that Afflalo isn’t guaranteed to be the starter in perpetuity if he doesn’t hold his own. Back to J.R., Karl believes that J.R. likes being in the rhythm of the offense off the bench rather than starting. I also asked how things are going between Karl and J.R. (they had been at loggerheads for a while) and Karl said things were great between them right now, but J.R. remains a good/bad player.

On general keys to success…

I asked Karl if he had read Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers and not only had Karl read it, but he brought up Gladwell’s 10,000 hour rule (the theory being that after someone devotes 10,000 hours to something they’re very passionate about, that’s when they start getting really good at it). I asked Karl when he thought his 10,000 hours kicked in as a coach, and while he didn’t exactly answer the question, he told me an interesting story.

After getting fired at Golden State (Karl’s second NBA coaching job after getting fired in Cleveland two years earlier), Karl went back to the owners, general managers and assistant coaches of those two franchises and asked them what he did wrong. What made him fail, etc? He took what they told him and decided he’d just coach and forget worrying about coaching in the NBA and the politics that go with that. From there, Karl went on to coach the CBA’s Albany Patroons and Real Madrid before returning to the NBA in Seattle.

On past playoff disappointments…

When discussing the Nuggets first round flameouts before last season, Karl used the same line that Mark Warkentien fed me when we first met: "We weren’t supposed to win any of those series and three of the teams that beat us went on the NBA Finals." I said fine, but maybe we shouldn’t have had such a low seed in the first place? Karl, understandably, wouldn’t agree with me there and went on to note that in spite of all the issues prior to last season: the injuries, the brawl in New York, absorbing A.I., more injuries, etc, he and his staff "have always put together a season," referring to the great runs the Nuggets have had to wrap up three of the last five seasons.

As we were finishing up our lunch, one of Karl’s friends sitting with us pined in with an old Chuck Daly (the "dean" of NBA coaches) story. Karl’s friend recounted a time when Daly had told him: "You don’t know what it’s like to be a head coach in the NBA. There’s absolutely nothing like it. You walk through that tunnel into the arena and 18,000 people are second guessing you. Then you look at the press row and 15 reporters are second guessing you. And then you look at the broadcasters and they’re second guessing you, too. It’s the hardest job in the world."

I countered, jokingly: "Pay me $3 million per year to coach basketball and you can happily second guess anything I do."

And suddenly Karl became stoic, his eyes swelled up and the mood at the table switched from loose and relaxed to dead serious. Karl looked me right in the eyes with the utmost sincerity and, as if the weight of almost 30 years of coaching were being channeled through him to me, said: "The money’s not worth it. And unless you’ve been in those shoes, you just don’t know what it’s like." Karl took a deep breath and repeated himself: "You…just…don’t…know."

We all kind of paused after that. It was a heavy moment that I’ll never forget. Eventually we got the check and Adams picked up the tab (see, I told you he’s a nice guy). Karl and I then walked out together, just the two of us, for a few short blocks back to his hotel. As we approached his hotel I told him I really appreciated his time and he patted me on the back and said: "That was fun. I can always talk basketball."

Me, too.

Two ways to interpret a great victory... (Nuggets/Lakers recap)

2009-11-14T07:49:51Z

After drubbing the Lakers by 26 points tonight, the Nuggets and their fans have every reason to be elated. But let's not read too much into this well played victory.

By getting their asses kicked in Denver tonight, the Lakers validated all of my complaints about the Nuggets onerous schedule featuring 22 back-to-back games. It may sound like an old gambler's cliche, but having to go on the road against a great home team for the second of a back-to-back affair is almost a guaranteed loss (unless you're the Nuggets going into Portland, of course...hey-ohhhhh!).

But just like I've been saying since the season started, even among great home teams some back-to-backs are tougher than others. But don't ask me, ask a true expert. When I had lunch with George Karl for our interview on Monday (I have to keep teasing that, sorry...at least I'm not making you all buy a book to see how our conversation went down like Bill Simmons did after finally meeting his favorite punching bag, Isiah Thomas), Karl made it clear that the worst back-to-back in the NBA is playing an 8:30 national TV game one night and then having to play at Denver or at Utah the following night.

In other words, the mighty Lakers fell victim to tough scheduling as much as a spirited Nuggets effort, which leaves us two ways to interpret this victory.

On the one hand, you might argue that this was a true statement game that put the entire NBA on notice that the Nuggets mean business at home. Even though most people expected the Lakers to lose (the Vegas line was Denver -2...not that I cared or anything), no one expected them to get shellacked by 26.

On the other hand, you could argue that having no Pau Gasol and having played late last night did the Lakers in before the game even started, and therefore this game means very little in the grand scheme of things. Sitting right across from the Lakers bench, I must admit that their we-don't-give-a-shit-about-this-loss-because-we-know-when-we-have-one-day's-rest-and-Gasol-back-we're-going-to-kick-your-ass look on their faces has me somewhat concerned.

The interpretation lies somewhere in the middle. The Nuggets showed the Lakers tonight that whatever fear or intimidation factor that once existed when facing the Lakers has all but evaporated. But both teams clearly knew this wasn't a fair fight and a more interpretation-worthy duel is sure to come down the road.

That said, the Lakers were ill prepared for both Arron Afflalo and Ty Lawson who give the Nuggets a new dynamic unseen last season. Lawson's thunderous fourth quarter dunk on Lakers center DJ Mbenga - more than being incredible (and right in front of me!) - means that this kid is full of surprises and the best it yet to come.

I could go on and on, but after traveling to four cities in the past seven days and seeing three straight Nuggets games in person, I believe I've earned a good night's sleep. And I'll sleep well knowing that we have a very good team on our hands for the second season in a row.

Photo courtesy of NBAE/Getty Images: Garrett Ellwood

Game 10 Preview & Thread: Lakers at Nuggets (8:30pm MDT)

2009-11-13T17:23:32Z

The Nuggets passed their first true test of the young season by winning at Portland in Game 2. Test #2 takes place tonight, and it's another big one.

It certainly would have helped had Phoenix given the Lakers a fight last night before the Lakers had to board their late night plane to Denver. Remember, the worst back-to-back in the NBA is when you play the 8:30pm Thursday night TNT game...which always starts late...then have to go on the road to a boisterous, packed arena in a small market the following night. Throw in this being Denver at 5,280 feet above sea level and the Lakers being without Nugget-killer Pau Gasol, and the Nuggets have no excuse not to win tonight. The Nuggets won't get a more favorable situation to best the Lakers than this.

But's its a big test nonetheless when the world champs - who crushed the Nuggets in the final six quarters of the conference finals after being outplayed or played even in the first 18 quarters of the series - come to town. The Nuggets must avenge that bitter Game 6 home loss beginning tonight.

There's an X-factor tonight though that throws a wrinkle into an already heated affair: Ron Artest. In Carmelo Anthony's last eight matchups with Ron Ron (three while Artest was with the Rockets and five with the Kings), Melo has shot 8-for-21, 8-for-19, 1-for-4 (Melo left the game early due to his elbow injury), 11-for-21, 5-for-16, 10-for-20, 11-for-24 and 7-for-25. And now that he plays with the likes of Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum, Artest can focus on the defensive end of the floor even more. Hence why I always liked the signing of Artest for the Lakers (remember, Melo would just waltz over Trevor Ariza last season). He's like their Melo Insurance Policy. Moreoever, Artest hardly exerted himself last night, playing just 28 minutes in the Lakers walkover victory against the Suns.

