Observations from 10 rows up...

I definitely agree with you about jr smith. Hopefully he will be matched up against kobe tonight and we will see what he can really do.

I'm not an Anthony Carter hater, but there is no way we can afford to start the guy tonight against the Lakers.

The Lakers starting 5 has three 7 footers, and starting AI and AC means one of them will be matched up against Vladamir Radmanovic. Since AC is an inferior offensive player, this matchup really favors LA.

In my mind, the only logical roster set-up for Denver tonight is to start AI (on Fisher), JR Smith (on Kobe), Melo (on Radmonivic), and Nene and K-Mart on their bigs. This lineup also gives you the flexibility to put Kmart on Kobe, Melo on Bynum, and Smith on Radmanovic. Starting AC means you pretty much have to play zone defense, and LA proved in last years playoffs that they are exceptional at attacking a zone D.

yeah george karl has to realise that AI and AC can't be on the floor together tonight. with bynum pau and odom/radmonovic, there's too many bigs on the floor to cover. we need danhtay jones or JR to smother kobe tonight. and renaldo balkman to be ready to guard just about anyone laker player on the court.

hopefully nene and kmart can stay out of foul trouble. and along with melo they need to crash the boards. the lakers frontcourt will eat us on the glass if we don't box out and crash the boards.

and again, george karl needs to put in another gutsy coaching effort. that includes making correct substitutions when needed too!

it can be done! but can they do it?

I never thought i'd say this, but Iverson needs to leave the Nuggets. I think he should have opted out and left this summer. I think he's tried his best to fit in on this team, but this organization has wasted his time and id rather see him go elsewhere and be on an actual contender then continue on in Denver.

Don't get me wrong, I think the Nuggets can have a decent team this year but nothing worth him sticking around for. Just about everyone I know asks "why are the Nuggets wasting Iversons time"? I dont know, I just feel like the Nuggets aquired Iverson for all the wrong reasons, and they were not just one move away from a championship..nor could they afford him when they got him. If all they needed was a 'sidekick' to Melo, then Iverson is not the right guy. He's just not that type of player and some Nuggets fans need to just understand that and move on. Thats just like trading for Kobe and asking him to minimize his game and take a backseat to an inferior player. Let J.R Smith fill that role.

If I were a team that aquired a player like Iverson, I would have road him untill the wheels fail off and allowed him to be who he is as far as leading the way he did in Philly, and that doesn't necessarily mean by points but just by taking over when he had to to help the team (like he did lastnight). What the Nuggets did, was aquire Iverson and confused the hell out of people with what they wanted him to do, all the while trying to forse Melo into being something that he ultimatly may not end up being, which is why we seen Carmelo looking all crazy last season himself.

I have been watching basketball for a long time and have watched a ton of different players, and although he says otherwise, I honastly think that Iverson is not happy in Denver anymore and I think that he just doesn't want to say anything because he'll get pounded by the media. It has nothing to do with his b-ball game..he's fine..but he just doesn't seem to have that same fire that he used to when he played in Philly. I just think that the Nuggets have mishandled the Iverson situation. Another hint that he may be getting traded is that I read somewhere that Carmelo and Kenyon have been chosen as team captins..now what team do you know where one of its main stars aren't one of the captins? Yet they expect Iverson to go out there everynight and do just about all the dirty work. I just think its disrespectful, and if they plan on trading him I hope that organization at least shows enough class to tell him and try to trade him to a team where he can contend untill he retires. Maybe trade him back to the east to play for the CAVS with Lebron or the Magic with Dwight (that would be a great fit actually). I just think he would have been better suited with either teaming up with veterens (like K.G when he was a Timberwolf) or the younger players that are a little more mature and less selfish. People need to know that folks are watching this and I read a lot of different blogs around the internet and people are not happy about the way the Nuggets have handled this situation. Iverson isn't perfect, but I don't agree with some of Denvers media in and some of the Nuggets fans blaming him for this situation. I think him getting traded from Philly was necessary, because he had to learn that he had to sacrifice parts of his game in order for his team to succeed and I think that whateverother team he ends up on will benefit highly from him learning this.

As far as Melo is concerned, I hope he comes back this season and delivers on his promise to step up and be a leader. Because this is his sixth season and people are talking about him. If he doesn't step up now, then i'm sure if he ever will..and in the next few seasons the Nuggets may face a strong possibility of trading him and starting all over.

