Before last year, the past five years have seemed like they were sabotaged by the future. Whether the 2009 Lakers sent Allen Iverson to methodically destroy team chemistry, or a mysterious force gave Nene testicular cancer, there has always seemed to be one thing that prevents the Nuggets from getting over the hump. For some reason laws of nature do not want the Nuggets to win a championship.
Alas, on the day of the 2009-2010 Nugget season debut, a fresh batch of expectations and fears infatuate Nug fan. Here is what I am most excited about, and potentially not excited about for the upcoming season.
Things I'm not looking forward to...
1. Anthony Carter's Party Faux Pas
Might as well start where we left off. The "consummate professional" who displays his veteran leadership on and off the court by throwing balls out of bounds and stepping into wide open 20 foot bricks. These of which of course, come most notably at the climax of emotions during big rallies or end of the game situations. There are few things worse, and unintentionally funnier, than Party Faux Pas. Not to be confused of course with the Party Foul, and there is an important difference.
The "Party Foul" would of course be defined as an accidental, unintentional, action that causes inebriated activities to be temporarily changed or impeded at minimal emotional cost to oneself, or anyone associated with one. For example; swatting half of your filled beer pong cups in an effort to swat the bounce shot. This effects at most four people, and aside from the spill ramifications, no harm done. This contrasts to the "Party Faux Pas," which clearly distinguishes itself by the level of intent one puts into the action, thus increasing its emotional impact and social spotlight on oneself, and potentially its impact on others associated. Perhaps most commonly described as "yikes, took that a little too far," and often leads to "who invited this guy?" For example, the unplanned, unagreed upon, running lay-out beer pong dunk that takes out the entire table. Skying for the beer pong dunk may have seemed funny and original in your own mind, but destroying the pong table and wasting 6-10 beers is only funny and original to you.
Perhaps this is more clearly demonstrated by Anthony Carter, see if this sounds familiar: a steal by JR Smith tunred breakaway is finished with an ally-oop to K-Mart, succeeded by two opposing missed shots resulting in two Melo fast break dunks. With the Pepsi Can crowd on the brink of blowing up at the 10-nothing run, Anthony Carter steals the ball which allows a wide open Carmelo to streak down the court for a tomahawk jam and imminent time out by the opposing coach. And then Anthony Carter bounces the ball of his leg out of bounds.... Aw. Buzzkill. Who invited this guy?
2. The Dahntay Jones size whole in my heart.
We have all learned that defense wins championships. And the Nuggets lost a big part of the perimeter defense that made them so great last year. Aaron Afflalo, does not possess the athletic ability of our recently departed Dahntay Jones, and thereby de facto, not athletic enough to lock down Kobe or LeBron one on one. This goes without saying the intangibles that left with him. He seemed like someone who was able to get inside, if only a little bit, the head of opposing superstars. Kobe Bryant sooner than later wanted to force it over Dahntay just to prove a point, and that sometimes produced bad shots. While the Nuggets can beat Kobe by himself, his cast is a little more difficult. Who among us hates Bruce Bowen the most? But who didn't want him on our team. Whether he's tripping, grabbing nuts, or talking about Kobe's trip to eagle, he provided a positive attribute the team now misses. More than that, Dahntay brought an outrageously courageous interpretation to the spelling of the name Dante.
3. Chris Andersen's New Contract
Don't get me wrong. I'm all about wrapping the Birdman up long term. (that's what she said?) I'm just a little afraid of the effect it might have on him. Birdman is not earning a crackhead's NBA contract anymore. He's been legitimized by society and the league again as a good and rewarded talent. The problem is, the crackhead perception helped him in becoming the second leading shotblocker in the association. Birdman isn't fighting to get off government cheese anymore, no one is telling him he'll never be back to what he once was, and alot more people are looking for revenge against the tall white guy that swatted their weak ass shit into the front row last year. We can remain hopeful that what we saw last year is the only way he knows how to play. But more often than not, the newly gained financial fat slows a man down half a step.
