Kiz: Remember way back in 2013, when the Nuggets used to matter? They’ve fallen off the NBA map. The oddsmakers in Las Vegas obviously don’t think much of the Nuggets, placing the over/under on their victory total at 40.5. Am I crazy to think Denver even has a shot at winning 50 games?
Hooch: Fifty? To , “Alex English is not walking through that door! Lafayette Lever is not walking through that door!” The Nuggets have some fine pieces, and a couple of dudes will probably ascend this season and make for good stories. And I’ll even say I see this team winning somewhere from 46 to 48 games and battling for the eighth seed. But I can’t see 50, not in the Western Conference. I love how people in town talk about the Denver players like there are five potential all-stars out there on the court — “All they need, Hooch, is to develop a little!” You know who else has good players? Everyone! Every team has good players. Even the Utah Jazz has like four quality recent lottery picks, and this team isn’t making the playoffs. Just because Kenneth Faried played well this summer and Danilo Gallinari feels he’s ready to return doesn’t mean this team is destined for 50.
Kiz: General manager Tim Connelly has told me and anybody in Denver who still cares about the Nuggets he will be extremely disappointed if this team fails to make the playoffs. Hope he has a trade up his sleeve. If not a big one, then at least to dump the 7 feet of frustration that is JaVale McGee.
Hooch: JaVale McGee makes our job easier — his flamboyant play is just so much fun to describe, sometimes — but his existence (and contract) makes Brian Shaw’s job harder. Timofey Mozgov had some quality showings down the stretch. Has McGee missed too much time anyway? But I’m with you, Kiz. Let’s enjoy writing about McGee in late 2014, because he probably won’t be a Nugget by early 2015.
Kiz: OK, Denver can win 50 games. But to do so, Shaw must bury his ego and play the do-run-run game at altitude that visiting teams don’t like at all during cold winter layovers in Colorado. Find a way to win 50 first, then worry about how to win in the playoffs later … like maybe in 2016.
Hooch: Here’s the thing. Whether they make the playoffs this season or next, I just don’t see the guys on the current roster someday becoming a top-three team in the West. So I suppose the fans will just accept it and just cheer their butts off, like
