A Fast Start Could Make Melo's Decision Easy.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, readers of all ages… it is time again for the start of the greatest time of the year. I am talking about the eve of the beginning of the Denver Nuggets season. That’s right folks, I am officially back from my sabbatical that took me away from writing last season.

There have been many changes since then and a whirlwind of drama surrounding the Nuggets. For those of you who think that it is unavoidable that Carmelo Anthony will take his game elsewhere… this post may not be for you. I am going to hold on to any hope, and a few bias theories, that have him wearing a Nuggets uniform beyond this season.

As we all know, the only team that has not been linked to a possible trade for Melo is Besiktas (the Turkish team that signed our old friend Allen Iverson). We have been enduring the speculation for far too long now and frankly, I can’t wait for the season to start so we can clear things up.

It is time for Chauncey to rally the troops and start the season with a bang. This will be the first step to convincing Melo to stay. J.R. Smith needs to live up to all of the reports that he has developed a mid-range game and has made enormous strides in his personal maturity. The sixth man award is his for the taking if these reports are indeed true. Nene is healthy and needs to realize that he is often the strongest player on the court and play like the beast that he is.

The true key to the season, however, is the simple fact that Arron Afflalo will establish himself as the second best player on the team. His perimeter defense can hold the league’s best wing players at bay and his ever improving jumper will prove to be the bane of any opponents existence. When he can stifle players like Kobe Bryant then come down to the other end and shoot 47.6% from beyond the arch, this year poises to be one of epic proportions for this young man. Just remember where you heard it first.

With the injuries to Kenyon Martin and Chris “Birdman” Andersen, Al Harrington has a tremendous opportunity to earn the starting power forward role for the entire season. He is a gifted scorer who has never had the luxury of being the fourth scoring option. If he lets the game come to him, he is bound to make a positive impact. He can stretch the opponents defense, which will open lanes for Melo, Chauncey and J.R. to slash. The better Al plays, the easier it will be to properly nourish KMart and Birdman back into the lineup.

Another opportunity is that of Ty Lawson. He is fortunate to have the wisdom and leadership of Chauncey. Ty has only scratched the surface of his potential thus far. He has established himself as one of the fastest players in the league and instills fear in defending 7 footers (just ask D.J. Mbenga). Ty needs to keep absorbing and learning the tricks of the trade and he will be on the fast track to success.

To round out the lineup, we have acquired Candice Parker’s husband (Sheldon Williams) who has hopefully harnessed some of her talent. He and Renaldo Balkman will battle for limited minutes even with the plethora of injuries to the front line. Gary Forbes and Melvin Ely will look to earn a spot at the end of the bench with their play in garbage time. And then there is Anthony Carter.

It will take a lot of hard work and due diligence but if the Nuggets can ignore the turmoil of the rumor mill, they can make a real statement in the unpredictable Western Conference. Carmelo Anthony will have an easy choice to sign the extension that is on the table and ultimately bring a championship to the great city of Denver.

Denver Magazine Has the Keys to This Seasons Success on Their Cover

Today marks the day that myself, a grown man, wakes up before sunrise and starts getting ready for my favorite day of the year. Like a child on Christmas, peaking around the tree and shaking boxes, I am gearing up for the Nuggets’ season opener against the Utah Jazz.

Now it is no secret that the Jazz fall somewhere between hemorrhoids and Brent Musburger on my “Things That Irritate me” list, so nothing would make my favorite day of the year like a victory tonight.

There has been a lot of buzz that this may be the breakout year for Melo. A lot of analysts have him high on their MVP radars already and I must agree. He has vowed to be more aggressive in taking the ball to the hole and now that the officials are giving him the calls, he will get even more trips to the free throw line.

Chauncey Billups, Denver’s favorite son, is more focused than ever and ready to pick up where he left off. With an entire offseason to work with the team and his uncanny ability to lead and produce, look for him to seal his fate in the Hall of Fame.

