When the Nuggets acquired Renaldo Balkman from the Knicks a few months ago (for the paltry sum of Bobby Jones and Taurean Green), Denver Stiffs reader "Micb" wrote in suggesting that we debate the Nuggets All-Intangibles Team - i.e. guys who may not have contributed much to the box score, but were integral to the team with their hustle, defense, attitude, work ethic, and so forth.
Here's my take on the Nuggets All-Intangibles Team...
POINT GUARD - ROBERT PACK
Robert Pack was a key member of arguably the most exciting Nuggets team ever, the 1993-94 squad that became the first 8th seed to defeat a 1 seed in the NBA Playoffs by beating George Karl's Seattle Supersonics. Pack didn't really have any discernible skills other than lightning fast quickness and incredible jumping ability. Pack was so fast, that he often outran his own dribble on a fast break. But Pack had heart. A lot of it. In fact, Pack would prove to be the go-to guy in the playoffs that year and always seemed to come up with the big three-pointer, dunk, steal or charge.
SHOOTING GUARD - T.R. DUNN
Theodore Roosevelt Dunn (named after the former president, not the high school) was the consummate professional, a terrific defender and quite possibly the worst shooter ever to start at "shooting" guard in the NBA. He was Bruce Bowen before there was Bruce Bowen, sans the three-point shooting and dirty fouls. On any given night in the 1980s, Dunn would be asked to shut down Michael Jordan or Clyde Drexler or Magic Johnson or Rolando Blackman or Dale Ellis and so on. I remember hearing about a famous Jordan quote saying that Dunn was one of the toughest defenders he ever faced, but I couldn't dig it up on Google. Maybe that was just a rumor. Either way, the NBA noticed Dunn's exceptional defense as he was rewarded with placement on three straight All NBA Defensive Second Teams.
CENTER - BISON DELE (nee BRIAN WILLIAMS)
Like Pack, Brian Williams (known as "BW" as a Nugget) performed spectacularly in the 1994 playoff upset against Seattle and the near playoff upset against Utah in the following round. A third of all of BW's rebounds in the playoffs that year were offensive, and he provided much needed energy and toughness when starting center Dikembe Mutombo took a rest. Putting Williams' tragic death aside momentarily, if you've ever read anything about Williams - who later became Bison Dele - you'd know that he was one of the more colorful personalities ever to pass through the Nuggets and the NBA in general.
SMALL FORWARD - BILL HANZLIK
At just 6'7", 187 lbs and white, Hanzlik was the consummate Stiff according to head coach Doug Moe's definition of what a true Stiff is. But while Hanzlik might have come up short in size and skill, he well made up for in effort and attitude. Dennis Rodman might be the most famous player for diving onto the floor or into the stands for loose balls, but Hanzlik was doing the same thing way before Rodman hit the scene. Moreover, Hanzlik routinely guarded opposing team's centers, notably the 7'4" Ralph Sampson whom he pestered into bad shooting nights on many occasions. And who could forget Hanz's gutty "Player of the Game" performance against the Mavericks in Game 3 of the second round in the 1988 NBA Playoffs?
POWER FORWARD - TOM HAMMONDS
Power forward seems to be a cursed position in Nuggets Nation. The Nuggets have lost a number of talented, All-Star caliber power forwards to injury over the years such as Calvin Natt, LaPhonso Ellis, Antonio McDyess and now Kenyon Martin and Nene. And with the exception of Hammonds, the Nuggets have never had able backups at the four-spot. Hammonds was pretty limited offensively, but always played hard and played tough when given the minutes. It's too bad the Nuggets don't have a Hammonds-type player going into the 2008-09 season, since we all know K-Mart and Nene will be missing some games. (Elton Brown anyone? Anyone?)
HONORABLE MENTION: Ryan Bowen, Reggie Evans, Jon Barry and Eduardo Najera.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
The Nuggets All-Intangibles Team...
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15 comments:
I love Hanzlik and Hammonds on this list. People forget what an asset Hammonds was.
I really wasn't fond of Pack, who wasn't much of a defender, distributor, or teammate. He did have 1 good 7 game series (although in the next round vs. the Jazz he was terrible, and Mahmoud was the man). I would put an Andre Miller or Michael Adams on thsi list instead of him.
I like this article a lot. No room for LaPhonso Ellis?
Good article. Great comments on all of the players. I have to agree with John, as Pack is one of my least favorite Nuggets of all time. I always thought he was selfish and not a team guy at all. I guess I'd have to go back a long way and put Monte Towe on the list for point guard. Pack was one of those love him or hate him type players. He had a huge following on each side and not many people in the middle.
Bryant Stith!!!!!!
And I remember BW's dad (I think) singing the national anthem at the playoff games that year which was AWESOME
Nice list, and I loved watching Pack play.
Robert Pack? I loved the guy. Great article. How many days to training camp?
Phonz, Adams and Dre don't count because they were starters with good stats.
What's up with all the Pack haters? I LOVED that guy!!
Sheesh, these kids these days!
Julius Keye and the original Bobby Jones.
Pack blew me off when i was young kid and was trying to get him to sign my basketball when the nuggets had training camp at the air force academy (do they still have it there?) therefore he is a bum in my eyes. I love the hammer Hammonds though, he was crucial in a couple late season runs to the playoffs for us, including 93-94.
Two additional honorable-mentions from decades ago:
Fatty Taylor was the backup point guard on the '74-75 team that went 65-19. He brought unbelievable defensive energy to the game. The crowds at the Auditorium Arena went nuts when Larry Brown turned Fatty loose in a full-court press.
Glenn Gondrizek, who just had a heart transplant, was a lot like Hanzlik. Instant energy off the bench and a great crowd favorite during his short tenure with the Nuggets.
ryan bowen has to be the captain of this team... if anybody asked me to sum up the very worst years in nuggets history i'd simply point to bowen and explain that a slow white guy with no discernible basketball skills was probably one of the three or four best players we had during his tenure.
to this day i name my fantasy hoops teams 'the bowen factor'. great list, i'll have to read you guys more often.
Hanzlik would get in Sampson's and Jabbar's a** like a suppository.
Pack, to this day, might be the most "out of control" NBA player ever. On the court, that is.
Add Atkins to the list...
Agree with Fatty Taylor, I loved him. Not so sure about Gondrezick though. I heard that the reason he didn't last with the Nuggets was that he was disruptive off the court, something about smoking dope in the back of the team bus.
Maybe that was in Issel's book I read that.
thx for the shout out Andrew. I've been busy lately monitoring the Financial meltdown, so I haven't had a lot of time to post.
I agree with the guys you've got on your list, except for Pack. I don't think Pack was really a "team first" kind of player. He would occasionally have a great game or two, but I don't think he left it on the court every night. I would put Stith on the list, even though he wasn't a PG. The only other guard I can think of might be Mike Evans. I like the Hanzlik, Dunn, and Hammonds pick. I guess BW wins the center by default, although you could consider Joe Wolf, but he really sucked. You can't forget Bowen as the sixth man off the bench. He brought those intangibles that we seem to be missing on the current roster. Hopefully, Balkman will bring some of that energy and hustle back.
Glenn Gondrezick was before my time, so I can't say much about his performance as a Nugget. But coming out of Boulder High he does deserve special mention as one of the handful of local players to suit up for the Nuggets. The only others I can think of are Chaucey Billups (George Washington) and Mark Randall (Cherry Creek). Can anyone think of others?
When I played at Boulder High Gondrezick was a sort of mythic figure... someone that none of us had ever seen play but heard coaches tell of his exploits on a regular basis.
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