Why launch this website?

As a lifelong Denver Nuggets fan, I am used to rooting for teams that have no chance whatsoever to do any damage in the postseason. The 2007-08 season was meant to be different, however, Like the 1976-77 Nuggets, this squad had a real chance to at least go to the conference finals. The roster - thanks to the work of Rex Chapman and Mark Warkentien - is loaded. It features two of the top four NBA leading scorers in Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson, the 2006-07 Defensive Player of the Year in Marcus Camby, a healthy and rejuvenated Kenyon Martin who gets better with each month, a star in the making in J.R. Smith, and three solid role players in Eduardo Najera, Linas Kleiza and Anthony Carter.

While the team has been beset by unfortunate injuries to Nene (get better soon big fella!) and Chucky Atkins, these aren't insurmountable challenges. After all, the Lakers lost center Andrew Bynum for several months, the Spurs have had to play stretches without Tim Duncan and, more recently, Tony Parker, the Rockets have had to endure another season with Tracy McGrady in-and-out of the lineup, and the Warriors have had to make due without Stephen Jackson. How have those teams been able to endure while the Nuggets have floundered? This blog will argue that it's coaching, and that Nuggets coach is George Karl.

George Karl's three-and-a-half year reign over the Nuggets has produced four total playoff victories, no 50-win seasons and no first round wins. This in spite of having one of the highest payrolls in the league, a deep and talented roster, and being one of the league's highest paid coaches. You may blame the Madison Square Garden Melee from last year for sinking the Nuggets' 2006-07 season - but it was Coach Karl who kept the Nuggets' starters on the floor during a blowout, only to incite Isiah Thomas (the worst guy and worst coach in the NBA) to send his players out to headhunt the Nuggets' players.

There are no more excuses. Is the Nuggets rosters better than the Lakers, Suns or Spurs? Probably not. But as this blog will detail whenever possible, the 2007-08 Nuggets have blown opportunity after opportunity to remain near the top of the Western Conference and gain home court advantage for the playoffs. Now, as we approach the All-Star break, the 2007-08 Nuggets are starting to resemble the 2001-02 Milwaukee Bucks: a deep, talented team that was a mortal lock for the playoffs at the All-Star break, but went on to lose 14 of their final 20 games and miss the postseason altogether. Their coach? None other than George Karl.

Near the beginning of the NBA Season, I bet my friend Billy a sandwich at the Larchmont Deli in Hancock Park that the Nuggets would not only win 50 games, but advance past the first round of the playoffs, as well. If this blog can somehow unify the Nuggets Nation to put enough pressure on our organization to make a coaching change, or get Coach Karl to actually start coaching, I might just win that sandwich!