Umm.... What??

Did the Nuggets really just trade Marcus Camby for jack shit? Is this an actual trade or some kind of prank? What the hell are we doing? The best the Nugget brass could come up with for Camby was the rights to swap 2nd round draft picks in 2010 with the LA Clippers. That's it!?? What, the rights to retire Pooh Richardson's jersey weren't available? How about just a Ron Harper throwback? We are talking about the guy who led the NBA in blocks, was 2nd in rebounding, was 1st team All Defense, was the Defensive Player of the Year 2 seasons ago, and is the only good defender on a terrible defensive team, right? I hope the Nuggets didn't think that they were trading Jelani McCoy and then they fucked up the paperwork. So where does this leave our team? We've traded Camby... for nothing in return. Lost Eduardo Najera to free agency. So that leaves us with Nene and K-Mart in the front court, and that's it. So we have two injury prone big men and nothing else. Wait... I think we may still have Steven Hunter under contract too. So... you know... there's that. I hope we have some big plans for that $10 million trade exception. We'd better. But I don't know who would be willing to deal with us right now. Maybe we could get someone like LeMarcus Aldridge? Now that Portland has Oden back healthy along with Channing Frye, Travis Outlaw and Ike Diogu things are crowded in their front court. Although, they'd probably want to move Frye first, and I doubt they'd deal with us since we're both in the Northwest Division. Another possibility could be Nick Collison. Seattle is loaded with big men. But again we are in the same division and they have other players they'd try to move first. Maybe we could get Robert Swift from them..... dare I dream?? Another possible move is a sign and trade for Emeka Okafor. Although that's probably not realistic. The Bobcats have said that they will match any offer for Okafor and they don't really have anyone up front if he leaves. So right now it looks like we're pretty much screwed. I guess we're putting all of our eggs in the "Nene and K-Mart stay healthy for a full season" basket. That should end well.

The Nuggets Free-Agent Plans; More than just resigning Anthony Carter.... right??

The free-agency signing period starts tomorrow, and the Nuggets aren't exactly making a lot of noise. We drastically need PG help, and we were targeting Chris Duhon, but unfortunately it looks like Duhon decided he'd rather sign up with the Knicks than come to Denver (kind of a crushing blow to the ego there. One team has Anthony Carter starting at PG, the other has about 17 PG's on the roster and he goes with the Knicks?) So now what do the Nuggets do? In my opinion, our biggest weakness has been poor point guard play over the past couple of seasons. I know most people say it's defense, but as Paul Pierce and Ray Allen showed us this past season, defense is more of a mindset. Where-as having a legitimate point guard has proven to be vital to a team's success. Allen Iverson's not a true point, and Anthony Carter is a nice player, but he should never be seeing much playing time with a playoff caliber team. With that in mind what do the Nuggets do to help remedy this problem? Do we bring back Earl Boykins? Take a chance on someone like Sebastian Telfair or Shaun Livingston? (Quick side note; could you imagine adding Sebastian Telfair to this current group of Nuggets? That would be like throwing Brandon Marshall onto the Cincinnati Bengals, only if Marshall couldn't catch and was terrible at football). Livingston might be worth a shot, but the Nuggs are a little strapped for cash... like negative $21 million strapped, so he'll most likely be out of their price range. They could sign someone like Lindsey Hunter, Dan Dickau, Tyronn Lue, or Carlos Arroyo to a mid-level exception. But none of them are really much of a step up from Anthony Carter. So I've come up with three solutions. One a bit more intricate than the other two. Here they are: Option 1- We trade Marcus Camby and Charlotte's future 1st round pick to the Bulls for Kirk Hinrich. Their salaries match up perfectly, the Nuggets get a much needed PG who can shoot, and the Bulls get a potential lottery pick and a 1st Team All-Defense big man who's salary comes off the books in two years. Then the Nuggets sign my boy David Harrison for the league minimum, and they sign James Posey as their mid-level exemption. Now we've got Hinrich and AI in the backcourt, with Melo and K-Mart up front and Nene holding down the middle. Off the bench we've got JR, Posey, David Harrison, Najera and Kleiza. That's a lineup you can win a playoff series with. Option 2- We sign White Chocolate as our mid-level exemption. That's right. Tell me you wouldn't want to see Jason Williams leading the Nuggets fast break? He'd be the old White Chocolate from the Sacramento Kings days all over again. Just watch these highlights and tell me you wouldn't pay a lot of money to watch him play for the Nuggets.... Option 3- We stand pat. We scrape our way into the playoffs the next couple of seasons and let all of our big contracts run out. Iverson comes off the books next year, and Camby and K-Mart's contracts are gone in 2010. That would leave us over $20 million in cap space to sign Lebron in the summer of '10. Then Melo and Lebron could finally join forces like Voltron and dominate the NBA for years. They've always been boys, so I'm sure Melo could lure Lebron away from the Brooklyn Nets. Hell, you could put me, Paul Shirley and a retarded monkey on a team with those two and we'd win. Seriously though, there aren't a lot of options for the Nuggets. They have their mid-level exemption and I really hope they can sign Posey with it. As badly as we need a PG, we can get by with Iverson and Anthony Carter. Posey is a winner who can lock people down on defense, and despite his limits offensively he can hit an open three. And with Melo and AI on his team he'd get plenty of open looks after double teams. So basically he's just like Yakhouba Diawara, if Khoubs could shoot, defend someone, and win. I also like the idea of signing David Harrison. I'm not just saying that because David's like a little brother to me either. David's a defensive minded player who's huge and athletic. He can block shots, rebound, and is a true low-post player. Plus this is probably his last shot in the NBA. So he knows he can't make anymore mistakes and has to prove what kind of player he is. If we can get a guy like that for the league minimum, we should jump all over it. Plus maybe David could get me some sweet tickets....