A few of the new faces who joined the team this season are lead by Arron Afflalo. Afflalo will look to be that defensive presence on the perimeter that was lost when Dahntay Jones left. Afflalo is a better scorer than Jones and through the preseason has looked to be everything Jones was as a defender.

Ty Lawson also joins the mix. The Nuggets are high on his abilities and look for him to back up Billups. Lawson has a very high basketball I.Q. and is going to be one of the fastest players with the ball in the NBA. He also has the advantage of learning the most difficult position in the game from one of the finest. Chauncey has taken Ty under his wing and is setting the young man up with all that he needs to become a great floor general.

Look for the Nuggets to beat up on the Jazz tonight as Utah is hindered with injuries yet again. With Kyle Korver and CJ Miles not playing and Ronnie Brewer questionable, the Jazz will be stretching their bench thin.

J.R. Smith will begin his seven game supension tonight for the Nuggets and his scoring will greatly be missed, so look for Afflalo, Lawson and either Nene or Kenyon Martin to step up big and take on some of that scoring load.

-Jeremy Kloberdanz

Many fans around Denver have been wondering how the Nuggets plan on repeating last seasons success along with building on it. Would there be any marquee deals? Who would we retain and who would we let go? What would we go after in the draft?

The first step was the draft and the Nuggets stole potentially the best PG in the class when they acquired Ty Lawson. He will complement Chauncey Billups very well off the bench and is the future leader of our team. Ty pushes the ball up the court better than most who are already in the league and can learn a lot in the company that he is in. Chad Ford from ESPN agrees that he is a great pickup as he graded each teams draft.

Next is free agency. Now that the Nuggets have agreed to a deal with Chris “Birdman” Andersen, they keep the most energetic big man coming off the bench in the league. His scoring still needs some fine-tuning but his passion and enthusiasm is unmatched. He was second in the league last year in blocked shots even though he played only 20.6 minutes per game. He is raw and with some attention from the coaching staff, could be in contention for Defensive Player of the Year. Bird’s new deal is for five years and could make up to 26 million.

Now the team just needs to ink Dahntay Jones to a deal so he can continue to be our lock down defender. Jones proved his worth all season and stood out in the playoffs as he shut down the likes of Jason Kidd, Jason Terry and Chris Paul. He is a valuable yet low key player that helps keep the equilibrium of our team that is sometimes erratic.

The organization also needs to decide on the future of Anthony Carter, Sonny Weems and Jason Hart. Carter is currently asking more than the team wants to pay him. Weems is a young talent who can develop along with Lawson and has proved himself in the D-League. Hart is a journeyman who is expendable. He has a great attitude and is a good team player, but he is just the least talented point guard on the team. I wouldn’t expect him back but we wish him the best.

The last thing the team needs is to get over their off court trouble. J.R. Smith just got sentenced to 90 days of jail time that is likely to get dropped to 30 days and some community service. His trouble stems from an incident involving a traffic accident. A passenger with Smith ended up dying from the accident. Smith will have his license suspended for two years and will preform his community service visiting sick kids in the hospital.

The offseason has started off well for the Nuggets. With diligence and some more intelligent moves, the Nuggets may have their most productive offseason in recent memory.

It was rumored right after the Minnesota Timberwolves selected Ty Lawson (their third point guard selected in the first 18 picks) that the Nuggets were proposing a trade to land Lawson here in the Mile High City. After some time, and half of my fingernails gnawed off, the Deputy Commissioner finally announced that the trade was finalized.

The Nuggets only had to give up a future first round pick for the most proven point guard in the draft. Lawson will fit in wonderfully in the Denver offense as he is an intelligent, pass first point guard. He is arguably the fastest guard with the ball in the draft and will help spark the explosive Nuggets offense.

Chauncey Billups now has a protege in Denver to take under his wing and drop knowledge on. Billups, being in the later years of his career, has the chance to continue his legacy by molding the future floor general of the Nuggets. Lawson is very coachable and should be our #2 PG in the depth charts and has the chance to play a lot of quality minutes.