4. Kenyon Martin's "expanded" offensive game
K-Mart's shooting form reminds me of death. Who of you, anyone, anywhere, left off last season saying, "K-Mart needs to shoot more." No, please, thank you, please stop Kenyon. Sure, it seems fair to ask Kenyon to develop his offensive gameplan to the level at which the Nuggets are paying him, but if K-mart hasn't found a jumpshot in aisle three by now in his career, what are the odds of getting one now? I would love a LamarOdomesque three point ball added to the arsenal, but it's just not something you easily install to your software package.
Do you realize K-Mart still has one more year left on his contract. (A player option worth 16mil... you think he's gonna turn that down?)
Look, let's just work on getting an arching jumpshot rather than the WNBA-formed baseball-type line drive of which you currently employ. In fact, screw it. Just park your oft injured rear end on the block where you can sky for oops and put back dunks that makes you the player that you are. This was my problem with the late Marcus Camby. Post players need to stay near the basket. If I wanted a 6'9" athlete smoking fools on outside jumpers, I'd have Carmelo Anthony....
5. Bill Hanzlik's memory span
Lord knows I can't get five minutes of post-game Nuggets highlights and analysis from a national network, so Nugget fan in the greater Rocky Mountain region is force-fed the ever bumbling dunce that is Wild Bill Hanzlik. Going at it with a special olympians diligence, six years have passed for Bumbling Bill at his current analyst position, and the guy still can't memorize a statline. Over/Under: 10 times B-squared looks at his "notes" while stumbling through his first post-game thought.
Perhaps Kroenke leaves him at Altitude Sports & Entertainment to remind everyone watching what the Nuggets were like b
efore he took over in 2000. Bill Hanzlik, who coached the 1997-1998 Nuggets to an 11-71 record; the face of Nugget failure in the NBA. It's the same thing as signing Matt Millen to an analyst broadcaster, these two have proven failed analyst careers (one as a coach, one as a GM) displayed in the most public forum, so they should be feeding me my takeaway points?6. A Nene Dependency
Not only should Nene be an all-star center this year. He has to be. It's the stag-chili five minutes old in your stomach, you don't know how its gonna go down. My greatest fear for the upcoming season is that the upcoming brilliance of the Nug backcourt will be undone by the mediocrity of the front court. If the Nuggets challenge for an NBA championship this season, it will because Nene is close to averaging 20 and 10. Twenty points. Ten rebounds. Nuggets win an NBA championship.
The front court is dependent on whether or not Nene can step up and dominate the low post when the Nuggets offense needs it. Is this really realistic? I did just ask for an increase in almost six points per game (alright I'll take 18 and 10) in addition to almost four rebounds a game.
Maybe it's not a hard stat that line Nene needs to hit so much as the type of player he needs to become. The Lakers have four seven-footers. Four. The Nuggets only true center, and only seven foot player, is named Johan Petro. It's almost an impossible request to ask Nene to come out the better against the Lakers, however expecting him to at very least give the Pau Gasol/Sugar Ray Odom/Andrew Bynum a legitimate battle is not.
7. Glen Davis
Has absolutely nothing to do with the Nuggets, Glen Davis is simply my least favorite player in the NBA. I hate Glen Davis. I hate the name Glen Davis. I hate his nickname "Big Baby." I hate his body fat. I hate his game. I hate when he cries after KG yells at him. I hate that he is even in the NBA. I hate that people say he is good. I hate when people say he's going to get better. I hate his 3 inch vertical. I hate that it looks like he's wearing a diaper under his shorts. I hate that people even know his name, because they wouldn't if he played for any other team besides the Celtics or Lakers. I hate that he is gets paid to be an athlete. I hate that he has an attitude. I hate when he argues with the refs. I hate his kankles. I hate that he may be capable of reproducing. I hate that he will most likely end up with a greater net worth than me. I hate Glen Davis.