When pundits like Reggie Miller predicted that the Lakers would go 20-1 through their first 21 games thanks to an absurdly favorable early season schedule, that one loss was assumed to be tonight. I believe the Nuggets will win, but have learned to assume nothing when playing the Lakers after witnessing what happened in the postseason. The Nuggets were clearly the better team in that series for those first 18 quarters, but suddenly, abruptly and startlingly Kobe, Lamar and Gasol came alive and the Nuggets were toast. At least we only have to worry about two of the three tonight.

The game plan for beating the Lakers - especially with Gasol out - remains the same: pound it inside, get Bynum into early foul trouble, let Kobe exhaust himself into a 40-point night if necessary and don't let Odom or Artest beat you offensively. I'm excited to see Ty Lawson in particular play tonight because the Lakers historically have fits with small, quick guards (although the addition of Shannon Brown has helped them somewhat there).

Lakers Stiffs

-Lamar Odom: Shooting a career second-worst 42.7% from the field and averaging a career low 10.3 ppg despite playing seven minutes per game more than last season. You know how sitcoms always suck after someone gets married? Maybe the same is happening to Lamar's career.

-Derek Fisher: Shooting a career second-worst 31.8% from three-point range, which just means he'll miss two wide open three's early in the game and then make the one clutch three the Lakers have to have.

-Jordan Farmar: Farmar seems to have been supplanted by Brown as the Lakers go-to backup point guard. Shooting a career worst 31.6% from the field in a contract year isn't helping either.

Lakers Non-Stiffs

-Kobe Bryant: I hate the guy but he's carrying my fantasy team right now and is only getting better with age. With Artest on board, Bryant can take it easier on defense which makes him that much more lethal offensively, evidenced by him having three 40-plus point games already. Like I wrote at the time, it's just not fair that the Lakers got Artest.

-Andrew Bynum: Now in his fifth season, Bynum is averaging 21 ppg and 11.3 rpg in Gasol's absence. Oh, and he just turned 22. Again, not fair.

-Ron Arest: The aforementioned Artest brings a new dynamic to the Lakers. He makes them tougher, more pesky and saves Kobe and Lamar much needed energy. Did I mention having Ron Artest on the Lakers just isn't fair?

On a side note, if you're going to the game tonight and want to meet up drop me an email!

Opposing View: Silver Screen and Roll

Photo courtesy of Getty Images: Doug Pensinger

Brandon Jennings 1 - Nuggets 0... (Nuggets/Bucks recap)

2009-11-12T05:27:19Z

MILWAUKEE, WI - With "great successes" like this, who needs failures?

I'll get into this more when I complete my story about my time spent with Nuggets head coach George Karl this week. But on Monday, Karl and I actually debated his quote about how if the Nuggets won half their road games on this six-game trip, it would be deemed "a great success." His argument was that if you win half your road games, that's a great success in the NBA. And over 41 road games, I agree with him. My counter, however, was that when you're playing the Nets (an injury-riddled bad team), the Pacers (an injury-riddled bad team), the Heat (a mediocre team), the Hawks (a tough match up, no question about it), the Bulls (another mediocre team) and the Bucks (an up-and-coming but young team with no bench), anything short of 4-2 can't be considered "a great success."

Agree to disagree, I suppose.

But let's be clear about something: George Karl didn't lose tonight's game. In fact, he drew up some great end-of-game plays that almost salvaged an overall poor performance by our Nuggets. The Nuggets lost because they played crappy defense (in spite of Carmelo Anthony's two amazing blocks) and missed a ton of good shots. Kenyon Martin missed at least four layups (and then compounded his poor shooting performance by begging Bennett Salvatore for a technical foul which he promptly received at the worst possible time). Same with Melo. And Chauncey Billups missed about four potential wide open "daggers" that would have swayed the game Denver's way. Even my Benedict Arnold Lakers fan of a brother - who was in the stands with me on our annual visit grandma tour - said: "the Nuggets looked well coached tonight." Oh, and did I mention that Brandon Jennings is really fucking good?

Beyond the starters, Chris "Birdman" Andersen is yet to regain his swagger from last season (we're already hearing whispers among the fan's about Birdman not living up to his new contract) and this can't be discounted. Birdman single-handedly changed the energy of games throughout 2008-09, and he's yet to do so once nine games into this one. And Ty Lawson had first off night as a pro as he's probably not used to playing in four back-to-backs (including the preseason finale against the Lakers) within three or so weeks.

And I hate to bag on the refs but...oh screw it...I'll bag on the refs. It was a very inconsistently called game (with Salvatore involved, I'm shocked!). Lots of non-calls that became calls. Inconsistency on charges versus blocking fouls. And a ton of make up calls that threw the game somewhat out of whack. But made shots and stingy defense overcomes bad officiating, and the Nuggets had neither going for them tonight.

Back to that Brandon Jennings kid. Wow. Just wow. It's an obvious statement but he had his finest game as a rookie and the Nuggets ultimately paid the price for it.

Bottom line is when your team shoots 39.8% from the field and your opponent shoots 48.8%, you're not going to win very often. And thus, the six-game road trip ends with a respectable, albeit somewhat disappointing, 3-3 split. Nine games in at 6-3 is nothing to be ashamed of, but I think we can hold off on any "great success" quotes until the Nuggets get back on the road and do some real damage.

(Pardon the brief recap, but I have to catch a 6am flight back to Denver tomorrow and have a ton of writing to do to recap this entire trip!)

Photo courtesy of AP: Darren Hauck

Game 9 Preview & Thread: Nuggets at Bucks (6pm MDT)

2009-11-11T20:15:26Z

MILWAUKEE, WI - While spending the day here in Milwaukee with my grandmother (a lifelong Bucks fan), I've been able to get some insight into the team we're facing tonight.

I did this last season, as well, when my grandmother helped me preview the Nuggets/Bucks game on February 22nd (a Nuggets loss after losing to the Bulls the night before). This season's Bucks team is quite different from last season's: they're younger (read: cheaper), hungrier, play hard and have already surprised some people by starting out 3-2. But don't let me attempt to scout the Bucks properly, let's ask the real expert, my 97-year-old grandmother...

On Michael Redd being injured...

"Redd's on his way out. He lost a lot of weight in the offseason, which is a good thing, but he's not as intense as he once was. But he's getting older and that happens when you get older. The problem is that Charlie Bell, while I like him, can't replace Redd."

On Dan Gadzuric...

"I can't stand Gadgy. He's a nincompoop. He hasn't made a free throw all season."

On departed players...

"I'm sorry we lost Via Via (my grandmother's nickname for ex-Buck Charlie Villanueva). He tried to beat us the other night but couldn't. I also liked Ramon Sessions. I liked Richard Jefferson, but he never really did his part. He never played up to par."

On Brandon Jennings...

"He's fantastic. He's a good shot in the arm for us."

On head coach Scott Skiles...