Now the Nuggets front office needs to re-sign Chris “Birdman” Andersen (to solidify our big man rotation) and figure out what to do with Anthony Carter and Jason Hart. Also, Nene and Johan Petro need to continue to get stronger and develop as centers. Our bench players need to keep improving as they have over the past few years. If J.R. Smith can keep maturing and Linas Kleiza can keep from hitting another scoring rut, the Nuggets will be even more dangerous than last year.

After all of the dust settled from all of the trades and draft picks, the Kloberdanz camp proudly predicts an even stronger season next year. Move over Lakers, there WILL be a new champ not only in the West, but also in the NBA: the DENVER NUGGETS!

Rocky feels the Same as TAS about the Lakers

-Jeremy Kloberdanz
Now the matchups are known, the schedule is set in stone (even if it means chasing off a WWE event from the Pepsi Center) and the Nuggets look to rumble on to the finals. Despite not getting much national press all season, the Nuggets now have the following of the NBA analysts and basketball fans. People are beginning to believe in our team and some are even coming out and publicly saying that they choose the Nuggets to win the series. John Berry went on record on ESPN today and predicted that the Nuggets will win in six. John Hollinger is using his PER system to also take Denver as his choice to be victorious but covered all of his bases and stated that “Bynum is the ultimate wildcard” and that his prediction is void with good play from the Lakers center. Sadly it has taken all season and two rounds of the playoffs for the Nuggets to get this much deserved attention.

I am happy that some of these national analysts are jumping on-board but lets not forget those of us who have been believers all along. I vaguely remember writing an article on this website sometime back proclaiming that the Nuggets would represent the West in the NBA Finals. The exact date was February 10th 2009, a whole three months and a week ago that I made my prediction official.

Here is why my prediction still stands:

• Carmelo is playing like a champion. He is letting the game come to him and has put individual stats behind him. The whole Kobe vs. Lebron debate is only helping Melo, as it is keeping him grounded and letting him focus on the ultimate goal.
• Chauncey Billups did not earn the nickname “Mr. Big Shot” for nothing. He is a matchup nightmare for the Lakers as Derek Fisher stands no chance in guarding him and Jordan Farmar is far to weak. Chauncey will have a huge series and continue on a legacy that started in Detroit.
• Dahntay Jones will be covering Kobe. Jones wont shut him down but will pester him well enough to throw him off of his game. Everyone in Denver would be ok with Kobe Scoring 28 points a night on us if it takes him 31 shots to do so. With a premiere perimeter defender like Dahntay, the Nuggets will be able to play Kobe straight up and eliminate his drive and dish to a wide open Gasol.
• Nene is playing like a BEAST. Andrew Bynum is a good center, but with an ailing knee, he will have his hands full with the big Brazilian. If the Lakers switch Gasol onto him, good luck! Nene is far stronger than Gasol and should have no problem finding his way to the rim.
• Kenyon Martin is still fired up about Mark Cuban. He is the type of player who looks for any and everything to light that fire that turns him into a monster. He is strong enough to defend both of L.A.’s bigs and quick and nimble enough to bother Lamar Odom and even be effective on Kobe. Martin also gets the team jacked up when he hits the offensive glass and gets easy put-backs.
• The Nuggets bench is far superior. J.R. Smith has the talent to start almost anywhere in the league and can explode for forty points off of the bench any night. Chris Andersen intimidates opponents who try to slash to the lane. He is an electrifying defender who also sparks emotion with an array of blocks, put-back dunks, and alley-oops that appear to be impossible. Anthony Carter is the diminutive reserve point guard. He comes off of the bench and controls the game with his hard nosed defense and deadly mid-range jump shot whenever Billups needs a break. Linas Kleiza is also a guy who can fill up a stat sheet. When he is aggressive to the rim, the rest of his game follows.