Melo's Staying... He's finishing his coffee.... Just enjoying his coffee

The Nuggets put all the Carmelo trade talks to rest today by assuring Melo and his agent that he will not be traded any time soon. Hopefully this will put to bed all of the idiotic trade rumors surrounding Carmelo since the Nuggs lost out in the first round of the playoffs again this season. I absolutely cannot believe how much steam these trade rumors have picked up over the past couple of weeks. It's got to be awkward for Melo around the city right now. Do you think that he just assumes that everyone he meets hates him and wants him out of town? And it is so ridiculous. I mean, what kind of asshat trades an NBA / International superstar who just turned 24 less than a month ago? I'll never understand the thinking behind the people who want him traded. "We've never won a playoff series in his entire career!" They say. Really? That's your basis for wanting to trade him? First of all, we were the worst team in the NBA before we drafted him, and we've been to the playoffs every season since. Also.... HE JUST TURNED 24!!! Here's a list of some other players who hadn't won a playoff series by the time they turned 24? - Michael Jordan - Dominique Wilkins - Tracy McGrady - Kevin Garnett - Karl Malone - Steve Nash - Paul Pierce - Ray Allen - Chauncey Billups - Jason Kidd - Yao Ming - George Gervin - Alex English - Pete Marovich - Earl Monroe - Bill Walton - Willis Reed - Oscar Robertson And that was with me looking on basketballreference.com for all of 10 minutes. That's right, the entire "Boston Three Party" had yet to win a playoff series by their 24th birthday. Ten different league MVP's hadn't won a series by the time they were 24. Even Bill Walton (who's so quick to point out Melo's flaws) hadn't won a playoff series at the same age. I wonder if Bulls fans were calling for a Jordan trade by his 24th birthday, claiming that they could just never win with a player like him? The point of this is, you don't trade a player who's this young and this talented unless you can upgrade. And there aren't many players or scenarios that give you an upgrade in talent over Carmelo Anthony. Many radio hosts in town claim that Melo took a big step back this past season and regressed. But the stats don't really back that claim up. He shot a career best 49.4% from the field and 35.4% from three. He averaged a career best 7.4 rebounds per game (1.3 per game higher than any other season), a career high 1.3 steals, and also averaged 3.4 assists per game. His scoring numbers were down because his averaged over 3 shots per game less than the previous season, which can be attributed to playing a full season with Allen Iverson. I guess I'm in the minority that thinks the Nuggets have a team in place that can contend. They need to be kicked in the ass to show some heart on the defensive side of the ball, but they have the athletes to be able to play D if they buy in. It's not likely that they'll win a title with the current team without a drastic change in attitude and philosophy (maybe a coaching change?), but they really aren't that far off. They won 50 games last year with their pre-season starting PG and PF both missing the majority of the season. Christ, Anthony Carter started 67 games for them last season... ANTHONY CARTER!! Don't get me wrong, I like AC.... he's just not an NBA starting point guard. I guess I just don't see the need to blow up the entire Nuggets roster and future yet. We have Melo, JR Smith, Nene and Kleiza who are all under the age of 25, hopefully Thursday's draft can bring in our future PG or possibly Marcus Camby's eventual replacement. But let's not trade a guy who's going to be an All-Star for the next 8+ seasons for half of his value just because he hasn't won a playoff series yet.... Or because he likes to drink and drive... or because he likes to take weed to the airport, or get into slap fights, or talk about killing snitches, or call out his teammates as quitters to the media.... Dammit Melo... get your shit together. It's getting pretty hard to keep defending you.

Take that Boston!

The NBA announced the starters for this year's All-Star game last night, and Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson got the starting nod for the Western Conference. How many starters did the amazing Boston Celtics produce? Only one. HAHA! Suck it Boston! I knew we'd eventually beat you in something! It seems very likely that Marcus Camby may get a reserve spot as well, giving the Nuggets 3 All-Stars this season. So who's the "Big 3" now Boston??!? And no, I don't have any pent up hate for all Boston sports teams right now.... why do you ask?

.... Like Shalamar in '81

Imagine being asked this question a month ago: Who will score 40 points in an NBA game first? Kevin Durant or Linas Kleiza? Linas Kleiza blew up last night for 41 points in the Nuggets 120-109 victory over the Utah Jazz. That's right, Linas Kleiza scored 40 points in an NBA game.... Linas. Kleiza. In fact, Kleiza scored 40 in an NBA game before a number of big name current players like Ron Artest, Caron Butler, Brad Miller, Dikembe Mutombo, Tony Parker, Eddie Jones, Dwight Howard, and Chauncey Billups His 41 is more than the career highs of Sam Cassell (40), Brian Scalabrine (29), and even Mark Madsen (15). I think it's safe to say that Kleiza's 41 last night is one of the most random scoring outbursts of the past 20 years. I say 20 years because that's where the majority of my basketball knowledge lies. I really can't discuss the validity of Joe Fulks going off for 63 back in 1949, or Phil Chenier getting 53 against Portland back in 1972. So here are some of the other random scoring binges of the past 20 years: - Tony Delk getting 53 for Phoenix in 2001 against the Timberwolves. Delk averaged 9.1 ppg over 10 NBA seasons with a season best of 12.3 ppg. Then on January 2nd, 2001 against what was one of his 8 former NBA teams the Sacramento Kings, Delk shot 20-27 from the field and 13-15 from the free throw line on his way to a grand total of 53 points... and perhaps the most random 50 point game in the history of the NBA. - Willie Burton scoring 53 points for the Philadelphia 76ers against the Miami Heat in 1993. Willie Burton. You all remember him right? Willie played 8 seasons in the NBA for five different teams with a career scoring average of 10.3 points per game. He did have a season best 15.3 ppg average in the 1994-95 season. He followed that up with 3 consecutive scoring years of 6.2ppg, 2.1 ppg, 1.3 ppg, then forced retirement. However, Willie didn't get his 53 in that fabled 94-95 season. No, he got his 53 in the 93-94 season when he averaged a monster 7 ppg. Which makes it all the more random. - Tracy Murray scoring 50 for the Washington Bullets against  Golden State in 1998. Murray was one of those super streaky shooters  that could get on a roll and light teams up. Granted, he only averaged 9 ppg for his career and only averaged in double figures in 4 of 12 NBA seasons, but he apparently could still light teams up since he scored 50 points in a game once. - Luke Jackson scores 30 for Toronto vs. Philly ’07. Up until the final game of last season, Luke Jackson had played 3 seasons in the NBA, logging 59 games played and about 3 ppg during his stint. Then, Jackson (playing for Toronto at the time) blew up for 30 points on 12-16 shooting in the team's last game of '07. Jackson then took his 30 point NBA game, tucked it in his pocket, and disappeared for several months. Then in mid-December, the Miami Heat waived Penny Hardaway and picked up Luke (I think he might have had 30 in a D-League game right before that). Luke has been going off since returning to the NBA to the tune of 3.7 ppg. - Beno Udrih scoring 27 for Sacramento vs. Spurs early this year. In 3 seasons with the San Antonio Spurs, Udrih averaged roughly 5 ppg, seeing his numbers steadily decrease each season. Then he was traded to the T-Wolves this past off-season whom immediately cut him. He was then signed by the Sacramento Kings and was forced into playing time Mike Bibby went down with an injury during the preseason. The thing that made this game stand out was the fact that it occurred in the first few weeks of the season when the Kings beat Udrih’s former team the Spurs. Udrih has actually had a pretty solid year playing for the injured Bibby. But unfortunately for Beno, Bibby played for the first time on Wednesday night and Beno went back to being Beno... scoring 3 points. These are just a few that I remembered. I'm sure there are more. I remember Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf going off for 51 in a game back in the 93-94 season. But Mahmoud would do that sometimes..... and then he would bark, scream "FUCK SHIT COCKSUCKER!!!" and untie and retie his shoe-laces over and over.