"He's a good coach and the players like him."

On current GM John Hammond...

"He's sure as hell trying to get rid of some baggage and he's better than the last guy (Larry Harris) who made some mistakes and just lived off his father's name."

On Andrew Bogut...

"I love Andy Bogut. And how could I not? His name is Andy like my grandson!"

In other words, tonight's Non-Stiffs are Brandon Jennings and Andrew Bogut and the Stiffs are Dan Gadzuric and Charlie Bell. You heard it from an expert.

Opposition's Take: Brew Hoop

"The shot" from an in-person perspective...

2009-11-11T15:58:29Z

Yours truly was at the Nuggets/Bulls game last night at the United Center and had no clue if that shot counted or not when it happened.

MILWAUKEE, WI - I might as well let the cat out of the bag. I've spent the past few days here in the midwest with none other than Nuggets head coach George Karl and his lawyer and longtime friend Bret Adams. Those of you who are new to the blog may not appreciate why this is significant whereas longtime readers will certainly understand why. This get-together has been in works since I met Karl and Adams during the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, and after conducting a Monday interview with Coach Karl (which I'm still piecing together from my pile of notes), Karl and Adams were kind enough to invite me to last night's game and tonight's game in Milwaukee (preview coming shortly after I visit with my 97 year old grandmother who's a lifelong Bucks fan).

I've been to hundreds of Nuggets games, both home and road, but it's a completely different experience when you're sitting in the stands with the head coach's significant other and their friends, his lawyer (who once threatened to sue me and now we get along well) and the head of Karl's charitable foundation. As the Nuggets began to pull away in the fourth quarter, I was utterly convinced that the game was ours but the pesky Bulls - to their credit - just wouldn't go away. Of course, when the opposing team has Bernie Bickerstaff on its bench, you can never be that concerned.

When Chauncey Billups got to the free throw with 0.6 seconds remaining on the clock and made the first free throw, those of us in the "Karl contingency" in the stands immediately debated what to do next. Karl's significant other and Adams said you have to purposely miss the second free throw, figuring that the clock will run out as the players scramble to gather the rebound. I went the other way. I said you have to make both to preserve a two-point lead or you risk the opposing team having enough time to back door their way into a win with a crazy two-point shot (when you've bet on as many NBA games in Las Vegas as I have, you've seen enough of these scenarios to be legitimately concerned). Being up two with 0.6 to go, you figure worst case scenario is overtime, not a loss, unless the opposition makes a miracle three-pointer.

Anyway, the debate gathered fire among us as Chauncey purposely missed the second free throw and - voila! - the Bulls were able to secure the rebound AND call a timeout with just 0.3 seconds remaining. The back door loss was upon us. (Since I just took a shot at Bernie, credit goes to the Bulls coaching staff for hammering into their players to call that timeout immediately...it probably helped that hometown time keeper started the clock a tad late on the free throw miss, too.)

Unconcerned by the Bulls ability to possibly make such a miraculous shot, the "Karl contingency" was fairly calm. And we all know what happened next. Brad Miller made the shot of his life (horribly defended by the way, not sure why Karl didn't put a man on Miller considering Miller made some huge long-range shots in the playoffs last season) and our collective hearts sunk as the United Center erupted. Having gotten to know Karl and those close to him these past few days, you begin to realize how much more is on the line for these people than the casual fan. Imagine being around Karl that night if the Nuggets lose that game? And it doesn't help that Karl is hoping for a contract extension, adding additional pressure to an already pressure-filled job.

So as the referees reviewed the shot over and over and over and over...and over and over and over and over...and the fans got more and more antsy until Joakim Noah started celebrating like "they advanced to the Sweet 16", as Chauncey put it, we were just frozen. Staring. Waiting. Wondering.

And then, finally, 15 or so agonizing minutes later, the call came in. Nuggets win! NUGGETS WIN!!!! Adams and I embraced and both let out a huge sigh of relief. "It's going to be a lot more fun to talk to George tonight," he said and we headed out.

On a side note, Nate and I have noticed some personally negative attacks on Karl and some players in the comments lately. We hate to play school principal here, but please refrain from personal attacks on coaches and players. You can vehemently criticize (and we encourage you to) anything they do on the floor or even off the floor that affect on-the-floor performance. But personal jabs about people's weight and sexual preference will be deleted and you could even get banned. We sincerely appreciate your enthusiasm for the blog and don't want to discourage you from participating in the conversation, but Nate and I are liable for what is said on this blog, even by you!

Photo courtesy of NBAE/Getty Photos: Gary Dineen

One way or another (Nuggets/Bulls Recap)

2009-11-11T04:37:54Z

Have you ever seen an ending like that?!?! The refs must decide if Brad Miller's quick jumper with :00.3 seconds left on the clock was still in his hand ... if it's good the Bulls win 91-90 ... if it's still on his finger tips then it's no good and Denver sneaks out of Chicago with a 90-89 win. Fortunately, the ball was still on Miller's fingertip and Denver snaps a two-game losing streak.

I am not going to lie. When that shot by Miller touched nothing but net ... I felt pretty awful. Denver controlled most of game and for Chicago to slip in and steal the win would have burned. Suddenly the Nuggets would have been on a three-game losing streak and Earl Smith III or ESIII's return would have been spoiled.

Fortunately for the Nuggets head official Mark Wunderlich wasn't afraid to make the unpopular and correct call and Denver got the win. To paraphrase what Scott Hastings said to Chauncey Billups in the post game interview, sometimes it's better to learn a lesson and still win the game rather than to learn a lesson and lose the game.

The biggest problem with the final play was that the Nuggets left Miller wide open at the top of the key and he had a clean look at the hoop with no defender in sight. So, the Nuggets still got the win, but they should have been able to put this game away a lot earlier.

The Denver Post article that mentioned J.R. or Earl Smith wanted to go by Earl instead of J.R. must not have been read by Altitude play-by-play man Chris Marlowe as he referred to Smith as "J.R." roughly 673 times during the game. But it was good to see Smith back on the floor. He finished 1-9 shooting (3-4 free throws, 0-3 three-point), scored 5 points, 3 rebounds, 3 turnovers, and 5 assists. The thing that impressed me about Smith was his ability to recognize that after going 1-2 to start the game and 0-7 afterwards that he was going to be an asset distributing the ball. He took shots when he was open and started the game attacking the rim and missing a layup that he will not miss throughout the season. A little rust, but he did play a nice 29 minutes and even made a small difference on the boards with a couple nice grabs in traffic.

Denver's bigs (K-Mart, Nene, and Bird) combined for 31 of Denver's 46 team rebounds. I think that was the Nuggets' bigs best effort on the boards ... even though Joakim Noah grabbed 21 boards by himself (of his team's 44). Speaking of Martin, he played some tough basketball and having him on the floor made a big difference.

Another big difference tonight was George Karl inserting Arron Afflalo into the starting lineup. This was an expected play, but one we hadn't seen yet this season. Double-A responded with a nice game in just 19 minutes scoring 10 points on 4-8 shooting (2-3 from downtown) ... I can't help but wonder what he would have done with those 8 minutes that Anthony Carter got. Karl should have recognized Afflalo's hot hand and ridden him a bit more than just 19 minutes. Perhaps the trust in Afflalo will build as the season wears on because he's looking better and better in each game.