Look for the Nuggets to steal game one in L.A., putting the pressure on the Lakers. The Rockets did it but failed to capitalize on the opportunity. The Lakers will bounce back in game two and win a close one. Kobe will have a huge game but damage morale to his team by being the Kobe of old. Once the series gets to games 3 and 4 in Denver, the Nuggets will dominate. The Denver fans are putting all that they have into supporting their team and the players are responding. The Pepsi Center will produce decibels that the Lakers have never played in. Game five will go back to L.A. and the Lakers will squeeze out another close victory. When game six arrives back here in the Mile High City, that’s all she wrote. The Nuggets will thrive in the moment and put away the Lakers for good.

I stick to my guns and stand by my prediction from over three months ago and can not wait for the day that Denver hosts an NBA Finals. This has been something that not only myself, but the city has been dreaming of since the Nuggets joined the NBA in 1976.

(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

It would be an understatement to say that over the past two weeks, J.R. Smith has been on a tear. He is averaging 22.6 points per game over the past eight including the Utah game in which he had a career high 8 three pointers and 7 assists. In that game he completely took over and scored 21 first half points, most of them coming at a crucial point in the second quarter igniting a run that brought the Nuggets back from 11 down. He has also logged a 40 point game against Washington where he was a scorching 65.2 percent from the field and went seven for eight from the free throw line.

J.R. is playing like a seasoned veteran, showing a maturity that fans in Denver have only dreamed about. He is becoming patient with the ball and letting the game come to him and, as his scoring lights up, his defense becomes increasingly more intense. He is moving better without the ball than any other Nugget and is starting to resemble Rip Hamilton in that aspect of the game. When he has the ball, he is starting to pull it back out and reset if the defenders are not giving him anything to work with. It is apparent that he is shooting better because he is doing less fading away from the hoop and has improved his shot selection.

The most underrated aspect of J.R.’s game is his passing. Since the 40 point game, his decision making and court vision have been noticeably better as he is using his superb athleticism to create scoring opportunities for his teammates. Everybody on the team is benefiting from his increased level of play and his new found patience.

This late season surge may be too late for J.R. to get much consideration for the Sixth Man of the Year award but it may be what the Nuggets need to go deep into the playoffs.

Currently the Nuggets are sitting 3rd in the Western Conference and are continuing to get better. Other than that hiccup a few nights ago with the Nets, the Nuggets have been dominant against teams that they are supposed to beat. They are twenty and two against teams under .500 and have dug deep several times to muster come from behind victories. 

They have come a long way since last season and are really maturing right in front of our eyes. Nene is finally healthy and is leading the league in field goal percentage. He is becoming a force to be reckoned with and soon will earn the respect of the officials around the league and finally get some of the calls he deserves. Kenyon Martin is playing the best basketball since joining the Nuggets. He is also healthy for the first time in years and is improving weekly. He has stepped up since receiving his C and became the emotional leader the team has needed. Chauncey has been a savior, he has brought the idea of defense and the team has jumped on board. He is leading by example and hopefully teaching the young players on the team what is takes to win a championship. Carmelo is bringing the best attitude of his career to the table this year. When calls are not going his way, he isn’t pouting and letting the refs take him out of the game. Instead, he is taking the ball hard to the rack and scoring at will just to prove a point. It is too bad that he got hurt because if he hadn’t, the Nuggets would have second place in the West locked up. The team did well to step up without him but you just can’t replace talent like his.

Now for why the Nuggets will make the finals. The Lakers are the obvious choice here for most people, but they lost Andrew Bynum for basically the rest of the regular season. He was playing better than any center in the West with the exception of Al Jefferson (who by the way should be an all-star and it is a shame that he is injured for the season because he is the only hope for Minnesota). When he returns for the playoffs, he wont be at 100% and his footwork and timing will be way off. The Lakers also just traded Vladimir Radmanovic who was a solid contributer and could seal up a game with his lights-out three ball for a flat out bust. Adam Morrison hasnt lived up to his hype since draft day and is a huge liability to their championship hopes. Kobe remains to be one of the best  players in the league, but is going to try to overcompensate for the loss of Bynum and be dead by the time the Western Conference Finals begin.