Nene's Down 1 Ball

The truth behind Nene's recent mysterious health problem came to light yesterday, a testicular tumor. It's unclear as to whether the tumor was cancerous or benign. But the prognosis looks good as Nene's website temporarily had an update saying it was benign (it was later taken down) and doctors saying they got to it very early. I'm pretty sure that in the list of things men do NOT want to hear their doctors say, "you have a tumor on your nut" is right up there with "the baby is yours", "I was right, it IS gonorrhea", and "you have a toothpick fish in your pee-hole". But even if it is cancerous, it sounds like it was caught at an early enough stage that Nene may be back as early as a few weeks. This is good news. And don't worry Nene, there are plenty of other fellas out there who have gone on to do great things with just one nut. Lance Armstrong lost a ball, then did this: John Kruk was diagnosed in 1994, and came back to play and do this. Jose Molina (the Spanish goalie) went on to save goals and stuff. Scott Hamilton continued Ice Skating and looking like this: Tom Green went on to suck goat teet and freestyle battle with Xzibit: See! This isn't the end for our big Brazilian. So here's to a speedy recovery for Nene.... so he can come back to suffer some other random injury.

Random Thoughts....

It's been a few weeks since we've posted an update here at Homers. Just some quick thoughts, and I'll have CU update up later..... - I'm still reeling from the revelation that one of the greatest pitchers in MLB history was using steroids. Sure, we all suspected guys like Bonds and Benito Santiago of getting a little help from the juice, but now we find out that Denny Neagle was using???? Consider my world rocked. Just so you know, I judge the greatness of a pitcher solely on their salary and shockingly poor taste in prostitutes. - Todd "Fat Arms" Sauerbrun was released by the Broncos yesterday. As he was leaving Dove Valley he could be heard screaming from his car "God damn you Devin Hester!!!!" Here's an interesting sidenote; Sauerbrun, Pacman Jones, and Chris Henry all attended West Virginia University. Yet Sauerbrun is the only one of them to be kicked off of three NFL teams. Don't worry about Sauerbrun though, I'm sure he'll get another shot somewhere. And if he doesn't, he's still got his huge biceps, rad Oakley shades, and a kick-ass tribal band tattoo going for him. So he'll have absolutely no problem getting laid in New Jersey. - The Broncos only ended up with one player (Champ Bailey) making the Pro Bowl. That number seems about right. I think Brandon Marshall was close to a Pro Bowl level this year, but he's not going to make it in the AFC. Same with Jay Cutler. I don't think Cutler was on that level this year, but he will always have a tough time getting in. We're talking about a conference that includes Brady, Manning, Roethlisburger, Palmer, AND Kyle Boller. And they only take three. Seriously can you even make a case for another Broncos player to be in the Pro Bowl? Nalen missed most of the season, there is no way you can reward a guy like DJ Williams when our run D was so pathetic. Dre Bly was decent, but not great. The ONLY player who might have a complaint is Elvis Dumervil. I mean, he does have 11 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, and an interception even though most NFL scouts consider him a midget. Not bad stats for a little person. With Elvis' freakishly long arms, I wonder if he'd be good at dwarf throwing? Or basketball.... - I think the biggest Pro Bowl snub would have to be Mario Williams. The guy does lead the AFC in sacks and he did single handedly destroy the Broncos O-Line last Thursday. I think that voters weren't quite ready to admit that they were wrong about him when he was drafted, I can't think of any other reason why he shouldn't be in. I'm sure all the chowds feel like their Caucasian sensation Wes Welker was snubbed. But that's just their closet racism talking. Just kidding, i'm sure they're not all racist. Afterall, New Edition is from Boston. - Nene has been given clearance to start full practices on Friday. Hopefully, since he was only out with a thumb injury, he was able to stay somewhat in good shape. Given Nene's history this isn't a likely scenario. I'm a little worried he might come back looking like Tony Soprano in the final season. We also should have Chucky Atkins back soon. They are projecting his return sometime shortly after Christmas. So in the next week we could finally see the Nuggets at full strength for the first time this year. Well, we still won't have Steven Hunter for another six weeks, but we'll be healthier than we've been all year. If Chucky can play even remotely close to the level he was at during the final few weeks of last season, we should be pretty damn tough to beat. In other Nugget related news. DerMarr Johnson was back in town this week playing with the Austin Toros of the D-League against our very own Colorado 14ers! The Teeners and Toros squared off back to back nights, with our boys sweeping both games. DJ looked pretty good, getting 16 points each night. You know, I always liked DerMarr. And unlike most of the squares in this town, I didn't give a damn how ridiculously he spelled his first name. I looked past his name, to the player that never lived up to his potential. Also, the name is not that strange. I believe the German translation of DerMarr is "that goop" or "the goop", depending on the context.

