“I have no problem sitting here and saying I think we should win 50 games.”
– Nuggets coach George Karl, October 2006
Yesterday’s prophet can become tomorrow’s fool, as quickly as the Nuggets invent ways to lose basketball games.
Three defeats, 79 chances left for Karl to be correct.
It’s too early in this NBA season for Denver to panic.
But it’s time to for the Nuggets to make a trade.
There needs to be a changing of the guard in Denver.
Point guard Andre Miller is a warrior, but he’s the wrong man to run an up-tempo offense for Karl.
Between the offense of J.R. Smith and the defense of rookie Yakhouba Diawara, the Nuggets have one dangerous shooting guard. Unfortunately, league rules strictly prohibit substitutions on the fly, every time the basketball crosses center court.
Although the team’s brain trust is wisely tight-lipped regarding trade scenarios, anybody with an ear to the ground of the NBA world knows the Nuggets are itching to make a deal.
And can you blame Denver?
After a depressing 0-3 start, we hold these truths to be self-evident.
This new run-and-gun offense is a thing of beauty, until Karl asks somebody to actually start firing shots. The offense depends on 3-point accuracy, a category in which Denver ranks dead last among 30 league teams. The problem is not that goofy new ball everyone seems to hate. The Nuggets need bigger baskets.
It’s all over for forward Kenyon Martin except the crumbling. He worked hard to get his act together. But his body is falling apart. What happens to a bulky NBA player when the knees go bad? Anybody recall how painful the final days in Denver of Calvin Natt and LaPhonso Ellis were to watch?
If fan-favorite Earl Boykins is not already on the block, the number on his cellphone will soon be changed to 303-TRADE ME. He is a 5-foot-5 shooting guard, which is a bad strategy unless your team plays in a middle school. The little man has a huge heart, but he has worn out his welcome.
Despite all the points forward Carmelo Anthony scored in the names of patriotism and maturity as a member of Team USA during the summer, he has thrown away two victories for the Nuggets already this season, by stupidly getting tossed against the Los Angeles Clippers and by chucking brain-dead shots against Minnesota. Melo stood up like a man and took the blame on both counts. So you’ve got to love Anthony, but you better expect a bumpy ride when the captain leading the way is 22 years old.
From head to toe, Nene appears to be a new man. The beard. The jumper. Looks cool. But the dude has gone all GQ on us. He has forgotten how to get down-and-dirty on defense and seems content to play a pretty game. Remember the temper for which Furious George is so well known? Nene is fixing to hear an earful from his coach.
There was wringing of hands when the Nuggets failed to sign guard Bonzi Wells, letting him slip away to Houston. As desperate as Denver is for a guard, only a moron would have been so desperate as to take a chance on Wells, who is fat and unhappy with the Rockets. I remember Doug Moe telling me the Nuggets were lucky not to get stuck with Wells. As usual, Moe was correct.
Although Anthony laughed when anyone suggested a month ago Denver could miss the playoffs, it has stopped being funny. Denver needs help. One of the league’s worst-kept secrets is that Corey Maggette would like to storm the lane and swish 3-pointers for Denver, but the Clippers might be hesitant to let him join a rival for the title of rising powerhouse in the Western Conference.
If you want to do something more than dream about the Nuggets winning 50 games, check the rosters of NBA teams overstocked at the point or on the wing. If anybody deserves to escape the nuthouse Isiah Thomas built with the Knicks, it’s Jamal Crawford.
Charlotte, with not enough basketballs to go around, probably needs to move Brevin Knight. Morris Peterson, in the final year of his contract with Toronto, is a rock-steady defender and shooter. The Chicago Bulls seem reluctant to make the long-term commitment to Ben Gordon he deserves.
Those names represent no more than one man’s guesses about what Denver could do to improve its roster.
But I know this: Should the Nuggets do nothing, Karl is going to wonder if only a fool would have signed on to coach this team through 2010.
Staff writer Mark Kiszla can be reached at 303-954-1053 or mkiszla@denverpost.com.