Things I'm looking forward to...
1. Glen Davis being out 6-8 weeks after surgery on his hand.
(see above)
2. Linas Kleiza's deportation
If a tree falls in the middle of the forest, and no one is around, does it make a sound? If Linas Kleiza can't get a job in the NBA, and is forced to a Euro-league, does anyone care? Second only to Anthony Carter in on court party faux pas, who misses Linas Kleiza?
The worst part about Kleiza is that he played like garbage during a contract year. Typically you get the best out of athletes when they are playing for more money, (see birdman) yet here we have Kleiza failing to become a 40% 3-point shooter, maintaining himself as a liability on defense, and only showing hot flashes of what he could maybe, possible, in theory be. Hopefully the Nuggets have finally learned a valuable lesson when it comes to European players.(especially ones from ex-soviet countries or satellites), don't draft them. Speaking of contract years...
3. Maya Starks
Maya Starks is the slightly more eloquent, slightly tanner, slightly thinner, slightly more attractive version of Altitude's courtside reporter Julie Browman. Aside from Birdman and LK, no one had a bigger contract year than Julie Browman. Unfortunately for her, she went the way of LK and not Birdman, and thus is slowly but surely being phased out of her duties with the Nuggets, and relegated to the Junior Varsity that is professional hockey. Few things are greater than contract year heroes and flops... like....
4. George Karl's contract year
A prominent sports writer threw the following stat at Nugget fan in relation to George Karl:
The best five coaching years of Karl's career, along with the following year.
1987 Warriors: 42-40, lost in second round to eventual champs
1988 Warriors: 16-48, fired
1993 Sonics: 55-27, lost Game 7 of Western Conference finals
1994 Sonics: 63-19, lost in first round to No. 8 seed (first time ever)
1996 Sonics: 64-18, lost in NBA Finals
1997 Sonics: 57-25, lost in second round
2000 Bucks: 52-30, lost Game 7 of Eastern Conference finals
2001 Bucks: 41-41, missed playoffs
2009 Nuggets: 54-28, lost in Western finals to eventual champs
2010 Nuggets: ??????
Somehow, this "sportsguy" determined this provided enough trend analysis to conclude "You don't want to ride the George Karl Train after a good year. He gets snippy, the players tire of him, bad things happen, he spends a lot of time standing on the sidelines with his hands in his pockets and that, "Look, I don't care anymore, if they want to go down in flames doing it their way, that's fine, I'll just stand over here" look on his face. Keep your guard up, Nuggets fans." and the 8th seed in the Western Conference. (cough cough)
Why does everyone want the Nuggets to fail?
How about this sportsguy, the 1987-1988 seasons existed when Karl only coached two seasons for that Golden State Warriors team. While this may explain how Karl's players tire of his antics from one year to the next, it fails to apply to a team largely comprised of the same core of players that has been coached by George Karl for five years. You're right, players do get tired of him in year two. However, Kenyon Martin and Melo have already had their blow-ups with George Karl. The Nuggets didn't advance far in the playoffs until Daddy Chauncey told the rest of the Nuggets to buy into Karl's system.
In the 90s, a George Karl led team did not miss the playoffs in the Western Conference, advancing past the first round five times.
I have my quarrels with coach Karl and his "whatever" attitude he displays on the bench. Normally, I couldn't agree more with the sportsguy. I fully expect Karl to hang on to Anthony Carter's playing time over Ty Lawson as long as he can because he believes in his... I have no idea what. But not this year. Not this time. Contract year.
We are talking about a man who is on the same list of all time coaching wins as Pat Reilly and Phil Jackson. We are talking about a man who really won't be legitimized as one of the best coaches ever unless he gets a championship. That's what makes this year different. Choke a big one this year and Karl is out coaching in the NBA cellar of Memphis or Minnesota. There is no margin for error. Expectations are high and an understanding between player and coach has been formed most loudly by the Kenyon Martin and Carmelo Anthony's public support for a contract extension. His career is winding down and it's now or never. He is yet another of the desperate Nuggets seeking to prove their worth. All I'm saying is the Nuggets are going to get Karl's best.