A Denver Nuggets Quiz

Here we are, nearly 1/10th into the NBA season, and like all of the big websites (ESPN, CBSSportsline, NBA.com, etc) I think it's time for us to do an NBA season recap. Granted, we're only 8 games into the season for the Nuggets (which is the equivalent of 1 game and 1 half of a game for the Broncos during a season, or 16 games of a Rockies season) but it's time to review how this season has transpired to this point for our beloved squad. In order to test your knowledge of this year's Nuggets contingent, I've also developed an exclusive "Denver Nuggets 1/10th Season Review Quiz". Your results will determine your true level of Nuggets fandom. But first..... Are the Denver Nuggets cursed? I have a theory. In 2003, Kiki Vandeweghe sold the Nuggets future to the Devil in order to draft Carmelo Anthony. Hear me out. The Nuggs were in an epic "tank-off" at the end of the 02/03 season to get the first pick in the "Lebron Sweepstakes". We ended up winning (losing?) that honor to have the most ping pong balls in the draft.... only to end up with the 3rd pick. This meant not only no Lebron, but no Carmelo as well. But then suddenly, one day, out of the blue, Joe Dumars decides that the Detroit Pistons are going to draft Darko Milicic. Somehow, the smartest GM in basketball at the time decides to partake in one of the worst draft blunders of all-time. And then our Nuggets were gift-wrapped Carmelo Anthony. How could this happen? We sold our future to Al Pacino that's how. So now every season after, we are going to be teased with a great team on paper to start the season.... only to be torn apart by injuries every single season. 8 games into this year we have already lost our starting PG Chucky Atkins for 8 weeks, our starting PF Nene for 8 weeks, and our backup PG Anthony Carter for 3 more weeks. The curse strikes again. You know what though... I'll take it. Because the temptation of competing for a championship is better than what I grew up with as a Nuggets fan. Several 15-win seasons with the occasional .500 record mixed in every 7 years. With all that said, I still think this Nuggets team is in a great position to compete for a championship. We'll be healthy again before the all-star break, and we should still end up in the 55-win ballpark. Carmelo and AI seem to co-exist nicely this year, K-Mart looks explosive, Camby is still a defensive force, and JR Smith is showing signs of becoming a serious threat again. Maybe this year we can break the curse. At least maybe we can break it long enough to win a playoff series or two.... So now, without further ado, here is my Denver Nuggets 1/10th Season Quiz: 1.) Is the amount of money that the Denver Nuggets have spent on tattoos, as a team, more or less than the Gross Domestic Product of Liberia? Answer) GDP of Liberia > $$ on Nuggets tattoos. The GDP of Liberia is $622 million, and the Nuggets players have only spent $118 million on tattoos. Which is less than the GDP of Tonga, but slightly more than São Tomé. This is, of course, a slight exaggeration on the amount of money consumed on tats by the Nuggets. However, the first email I received after the Nuggets opening night W over Seattle was something along the lines of this: "Good Lord! How many Africans could eat for a year off the money the Nuggets have spent on tattoos?" The answer? All of them... every single one. At least none of them have this tattoo 2.) Which Bobby Jones is the all-time leading scorer in Denver Nuggets history named "Bobby Jones"? Answer) Bobby Jones. Hopefully you know that I mean the Bobby Jones that has scored 2,326 points for the Nuggets and not the one who has scored only 34 points. The Bobby Jones who is 6'9" not the one who is 6'7".... You're going to make me say it aren't you? OK, the Bobby Jones that has dark brown hair, not the Bobby Jones with black hair. I hate discriminating people by the color of their hair. 3.) Which of the following Denver Nugget players have a food item named after them? - Von Wafer - Nene - Yakhouba Diawara - Carmelo Anthony Answer) Carmelo Anthony. Carmelo has a candy bar named after him called The Melo. Diawara is a French word for a particular bodily function, Nene is Portuguese for "baby who is always injured", and The Von Wafer is still in production. It is a cracker very similar to the vanilla wafer, only with a mango flavor and a hint of paprika. The Melo Bar is arich chocolate bar immersed with a creamy smooth caramel center, which makes it like a Twix bar, only without the cookie center and delicious taste. 4.) What is the nationality of Nuggets Strength and Conditioning Coach Steve Hess? Answer) Unknown. I know that he has an accent, but I have no idea where it comes from. Could be South African.... could be from the Eastern Bloc somewhere.... could be New Zealand. I just don't know. Here's what I do know, he looks like a combination between George Hamilton, that loser hippy with dreads I knew in Boulder, and the other Jay Cutler, with some Predator and pit-bull thrown in. Oh, and he is also one of the greatest strength and conditioning gurus alive. But if I were to describe him to someone, I'd say he is a "short, ripped, self tanned white dude with dreadlocks and a foreign accent." Who knows, maybe he'll be Colorado's governor someday..... 5.) Who would win in a fight? An angry Kenyon Martin, or a full grown Kodiak bear with rabies? Answer) It's a trick question, both would die. K-Mart would snap the Kodiak's neck with his bare hands, but he would take a small bite from the bear. Due to the rabies, and K-Mart's strict belief that medicine is for pussies, and that he can defeat all germs and sicknesses with his scowl, K-Mart would later die from the wound. I have had several debates with friends over this same topic for the past 5 years.... "Who is the last NBA player you would want to run into in a dark alley, by yourself?" The answer always comes down to Ben Wallace and Kenyon Martin.... with K-Mart eventually getting the nod because of the crazy factor. Due to years of arguing in the pro in this case, I now feel that K-Mart could defeat any foe with his bare hands, human or fierce predator. 6.) Who's a better shooter? Yakhouba Diawara, or Harry Dunne from Dumb and Dumber? Answer) Yakhouba. While Yakhouba is an awful shooter for an NBA 2 guard, he still is nowhere near the level of ineptitude of Harry (Khoub has actually hit 8-16 on threes this season). Further evidence is in the statement of Harry's best friend Lloyd Christmas, who said "Harry! You're alive!..... And you're a horrible shot." If you answered all of these questions correctly than congratulations! You are a true Nuggets fan. If you missed any than you are non Nugget loving a-holes, and it's time to start paying attention you slackers... the season is almost 1/10th over! That's the equivalent of nearly two NFL games. And anyone who follows the Broncos knows that the entire season can be accurately predicted after the first two games. I mean, we were 2-0 after two games and now we are..... Wait a second!