The trust in Ty Lawson seems to be improving as well. Lawson got the bulk of the backup point guard minutes (18) and Karl even trusted the rookie to start the final quarter with Denver up just 71-66 and Lawson played a great portion of the fourth as Billups didn't replace him until the 4:50 mark. I think it's safe to say this kid has earned the backup duties and will continue to get steady minutes.

A few random notes:

Chris Andersen (who continues to look unimpressive) started the game without a headband, but came back in the second half sporting a headband.
Melo scored his 11,000 point as a Denver Nugget on a fastbreak layup feed from ESIII.
The combo of ESIII, Melo and Lawson is going to create some exciting plays this season.
Derrick Rose is not 100% ... his ankle injury is still lingering. Always sort of a disappointment when a young star is not able to show you their skills.
At the 10:25 mark of the fourth quarter Lawson found Nene on a pick-and-roll heading towards the hoop ... Nene went up and THUNDERED down a right handed dunk that shook the entire hoop and gave Denver a 75-68 lead. Wish we saw that Nene a bit more.
Melo thought he had yet another game winner when he sank a baseline fadeaway with just 13.1 seconds remaining, but it wasn't to be.
I'm still a bit confused how the refs determined that it took Noah just 0:00.3 seconds to secure a rebound, come down in that short amount of time, and get a timeout.
Either way you look at this game ... you'll be happy if you are a Denver fan and miserable if you are a Bulls fan.

The Nuggets have another game tomorrow night in Milwaukee as part of yet another of their 22 back-to-back sets. This was a big win from a moral standpoint. The roadtrip is coming to an end and the Nuggets needed a break ... they didn't get a lucky break, but they sure are glad Brad Miller has long hands.

ntimmons73@yahoo.com

Photo Courtesy of AP Photos: Charles Rex Arbogast

Game 8 Preview & Thread: Nuggets at Bulls (6pm MDT)

2009-11-10T20:14:32Z

Nuggets Nation has been anxiously awaiting the arrival of J.R. Smith (or Earl as he now wants to be called) for the 2009-10 season ... well, the wait is over. Smith will see his first action tonight in Chicago after serving his seven-game suspension to start the season. Smith's return couldn't come at a better time, as he'll provide Denver with some fresh legs off the bench.

Last season Denver went into Chicago, faced a depleted Bulls team (their major trade deadline deal kept their new additions out of uniform) with only eight active players, and lost 116-99. In fact, the Bulls starting five that night (Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah, Ben Gordan and Derrick Rose) outscored the entire Nuggets team 103-99.

But that was last season and I don't really correlate past success being all of too relevant in professional sports with the ever changing landscape and all.

Also, who here is sick of me doing all the previews and recaps? Maybe someone should start a "We want Andrew back" FanPost! Ha ha joking, but seriously ... he'll be back as usual very soon - so you wont have to keep putting up with just my view!

Let's break this game down!

Records:
Denver: 5-2
Chicago: 4-2 (key wins: vs. San Antonio, at Cleveland)
Injuries:
Denver: Kenyon Martin - probable (left fibula contusion)
Chicago: Aaron Gray (left fibula fracture), Jerome James (right Achilles) and Tyrus Thomas (left radius fracture) are all out tonight.

Point Guard: Chauncey Billups vs. Derrick Rose
This is going to be a tough matchup for Billups as the one thing an aging point guard has issues with are the young quick guys coming into their own. The 21-year-old Rose is lightening quick and Billups will have a tough time staying in front of him. Rose's minutes are down quite a bit from his averages last season (roughly from 37 mpg to 30 mpg this season), but when he's on the floor he will cause Denver problems if he's driving the ball and getting out in transition. On the flip side ... Billups is a strong guard who will take advantage of every weakness in Rose's game. The way the two are playing right now ... advantage even.

Shooting Guard: Joey Graham/Arron Afflalo vs. John Salmons
Our first big question mark ... who will Karl start tonight and how much will they play? Salmons is a scorer and has great size for the shooting guard spot, but his game has been off this season as he's only shooting 34% from the field and averaging 13.8 points per game (down from 18.3 ppg last season). Graham and Afflalo both matchup well with Salmons if they stay committed on the defensive end and Afflalo has been stepping up his offensive game now that he's growing more comfortable in the Denver offense. Karl stated in the Denver Post that he wants to get Smith minutes "in the low 20s" tonight so I'll be interested to see how much burn Graham and Double-A get. Advantage: Even.

Small Forward: Carmelo Anthony vs. Luol Deng
The injury plagued Deng, who only appeared in 49 games last season, is having a nice bounce-back season averaging 16.7 points and 10 rebounds in roughly 37 minutes per game. Deng leads the low-scoring (88.5 ppg) Bulls in ... scoring, but he'll have his work cut out for him tonight with Melo. Anthony is capable of dominating this matchup on the offensive end if he plays the right way. In Denver's first three games Melo averaged 4.3 assists and since this roadtrip has begun he has averaged 2 assists in the last four games (pretty funny when you consider he scored more points in Denver's first three games than the last four). I know assists are not really the most accurate way to judge if a guy is playing unselfish basketball (since one guy decides what is an assist), but Melo needs to trust his teammates to make plays and let the offense come to him. I barely realized in the first two games that Melo was looking for his shot and he needs to get back to playing more team basketball. Advantage: Nuggets.

Power Forward: Kenyon Martin vs. Taj Gibson
The rookie out of USC (26th overall pick) will again be starting in place of injured Tyrus Thomas. Gibson scored a career-high 11 points on 5-12 shooting in Cleveland on November 5th, but this will be a tough matchup for him. I don't know much else about the kid, but playing against a fired up K-Mart is not going to be very much fun. Here is what Martin said in the Denver Post today.

"I'm going to play, man — no matter how I feel," said Martin, who sustained a left leg bruise on Friday in Miami. "We lost two games in a row. Bottom line, we've got to stop the bleeding. I think my presence on the court will go a long way."

Martin has an excellent way of making his presence known, ask any NBA rim or Dirk Nowitzki. Advantage: Nuggets.

Center: Nene vs. Joakim Noah
Both of these guys are capable of making incredible faces after they feel a bad call went against them or if they don't get a call they feel they deserved. Seriously though, both guys are undersized centers who rely on different aspects of their game to get by. Noah is a ferocious rebounder and ultimate hustle guy. Nene is a talented offensive player who thrives off playing above the rim. The emotions inside the game can get the better of each guy and whomever can control their game will win this battle. Advantage: Even.

Bench: Ty Lawson, Earl "J.R." Smith, Double-A/Graham, Renaldo Balkman, Chris Andersen and Anthony Carter vs. Kirk Hinrich, Brad Miller, Jannero Pargo and James Johnson.
Right off the bat ... Karl has not settled on a certain rotation as of yet and that's basically because Smith has been out and K-Mart suffered an early injury. Vinny Del Negro however, basically has been using a seven-man rotation with just Miller and Hinrich logging major minutes of the bench. Both Bulls bench guys are veterans who know their roles with the team. Hinrich could start for a lot of teams in the league and is a very nice asset off the bench. (To be honest ... I'd like to see some Lawson vs. Rose and Hinrich vs. Billups in this one.) The Nuggets though have a deeper unit and get a big shot in the arm with the return of #5 ... yes, Earl Smith. If Smith can shake off the rust early he will log big minutes and could prove to be the lift this team needs along with K-Mart's return. I like what Denver's bench brings tonight and think they can be the difference. Advantage: Nuggets.