5. The ever present and unfounded bias against the Nuggets
The National Media doesn't know squat about the Denver Nuggets. Think about the only preseason criticisms presented as to why the Nuggets take a step back this year.
"Everything went right for the Nuggets last season and they were one of the most dangerous teams in the league. I'm a little skeptical that everything will go right again. Billups is getting older. Kenyon Martin and Nene have serious injury histories, and J.R. Smith and Carmelo Anthony are volatile." -Chad Ford, espn.com
What in the Lord's good name does that even mean? There's no way Carmelo, JR, and Nene can continue to improve? The Nuggets are somehow more prone to injury than the Lakers' Bynum or the Celtics' Garnett?
"They got to the conference finals last season, but they didn't get better this past summer. Even the champs gotta make moves." J.A. Adande, espn.com
I'm sorry who was in the Western Conference finals last year? With the narrowed playoff player rotation, it seems to me other teams had to make these moves in an attempt to CATCH UP to the Lakers and Nuggets. For the playoff rotation all the Nuggets did was get better at the backup point guard position.
"how do you replace glue guys like Linas Kleiza (a long-range shooter)" -Britt Robson, Si.com
I will not dignify that with a response.
I can't really put a finger on why the National Media hates Denver sports. They have long lasting love affairs with other small market teams like the Spurs, the Packers, and the Rays. But whether its the Nuggets, the Rockies or the Broncos, the excuses for why Colorado sports will undeniably end in failure get more and more creative every year. It's my opinion that they honestly don't believe what they are actually preaching so much that they just really have no idea what they are talking about when it comes to the Denver area. It's just easier to say Denver sports will suck because they can't give a reason to one way or the other. It's not so much a bias against the state as just simple laziness when it comes to doing their job.
For example, I was watching CNN's coverage of the "balloon boy" fiasco in Fort Collins. For some in-depth color commentary and perspective they went to CNN meteorologist and self-proclaimed ex-Denver resident with a knowledge of the area and geography. The poser-buffoon went on to describe how a tin foil balloon, roughly traveling 25 miles per hour, could have feasibly made the distance from Fort Collins to Colorado Springs in about 2 hours. These are people making hundreds of thousands of dollars to deliver us the "news" in an accurate and timely fashion.
There is really no excuse. The state of Colorado gives the nation every possible opportunity to learn and recognize the flagship city and state of the Rocky Mountain region. Colorado busts would be terrorist attacks. Oklahoma City bombers are brought to trial in Colorado. Colorado attempted to put a six year old named falcon on the moon. Columbine. NORAD. Kobe Bryant rapes girls in Colorado (allegedly). The Jimi Hendrix Experience played their last concert together at the Denver Pop festival. Coors Field is the third oldest baseball stadium in the National League. Colorado has world famous surgeons and skiing. Democratic National Convention. Denver International is one of the most traveled airports in the world. What do you want from us? Are you telling me this is all just a Tuesday in San Antonio or Tampa Bay? Sure our state's economy isn't bankrupt (California, Iceland), and we don't have an outrageous crime rate only rivaled by our outrageous unemployment rate. We are more than relevant whether you like it or not. Do your job. And when the polar ice caps melt from global warming like you say National Media, don't come looking for help in the USA's last island of land, Colorado, there isn't enough room between Fort Collins and Colorado Springs for you.