The Spurs are also a popular choice. They do have experience but are old and frail. Tim Duncan’s cry baby tactics are not getting him or his team as far as they have in the past. Bruce Bowen has lost a step and can no longer shut down players like Melo and Kobe. Tony Parker is known for his circus shots in the paint but unfortunately for him, the Nuggets have Chris”Birdman” Andersen who doesnt let any of that garbage get near the rim. They have already shown their age as they rested their big three after an overtime game a few weeks ago. Manu has had ankle problems and is not garunteed healthy for any game. Lastly, they are relying on Matt Bonner to bring it from the arch. There is no way that Ginger will score more than five points in a game with K-Mart covering him.

The Nuggets are (rightfully) angry that they didn’t get Melo into the All-Star game and Nene is pissed that he was excluded from the ballot. This is only going to fuel the fire that is burning deep inside of the entire team and players like J.R. Smith and Lenis Kleiza are going to step up in post season. Our bench has more fireworks than a Chinese New Year celebration and no other team has Mr. Big Shot!

The only thing that could stop the Nuggets this post-season is if Joey Crawford was assigned to all of their games. He obviously has a huge problem with Melo but that is a whole different article in itself!

We are sorry that you stopped taking your Xanax! We know that there must be a ton of pressure on you to compete with the likes of Stan Kroenke…He has more sports teams than you (and better ones!), He is $900 million richer than you (not including his wife’s money), and he isn’t being sued by the SEC for insider trading (and he didn’t own a company called mamma.com).

As for the refusal of J.R.’s gift, this may have been your biggest mistake to date. A player like J.R. does not forget things like this and can’t be held liable for crushing your team on March 27th. I would go as far as to say that you also have to watch out for him lighting up your Mavericks in the playoffs but as it stands, you are a game out of the elusive 8th spot. Looks like it may be an early off-season so you may want to start planning your vacation or arranging your legal counsel.

Thank you for your offer to donate that $25k to a charity of J.R.’s choice but we in Denver think that you may want to save your money. You can use that money to hire Martha Stewart to advise you on how to decorate your jail cell, or maybe you should use it to replace your other hip. Mark, we are just looking out for your best interest. We think that either of these choices would be approved by Coach Karl and David Stern and would avoid any more fines.

Sorry Mark, J.R. cannot be your BFF because he and George Karl have already committed to that.

Thanks anyway,

Jeremy Kloberdanz on behalf of everyone who cares about you.

If you dont have any idea what this post is about, visit http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3839196 or http://blogmaverick.com/

What does he really do? ….Honestly?  He sits on his overweight ass, and sucks on cough drops and lozenges all night.  But at least he’s got a good rapport with his players?  I mean at least he’s doing his job as a coach, right?  Not exactly.  According to Nuggets guard J.R. Smith, George Karl refuses to talk to him.  He even delegates several assistant coaches to communicate with J.R., to avoid having to talk with him.

Now just what kind of sense does that make?  Just look at the definition of “coach” : “one who instructs players in the fundamentals of a competitive sport and directs team strategy.”  So he is getting paid several million dollars per year, and he can’t even communicate with all of his players?  I mean its not like he’s coaching an entire football team of 50-70 players.  He has 12 players on his roster….12.  Not to mention, J.R. is only 23 years old, and has no college experience.  He has the most raw talent and athleticism on the team, and NEEDS all of the coaching that he can get.  I know that there are two sides to the story, and that he can be a handful to try and get on the same page, but…..NEWSFLASH: that is your job, George Karl!  If you can’t handle it, then you don’t belong on the bench.  Give me a million dollars a year, and I can do a better coaching job.

Some may argue, “but the Nuggets are off to a franchise best 14-7 record this season.”  Well here are some more numbers for you.  1-3–their record before the Chauncey Billups trade.  13-4–their record since.  Does George Karl deserve credit for that?  Or does #7?

Also, just a little fyi, the Pistons are 7-8 since the Billups/Iverson trade.  In my opinion, this is a players league, and coaches get way too much credit, and not to mention too much money.