Opposition's take: Blog a Bull (their preview is up)

ntimmons73@yahoo.com

Photo Courtesy: AP Photos David Zalubowski

(link in the story to the Denver Post article sourced: http://www.denverpost.com/nuggets/ci_13751049, http://www.denverpost.com/nuggets/ci_13754906)

Sizing up two bad losses...

2009-11-09T14:55:47Z

Every loss is a bad loss, but some are worse than others. Notably the two we just witnessed...

First off, sorry if I've been a bit MIA lately but I've been traveling on business throughout the weekend to my current location by way of Las Vegas. And no, I didn't bet on the Nuggets on either Friday or Saturday night (and I didn't bet on the Heat or the Hawks, either, I'm not a Benedict Arnold). Saturday's game in particular was a downer as I was sitting in the sports book with the most diverse collection of Nuggets fans you'll ever meet, including a number of teenagers from China who were huge Carmelo Anthony fans but definitely weren't old enough to be in there. So if you see some commenting that's somewhat unintelligible, it might be from some Chinese teenagers I met in Vegas, so please go easy on them.

Where were we? Oh, right, two straight losses. Bad losses.

Readers of this blog know I'm all about principle over results. Meaning, the Nuggets could go 0-82 for all I care, as long as they play the right way. (Well, I'd care a little if they went 0-82 but at least they'd have a record. The most disappointing part of the 1997-98 Nuggets season was that they actually won 11 games, three too many to secure their place in NBA lore but still less than the Broncos won that year.)

The recent 8-point loss at Miami (and it was never that close) and the 25-point debacle at Atlanta aren't push-the-panic-button worthy but should certainly be concerning to Nuggets fans. When you lose that badly back-to-back it means the team was either a) unprepared, b) was prepared but the players didn't listen (meaning they weren't prepared, I guess) or, c) the team was prepared, the players listened but several (read: everyone but Chauncey Billups probably) went out all night in Miami the night before the Heat game and then doubled their pleasure by partying in some Atlanta clubs the following night given that the Miami-to-Atlanta flight is only an hour and a half long. I'm guessing it's the latter option as no team should be this flat this early into the season, tough road trip or not, even sans Kenyon Martin and J.R. Smith.

After their disastrous performance against the Hawks, Nuggets head coach George Karl delivered one of his patented CYA (cover your ass) quotes: "Anytime you go on a six-game road trip, if you can win half your games or more, it's a great success, and we have a chance of doing it." Since when is losing half your games and getting a split against the mediocre (at best) Bulls and the depleted Bucks considered a "great success"? Really? You could argue that you did what you were supposed to do, but I wouldn't call it anything near a "success".

I think Karl is missing the point, so we'll go back to that whole "bad losses" thing. How many games you win or lose on this or any other road trip ultimately won't matter if the game isn't being played the right way. The Nuggets won 50 games in 2007-08 playing the wrong way and got humiliated in the playoffs (remember, in the NBA you just have to win 75% of your home games and 50% of your road games to win 50 games). Last season was the complete opposite and we were all enormously proud of the results. And thus, what Karl should be saying is something like: "we disrespected the game of basketball on Friday and Saturday night, we didn't play like professionals, I won't tolerate this and, for now on, when we travel to a fun destination I'm locking all the players in their rooms for the night and the fire marshall can sue me."

Going back to 2007-08, the Nuggets have lost three straight at Atlanta and one-of-three at Miami. But one of those victories at Miami came against the 15-win Heat in overtime which the Nuggets won by a point and former Nugget Mark Blount posted an 18/13 on us. (It should be noted that the Nuggets won routinely at Miami and Atlanta before Allen Iverson arrived. Meaning A.I. probably took his teammates out to the best possible night clubs in those cities when they played together and now they can't resist going back.)

So blame the travel, the missing players, the possibility of clubbing, Karl's lack of a sense of urgency (I don't blame him, it's early), whatever you want. And yes, we need to move on, put these losses in the rear view mirror and start winning games again. All I ask is that we - the fans, the players and the coach - not be blind to the fact that these weren't just losses, but exceptionally bad, poorly executed, sleeping-on-the-job losses.

Luckily for us, Milwaukee's night scene sucks...especially on a Tuesday.

Photo courtesy of AP: Gregory Smith

Nuggets on first losing streak of season (Nuggets/Hawks Recap)

2009-11-08T04:30:30Z

Denver could not get back on track tonight against the Atlanta Hawks. George Karl switched up the starting lineup by inserting Renaldo Balkman (for injured K-Mart) and Joey Graham (for A.C.) and even played some small ball with Billups, Lawson, A.C., Afflalo, and Nene, but nothing worked against the Hawks.

The picture that accompanies this story tells the story of game. The Hawks used their athleticism, hot shooting and hustle to outplay and frustrate the Nuggets. Denver once again struggled to find any offense and leaned heavily on Melo's hit or miss shooting to get the job done.

The Nuggets looked good in spurts ... Birdman found Billups on a pretty bounce pass for an And1 layup, but Denver was down 46-34 at that point already. The Nuggets played unselfish, but thing just were not consistently clicking for the Nuggets.

The small ball lineup inserted by coach Karl didn't seem to help things for a team that has been struggling to rebound the ball. With just Nene on the floor with four guards (Afflalo essentially playing power forward with Lawson, A.C. and Billups) Denver couldn't prevent Atlanta from getting to the rack and the Nuggets had virtually no shot at offensive rebounds.

I liked Balkman and Graham starting the game ... it seemed to be working all right at the outset as Graham had an offensive tip-in and Balkman was fed the ball on the baseline for a wide open layup, but whether it was Graham's health or Karl's mistrust of the players on the floor, the lineup didn't last very long.

The two biggest road tests for the Nuggets thus far on this roadtrip have been a complete disaster. The Bulls have shown that even though Ben Gordan left, they are still going to battle for a playoff spot in the East. The good news for the Nuggets is that even though they are on a two game losing streak, they do get a shot in the arm with J.R. Smith's expected return (after a seven game suspension).

Two losses over the weekend stings a bit, but Denver is 5-2 and still has a shot to salvage this season long road trip with two more games to be played. It's just too bad J.R. isn't a sweet shooting seven-footer.

ntimmons73@yahoo.com

Photo courtesy AP Photos: Gregory Smith

Game 7 Preview and Thread: Nuggets at Hawks (5pm MDT)

2009-11-07T19:00:30Z

The Nuggets and Hawks are both coming off losses last night and both losses eerily familiar ... don't believe me? Follow the jump and take a peek, if you dare! (Sorry, still in Halloween mode apparently.)