A Bittersweet win for JT

Note - I thought I had posted this on Wednesday night after getting back from the game. Apparently I only saved it. My bad. It was opening night for the Nuggets in Denver, opening night on Halloween. I was extremely fired up to watch the game and then word came through at roughly 5 PM.... My girlfriend Alex had secured tickets through her work, and a parking pass. Not only was I going to see my beloved Nuggets on opening night but I was also going to be able to see him. My favorite player in the NBA who doesn't wear the baby blue and gold plays for the Seattle SuperSonics and I was going to be able to see him live tonight. I had waited a long time to see him play in person. Ever since he caught my eye over a year ago, I've been waiting patiently. I made sure we got there early, just so we could see him warm up. I was going to try to get a picture of him on my phone and send it to my boy Stretch, who's also a huge fan. I spent the whole car ride on the way to the game explaining his glory to my girlfriend. I couldn't wait. We arrived at the arena and there they all were. AI and Melo were joking around, shooting jumpers and getting ready. K-Mart was back and looking good. Nene looked to be in shape (for him at least) to start the season. Even my despised Eddie Najera looked like he had been hitting the weights hard this summer (I loathe Eduardo Najera for personal reasons dating back to our college playing days). Then I looked over to the SuperSonic side of the court. "There's Luke Ridnour" I thought to myself, "and he's wearing one of those Rip Hamilton mask things. And there's Wally Szczerbiak! I forgot he was on this team now. Ditto for Jeff Green. They've got Nick Collison too? I hate Kansas dudes. But where is he? I heard he had a slight injury a couple of days ago, but I thought he was going to play! I've been waiting over a year for this!!" Internally I was reaching a boiling point. Why wasn't he out on the court? Then it happened. A few minutes before the start of the game he came walking out of the tunnel, like Willis Reed coming back from his injury to lead the Knicks to victory. But what is this? Below his glorious giant red pony tail was a grey suit! This was like expecting to see Superman, only to be forced to witness Clark Kent. Robert Swift was not going to play this night. There is not a word in the English language that could adequately describe the disappointment I felt at that moment. I could only think of the wise words of one Eric Cartman: "Why has my God forsaken me?" But then the feeling passed and I watched the Nuggets beat some SuperSonic ass. Some Notes From the Game - - K-Mart got the start over Nene. I'm not sure if this was a gesture by George Karl for the hard work K-Mart did to get back on the court, or if it was because Nene is out of shape again to start the season. To give Nene credit, he's only moderately out of shape, he's not nearly as overweight as he has been to start the previous two seasons. Hopefully it will only take him 15-20 games this year to play himself into shape. - I love when Yakhouba Diawara plays. Not because he is even remotely good at basketball or fun to watch, but because it allows me to turn into a 3rd grader again and say things like this to my girlfriend all game: When you're trying to shoot a three But you dribble off your knee Diawara (clap clap) Diawara - Kevin Durant looks so skinny in person. I've been a big fan of his and have argued that strength doesn't really matter if you're that good, but it is going to matter for him. Earl Watson's arms were twice as big as his. And when he stood next to Nene, K-Mart, or even Najera, he looked more like an extremely tall 10 year old than a professional athlete. I think he's going to have some real problems with physical defenders, and I wouldn't count on his body lasting throughout an entire season. With that said, he is going to be very good. - After the early game excitement wore off, AI looked like a real life PG for the game. He controlled the tempo, didn't pound the ball too long, distributed well, played great defense, and ended up with 14 assists and 7 steals. If he can play like this every game we are going to win a lot of games this year. - Judging by warm-ups (and later during the game) it looks like Carmelo has added the 3 to his repertoire. If he can hit about 35% from deep this season, he will be absolutely unguardable. I can't wait! - The team dropped the ball a little bit with the player intros. They built the excitement, the lights were off, strobes were flashing, music was bumpin', Rocky was running around waiving his Nuggets flag, and then the first player they introduce is Bobby Jones. Then the crowd gives a half-hearted cheer as they all look at each other trying to figure out exactly why the fuck Bobby Jones is playing for the Nuggets again. - There were several "Tulo" chants during the game. It still blows me away that this town is that crazy over the Rockies. - I left the game feeling pretty good about our team. Sure we struggled early, and the Sonics are not going to be a good team this year, but look at it this way; We played without Chucky Atkins, without JR Smith, with Nene and K-Mart playing limited minutes due to injuries, we had to start Yakhouba (and play him considerable minutes), Mike Wilkes had to play 12 minutes, we didn't play all that well the first three quarters...... and we still scored 120 points and won by 20. Imagine how badly we would have crushed this team at full strength. I've got a good feeling about this team.