6. JR Smith maturing into SR Smith
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. What is Kobe Bryant capable of doing that JR Smith isn't? I can think of only one thing. Consistency. The thing is, JR Smith is only 24 years young. Twenty Four Years Young. If it's far-fetched to hope JR turns into the spittin' image of Kobe, it's not far-fetched to hope that he develops into something close. We finally enter a season where we expect JR to have developed enough into a full time starter. Nothing gets me more giddy than the possibility of two superstars (Melo, JR) developing their games with a solid team around them. This can be the most glaring reason the media's interpretation of the losses of Dahntay Jones and Linas the Menace is wrong. If JR proves himself as a legitimate consistent JR, he's athletic enough to make up for the defensive loss of Dahntay Jones, and already a good enough offensive weapon to make up for LK.
7. The Nugget Youth
The Nuggets aren't going anywhere for a while. What do all the main contenders have in common this year (sans the Magic and Lakers)? They are getting really old. How much new impactful young talent was infused into the Spurs, Mavericks, Celtics, and Cavs? Every one of these teams is waiting to find out if one of their aging superstars hasn't lost a step, or if they're aging bodies will last the whole season without injury. Doc Rivers has issued a policy banning morning shootarounds on gamedays, instituting a cerfew, and beginning practices no earlier than noon so his players get as much rest as possible. Doc also allows one hour of arts and crafts time, holds public forums about the "young kids" skateboarding on the sidewalks, organizes for grade-school children choirs to entertain the players around the hollidays, and even holds weekly bingo tournaments and raffles!
8. Chris Marlowe and Scott Hastings
My favorite in game broadcasting crew. IT'S HAMMAH TIME!
9. That $10 million trade allowance???
Maybe???
10. Anthony Carter's Party Faux Pas
Hey, party faux pas are awkward and hilarious. And by definition, they eventually to the inevitable "who invited this guy?" and subsequent banishment from the party... make way for Hugh Hefner, Ty Lawson. While the rest of the league is getting older, the Nuggets by all intents, drafted the most NBA ready point guard in the draft last year. Kid's got a National Championship already and showed he is capable of dropping 30 against NBA caliber talent in the final preseason game against the Lakers.
So who is going to step up on the second unit assuming JR claims his rightful claim to the starting role? Enter our new fast break scoring threat Ty Lawson. He just looks good in the powder blue.
11. Carmelo Anthony and his breakout year
Carmelo Anthony will be top three in scoring this year. Carmelo Anthony will be in the discussion for MVP. Carmelo Anthony is going to breakout.
It is the one thing I look most forward to this basketball season. Just as the city of Denver and its sports are way underrated, likewise is Carmelo Anthony. Why this guy has not been embraced by the state as the state's current greatest athlete probably has something to do with his immature past. To me that is what make Melo the man. He's not the "cookie-cutter" athlete that has the roll-a-dex of appropriate cliche answers. He's not the player that shops his brand on Twitter and the like. But most importantly to me, he's not the a player who becomes an unrestricted free agent next year leaving him open to the highest bidder, and he is already open to an extension. Carmelo Anthony is a committed Denver Nugget. Let's, as a fan base, commit to him.
Hey look, there has ended up being more things to be excited about than not. It's going to be a good season.
In the preseason Melo has averaged almost a point a minute. He finally had a break from international basketball, and has dropped his weight from 240 to 228. It's a lean, mean, Carmelo machine. Carmelo is the biggest reason every Nugget fan should look forward to the season. He is the greatest Nugget to over don the uniform, and is about to show you that for sure.
“They’re always going to laugh at the Nuggets; they always laugh at us. This is my seventh season. The last six years, I’ve been asked these same questions. ‘How good can we be?’ People are saying we are not this and we are not that.... We like that, though.” - Carmelo Anthony
Posts
Great column. Absolutely love the JR to SR bit. Hilarious. Let's go Nuggs baby! To the ship!
ReplyDelete7 followers...damn son
ReplyDeleteThe next time I'm in town, you, Jerry, and anyone else who can help should sit me down and explain enough of the NBA to me so I can truly understand it. Every year I get intrigued, then end up staring wide eyed like a deer in the headlights as the season rushes past me. I'll provide beer.
ReplyDelete