Records:
Denver: 5-1 (Key wins: vs. Blazers and Jazz ... loss at Heat)
Atlanta: 4-2 (Key wins: vs. Wizards and at Portland ... losses at Lakers and Bobcats)
Time and TV: Game starts at 5:00 p.m. Mountain and can be seen on NBA TV or Altitude
Injuries: Denver - Joey Graham: day-to-day (sprained toe), Kenyon Martin (left leg contusion) wont play
Atlanta - Jason Collins: day-to-day (ankle)

The J.R. Smith countdown ... ~~1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6~~, 7. Smith will be returning to action in Chicago.

I'm going to give you a few excerpts from a game last night, let's see if you can figure out if I'm taking these passages from the Nuggets game or the Hawks game ...

For a night, the roles were reversed. The low-scoring ______ were suddenly efficient on offense, while the high-scoring _____ turned in a stinker ...

and some more ...

"I don't know when we all of a sudden just really became a selfish team," ______ said. "Now everybody wants to go one-on-one. It's me, me, me. It's crazy, man."

Those excerpts are from the Hawks vs. Bobcats game last night and the quote is from Hawks guard Joe Johnson. But I'm telling you ... Atlanta and Denver played very similar games last night. That is why tonight's game can be a very nice turnaround game for one of these teams. I'm guessing that the team that decides to play unselfish will come away with the win.

In Denver's five wins this season they posted team assist numbers of: 22 vs. the Jazz, 11 vs. the Blazers, 36 vs. the Grizzlies, 18 vs. the Pacers and 25 vs. the Nets.

In Denver's lone loss, last night, the Nuggets combined for just 10 total assists.

Looking at the numbers above, Denver struggled in two games this season: on the road in Portland and last night in Miami. In each of those games the Nuggets posted their lowest assist totals. Basketball is a game that's all about getting the best available shot aka the easiest shot that gives you the best chance to make a basket. Things go a lot better for the Nuggets when they share the ball and we should know early if Denver is going to play unselfish basketball.

The Nuggets also must find a way to control the boards tonight and that task will be very difficult with K-Mart watching from the bench or locker room. We've seen Martin miss time before and last season when he was out George Karl turned to Renaldo Balkman. Seems pretty odd right? Balkman goes from not being able to get off the bench to potential starter. Balkman came in last night and logged 6 points (2-3 shooting) and 6 rebounds in 15 minutes and started the second half in K-Mart's absence.

I was just glancing at the box score of the Hawks vs. Bobcats game and had to do a double-take on Joe Smith's minutes ... he started, but only played 6 minutes. I thought maybe the game was waaaaay to familiar with both starting power forwards getting injured, but alas Smith plays limited minutes a la Dahntay Jones to make way for Josh Smith off the bench a la J.R. Smith.

Thankfully, the Hawks are a bit undersized overall themselves so a rotation of Balkman, Nene, Andersen, and Graham should be able to bang down low. Although the Hawks have Joe Smith 6'10'', Al Horford 6'10'', Zaza Pachulia 6'11'', and Josh Smith 6'9'' to throw at the Nuggets.

And when Joe Johnson was talking about his team playing a bit selfish ... it's not a big surprise when you consider they have a lot of offensive weapons in Johnson, Horford, Josh Smith, Mike Bibby (always likes to light the Nuggets up), Marvin Williams, Jamal Crawford, Maurice Evans, and rookie point guard Jeff Teague.

I'm excited to hopefully get to see Teague play. The rookie out of Wake Forest was drafted one spot behind Ty Lawson at 19th overall and his playing time has been all over the board (although he averages about 13 minutes per game). Teague has a lot of talent and I was hoping that if the Nuggets didn't get Lawson that they'd be able to get Teague ... it's always fun to watch guys play who you were thinking might end up with the team you follow.

Denver has to find a find a way to play unselfish and Melo must look to get his teammates involved. Along with trying to play unselfish the Nuggets are down another offensive weapon and some of the role players must step up tonight and take the load off Melo and Billups. I don't know who is going to step up tonight, but Denver could use an unfamiliar face to have a career night. One team will get right and earn a win, let's hope it's the Nuggets.

Opposition's take: Peach Tree Hoops

ntimmons73@yahoo.com

Photo courtesy of AP Photos: Gregory Smith

Denver takes vacation in Miami (Nuggets/Heat Recap)

2009-11-07T04:42:56Z

Carmelo Anthony and the Nuggets revert back to isolation and one-on-one basketball and it results in their first loss of the season. But the biggest story coming out of the game is Kenyon Martin's injury that kept him out of the second half in Miami.

Just wanted to share with you all that today signifies the 6-year anniversary of SB Nation. I started writing under Pickaxe & Roll for SB Nation back in January of 2009 and I'm approaching my one-year anniversary with the company. It's been a pleasure to be able to blog here and it's been even better since merging with Andrew and becoming Denver Stiffs. You the readers have made things awesome this season and just wanted to share my gratitude with you all and with SB Nation. Check out how things started way back when with just one blog: Athletics Nation: Baseball Country.

On to the game ...

Martin played just 12 minutes and suffered what the team is calling a left leg contusion that head coach George Karl said will keep Martin sidelined for a "week or two" and Martin will undergo further tests on his leg. Hopefully K-Mart will be okay or else the Nuggets might be wishing they still had a few more days to pull out "big Bertha."

About all you need to know about this game is that the Nuggets combined for a total of 10 team assists. When the Nuggets do not share the ball on offense, they struggle to win games. Melo was 12-22 shooting on the night (54%) but his play sort of set the tone for how the night went. As soon as Melo got the ball he was looking for his shot and it looked like he forgot he had four other guys on the floor wearing the same uniform as him. His play seemed to be contageous as the team put up shot after shot without the thought of passing the ball.

All the one-on-one play resulted in difficult shots and bad positioning. The bad positioning led to 19 turnovers and the Heat took advantage with 19 points off those bad possessions. This was definitely a forgettable game for the Nuggets, but after the starters went to the bench in the fourth quarter the Nuggets' bench made a little run and made the score respectable. The 96-88 loss does not tell you how bad the Nuggets played tonight.

The good news ... the Nuggets no longer have to worry about the 1972 Dolphins undefeated record, 82-0 is no longer a possibility for Denver. Perhaps the team will rally around the injury to Kenyon Martin and the absence of J.R. Smith and pull out a win in Atlanta tomorrow evening. Denver holds a 2-1 record on this roadtrip and they get to face an Atlanta Hawks team that just lost by 20 points to the Charlotte Bobcats tonight.

Both teams will be looking to redeem themselves after an embarrassing loss and Ty Lawson will learn a new lesson ... in the NBA you have to have a short memory.

ntimmons73@yahoo.com

Photo courtesy of AP Photos: Mel Evans

Game 6 Preview & Thread: Nuggets at Heat (5:30pm MDT)

2009-11-06T19:17:29Z

The Nuggets have started the season off in blazing fashion, tonight they are in Miami to face the Heat. The Nuggets are riding an eight game winning streak against Dwayne Wade's team, their longest against any Eastern Conference team, and have a chance to even up their overall series record against Miami tonight (22-23 all-time).