Also, this is a great blogsite (probably one of the only decent Nuggets sites out there)..keep up the good work.

Well, this is why I can't stand a lot of you guys sometimes. Oh Carter shouldn't start, oh AI should leave. Oh Carmelo should leave. Have more faith and don't be too rash. Are you watching the game right now? Just be patient and see what happens this season. Stop yelling and arguing like you aren't better off than most teams in the NBA.

Melo lost the 'rows! The NBA lost a lotta hair this week. First Morrisson, now Carmelo...

Observation from Australia:
STOP GIVING UP OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS!!!

We've just lost to a Lakers team that shot 37.9% compared to our 45.9% largely because they grabbed 15 O boards to just 3.

1st halves against the Clips and Jazz seemed to be the same.

"We're fully aware there is a Euroleague," Warkentien said. "I don't know how to assess that threat."

I guess the Nuggets really don't have a European scouting system.

why you 'from australia' and your observations 'from australia'. anyway

i do agree. it's the rebounding in general. i mentioned it in my comment above before the game that kmart nene and melo need to crash the boards. they didnt, we lost.

which brings up the question. why is renaldo balkman still sitting on the bench? is he injured? he's a game changing hustle player! and danhtay jones would have been somewhat handy on kobe in that last quarter. how long can we last having anthony carter guarding the oppositions best offensive threat? props to AC again. shot well today and i haven't hated on him... much lol.

karl knows linas kleiza is in a form slump. so why do you put him on the floor with 4 minutes left in the last quarter?? puting JR on with 1:30 left in the game is too late. even the LA callers were stunned why JR was still on the bench.

george george george...

just got back from the game. i promised my buddy before the schedule was released i'd go to the home opener with him. if i'd known it was gonna be against the lakers i'da backed out a looong time ago. i hate going to lakers games because 1. the nuggets always get killed and 2. the whole pepsi center is half-filled with those goddamn bandwagon laker "fans" and kobe kiddies. annoying as hell. now about the game itself, melo looked like complete shit. just utter garbage. he's gonna drive me to wishing this team had traded him in the offseason after all.

take it easy anonymous. it was melo's first game back. and it looks like he's passing alot more so that's some good. he'll get his rhythm back. jeez people are so critical

Anthony Carter is a good point guard folks. Improved shooting and nice passes. BUT i still don't think he should start the majority of games. Simply because of the fact that he can't guard bigger SG's , just like A.I. Come on i mean, AC guarding kobe? Put J.R in and move AI at the pg and let him guard Fisher. That will be always the problem. T-Mac , Kobe , Dwade.. these guys can just do whatever they want with ai and carter in the backcourt. This is nothing personal against AC (i like him alot) but this just doesn't work out

i feel bad for AI really... And Melo looks crap last night...

"why you 'from australia' and your observations 'from australia'"
I'm in Australia. Probably should call myself Julian in Australia. Done.
BTW are you the same 'Andrew Fisher' with comments on the report card page for EssendonFC? I reckon sometime back you mentioned you were in Aus too.

I agree. Balkman should be getting minutes, probably ahead of Howard. Could he have even got a run on Kobe?

two games in and I already would like to see Georgie Porgie gone. It amazes me why Balkman is not getting minutes. And Jones can't shoot but at least gives you hustle and defense. At the end of the season Karl complains about the team being tired. Maybe this is why. Pushing the ball and commitment to playing "D" takes alot of energy out of you so you need fresh players. Oh and are the Altitude announcers scared to say anything derogatory about the league or the Refs in particular. They always try to defend the refs after bad calls.

Having Balkman and/or Jones on the bench while AC was getting posted by Kobe on every play was maddening. Isn't this why we got Balkman? I agree that my critism of AC has been misdirected. My real frustration is with the coaching staff who continue to play with an obvious disadvantage defensively. It's not like they don't know this either. I would love to hear the justification because they HAVE to think that carter gives them on offense as much as he and AI hurt them on defense. Carter had a hot hand in the first half so maybe that had something to do with it but come on. Kobe was taking easy(for him) jumpers right over the top of carter. Hey Karl and Dantley... Size Matters!