Sitting here on the 17th of July, I don't know where my beloved Nuggets are going.  Seeing the team crawl out of the cellar of the NBA and entering the playoffs the past 3 seasons has been awesome.  It would be nice to win a playoff series though.  So it leads me to some questions.  Where are the Nuggets going to be on day 1 of the NBA season?  A few factors are in this question...

1.)  They paid Carmelo...good decision.  Needed to lock up the player that has essentially made us a playoff hopeful year in and year out.

 2.) Nene signing for 60 million?  Hey, I hope Nene works out, but call me crazy, $60 mill for a guy who played in less than 1 game last year and tore his ACL seems a bit steep.  Nene could end up being great, and I hope he is, but he could also be a flop.  He is athletic and strong, but has no shooting touch.  So if he can't dunk, he is limited.  He needs to embrace the rebounding game and be one of the leagues best rebounders.

3.)  I would've thought they would have had K-Mart out of town by now.  Is he going to be on the roster at the start of the year?  That ought to be interesting.  If he is still on the team, their should be all sorts of chemistry issues after the war between Martin and Karl last year.

4.)  I think the Answer coming to Denver is a long shot at this point.  We have however, according to rumor will be picking up JR Smith.  While young and could have decent potential, Denver is still without a solid shooter. 

5.) We have no Gm right now.  This is a vital time, trading and signing players to contracts and we haven't even formally announced a new GM yet, after Kiki was let go.  Who is guiding this ship?

6.) I think the Nuggs are going to match the offer sheet for Francisco Elson that he received from the Spurs.  That will make it Camby, Nene, Martin, Elson, Najera, possibly Reggie Evans if resigned in the front court.  Too many forwards and centers in the mix, not enough time, spells for bad attitudes.  They need to do something here.

So, what the hell are the nuggets going to amount to this year?  My guess is a repeat performance of last year, a subpar record, sliding into the playoffs, and losing in the first round because we have no shooters.  I hope this isn't the case, but what hope do we have as of right now?  If this happens, then blow up the team and start from scratch around Carmelo next year.  The nuggets need to make some changes, and need to make some changes quick.  Mediocrity is not an option anymore, and I can't handle another 11-71 season.

...hopefully the future is bright

The other thing that is fishy is on nuggets.com, the organization recently started a nuggets blog to refute some rumors in the media.  Their first post was May 6th, and they haven't put up another blog yet.  They aren't releasing any information, such as Greg Buckner leaving Denver and going to Dallas.  That seems like something they should address on their "blog".  No news around Denver, I feel like we are ripe for the fall, but I certainly hope not. 

My suggestion is to go back to the old Rainbow Uni's, bring in Alex English for the vacancy at assistant coach, and hope for the best.

I asked Dime this question on a comment on his blog, but got no love.  So I willl kick it out there to see if anyone else can give any insight....

While I was heading to Chipolte the other night to get a fat #### burrito, I was listening to the local sports talk show.  They were discussing why Lebron was holding out on agreeing to the terms of his contract for so long.  Others like Carmelo and Wade had already in principle agreed to their contracts, so why wasn't Lebron?  Then they came out with this:

These radio guys, refered to as "the 2 live stews" were saying that while Lebron is signed with Nike for his shoe endorsement, his contract has a clause that states if he plays in LA, Chicago, or New York, he would receive a $100 million bonus.  Then they went on to discuss how the NJ Nets are going to make a jump to Brooklyn, NY here in the next few years under the guidance of Jay Z, a partial owner of the Nets.  They said that LBJ and Jay Z are close and it could be a natural fit for Lebron.  $100 Million is more than his salary,  so why wouldn't he jump to one of these cities.

Now that LeBron has signed with Cleveland for 3 years, I am wondering, since the Nets are moving to Brooklyn supposedly I believe in 2009(3 years from now), is this the reason Lebron went for the three year deal with Cleveland rather than the 5 year?  Is he going to try to win a championship in CLeveland and then leave in three years to cash in?

These radio guys made another point, if all of this is true, Stern has to be pretty pissed that an outside company can so heavily influence the placing of a player in his league.  I thought this was all interesting and I wanted to see if anyone else out there had heard these rumors and their thoughts.

I have been out of commission for a while now...something to do with starting a new business from scratch and working my #### off.  Anyway, I am getting back into the swing of things now and have decided to ring in on thsi Allen Iverson trade rumor. 

I have said in the past I am a Denver Nuggets fan...a die hard denver nuggets fan.  I remember holding season tickets during the 2003 season where the team registered an outstanding 17 wins.  I paid $375 for the entire season, it was great.  However, after beer, parking and hot dogs, I was probably out about 5 grand.  I then signed up the next season for $575 for the entire season, Carmelo's first season.  It was great, my seats were 15 rows off the baseline and then nuggets had to win their last two games of the season at home to go to the playoffs and did...everyone around me(the longtime nuggets fans) were in tears.  Ah Memories...those seats are now going for about $2500 a seat for the season.

Anyway, I digress...back to the original point.  I have read recently in the Denver Post that the Nuggets are interested in the Answer to be their answer.  THe rumored trade includes Andre Miller and either Marcus Camby, Nene, or Kenyon Martin.  Assuming the salary numbers work out, I welcome this trade.  The nuggets need a shooter, lord knows last year in the playoffs they couldn't throw it in the ocean, or hit the broad side of a barn, whatever your favorite cliche' is.  Nightmares of watching Greg Buckner toss up brick after brick from the trey line still haunt me.

