First the team is going to finally realize we still need a big man. We fans have been wanting FO to get a legit 7 footer because KMart and Nene alone, even if they stay healthy, won’t get it done.

- Nene is able physically, but I think mentally he cannot endure 82 games a season and putting a consistent 20 pts and 10 rebounds nightly. Physically? He’s definitely able… but his mind tells him that 20 and 10 every game is too much work. That is why this guy will never be an all star, but right now he’s our best big, so can’t complain much.

- KMart is always a liability on offense. You wouldn’t trust him on offense, he can’t be relied, but what we get from him every game is the “extra points”… now he’s gone we’re even worse.

- Petro can’t play, he can’t catch the ball, the team knows it, yet they extended him. Stupidest move since acquiring Billups.

- Birdman is not a starter. Since he got that contract, it seems he’s got “fat” mentally… he got the money, so let’s put in 80% work… maybe 85%. He’s not our answer.

Knowing these four things, we have to acquire a big man immediately. Our struggle in the Heat game was not scoring, or missing J.R… it’s rebounding and defense. Heat repeatedly killed us on the glass in the fourth just when it appeared we might have had a chance to steal the game. Nene was trying not to foul every Heat possession.

Our team relying on its current bigs right now is like Shaq with Keon Clark’s legs… it’s going to crumble soon… production is not good enough to win. Offensively, we can maybe rely on Nene to produce about 15 guaranteed points every night… but how about rebounding? Can he even stay at 8 guaranteed rebounds every night? Even if he can, 8 rpg from the top big is not good enough… at least not good enough for a championship contending team.

This team has to make a move, the idiots, even before KMart injury they HAD to realize Nene and KMart wouldn’t be enough. Improvement from within my ass, give that to Melo, maybe J.R., and the newcomer Lawson, or the much better Dahntay replacement Arron Afflalo, but our 4 and 5 positions have to improve too… so far… this is not the case.

Fun to be here, and a part of this blog..first time. Everything you wrote, ..my thoughts exactly, too. BTW, I read what you wrote re “stupidest move since acquiring Billups” as the stupidest thing they have done since that point in time. Just my choice. If that’snot right, I’m with the rest of these guys on that.
Strange, though..thought everybody knew the winning formula here: team defense and rebounding, running the ball, passing, finding the open shot. Do these guys just decide to try selfIsh-basketball for a change of pace? Honestly, they’re probably just tired..road games in a series, early in the season rubber-legs,
What happens to Chauncy, though? He’s THE LEADER some times, then other times, seems to lose faith in himself and the team, loses his mental focus, stops directing the team. Maybe he just gets disgusted. He knows better than to get too “tired” to run the team.
I agree about Birdman, too. When he can get the blocks, as well as box out and rebound, then he’ll have something to flap about. It seems like almost every time he goes up against another teams’ 4 or 5 for a rebound, he gets knocked out of the way. The Birdman needs to find his roots, physically and emotionally, hold his ground and get the ’bound.

be taking all of AC’s minutes. The +/- stats for players on last nights game as well as AC’s line should make it obvious who to play.

First real test of the season wasn’t so hot. . .

Lawson has looked fantastic. It’s the little things like the sweet pass ahead in the first half to the right wing for lay-up. As Wooden would say “He plays fast but doesn’t hurry.”

AC is unexplainable but he certainly wasn’t the problem last night. Billups killed us: turnovers and missed shots. I find it hard to rant on the AC when the favorite child is playing that poorly.

How can ’Melo go 12-22, score 30 pts, and look that bad.

Once you give up a 20+ pts lead, you can no longer blame the refs.

I was pleased that they played hard to the end. The really good teams almost never lose by 20 pts, but all teams lay stinkers occassionally.

Balkman looked terrible in garbage time 2 night ago but pretty good last night . . let’s hope Petro plays a lot better when the minutes matter.

Granted, ‘Melo played fantastic and it was a big win, but even Denver’s players admitted “we stole that game.” We got killed on the boards, but Portland couldn’t make a shot and then Oden missed two FT. Not saying that wasn’t a good win (as the Nug probably lose that game two years ago), just that it had more to do with Portland playing poorly than I wouldn’t have liked.

Utah has been in disarray this season, a big win at the time that didn’t look as impressive later.

Atlanta on the road, provides another prove-it opportunity.

Not sure why it took this long, but it was good to see Balkman get some meaningful minutes. Unfortunately seeing Balkman make it out of Karl’s doghouse for at least a night was the only highlight to the game.

JR can’t get back fast enough.

The Nuggets will never be taken seriously if Anthony Carter is in the starting rotation. AC is not a shooter, but thinks he is. There is too much pressure on Melo and Billups when he’s in there from the beginning. It’s worked only so far because Melo has stepped up against half-decent teams. It won’t work against the better teams, even at home. GK should have better knowledge to that. Also, Balkman has proved to be a great player in the previous season esp on defense, but start him in the 2nd when he’s played only a few minutes on the year?

The referees will run all over you (away from home) if you passively sit on the bench all night GK. But please if you’re going to sit there like a spectator, at least make smart decisions and put your scorers on the floor at one time to win a game.