Records:
Denver: 5-0 (Key wins: vs. Blazers and Jazz)
Miami: 4-1 (Key wins: vs. Wizards and Bulls ... loss vs. Phoenix)
Time and TV: Game starts at 5:30 p.m. Mountain and can be seen on Altitude 2
Injuries: Denver - Joey Graham: Day-to-Day with a sprained toe (was inactive against the Nets)
Miami - Daequan Cook is questionable for tonight's game (shoulder)

First things first ... The J.R. Smith countdown ... ~~1, 2, 3, 4, 5,~~ 6, 7. Smith will be returning to action after just two more games.

Let's break this preview down old school style ... some head-to-head matchup breakdowns!

Point Guard: Chauncey Billups vs. Mario Chalmers
I liked Chalmers coming out of Kansas and while he is developing nicely in Miami, he's not Billups ... not yet. The Alaskan born Chalmers is scoring 8 points per game on the season and is not asked to do too much for Miami on the offensive end. Chalmers is big enough at 6'1'' and 190 pounds to have a nice size matchup with Billups, but the savvy veteran should get the best of this matchup. Advantage: Nuggets.

Shooting Guard: Anthony Carter vs. Dwayne Wade
Um ... uh ... Carter used to play for the Heat!
Advantage: Heat.

Small Forward: Carmelo Anthony vs. Quentin Richardson
Q-Rich is playing out of position here ... at 6'6'' and 228 pounds Q could be in for a long night on the defensive end if he's matched up on Melo for extended time. Richardson used to be an athletic freak, but injuries have slowed him a bit and Melo's quick first step could set up for some nice blow-by plays and wide open jumpers. Look for Miami to double-team Melo tonight. On offense, Q is mainly a catch-and-shoot guy ... unless he feels like he can dominate his defender, then we'll see Q get out and run a little bit and even start taking his man to the rack. Quentin is starting to gel in Miami. In his last two games he's put up 18 and 19 points and he's connecting on and putting up a lot of three-point attempts (4-9 vs. Phoenix and 5-7 vs. the Wizards). It'll be important for Denver to not leave Q open, but Melo should dominate this guy who was traded roughly 46 times this offseason. Advantage Nuggets.

Power Forward: Kenyon Martin vs. Michael Beasley
This is a perfect matchup for K-Mart. Beasley isn't a beast on defense and he's not ultra-aggressive on the offensive end. Martin should dominate Beasley on the defensive end ... Kenyon should used his superior strength to bully the youngster and could make him a non-factor if he can get him out of the game from a mental standpoint. It will be fun to see how the recently troubled Beasley reacts to K-Mart's style and how much fight he has tonight. Advantage: Nuggets.

Center: Nene vs. Jermaine O'Neal
O'Neal, like K-Mart, has been talking about how much better he feels physically this season. It has showed early as O'Neal or HEAD as I call him (guy's dome is massive) has played with more quickness and hops than he has the past few years. But O'Neal suffered a broken nose against the Suns on November 3rd and has complained about stamina issues with the injury. Nene has had success when he gets involved in the game early and Denver tries to work the ball into him knowing this. I think Nene is playing at his best after a quick fast break dunk or two and really starts feeling like part of the offense. This is a nice matchup for Nene as O'Neal, with good size, is not a physically dominating guy. For some reason whenever I see O'Neal play he looks like a left-handed player ... it's strange to me that he's right-handed - I'm not sure what this means, but figured I'd throw it out there. Advantage: Even.

Bench:
Here are the names Miami is going to throw at Denver off the bench: Joel Anthony, Udonis Haslem, Carlos Arroyo and Dorell Wright. Haslem is leading the bench by averaging 12 points per game. Basically, Miami doesn't have a bench. Joel Anthony can block some shots, Haslem can score and rebound a little bit, Arroyo isn't going to kill you and Wright isn't either. Not having last season's NBA All-Star's Three-Point shooting champ Daequan Cook hurts the Heat ... James Jones, making $4.3 million this season, can't seem to stay healthy or get into the game. The Nuggets feature Ty Lawson, Double-A and Birdman off the pine and they have been playing very well thus far for the Nuggets. Lawson is coming off his new career high of 23 points and Afflalo has found a rhythm as well. It'll be interesting to see if Graham plays and who Karl will turn to ... BALKMAN ... if Graham doesn't play. Advantage: Denver.

The Nuggets have had success in Miami (winners of their last four) and ~~now that I've officially jinxed the team~~ I expect the Nuggets to win again tonight. Keeping Wade under control will be key and this game will be Denver's first true test of this six-game roadie.

Opposition's take: Peninsula is Mightier

ntimmons73@yahoo.com

Photo courtesy of Getty Images: Scott Cunningham

Meadowlands Massacre in reverse... (Nuggets/Nets Recap)

2009-11-05T03:09:12Z

Between tonight's 28-point victory at the Izod Center and last season's 25-point win over the Nets at Pepsi Center, I'd say the Nuggets have properly avenged last February's debacle in New Jersey.

The Nets are one of the NBA's worst teams with All-Star point guard Devin Harris in the lineup. Without Harris (as they were forced to play tonight), they're a slight step above an NBDL team. For the Nuggets to win by 28 in spite of Carmelo Anthony having a horrid shooting night, it tells us that our Nuggets are either this good or the Nets are this bad. It's probably a bit of both.

In my recap of the Nuggets opening night win over the Jazz, I mentioned how the NBA will be made up of "haves" and "have nots" this season. But it's broader than that. The Nets - like their losing predecessors in Indiana last night - aren't just bad, but they're broke and cheap like nine or so other struggling franchises. Just another casualty of a worldwide financial crisis and poor (literally and figuratively) ownership. Take Bobby Simmons amazingly high $10.5 million contract off their books and the Nets entire roster combined would cost the same as having Carmelo Anthony, Kenyon Martin, Chauncey Billups and Nene.

What this game got me thinking tonight is that we might see one of the greatest disparities in recent memory between the records of the good teams with stable ownership (the Lakers, Celtics, Magic, Cavaliers, Spurs, Nuggets...thank you thank you Stan Kroenke) and these shoddy outfits in New Jersey, Indiana, Milwaukee, Sacramento, Charlotte and so on. In other words, if you thought the Nuggets had an easy time last season feasting on sub-.500 teams, this season could be even easier.

Or...another thought...are the Nuggets just this good? Do the additions of Ty Lawson and Arron Afflalo in particular, combined with the substantial upgrade in play by Carmelo Anthony, make the Nuggets even better than last season in spite of the dire financial situation affecting 30% of their opposition? Considering that the Nuggets are 5-0 with two pairs of back-to-back wins under their belts already and J.R. Smith hasn't even stepped onto the floor yet, it's fair to ask, wonder and dream about what could come of all this. But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves until the Nuggets start racking up road wins like this against real NBA teams.

(Speaking of Afflalo, he's clearly getting more comfortable in the Nuggets "system" and I'm perplexed as to why he's not starting yet. Anthony Carter hasn't hurt us through five games, but I'd argue that he hasn't helped much either. With Afflalo kicking off games, at least we'd be playing five-on-five on the defensive end.)

Unlike last season when the Nuggets stepped onto the Izod Center floor and forgot to play basketball altogether, they handled tonight's game (second half anyway) like the pro's they're supposed to be night in and night out.

And we're all better off for it.