It's Business Time For the NBA

The NBA regular season begins tonight, and I for one couldn’t be more excited. Here are a few story lines for the season that have me excited: THE NUGGETS - Of course the Nuggets. For the first time in nearly 20 years, the Nuggets enter a season with a legitimate shot at contending for a championship. We’ve got all the ingredients... star power, good supporting cast, ability to score running or in the half court set. We’ve got strong post play, good perimeter shooting, an excellent returning core and have added some very good role players via free agency... now if we only played in the Eastern Conference. The way I see it, there are a few keys to the success of this years squad. 1.) Can Melo and AI play together the way they did during the last month of the season last year? The Nuggets were 22-16 last season with both Melo and AI in the lineup. However, they finished the season winning 10 out of 11 heading into the playoffs and were the hottest team in the NBA. If the Nuggets can transfer that type of play over to this season than they’ll be in great shape, which means that AI is going to have to learn how to defer to Melo. Carmelo proved once again this summer that his ability to score is greater than anyone on this planet, with the possible exception of Kobe Bryant. He's comfortable in a running game or a half court set, he can score on the block, take his man one on one, and his outside jumper is getting better each season. Iverson is going to have to realize both this and the fact that he is now 32 years old. It may be time for him to give the rock up occasionally. This is a lesson that he seemed to have learned by the end of last season, but then forgot in the playoff series against the Spurs. With the scorers around him on this team, Iverson has the potential to lead the league in assists, hopefully he’s ready to move on to the next phase in his career for the sake of the team’s success. 2.) Can the Nuggets stay healthy and out of trouble? If the pre-season is any judge, than this looks like it will once again be a problem for the Nuggets. JR Smith has already been suspended for 3 games for his part in a night club altercation (he allegedly poured Moet on a woman, then allegedly apologized only to allegedly change his mind then allegedly spit on her, pull her hair, and tear her dress.... allegedly), and Chucky Atkins will reportedly miss 6-8 weeks to start the season with a severe right groin strain. Atkins was set to replace Steve Blake as the starting PG for the Nuggets. As a result of these two incidents it looks like we are going to be seeing a lot of Yakhouba to start the season! Nothing is more exciting than a defensive stopper who doesn’t stop people. Personally I’d rather see Von Wafer get some PT. At least he showed the ability to put the ball in the hole, hitting 10-25 threes in the pre-season (Yakhouba shot a scorching 3-22!), plus we’d get to say “Von Wafer” a lot, and that certainly isn’t a bad thing. As for the rest of the squad, our front-court has been notoriously injury prone. But if we can end up with 25 or less DNP’s from Camby, Nene, Melo and K-Mart we will finish in the top four in the Western Conference. That means home-court advantage in the first round and, more importantly, no Spurs, Suns or Mavericks in the first round. 3.) How much of the old K-Mart is left in Kenyon Martin? After missing the better part of two seasons with micro-fracture surgeries, K-Mart is reportedly healthy again and ready to play. With Marcus Camby and Nene in the lineup, K-Mart will be the first big off the bench and probably only see about 20 minutes per game. I see this as a positive for K-Mart. First of all, it will control his minutes. Even if he is completely healed, it is better to bring him back slowly than to throw him in playing 30 minutes / game. If we can keep him healthy all season, he can provide great defense and a huge amount of toughness that was missing for most of the Spurs series. If K-Mart and the rest of the frontcourt can stay healthy for the entire season, we will be in pretty good shape. 4.) Can JR Smith mature and become a consistent player? The only thing consistent about JR in his first season as a Nugget was that he was inconsistent... and that he was immature. He’s had a rough off-season. But if JR can somohow figure it all out, he is a legit NBA player. He has an outstanding (albeit streaky) jumper, and when he is on he completely opens up the offense. Now if he can just refrain from spitting on girls at clubs, wrecking cars, and fighting with tiny former dunk champions than he can really help us win some games. 2006 - 2007 Denver Nuggets Add to My Profile | More Videos THE CELTICS - Everyone thinks the Celtics are now the favorites in the East. Why is that? Because they have three all-stars? I don’t buy it. And yes, I’m carrying a considerable amount of hatred for Boston sports right now, but that isn’t entirely why I feel this way. First of all, their three all-stars have never won anything in their lives. No one will argue that the new big three in Boston aren’t talented. They have individual accolades out the ass. But how many championships do they have? One. Ray Allen won a state championship in High School in South Carolina. This is the least of their problems though. Because of the amount of salary cap space devoured by the contracts of the big three, the supporting cast is just a little suspect. Who do the Celtics start at the other forward? Kendrick Perkins and his 4 / 4 he’ll give you every night? Rookie Big Baby Davis? Maybe 2nd year man Brian Powe, who’s shown some talent. Or possibly the ginger assassin Brian Scalabrine (or as he’s more popularly known, Michael Rappaport)? I don’t think any of these fellas will inspire confidence in the Celtic faithful. And how about PG? It’s a position considered by many to be a fairly important. The C’s employ the combination of Rojan Rando who’s talented and has positives, but is small, can’t shoot, and a bad teammate, or Eddie House who’s kind of like a crackhead version of Vinnie “Microwave” Johnson. But still, this isn’t the real problem with this team. I’ve watched them play three pre-season games and I’ve seen the biggest problem starting to develop. It’s Paul Pierce. Paul’s individual talent is amazing, but he has spent too long on a team who’s entire offense revolved around him getting the ball, and watching him dribble for 15 seconds trying to get a shot off. Now that he has other players who are first options, you can see him start to get selfish at points during the game and stop the offense completely while he tries to score (for reference, just think of every game you’ve ever seen featurning Antoine Walker). Maybe Garnett’s will and desire to win can get Pierce to move past this and buy in, but I can’t see it happening. And that will eventually be where this team will fail. I just can’t see them getting by the Pistons or a healthy Heat team with all these problems. ROBERT SWIFT - I don’t know if anything in the NBA has me more excited than the opportunity of seeing Swifty finally playing some ball. For those of you unfamiliar with Robert Swift, he was drafted out of High School three years ago by the Seattle SuperSonics as a tall, skinny, gangly, nerdy white kid. Over the past few years he has transformed into a 275 lbs, fiery red-haired, tattoo infested Viking God. Take a look at the transformation: Year 1: Year 2: Now: It's probably the greatest personal transformation in the NBA since Dennis Rodman. I could absolutely care less if he's good at basketball or not. I just want to see him running up and down that floor, setting vicious picks, randomly screaming out to the Gods, maybe slapping opponents in the face with his glorious red ponytail.... I can't wait! KOBE VS. THE LAKERS - I’m so excited to see how this one plays out. With all of the animosity building between Kobe and the Lakers, nothing that happens with this will surprise me. I can picture Kobe playing an entire game in which he only shoots left handed. I can see him going through an entire game without shooting or passing. He might just dribble the ball until the shot clock runs out and hand it to the ref for an entire game. Or he could do just the opposite and take every single Laker shot in an entire game. Maybe he'll play a whole game in flip-flops, or jeans. He might wear opposing teams hats to the game, or drop 50 on someone while listening to his IPod, with Boys II Men's "Motownphilly" on repeat .... The possibilities are endless. I love the rumor that the Lakers had worked out a trade with the Bulls involving Kobe for Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas, only to have Kobe nix it because he wouldn’t play for the Bulls if they didn’t have those players. So basically, Kobe wants to be traded, but doesn’t want the team he’s being traded to to give up anyone good for him. He is single handedly trying to destroy the Lakers franchise. PREDICTIONS: MVP - (SEXY PICK) Kevin Garnett - Everyone is on the Garnett bandwagon right now. There’s no doubt that he is a great player, but I don’t see this happening. You have to win to be MVP. (SAFE PICK) Steve Nash - Nash could get rewarded for the MVP he should have had last season. Tim Duncan - Same as Nash Lebron James - The crown jewel of the NBA needs his MVP sometime. (SLEEPERs) Carmelo Anthony - If the Nuggets play well, he’ll get consideration Dwanye Wade - When healthy he’s always a contender. Kobe Bryant - Only if he gets traded. ROOKIE OF THE YEAR - (SEXY PICK) Kevin Durant - Best player drafted should run away with it. (SAFE PICK) Kevin Durant - Especially with Oden out for the year. (SLEEPERs) Marco Bellinelli - He’s a perfect fit for Golden State if he can get some PT. Al Horford - Best player from FLA will have the best rookie year. Al Thornton - With Elton Brand out, he’ll get plenty of PT. DEFENSIVE P.O.Y - (SEXY PICK) Bruce Bowen - For some reason, people think he's a good defender. More on that later. (SAFE PICK) Tim Duncan - By far the best defensive player on the Spurs, and top 2 in the league. Marcus Camby - Last year's winner is the best shot blocker in the NBA when healthy. (SLEEPERs) Kevin Garnett - He's a popular guy this season. Ben Wallace - Will always get considered on reputation alone. Now more about Bruce Bowen; I will never understand why he is considered such a great defender. He's not actually a good one on one cover guy. He just fouls people. All the time. He grabs, pulls jerseys, scratches, kicks, trips people, etc. and he's constantly allowed to get away with it. It's mind boggling. Then, on the rare occasion when a foul is called on him, he bitches and compains more than the entire cast of the Real World. If he didn't play for the Spurs he would just be considered a below average, dirty player who fouls out all the time. Because he wouldn't get away with everything he does now if he played for the Charlotte Bobcats. But he plays for the Spurs, so people claim he is a great defender. I don't get it. MOST IMPROVED PLAYER- (SEXY PICK) Grant Hill - If he can stay healthy all year and score 18 ppg he'll win easily. (SAFE PICK) Who knows? - There's always some dude like Monta Ellis or Kevin Martin that come out of nowhere. But if I had to pick someone I think it would probably be LaMarcus Aldridge from the Trail Blazers. No Greg Oden and no Zach Randolph means he'll get plenty of opportunities. (SLEEPERs) Robert Swift - Missed all of last season with a torn ACL. He'll start at center and if he can average a double double he'll have a shot. Kenyon Martin - Missed all but two games last year. If he stays healthy and the Nuggets go far he'll be a contender. Andre Kirilenko - Was an all-star once upon a time. If he can return to that form he will have a great shot at winning this award. EASTERN CONFERENCE: Division Champs: Atlantic - Boston Celtics Central - Chicago Bulls Southeast - Miami Heat Conference Champs: Detroit Pistons over Chicago Bulls. WESTERN CONFERENCE: Division Champs: Northwest - Denver Nuggets Pacific - Phoenix Suns Southwest - San Antonio Spurs Conference Champs: Denver Nuggets over Phoenix Suns. (The Spurs never win in even years) NBA CHAMPS: Denver Nuggets over Detroit Pistons. Who'd you think I'd pick to win it all?

