Depth Keeps Nuggets Afloat

By Dave Bruning

The NBA regular season is an 82 game rollercoaster ride. Every team must endure injuries, back-to-back games, constant travelling (although not usually called by NBA officials) and unforeseen obstacles such as George Karl’s battle with cancer. The Denver Nuggets are learning the depth of their roster is a key to their playoff push.

NBA rosters consist of thirteen active players. Typically, most teams will feature a rotation of 7-9 players that receive significant playing time. While the other players may not receive actual playing time, they contribute during practice and are important parts of the roster. As the 2010 season has progressed, the depth of the Nuggets roster has been proven time and again.

Denver’s starting rotation features Chauncey Billups, Aaron Afflalo, Carmelo Anthony, Kenyon Martin and Nene. The Nuggets key bench players are J.R. Smith, Ty Lawson and Chris “Birdman” Andersen. These players receive the bulk of the playing time. However, it is almost impossible to make it through a season without dealing with player injuries. The Nuggets are no exception.

Key players to miss multiple games this season include Anthony, Billups, Martin and Lawson. When one player goes down, another must step up and fill that role. Never was this more evident than the other night in Memphis against the Grizzlies. Led by third string point guard Anthony Carter, the Nuggets overcame a hot Memphis start and outscored the Grizzlies 40-23 in the fourth quarter to secure a crucial road victory. The only starter on the floor during the Nuggets decisive run was Nene. It also didn’t hurt that J.R. Smith was hotter than a firecracker.

A shoulder injury to rookie Lawson opened the door for Carter. He has mostly sat the bench this season. Carter is a consummate professional who could start for quite a few teams. Not once has he complained publicly about his role and was prepared when given the opportunity to play. The Nuggets have not missed a beat with Carter in the lineup. His approach is typical of other Nuggets veterans, including Malik Allen and Joey Graham. Even Johan Petro has stepped in and given Denver productive minutes while K-Mart’s knee recovers.

Most professional sport seasons are too long in my opinion. The primary reason for the lengthy regular season is financial. Even God can’t argue with the Almighty dollar. That aside, a team will either have their weaknesses exposed or develop the roster depth to be a championship contender. The Nuggets are developing the pedigree necessary to win a championship.

I think Bachman Turner Overdrive sings about this...

- By Danny Neubert

The Nuggets take on the New Orleans Hornets tonight in a game that normally would be billed as a matchup between superstars Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul. However, with Paul hurt and the Hornets scuffling a bit lately, the game has lost some of its luster. Still, with the news that coach George Karl will miss the three remaining games of this road trip, this game takes on added significance.

Denver really has no reason to fear the Hornets. Even with Paul at the helm, the Nuggets demolished the Hornets last spring in the playoffs, including a 58-point thrashing in New Orleans. Perhaps that beatdown gave New Orleans some motivation, because the previous two games against them this year have been close. The Nuggets blew a 15-point lead in New Orleans and lost the first game, with Melo playing possibly his worst game of the year. He redeemed himself in Denver in the second game, scoring 30 points to lead the Nuggets to a 116-110 overtime victory in January.

With no CP3, though, I expect the Nuggets to win this game. Not comfortably, because that's not how they do things, but when it's all said and done it should be a 7-to-10 point victory. As fabulous as Darren Collison has been in Paul's absence, this game means much more to the Nuggets than it does to the Hornets, who are all but out of the playoffs at this point.

In fact, I am hoping the absence of Karl galvanizes the Nuggets the rest of this road trip. They started off on the right foot, beating a spunky Minnesota team who fought hard but ultimately fell prey to the superior talent of the Nuggets. This amazing dunk by J.R. Smith helped seal the deal. The rest of the teams (New Orleans, Memphis, and Houston) are better than the Timberwolves, but none of them are going to the playoffs. This is a statement trip for the Nuggs. If they can go 4-0, and get that road record a couple of games above .500, it would say a lot about their ability to win on the road during the postseason.