Photo courtesy of AP: Mel Evans

Game 5 Preview & Thread: Nuggets at Nets (5:30pm MDT)

2009-11-04T22:15:24Z

The Nuggets return to the scene of their February 7th massacre at the hands of the New Jersey Nets. It's time to exact some revenge.

Prior to February 7th, the Nuggets were on a roll. With Chauncey Billups on board, they hadn't lost a single game to a sub-.500 opponent (home or road), had won 14 of 18 games and were barnstorming their way to a division title and second place in the Western Conference. On Friday, February 6th, the Nuggets walked all over the depleted Wizards 124-103 with the Nuggets starters barely getting a sniff of playing time in the fourth quarter. With their starters rested and the team playing great, a back-to-back walkover was in the works as the Nuggets traveled just a few hours north to New Jersey.

And then this happened; an embarrassing 44-point loss to the lowly Nets.

It was such a shockingly awful game that the Nuggets coaching staff, the players and us fans just wrote it off as an aberration. It was as if the spirit of Dick Motta's 1996-97 Nuggets squad had inhabited the bodies of the 2008-09 edition and jinxed us for the night. Little did we know, however, that that 44-point drubbing would be the harbinger of bad things to come and test the Nuggets resolve in unforeseen ways.

After the Meadowlands Massacre (how's that for a nickname?) the Nuggets rolled off two straight wins over a Miami and Orlando team already checked out for All-Star Weekend and then returned from the All-Star break to knock out the 76ers in Philadelphia by 12. Meaning, the Nets loss was just an aberration after all, right? Not so fast...

Soon after besting the 76ers, the Nuggets succumbed to their first three-game losing streak of the 2008-09 season, losing at Chicago and at Milwaukee (two bad teams) and then punctuating it with inarguably their most pathetic performance of the season, a 38-point home loss to the Celtics who were playing without Kevin Garnett.

As the Jazz and the Trail Blazers suddenly caught up with the Nuggets in the standings, the fans (me first and foremost) pushed the panic button and things only got worse. Yes, the Nuggets beat the Hawks and Lakers just days after the Celtics debacle, but next they would go on lose five of six, including a second three-game losing streak - including a loss to the atrociously bad Kings - just two weeks apart from the first!

Had the Nets loss cursed an otherwise magical season? No. But it did test the Nuggets resolve and character and they responded with their best basketball of the season.

Somehow, some way the Nuggets dug deep and rediscovered what made them special in 2008-09 in the first place. The tough, aggressive defense. The frenetic pace. Getting to the free throw line. The heart. They got their mojo back by rattling off five straight wins against five bad teams - including a 121-96 win against the Nets at Pepsi Center - and would go on to win 14 of their last 16 games (excluding the meaningless "sit down" game at Portland at season's end). And we all know what happened next: the best playoff run in NBA franchise history.

Back to those pesky Nets, if I remember that game you better believe the Nuggets coaches and players do, too. I don't foresee the Nuggets posting a 40-point victory tonight but as bad as last season's Nets team was, this one's worse. Put simply, when Yi Jianlian goes down indefinitely and that's a bad thing for your team, your team sucks.

Nets Stiffs: Yi Jianlin (even before he went down with an injury, he was shooting just 40.6%...which is good for him), Bobby Simmons (getting paid over $10 million this season...and we thought Kenyon Martin's contract was bad).

Nets Non-Stiffs: Chris Douglas-Roberts (further proof that being a winner in college means something, CDR is off to a great start now that he's been getting some playing time), Brook Lopez (averaging over 17 points and almost three blocks per game to start the season), Devin Harris (led the charge against the Nuggets in last season's Meadowlands Massacre).

Go Nuggets!!

Photo courtesy of AP: Jim Mone.

"Big Bertha" stays in the bag...

2009-11-04T17:01:27Z

The Nuggets substantial trade exception - worth about $7.4 million - expired yesterday without so much as a whimper, so you can erase your hopes of a center like Marc Gasol or Jeff Foster wearing a Nuggets uniform anytime soon. Is this a good thing?

Two weeks ago, Nuggets vice president of basketball operations Mark Warkentien was quoted as saying "If we get stuck, Big Bertha's coming out", referring to the Nuggets $9.8 million trade exception that the team took back in the Allen Iverson-for-Chauncey Billups trade last November 3rd. At the time, I wrote that the chances of Warkentien using the trade exception to bring back a high-priced, talented big man was beyond slim given that the Nuggets clearly remain in "financial prudence" mode, and that appears to still be the case.

As great as the Nuggets are playing right now - and they are playing great, make no mistake about it - it's indisputable that a legitimate center would help the cause in the long run. Four games into the young season, the Nuggets are a middle-of-the-pack rebounding team (not last in the NBA as Chris Marlowe erroneously reported during last night's Altitude telecast) and the Nuggets power forward-turned-center Nene still struggles a bit against much bigger players, as we saw against a gigantic Stiff like Roy Hibbert last night.

But given how well the Nuggets are playing, I question if such a move is as necessary as I thought it was over the summer when I strongly advocated for the Nuggets to acquire Gasol, Foster or even Zydrunas Ilgauskas or Marcus Camby, and take on the additional luxury tax costs that come with those deals. Yes, that Marcus Camby.

Perhaps the story of this season will be written in praise of continuity over change, but only time will tell. Nuggets head coach George Karl had a great quote during the ESPN telecast of the Trail Blazers game last week when asked about the Nuggets making no big moves over the summer. Karl cleverly retorted that he actually had three new players on board entering the 2009-10 campaign; an MVP candidate in Carmelo Anthony, an All-Star center in Nene and an All-Star shooting guard in J.R. Smith. I loved that quote and there's certainly something to be said about drastic changes that can go awry (see Cavaliers, Cleveland or Trail Blazers, Portland thus far). But it's still a big gamble to assume Nene and J.R. will suddenly evolve into All-Stars and carry the Nuggets to the promised land of an NBA title.

As the season wears on and teams become more financially desperate, a can't-miss-deal could conceivably fall into the Nuggets lap. Moreover, there's a big difference between paying a high-priced big man for an entire season versus a half season, and we can only hope that the Nuggets brass are amenable to pulling the trigger down the road if the opportunity presents itself.

That said, the Nuggets remaining trade exceptions of about $3.2 million (thanks, Chucky Atkins) and $3.7 million (ditto, Steven Hunter) don't give them the wiggle room required to steal Jeff Foster from what's sure to be a cash-strapped Pacers franchise (I mean, did you see how empty that barn in Indiana was last night?...wow) unless two other players are thrown in to make the money work, like Renaldo Balkman and Malik Allen. Not exactly "Pacers material." If only the Nuggets had a white guy getting paid about $3 million right now, a deal for Foster could be a slam dunk. And getting a guy like Gasol? Fuggedaboutit. Even though Memphis is guaranteed to be in dire straits financially, they're still not giving away an 18/10 guy who's paid just $3 million (still very cheap by NBA standards).

So as "Big Bertha" stays in the bag the reality of a season sans a legit center starts settling in. But if Warkentien and the Nuggets brass can somehow swing a deal for a big man with one of those other two trade exceptions, Warkentien just might win a second straight executive of the year award.

Photo courtesy of AP: Jack Dempsey.