I know that dude.
I’ll hear this in my head; well, really, I’ll hear Jeff Spicoli saying it in his slow, stoned, SoCal cadence:
I’ll catch an NBA playoff game, seemingly any playoff game, and there’s a former Nugget.
There’s Andre Iguodala on defense for Golden State. There’s Corey Brewer, scoring 22 (22!) points in a playoff game for Houston. The Wizards have Nene. The Cavaliers have J.R. Smith and Timofey (TinaFey) Mozgov. Kosta Koufos is still Kosta Koufosing in the low post, now for Memphis. And even the erstwhile DeMarre Carroll, who played four games for Denver in 2011, is averaging 18.9 points in the playoffs (even die-hard Denver fans might have forgotten that this generation’s ” ” wore the powder blue).
So what does this say about the Nuggets? Not a lot, honestly. I wouldn’t read too much into it. None of these guys are stars. And in the NBA, role players bounce from team to team. I suppose the one thing it validates is: in the George Karl years, the Nuggets were indeed deep.
To this day, there is debate about just how good — or, perhaps, overrated — was the 2012-13 team? They were the No. 3 seed but lost to the Golden State Warriors in the first round. But they won 57 games without a star, but much of the success came from speed and adept depth. Brewer, Koufos, Miller and the starter Iguodala were all important George Karl cogs.
And so, let’s simply enjoy catching up with our old friends, seven of them who have advanced to the second round of the NBA playoffs (the Nuggets can’t seem to get out of the first round, the ex-Nuggets can).
Here’s a look at each ex-Nugget still in the playoffs, and some quick info:
Nene, Wizards: Averaged 11.0 points in the regular season, but just 6.0 in the playoffs. In the first two games of the second round, he scored 2 points in 44 minutes.
Timofey Mozgov, Cavs: Finished with 12 points, 11 boards and three blocks in the clinching first-round game against Boston.
J.R. Smith, Cavs: He’s been suspended for the first two games of the second round for a bush-league hit to an opponent’s face.
Andre Iguodala, Warriors: The defensive specialist averaged 6.7 points in the postseason.
Corey Brewer, Rockets: Put up games of 15, 15 and 22 points in the first round against Dallas.
Kosta Koufos, Grizzlies: Only played 17 minutes in the second round thus far.
DeMarre Carroll, Hawks: Who? He’s put up 22 points, six rebounds and four assists in a Game 2 win to even the second-round series against Washington.
CHEW ON THIS
• If you didn’t see on Letterman, you must.
• Ted Williams is one of the more complicated athletes in history. The great Wright Thompson the fascinating hero.
• You’ve got to watch at the Sports Emmys.
• Chris Jericho ??
• And finally, happy 30th birthday to Chris Paul. And, I suppose, Cliff Paul.
Benjamin Hochman: bhochman@denverpost.com or