These next three games loom even larger when you look at the road games Denver has at the end of the month. A veritable murderer's row of New York, Boston, Toronto, Orlando and Dallas awaits them. All except New York are playoff-bound, and four of the games are back-to-backs. Yeesh.

Thus, the Nuggets need to take care of business (there's the BTO reference!), preferably without working overtime. They got it started against Minnesota. They have to keep it going against the Hornets tonight. Otherwise, they could find themselves in the fourth spot out West and facing a second-round matchup against the hated Lakers. If they secure their fifth straight win tonight, the Nuggets can begin to show that they still belong in the conversation when it comes to elite title-seeking teams. When it comes these Nuggets, as the immortal BTO sings in another song, b-b-b-b-baby you ain't seen nothing yet.

A Real Game Face

By Dave Bruning

The phrase “game face” is one of the most overused and hard to explain phrases in the world of sports. I can’t begin to count the number of times I have heard an announcer talk about a player or team having their game face on while thinking to myself, “what the hell is he talking about?”

The best way I can describe a game face is taking an approach to a game or moment with a level of seriousness or commitment that did not previously exist. With this in mind, Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl certainly has his “game face” on as he begins his second battle with cancer. Karl has been diagnosed with neck and throat cancer. He is also a survivor of a previous bout of prostate cancer in 2005. Karl’s son, Coby, is also cancer survivor.

Karl recently went public with his latest battle and he brought his game face as he shared the news. Flanked by his team and other members of the Nuggets organization, Karl wrestled with his emotions while trying to stay upbeat.

"My desire is to do whatever I can to stay with my team throughout the treatment that I have to go through," Karl said. "Basically, my belief is this is a championship team and I want to do anything and everything I can to help them continue in their quest that we all want."

Karl will begin an intensive six-week treatment program of radiation and chemotherapy. He is expected to miss several games and practices during the course of his treatment. Karl’s assistant coaches will guide the Nuggets in his absence.

Cancer also touched the Nuggets in 2008. Brazilian forward Nene was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He had a tumor surgically removed from his right testicle and missed the majority of the 2008 season. Nene has since returned to health and is an integral part of a very talented Denver team with aspirations of an NBA title. The Nuggets are currently second in the Western Conference. Ironically, there is some sentiment around the league that coach Karl’s battle with cancer may help the enigmatic Nuggets find their game face in pursuit of the NBA title.

Karl is still trying to come to grips with his latest cancer battle.

"I don't care if it's a curable one or uncurable. There's no guaranteed contracts in this gig. Doctors are very confident, but mutations of cells come in different forms. We'll just give it the best shot that we have."

There is a great video of former Indiana University basketball coach Bob Knight trying to explain a game face. Knight contorts his face in a variety of ridiculous mannerisms and gestures. After about 30 seconds he stops and says he has never seen a game face. Knight’s point was he had never seen a game face and did not know what one looked like. As elusive as it may be to describe a game face, I think George Karl has one and it will serve him well as he stares down cancer.

The Lakers Got Lucky

- Danny Neubert

I hadn't planned to post anything following the Lakers game. Instead, I was going to do a recap of the Nuggets' back-to-back after the Phoenix game tonight, which kicks off a tough March that will likely determine where the Nuggets are seeded when the postseason begin.

I didn't even watch the Lakers game in real-time. I was up in the mountains snowboarding and waited to watch a recording of the game after I got back. By the time I had finished watching the Nuggets self-destruct in the second half and hand the game to Los Angeles, ESPN.com had a game recap posted. In the interest of objectivity, they had included a companion piece from a Lakers blog. Because that's the only side of the story anybody cares about, right ESPN?

Well, this drivel from Dave McMenamin over at ESPNLosAngeles.com forced me into action. In typical self-serving, oblivious-to-reality Lakers fan fashion, McMenamin disregards the Nuggets' prior two DOMINATING performances against the boys in purple and gold and instead uses this game (one in which the Nuggets led virtually the entire time and still had multiple chances to win it down the stretch despite off games from nearly everyone and a 35% shooting performance overall) to demonstrate how the Lakers and their fans aren't worried about the Nuggets now and won't be come playoff time. He doesn't say it outright, but read the paragraph about Chauncey Billups' shooting for the game and the way he condescendingly quotes Billups as saying he feels the Nuggets are on the same level as the Lakers. McMenamin practically scoffs at the notion, it seems.

