By Craig Kwasniewski
The Denver Nuggets win! THEY ARE OFFICIALLY THE GREATEST TEAM IN THE ENTIRE FREE WORLD!!!! All you media honks are wrong... AI and Melo CAN play together... suck it! Tonight the Nuggets beat the Memphis Grizzlies, tomorrow the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls or the 1987-88 Los Angeles Lakers or the 1985-86 Boston Celtics or Bill Simmons' favorite team ever, the 2006-07 Phoenix Suns.
So who's next? Does it even matter? Melo and AI, AI and Melo, Melo and Melo, AI and AI... the rest of the NBA doesn't even have a chance!
So let's not even discuss the obvious facts like George Karl is one of the biggest postseason chokes, that Denver can't play defense, that the Nuggets' bigs are all injury prone, that Dallas, Phoenix, San Antonio, the Lakers, Miami and Detroit are all better teams... the Nuggets have AI and Melo... end of story! End of discussion!
So where's the parade start? Do Melo and AI get an official key to the city delivered via a pass from John Elway? Does K-Mart's inured knee get a championship ring? Does Denver ABA legend David Thompson turn back the clock and do a pound of blow at the parade? Does Mardy Collins get a playoff share?
Um guys, you beat the worst team in the NBA. Nothing really worth speaking about. Whatever. This is all falling in line with my prediction the day AI was traded to Denver:
In the short run this trade will work for the Nuggets. You'll read stories about Iverson being a mentor to Melo. Both Iverson and Melo will be on the cover of SI in March. Denver will run off a 10 game winning streak in the spring. Everyone will pick the Nuggets as a dark-horse pick to win the NBA title (Which officially no-longer makes them dark-horse. I hate when NBA experts all pick the same dark-horse teams as though they are some genius. Bro, you went with the mainstream!)
So what happens in the playoffs? The Nuggets get bounced in the second round at best because they can't hang with the front-court depth of Dallas, San Antonio or Phoenix.
Okay so I was wrong, ESPN: The Magazine beat SI to the punch for their cover story, but I'm sticking with the rest of my prediction. Until then, drop a banner Denver!
If anything, I'm sure it will be exiting for the people in Denver to watch these two stars play on the same team at the same time. I dont think anyone is expecting them to make any noise in the playoffs, I know I'm not anyway. But for right now it's pretty interesting to see if these two can co exist to pick up the wins.
Posted by: Demonic | January 23, 2007 at 07:47 AM
Wait, you're saying that the Nuggets aren't better than the Suns or the Mavs? Wow, you really turned the world on its side with that proclamation. Why don't you step a little farther out on a limb and predict that a team from the West will win the finals this year. No, not ready for that yet? Okay, take your time, risky predictions are hard.
Of course it's hard to envision the Nuggets making it to the conference finals this year. But that isn't the point in Denver this season. The point is that we have Melo and AI, and now one of the most exciting teams in the league. Our team seems to be headed in a positive direction with more W's in the future than L's or injuries. Is our D stellar? No. Was Melo's tomahawk alley finish from a 4th quarter AI oop the play of the night? Yes. And that's the point. Excitement, promise, a future. A showtime style team with some solid bench contributors playing their part. Compared to our team last year, that everyone knew was going to self destruct and bow out in Round 1, this is a vast improvement.
The Nuggs will need a full year together to gel before they make any sort of lengthy post season run, and with our injury prone bigs, a full healthy season is a long shot. But for now, the team is dope, it has a sick offense, and I'm going to watch every game for the rest of the season because I don't want to miss a single game of AI and Melo lighting it up together.
Posted by: Glis | January 23, 2007 at 08:35 AM
i tell you what the nuggets are ahead of the suns , the mavs and the spurs .
with melo , ai , and kmart , the nuggets team is the no.1 in my all tatoo nba team . maybe the knicks with starbury and curry is a close 2nd !
Posted by: NIKEY | January 23, 2007 at 09:29 AM
I watched the first quarter, and the Nuggs were treating it like an all-star game ... behind the back and no look passes, alley-oops, etc. If I was Memphis I would have punched someone and gotten 'Melo suspended for another 15 games.
Posted by: Brett | January 23, 2007 at 10:14 AM
We felt our start last year put us in a rough spot all year long," coach Joel Quenneville told the Blackhawks' official website. "We know the value of where they are. Teams are ready for you coming off that type of season."They've been busy but they are still a dangerous team.
Posted by: jerseysusa | December 13, 2011 at 12:16 AM