My Nuggets of Wisdom...
Ah, so I'm getting tired of debating about pharmacies, Wal-Marts, and the like, but I can't let arguments die sometimes. This is why I'm so apathetic about so many topics, by the way... I really hate any sort of spirited discussion, and I would much rather care about a very small subset of things; mainly sports-related.
Two days ago, I described the Nuggets as being a team that was "on another plane of existence." The Nuggets seem utterly mysterious to me; and I've got plenty to say about those rascals, so I'll get things kick-started right now.
Denver is the worst three-point shooting team in the NBA. They had one goal for the off-season, and that was to get somebody who could shoot. Instead, they managed not to sign anyone who could shoot, (banking on the fabulous Vanishing Voshon Lenard instead), and are subsequently relying on a guy who is five foot five to be the bomber on that team.
Interestingly enough, Kiki Vandeweghe, the Nuggets' GM, was given a couple of draft picks to try to fix this mess this year, but didn't really seem to know what to do with them, so he passed up one Francisco Garcia to take one Julius Hodge, who is currently tearing up the D-League. Kiki, just today, traded Lenard for Ruben Patterson, who should instantly fit in with this team full of mystery. Can he shoot? Is he stable? Will he commit a homicide? Nobody knows.
Still, for not being able to shoot, Denver sure can score. Their shooting percentage is relatively decent, and they average over 100 points a night. This is a good thing; Denver doesn't seem to be too interested in playing defense. This is interesting- the Nuggets have Marcus Camby, who is widely considered to be one of the best defensive players on the planet. Heck, even Kenyon Martin should be good on defense, but nobody is too sure what it is that K-Mart really does for that team. K-Mart is a microcosm of the Nuggets- he's an interesting, talented dude, but his impact and role is sort of nebulous, and it's widely thought of that he wastes too much of his talent playing poor basketball.
And so it is with Denver. Their starting five is effective, considering they play with basically only four guys at a shot who are able to score. Greg Buckner and Francisco Elson get major minutes to play defense, even though they're like Bruce Bowen without the talent. I guess this should change now that Patterson is around, but who knows? Ruben Patterson almost died at the hands of Zach Randolph, so he's got some baggage going to Denver with him. The Nuggets now also have the services of one Reggie Evans, a guy I can't stand, mainly because he's learning how to play from Danny Fortson, and that should be disallowed. I don't see how he's different from the rest of their team, but there are many things I don't understand with the Nuggets. The one constant on their team, Andre Miller, can't shoot a lick, but he's got the subtle effectiveness of John Stockton. Thus, Carmelo Anthony is given the ball and is allowed to shoot at will, putting him in line with Vince and T-Mac as part of the next great group of scorers. With all the talent, you would think Denver would be either a lot better or a lot worse, yet they're decidedly above average, which is a mystery to me.
Why is George Karl coaching this team? Nobody knows, because he's certainly ambivalent toward it. Remember last year? Karl cared, and the Nuggets won. Now, with virtually the same exact team, the Nuggets aren't winning as much in a conference that is decidedly worse, in my opinion. Why is that? I guess the Nuggets have been injured, with Nene out most of the year, but their defense is also worse, which is hard to explain, considering the fact that if your team can't shoot effectively from long-distance, they're generally composed of more "defense-oriented guys," and with Buckner, Elson, K-Mart, and Camby, the Nuggets definitely have those guys.
Denver has almost all the pieces, which, for some reason, fit together in a way they aren't supposed to. It's remarkable that this team is where it is, whatever that means. It's also remarkable that the Nuggets had thought about trading for Allen Iverson; because there's a trade that would seem to make no sense for them, but then again, I'm woefully unqualified to decide what is and what isn't with regard to this franchise. Really, it hurts just to think about it.
Two days ago, I described the Nuggets as being a team that was "on another plane of existence." The Nuggets seem utterly mysterious to me; and I've got plenty to say about those rascals, so I'll get things kick-started right now.
Denver is the worst three-point shooting team in the NBA. They had one goal for the off-season, and that was to get somebody who could shoot. Instead, they managed not to sign anyone who could shoot, (banking on the fabulous Vanishing Voshon Lenard instead), and are subsequently relying on a guy who is five foot five to be the bomber on that team.
Interestingly enough, Kiki Vandeweghe, the Nuggets' GM, was given a couple of draft picks to try to fix this mess this year, but didn't really seem to know what to do with them, so he passed up one Francisco Garcia to take one Julius Hodge, who is currently tearing up the D-League. Kiki, just today, traded Lenard for Ruben Patterson, who should instantly fit in with this team full of mystery. Can he shoot? Is he stable? Will he commit a homicide? Nobody knows.
Still, for not being able to shoot, Denver sure can score. Their shooting percentage is relatively decent, and they average over 100 points a night. This is a good thing; Denver doesn't seem to be too interested in playing defense. This is interesting- the Nuggets have Marcus Camby, who is widely considered to be one of the best defensive players on the planet. Heck, even Kenyon Martin should be good on defense, but nobody is too sure what it is that K-Mart really does for that team. K-Mart is a microcosm of the Nuggets- he's an interesting, talented dude, but his impact and role is sort of nebulous, and it's widely thought of that he wastes too much of his talent playing poor basketball.
And so it is with Denver. Their starting five is effective, considering they play with basically only four guys at a shot who are able to score. Greg Buckner and Francisco Elson get major minutes to play defense, even though they're like Bruce Bowen without the talent. I guess this should change now that Patterson is around, but who knows? Ruben Patterson almost died at the hands of Zach Randolph, so he's got some baggage going to Denver with him. The Nuggets now also have the services of one Reggie Evans, a guy I can't stand, mainly because he's learning how to play from Danny Fortson, and that should be disallowed. I don't see how he's different from the rest of their team, but there are many things I don't understand with the Nuggets. The one constant on their team, Andre Miller, can't shoot a lick, but he's got the subtle effectiveness of John Stockton. Thus, Carmelo Anthony is given the ball and is allowed to shoot at will, putting him in line with Vince and T-Mac as part of the next great group of scorers. With all the talent, you would think Denver would be either a lot better or a lot worse, yet they're decidedly above average, which is a mystery to me.
Why is George Karl coaching this team? Nobody knows, because he's certainly ambivalent toward it. Remember last year? Karl cared, and the Nuggets won. Now, with virtually the same exact team, the Nuggets aren't winning as much in a conference that is decidedly worse, in my opinion. Why is that? I guess the Nuggets have been injured, with Nene out most of the year, but their defense is also worse, which is hard to explain, considering the fact that if your team can't shoot effectively from long-distance, they're generally composed of more "defense-oriented guys," and with Buckner, Elson, K-Mart, and Camby, the Nuggets definitely have those guys.
Denver has almost all the pieces, which, for some reason, fit together in a way they aren't supposed to. It's remarkable that this team is where it is, whatever that means. It's also remarkable that the Nuggets had thought about trading for Allen Iverson; because there's a trade that would seem to make no sense for them, but then again, I'm woefully unqualified to decide what is and what isn't with regard to this franchise. Really, it hurts just to think about it.
posted by mike at 4:01 PM
3 Comments:
My favorite episode of ATHF is the one where there's a mummy underneath the Aquateens' house. In particular, I enjoy the scene where the mummy is trying to curse Master Shake; but Master Shake doesn't care at all.
What's wrong with being 5'5''?
Well, sweetie, if you were playing in the NBA, people would probably shoot over your pretty face, much like they're doing to Earl Boykins. And his face isn't as pretty as yours.
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