Why is that, hmm? Has David Stern already assured LA they are going to the championship, for his dream Lebron vs. Kobe Finals matchup? It honestly wouldn't surprise me. But for one second, let's just assume the NBA isn't fixed and Stern doesn't have an overwhelming preference for the Lakers. It's hard, I know, but go with me on this. Why shouldn't the Lakers fear the Nuggets?

The Nuggets, when healthy, match up with them better than any other team in the Western Conference. Nene, Kenyon Martin, and Birdman are more than capable of going toe-to-toe with the taller Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, because what they lack in height they make up for in physicality. Carmelo Anthony is better than Ron Artest, no matter what Melo's numbers were yesterday. Billups and Ty Lawson are enigmas that the Lakers simply have no answer for. And as we saw yesterday, the feisty shooting guards, Arron Afflalo and J.R. Smith, are up to the task of scoring and defending Kobe Bryant.

Denver has beaten LA twice this season convincingly, and almost beat them again yesterday. They reverted to selfish basketball in the second half, with too many one-on-one jumpshots (Melo and Chauncey mostly), and as we have seen in the past, that consistently will doom the Nuggets. Was it good defense from the Lakers? Partly, but not overwhelmingly so. The Nuggets were just forcing shots; the Lakers weren't doing anything special.

What Artest does is only considered defense in the loosest sense. Artest even told an ABC reporter before the game that he had been practicing flopping, and he certainly demonstrated it throughout. As for those six steals he had? Decent, but how many of them came while he was hanging all over Melo? It's even more outrageous when you see that Melo only shot three free throws. I know he isn't getting fouled every time but come on! And don't get me started on that BS offensive foul call that gave Melo his sixth.

McMenamin also tries to emphasize what a bunch of "trash-talkers" the Nuggets are. Oh right, because everybody on the Lakers is a choir boy. Any team that starts serial screw-up artist Ron Artest should not be calling another team's character into question. And is it not considered trash-talking if you are only berating the refs? Gasol is quoted as saying the Nuggets talk "way too much." I am sure there are a few officials out there who would say the same about you, Pau. Or should I say Pout?

And Kobe needs a reality check. I hate how the refs are so scared of his wrath, like Kobe can get them blackballed from the league somehow. Sure, he got an early technical foul, but I saw at least five or six equally egregious reactions to non-calls on his part that definitely merited a second. I did get a good chuckle watching him go apoplectic over the CLEAN Afflalo block that came on Kobe right after Afflalo blocked Gasol's first attempt, but I know if Melo or Chauncey or J.R. does that, it's an automatic technical, no matter if it's their second. A technical is a technical, and Kobe abuses the refs like few others in the league do.

Whatever. McMenamin is biased, just like I am. Whereas I do give the Lakers some credit from time to time (Kobe is an amazing player, even if he is a jerk, and the Nuggets still have no answer for Lamar Odom), Lakers fans and sportswriters go out of their way to make sure the Nuggets receive little to no credit. When they do beat LA, it's LA's fault, not a result of anything the Nuggets did. Trying to talk basketball with Lakers fans is like trying to teach a toaster arithmetic; it just doesn't work. And until the Nuggets beat the Lakers in the postseason en route to a championship, the inevitable comeback will always be, "Look at the rings."

Well turnabout is fair play, no? In keeping with the traditional grace and dignity Lakers fans have shown me, I give the Lakers absolutely ZERO credit for their victory yesterday, and they should send the Nuggets some Harry and David gift baskets for their generosity in handing the game over. When, not if, these two teams meet in the Western Conference Finals, I expect Denver's engine to be running extremely hard, due to the disrespect shown by LA and their drive to do right by Coach Karl. And you know what else? Just for Pau and McMenamin's sake, I hope the Nuggets keep their mouths running, too.