I’m not sold. I’m sorry. So many people are making it sound like our short local nightmare is over — and the Denver Nuggets are now a playoff team again.
Let’s pump the brakes, shall we?
Yes, it’s exciting that they’re winning games, and that Tuesday’s win put Denver at .500. And, yes, they beat the Cavaliers in Cleveland. But, really, the recent wins are, simply, games that a team with playoff aspirations must win — home against the Thunder without Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, against the lowly Lakers and at home against the Bulls, playing the second game of a back-to-back without Joakim Noah (and essentially without Derrick Rose, who was reinjured during the game). So let’s not say everything is fine over at Pepsi Center until we have a larger sample size.
And until the Nuggets start beating quality teams.
Point guard Ty Lawson is playing splendid basketball, penetrating with purpose. And it’s nice to see Danilo Gallinari, one of the good guys, slowly getting his groove back. But I do not see a team with Kenneth Faried as a key cog, and a team without a quality backup point guard, making the playoffs in the Western Conference.
Chew on this
• I had a fun chat Tuesday with Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib, who said he’s feeling much better but is “day to day” with his hamstring injury. Talib said he had never met Champ Bailey until last week, when the legendary ex-Broncos cornerback retired. Talib is one of those guys who always plays it cool, but he admitted that inside he felt like a kid meeting his hero. Cool to hear that idols have idols.
• So, one of the best sportswriters of our generation wrote a long piece about . Check out Thomas Lake’s look back at last year’s Auburn-Alabama game.
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• Wednesday is the birth date of the late, great Robert Goulet (dah-bah-dee, dah-bah-doo), which gives me an excuse to post one of my favorite TV moments. It’s the , who never breaks character as the crooner Goulet, who thinks he’s on Johnny Carson’s show in like 1978.
Benjamin Hochman: bhochman@denverpost.com or
Visit each weekday near noontime for a serving of dish concerning Colorado’s sporting landscape from a Denver Post sports writer. Care for another helping? Scan .