Here is why I welcome the trade.

1.  Andre Miller can not shoot outside of 15 feet.  While he runs the break nicely and can score inside for a point guard, his lack of shotting ability from the outside locks up Denver's offense.  The other PG just stands at the free throw line taunting him to shoot.  and he doesn't, because he can't.  the defensive player just clogs everything up.

2.  I would prefer it not be Camby, he is a part of the heart and soul of this team.  That being said, I would trade him if it meant getting Iverson.  Camby is good for 50-60 games a year, and the Nuggets could always resign Francisco Elson to fill his spot, or Nene should he stay.  I would prefer to trade Nene out of the big men I have mentioned....I am still amazed that a player that is athletic and can only dunk the ball can get 60 million over 6 years after tearing his ACL.  Unbelieveable. 

3.  Acquiring Iverson would give them something we have not had in my lifetime.  Two 26 PPG scorers.  Anthony averaged around 26 last year and A.I was at 33PPG or so...Sounds good to me.  Throw in an athletic and recovered Kenyon Martin(mentally and physically) and we have a pretty good scoring and athletic core with Iverson, Anthony and Martin...Hell, they could go out and sign melo's good friend and Syracuse clutch preformer Gerry McNamara to distribute the ball to all of these guys...

Anyway, those are my thoughts, and if it happens, I am predicting the Nuggets will finally win a playoff series this year...PLEASE Philadelphia, make this trade a reality.

Anyone else agree?

A few quick thoughts for today…

Did anyone else watch that Grizzlies-Mavericks game last night?  After the first quarter I thought the Griz might be able to make a game of it…but then the worst basketball I have ever seen played occurred.  Come on Grizzlies, 48 points in the last 3 quarters? 20 turnovers?  I actually committed a crime last night…about 8 minutes to go in the fourth, I gave the control to my wife.  Yep, let me repeat that…I gave the REMOTE CONTROL TO MY WIFE.  This was the worst display of "Professionalism" that I have seen in a while. That is all I have to say about this game…this is the playoffs isn’t it?

Ok, I can’t quit talking about the Griz.  I haven’t seen much of Pau Gasol this year, but he has looked God awful in the first two playoffs games.  Is he playing basketball or trying out for the part of Moses in the next installment of The Ten Commandments? Quit practicing splitting the red sea and put the ball in the basket for cyrin out loud…Am I missing something here? How did Gasol get the All Star nod over Carmelo?

I have overcome my Phoenix Suns complex.  I now will state that the Lakers will win this playoff series.  Defense wins playoff games, and quite frankly, Phoenix can’t play a lick of it.  Every time they needed a stop, LA Lakeshow came up with a big play.  Either a big Odom trey…or Kobe taking advantage of a photo op by dunking all over Nash(This was a good call, Kobe was already in the air).  In short, Phoenix is an offensive phenom, but can’t demand a defensive stop like other teams like the Pistons and Spurs.  Wasn’t the blank look on D’Antoni’s face priceless all night?  He didn’t know what to do, reminded me of when he was here in Denver…

Kudos to Kobe for being a true leader of men.  Aside from scoring 29 last night, he has his team believing they can win and performing at a high level…

Here’s to getting Denver a win tonight at the Can.  With Martin suspended, the Nuggets should have a shot to win.  Don’t believe me?  IN the 38 games Martin has not played in over the past 2 years, the Nuggs are 29-9.  Look for the series to go back to Staples at 2-2.  Just a slight warning though, the prediction I just made might be the homer in me shining through... 

Thanks for your time, Please let me know if I am off base...

With the Nuggets down 0-2 against the Clippers in the Western Divisional Playoffs, many are starting to question Carmelo’s ability to get it done in the playoffs.  Anthony should be used to this criticism since he has received little respect since his arrival in the NBA.  Take a look at Anthony’s NBA career and see what you think.  Here are some examples of how Carmelo has been raked over the coals.

Anthony should have won the Rookie of the Year award in the 03-04 season.  Look at the stats from that season between King James and Carmelo.  Anthony averaged more points per game, more rebounds per game, higher field goal percentage, higher 3 point percentage, higher free throw percentage, and fewer turnovers per game.  Lebron did surpass Anthony in assists per game…maybe that is how the NBA decides Rookie of the Year.  Personally, I could care less about stats, it all comes down to performance and wins and losses for me.  Guess what?  Anthony led Denver to a 43-39 season, and to the playoffs.  Mr. James was watching ‘Melo in the playoffs from a suite in the Pepsi Center.  I know because I was there.  So the guy with better stats, wins and a playoff performance doesn’t win rookie of the year.  Why? 

Don’t forget about the Olympics.  Carmelo was given the cold shoulder by the Team USA coaching staff and his played sparingly.  No respect shown to the former Syracuse star here.

And then there was the great all-star snub of 2006.  How does the 8^th leading scorer in the NBA get left out of the all-star game?  Anthony is having a career year and was snubbed by the all star voters…shame on the coaches for not selecting him as a reserve and on the public starting 5 voting process. Personally, I am blaming hanging chads.

Why does Anthony not get the respect he deserves?  I can tell you.  He was drafted the same year as King James.  The NBA has selected LeBron as the focal point for the league and will make every effort to have him in front of Carmelo.  LeBron is a great player, one of the best in my opinion…but nobody can deny the facts. Put on the thick skin Carmelo, the respect won’t come…you will always be in James’ shadow, regardless of stats or performance.