Denver Post sports writer Benjamin Hochman posts his Nuggets Mailbag every Wednesday during the 2008-09 NBA season on DenverPost.com.
To drop a Nuggets- or NBA-related question into the Nuggets Mailbag or visit DenverPost.com’s .
Hi, Ben! Maybe the biggest fan of the Nuggets here in Portugal! My question is: How far can Nene go?
— Nuno, Braga, Portugal
Nuno – Great to hear from you. Hope things are going well in Braga. According to Wikipedia, a promo for “The Simpsons” episode “Stop, Or My Dog Will Shoot!” quickly showed geographical coordinates, which suggested that the town of Springfield (locale never clearly revealed on the show) could be found just to the north of Braga.
Nene’s ceiling, I would say, is very high. George Karl thinks he could one day be an all-star. Already this season, it’s clear that Nene was worth the gamble all those years ago — and all those times his name came up in trade rumors, but the Nuggets ended up keeping him.
This season, no player has a bigger jump in points per game from last season. Nene is rebounding ferociously, and he has become a jump-shooting threat.
In any Nene conversation, you have to throw in the fact that he’s oft-injured. But really if you look at it, the thumb injury last year was a fluke injury, and it was followed by his testicular cancer (and his survival), and then injuries because he, possibly, came back too quickly. So really, last year’s injuries arguably shouldn’t provide ammo to the “injury prone” argument. But maybe that’s just me making excuses.
Regardless, we have to embrace the present, and presently, Nene is one of the better centers in the Western Conference (maybe not all-star just yet, but definitely a force).
Hi, Ben. I am writing about Anthony Carter, the only University of Hawaii player in the NBA. To say that we are proud of him is an understatement. I wanted to get your opinion as to what A.C.’s role will be after the Chauncey Billups trade and the return of Atkins.
— Edric Ching, Honolulu
I’ll tell you this, Edric, Carter has been the consummate professional during this season. Many starting point guards would have been livid about being relegated to the bench, regardless of who was taking over as the starter. But Carter, who is a smart veteran, realized that he’s not Chauncey Billups, and Billups will help the team win.
Carter has embraced his bench role and is still tallying 4.7 assists, while, for now, playing similar minutes to last season — 28.0 to 27.1 this season. At times, coach Karl has matched Billups and Carter in the backcourt. We’ll see if Chucky Atkins stays on the roster, and if he possibly takes some minutes from Carter. But whatever happens, it’s clear that the coaching staff still trusts Carter. He will continue to be a key cog in the Nuggets’ machine, regardless of where he’s located at tipoff.
Where have the dark blue uniforms and black shoes gone? It seems as though the Nuggets have stopped wearing their black shoes and alternate jersey this season. Any reason why?
— Andy Wood, Colorado Springs
Don’t worry, Andy, the dark blue uniforms have not been buried. Turns out, the Nuggets equipment manager is just waiting for some of the players’ shoe companies to send the players’ shoes in the color black. Once they all arrive, the Nuggets will break out the dark blue uniforms with the black shoes.
Of course, any time you’re talking Nuggets uniforms, it sparks a debate about which uniform is the best in team history. A couple weeks ago, Chauncey Billups, the Denver native, said his favorite was: “Probably the one I used to see growing up, with Alex English and them, with the city and skyline. That’s probably my favorite. That was classic. I like these, too. I didn’t like the one with (Maxie the Miner) nor the one that I played in (back in 1998).”
I, however, liked the one from the ’90s, with the dark blue and … crimson? I think at the time, they were some of the sharper uniforms in the league, because they used different shades of colors, then unseen on contemporary uniforms.
But I also agree with “Smooth” — the ’80s Nuggets uniform is a classic. It’s perhaps the all-time greatest NBA uniform. The all-time worst was the Cleveland Cavaliers uni from the mid-1990s; .
We don’t need a third point guard, and I’m wondering if management will pull the trigger to improve our team further. I was looking at the Bucks roster and thinking maybe Chucky Atkins for Francisco Elson or Dan Gadzuric. What do you think?
— Gelman, Denver
Gelman – The more Chucky Atkins doesn’t play, the more you have to wonder if/when Denver will try to get something out of the money allocated to him. In other words, perhaps trade for a player or players who can contribute (and also a young, inexpensive player who Denver can try to develop in the D-League).
Atkins is a great guy, and he worked diligently last season and this season to try to get back in shape, following injuries. It would be a shame if he leaves Denver without getting a real shot at showing what he can do, but with the addition of Chauncey Billups, Denver’s backcourt rotation is pretty much set, involving starters Billups and Dahntay Jones and reserves Anthony Carter and J.R. Smith.
As for Elson, he is a guy who was George Karl’s insurance policy a few seasons ago and someone who the Nuggets looked into acquiring this past summer.
It is clear that Denver is thin in the low post. When everyone is healthy, Denver should be all right with Nene and Kenyon Martin and then Chris Andersen and, at times, Linas Kleiza or Renaldo Balkman plugging holes (and the versatile Carmelo Anthony has played some four and even five this season). But it’s hard for any team to stay healthy all year (already, Andersen has missed some time with a rib injury, and Nene and Martin have suffered a lot of injuries in the past). So, yeah, Denver could use another post. The question is: What route will they take to get him?
In 10 years … who do you chose? Jordan or LeBron? I can’t believe I have to think about it now. The potential is there.
— Dillon, Denver
Dillon – Assuming you mean Michael Jordan (and not Adonis Jordan), this is a tough question. If your question is, who will have accomplished more — Jordan overall or LeBron up to 10 years from now? — I’d have to go with Jordan because I cannot see James winning six championships in the next 10 years.
Now Jordan, of course, played alongside Scottie Pippen, who the NBA named as one if its top-50 players. That’s a heck of a “Robin.” James carried his team to that one Finals on his No. 23 (and some argue that was the worst Finals team of all-time). And this year, the Cavaliers look really good with the addition of guard Mo Williams (last week, coach Karl said that the Lakers and Cavs, so far, were the top-two squads in the entire league), but even so, it’s very early in the season (and the Celtics are really good in that conference). In other words, even an enhanced roster might not get James a Finals appearance, much less a ring.
Even if James joins the Nets or Knicks in 2010 and can win a few rings, the only winning James argument (over Jordan) will be if he’s somehow proven to be more valuable to those championship teams than Jordan was to his. If his rosters stay as average as they have been, and he starts winning multiple championships, then maybe there’s an argument.
I guess the thing with LeBron is, he stuffs a stat sheet unlike Jordan did. But, if James gets better players around him, his assists and even scoring might go down, because other players will provide more stats. Regardless, maybe 10 years from now, the argument can be made that James is the greatest non-center stat-producer in the history of the basketball. But it all comes back to championships, and I can’t imagine anyone leading a team to six titles — much less in six straight full seasons played. And, really, you’d have to think that if Jordan didn’t retire the first time, the Bulls would have won at least one of the two rings that Houston won.
So unless James does something we’ve never seen happen — like annually averaging a triple-double and winning titles, too — I’m going to stick with Michael “Air” Jordan.
Benjamin Hochman covers the Nuggets for The Denver Post. To drop a question into his Nuggets Mailbag, or visit DenverPost.com’s .
