Did you see slimmed-down Carmelo Anthony breeze by Smush Parker and Devean George on Wednesday at the Pepsi Center? Dude is quick now. He went straight to the baseline and got to the rim before the Lakers figured out their lunch already was eaten.
But the Nuggets will need more than a better Melo this season if they are to win their first playoff series since Dikembe Mutombo played center for them.
For the Nuggets to become an elite team, they will need the wisdom of their veteran coach, George Karl.
Karl was forbidden from coaching in the Nuggets’ first two games – a suspension, reduced from three games, the NBA handed him this past summer. The suspension, along with a $200,000 team fine, came after Karl broke league rules by attending a predraft workout at Marquette in which Utah lottery pick Deron Williams participated. Karl said he was there only to watch his son, Coby, a Boise State guard.
Karl returns, not a minute too soon, to the Nuggets’ bench tonight as Denver hosts the Portland Trail Blazers at 7 p.m.
Many predicted the Nuggets would win their division this season, based on the team’s remarkable turnaround after Karl took over last season. The Nuggets went 32-8 down the stretch and qualified for the playoffs.
WHAT WE’D LIKE TO SEE
Nuggets guard Andre “Smokey” Miller put as much effort into his halfcourt defense as he did in avoiding the Bandit. Fake license plates? What, did he have a truckload of cold Coors to get to Florida?
WEAK IN REVIEW
Major League Baseball suspended outfielder Matt Lawton, a former all-star, for 10 days at the start of next season for using a veterinary-grade horse steroid. MLB’s penalty for using a veterinary-grade horse steroid is just 10 days? By comparison, the NBA initially suspended Nuggets coach George Karl three games for watching a pickup basketball game. Just think, if NBA commissioner David Stern were in charge of MLB, players might be required to wear dress saddles and business casual blinders.
THE COUCH
ON: For the Colorado football team, there’s nothing like November. During the Buffaloes’ three Big 12 North title seasons – 2001, 2002 and 2004 – they compiled a 9-1 record in November games. And they are 47-16-1 in the Thanksgiving month in their past 64 games, including 14-6 under coach Gary Barnett. On Saturday, the Buffs (6-2, 4-1 Big 12) can win control of the North race against the division’s only other team with a winning league record, Missouri (5-3, 3-2). The game begins a crucial stretch for the 25th-ranked Buffs, with Iowa State and Nebraska following. Brad Nessler, Bob Griese and Lynn Swann will call the game for ABC, with the KMGH-7 telecast beginning at 1:30 p.m.
OFF: Warm days are becoming rare as the year winds down. But there still is time for outdoor road races. Two races for good causes will keep the blood going Saturday. Check out “Josh and Gus’ Run For a Reason” at Clement Park in Littleton. The 5K run/walk and 2K family fun walk starts at 8:30 a.m. and benefits the CJ Foundation for SIDS. In Loveland, the Heart Center of the Rockies will host a half-marathon, 10K, 4K and short fun run on sand, asphalt and concrete trails. Those races also start at 8:30 a.m. So get some get-up-and-go and do some fun runs.
AROUND TOWN
The Rapids, in dramatic fashion, eliminated FC Dallas from the Major League Soccer playoffs last week in Frisco, Texas. Playing more than half the game a man down, the Rapids scored the tying goal in the 106th minute, less than a minute after Dallas went up 2-1. Then, behind injured goalkeeper Joe Cannon’s crucial save, the Rapids won the two-game aggregate scoring series on penalty kicks 5-4. Now, as the Western Conference final round hits Denver on Saturday at 7 p.m., the playoffs become a one-game, winner-take-all affair. Win, and the Rapids are in the MLS Cup match. Lose, and the Los Angeles Galaxy, behind Landon Donovan, move on. The Galaxy is scoreless in two trips to Denver this season, with the Rapids winning both games.