Team USA's Colorado Connection

I turned 30 last week. And due to the momentous occasion, I have been either extraordinarily intoxicated, or fighting for my life while recovering from the previously mentioned level of intoxication. I was pretty much like Def Leppard in the 80's... only without the mullets, topless girls backstage, and one-armed drummer. Either way, I wasn't in any shape to be posting any new material on the blog. On top of that I got a new dog. So now I'm fighting off hangovers while chasing a puppy to keep it from shitting and pissing on my carpets. Oh yeah, and I've had to take it to the vet twice already to get an IV stuck in it's arm.... Needless to say I've been pre-occupied. But that doesn't mean I haven't been keeping up with the happenings of CO sports. It just so happens that not a lot of exciting news has actually come up during my drunken new puppy getting week. Let's have a look: - The Rockies are still .500. Granted, Matt Holliday has been pretty fun to watch, but I still am hanging out off to the side of the bandwagon, watching the other Rockies fans jumping on and off that sumbitch. Know what the Rox Bandwagon reminds me of right now? It's like an ex-girlfriend that later becomes a booty call. Sometimes you want to end it for good.... sometimes you want to get back into a relationship... but either way, every time you get drunk you wake up in her bed, then try to sneak off before she wakes up. Not that you would do that kind of thing with the Rockies though.... - The first NFL pre-season game is on August 5th (that's a mere six days to me and you) and the first Broncos game is Monday, August 13th televised nationwide on the great big ESPN network. Home of such popular sports dramas as "The Bronx is Burning" and hip new Sportscenter segments like "Who's More Now". It will be nice to have some actual sports back on the network. It's just a matter of time until ESPN has followed MTV's lead, and the entire day of TV will be filled with reality TV shows where you can occasionally see some sports on a TV in the background of a dating show featuring four former athletes who are gay and trying not to get "nexted". - In the midst of a hungover afternoon last week I did happen to catch the inter squad scrimmage between Team USA basketball. It was probably the best basketball game I have seen in a very long time, and I am being completely serious when I say that. It was like an All-Star game, only if the guys actually played hard. The Colorado connection played well with Carmelo finishing with a game high 28 points and Chauncey Billups playing a great game at the point. Both of them should make the final roster. Carmelo has proven that he excels in international competition and Chauncey is an ideal PG for international play. He's a great shooter, makes great decisions, plays D, and knows how to run a team. If I were in charge of picking the final 12 man roster for the Tournament of Americas at the end of August it would be this squad: PG - Chauncey Billups Jason Kidd Kurt Heinrich SG - Kobe Bryant Michael Redd Mike Miller SF - Carmelo Anthony Kevin Durant PF/C - Amare Stoudamire Chris Bosh Dwight Howard Tyson Chandler That's right. No Lebron. Look, I'm not a Lebron hater, but his game could not be more unfit for international play. International play emphasizes skill, shooting and ball movement. Lebron is obviously skilled, but he has been built and molded to excel in the NBA. NBA style of play is about athleticism, strength, size and quickness. Lebron has all of those in bunches. But international teams can use different defensive schemes to take away from Lebrons biggest strengths (size and speed) and completely expose his biggest weakness (shooting). Lebron can become a liability in the international game because of the fact that he is not a good shooter at all, but thinks that he is. Which means he will end up shooting and missing wide open jumper after wide open jumper against a team like Argentina, and we'll end up losing and getting the bronze again. I'm absolutely positive that Lebron will be on the team come end of August, and the team will be worse off because of it. The fellas from Colorado should excel though. Carmelo proved last summer that he can dominate the international scene. Chauncey's aforementioned talents make him a great fit in the international game. In fact, I think my twelve man roster would cake walk to the title, and here's why. To win in the international game you have to be able to shoot well. With Michael Redd, Mike Miller, Kobe, Kevin Durant, Chauncey, and Kurt Heinrich on the squad, you are virtually guaranteed to have at least a couple guys shooting the ball well in each game. This means that other teams won't be able to just pack in a zone against us and watch us shoot ourselves out of games like in the past. Second, you need great PG play. You need someone who can keep the team together during negative runs, distribute the ball well, run the offense, and hit big shots when needed. Enter Mr. Bigshot Chauncey and J-Kidd. Hell, if Sarunas Jasikevicius and Carlos Arroyo can dominate international ball, then Chauncey and J-Kidd sure as shit ought to be able to do it too. I mean, all Jasikevicius does anymore is awkwardly scream and pump his fists after another Stephen Jackson or Baron Davis 3 pointer.... and in international play he is a superstar. I think Chauncey, Kidd, and Heinrich can do a little better. Kobe can also run the point if you want to go with a big lineup of say.... Kobe, Melo, Durant, Bosh, and Stoudemire. Third, we've got Kobe. As much as you either love or hate Kobe, I can guarantee you that you want him on your team if you are in a close game and need a big shot. No one currently playing in the world is a more clutch performer than Kobe Bryant. And if he's in foul trouble, or hurt, or in an unforeseen trial... we've still got Melo and Chauncey to hit the big shots. But like I said, we are going to put Lebron on the team and play him a lot... and we will struggle again. I still think we can win, but it sure would be a lot easier without Lebron. Bet you didn't think you'd hear that did you?

Meet Chucky Atkins

The Nuggets signed free agent point guard Chucky Atkins on Monday to replace Steve Blake, who recently signed with Portland. Details of the Atkins deal haven't been released, but if the Rashard Lewis deal is any sort of guideline, than we are probably paying Chucky in the ballpark of $11 million per year. I will never understand how the Orlando Magic decided that Rashard Lewis was worth twice as much money as former CU Buff Chauncey Billups (congrats to Chauncey on his new deal by the way). Chauncey has played in two all-star games, been an NBA Finals MVP, made two All NBA teams and two defensive All NBA teams. Rashard Lewis has played in one All-Star game and scored two points..... Actually, now that I think about it, Chucky Atkins has scored only two less all-star points than Lewis. Plus he has more playoff experience than him.... Maybe we're paying Chucky $100 million! NBA GM's are retarded. Actually, the rumor is that the deal is worth somewhere around $3 million per year. If this is true than it's actually a pretty good value for the Nuggets. So welcome aboard to Chucky Atkins! Here are some facts to help us Nuggets fans get to know our newest team member a little better: - Chucky averaged 13.2 ppg and 4.6 assists per game for the Memphis Grizzlies last year. - Chucky and Allen Iverson won a gold medal together in the 1995 World University Games. They won by 60 in the gold medal game. - Chucky's real name is Kenneth Lavon Atkins. So obviously he now goes by the nickname Chucky. If I had to guess where the nickname comes from, I'd say it's because he looks just like that psychotic killer doll Chucky. - The last time Chucky played against the Nuggets he had 28 points and 12 assists. - Chucky was undrafted out of college and played 3 years in Croatia. - Chucky has shot 37% from three point range for his career. - Chucky doesn't like it when you call him Kenneth. - Chucky likes quiet walks and riding tandem bicycles. - Chucky's favorite movies are You've Got Mail and "anything with Ben Affleck". - Chucky beat the entire God of War game in one night. - Chucky's favorite song to kareoke is "Here I Go Again" by Whitesnake. I think this is a good move for the Nuggets. Atkins is a step up from Blake (for less money) and he will provide us a desperately needed outside threat. Hopefully he'll be able to adapt to our up-tempo style of play, and he probably shouldn't expect to average double figures with Melo and AI on his team. But overall this signing looks good for the Nuggets. _______________________________________________ Summer League Wrapup - You never learn too much from an NBA summer league, but here are a few things of note from Vegas: - Skeeta still can't play. I don't think his 6 ppg and 6 rebounds will garner him another shot in the NBA... but with NBA GM's you never know. - Von Wafer is legit. I think Von's 42 points in the last game against the Knicks may have wrapped up a roster spot for him next season. He averaged over 24 ppg during the 5 Nuggets games, shot 44% from deep, and made the summer league all-star team (which is kind of like being the tallest guy in Japan, or one of the toughest kids in the science club, but still it's something). - Coby Karl has a chance to play in the NBA. Karl looked pretty impressive with the Lakers. He shot the ball well, showed some passing ability, and kind of creeped everyone out with how much he looked like his dad. Plus I could see both him and Wafer at camp next season trying out for the last spot and George Karl looking at them both and saying, "Ok. You guys both played well, showed you could shoot and play in our system. Now, we know that Coby has beat CANCER.... Von, what have you ever beat? Nothing? Well then.... (shakes head and makes a check mark on his clipboard) OK. Von, is your dad the head coach of this team also? No? Ooooh. This isn't looking good for you Von." ________________________________________________ You've gotta love Stephon Marbury's increasingly crazy ass. He's now saying that when his contract with the Knicks is up, he is going to play in Italy. Here's his direct quote: For my 14th pro season, I want to go when I can still go hard and give the people what they want. I'm looking at how David Beckham is getting love for coming here. He's 32. I'll be 32 at the end of my Knicks' contract. Imagine if someone told him not to follow his heart to play soccer in the U.S. I want to do the same thing for basketball and spread the Starbury Movement so people all around the world can benefit. I want to make things affordable for everybody. Spread the movement Starbury! Do it for the people! Do it for Italy! God knows, if there is one thing that Italians love, want and need, it's discount shoes.

Everything you didn't know you wanted to know about the NBA Summer League

NBA.com has a cool feature going on for the summer league in Las Vegas through next weekend. You can simply create a login (you don't have to pay) and you can watch all of the summer league games on-line. So being the NBA junkie that I am, I spent a good several hours watching some of the finest rec center style ball on the planet. First off, some notes on the Nuggets after two games: - Skeeta hasn't looked half bad so far. He had 14 points in his first game, which was more than Greg Oden, and he shot a better percentage than Kevin Durant. Who's laughing at the Nuggs for drafting him so high back in '02 now America?? Of course, this isn't the first time he has torn up the summer leagues. A couple of years ago he went off during a summer and ended up getting a contract out of the Minnesota T-Wolves. He was then let go shortly after the season started, when they realized he couldn't play in actual games. It was later learned that this was due to the fact that he often slips on all the pee running down his legs during play. - I know that most people spell Skeeta's name "Skita". But if you spell and say it my way, then you can pretend that Lil' John is constantly screaming his name. And let's face it, there are few things on this planet as fun and exciting as Lil' John getting crunk. "AW SKEET SKEET SKEETA!!! YEEEAH!" - Lamond Murray plays like the old man at the rec center. You feel like you should be able to kill him, but he knows a lot of tricks that you don't, and if you leave him open he will never miss. At least not until game two, then he's so tired you can put your friends little brother on him and he still won't make anything. - Here are Jelani McCoy's numbers so far; 13 ppg, 13 rebounds/game, EIGHT FOULS PER GAME. Unfortunately for Jelani, he's being outdone by young Mr. Oden (and by young I mean freakishly old for an NBA rookie). Greg has averaged a mere 9.5 fouls per game in his first pair of games. Now those are some numbers that Mick McAllister could be proud of. Here are the most impressive players in the summer league to this point: 1.) Marco Belinelli aka that Italian dude at Golden State who owns. He has been getting 25 a game so far and has made it look pretty easy. Plus he's hit 12-18 from three point range. I think he'll fit in pretty nicely in Golden State's offense. You know the one where you try to shoot a three or dunk on someone within the first 6 seconds of the shot clock.... kind of like how I play in my rec leagues... only without the shot clocks.... and the dunking. 2.) JJ Redick went all "JJ Redick at Duke" in his first summer league game, dropping 30 points. He looked like his old self again. Look, I know that everyone hates him, and he fell off the map last year, but he had a bad back all last season and he can play. Trust me. You don't average 26 a game in the ACC if you suck. Plus he can shoot better than just about anyone alive, so I think he'll be OK. I wish the Nuggets would put a trade together for him while his stock is down. He would fill that shooter need pretty nicely. 3.) Marcus Banks sucked during the regular season for the Suns but he filled up the stat sheet pretty nicely in his first game this summer. 42 points, 13-19 shooting, 4-5 from 3, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 assists, 6 turnovers and 7 personal fouls. Top that Steve Nash! Some other notes - - There was a Gabe Muoneke sighting on the Charlotte Bobcats summer league squad. I'll always remember Gabe for a few things from my days playing against him when he was at Texas. One was his name, Nnadubem Gabriel Enyinaya Muoneke, and how it just flows so easily right off your tongue. Two was for the way he terrified the entire Big 12 with his "defensive lineman on steroids" appearance and nasty disposition. In fact, I'm afraid that if he reads this he may figure out a way to punch me in the face from Orlando. And third was for the time that he "man-dunked" on my teammate Stephane Pelle. I don't know how else to describe it. The dunk made him look like a man (probably because he dunked with one hand and nearly ripped the foundation of the basket over) and Stephane look like a frightened child. It was hilarious! Plus they are both African, so we had a good time imagining that some sort of dispute over killing lions was settled with that dunk. - David Stern's hard-on for the Chinese market knows no bounds. The Las Vegas Summer league features 21 NBA teams.... and the Chinese national team. The funny part is that they got absolutely destroyed in their first two games by the likes of Spencer Hawes, Francisco Garcia.... and Rudy Gay, who did this to 6th pick Jinlian Yi.... All I can say is GAAAWDAMN!!! Get'cho ass up EEEE!! So if you're bored and have several hours to kill at work, I strongly recommend spending that time watching some games on nba.com. Of course, maybe you're not like me and you don't enjoy watching glorified rec league games. Come on. What else do you have to do at work? You can only play spider solitaire and landmine for so long...