Recently I have been criticized for my strong stinkin de-like of certain member of the LA Lakers,  a team I feel isn't out of our reach talent wise and one we could beat on any given night and id say 50/50 in a 7 game series.

     Now, I am aware of our size difficulties against them and actually a lot of other teams.  But I dont feel that by adding some other big man for size sake is the answer to what many people believe the problem is.

     I believe some of the issues, like losing to Atlanta (playing great right now), Chicago, and the Bucks' Michael Jennings has little to do with lack of size, or running set plays but rather a shift in culture internally and maybe more important, surrounding Our Nuggets. By that I mean, This franchise is not used to winning and when a team is not used to winning, the fans of said team arent used to winning therefore everyone starts to EXPECT to lose.  And that is a dangerous rabbit-hole to go near.  And I don't think the turnaround is quite complete. And that's on us.

     As a fan of any team I think we have a responsibility to help change the culture surrounding a team. 

    That means, not arriving at the Pepsi center by the middle/end of the first quarter no matter who we're playing. Cheering like crazy for things like hustle, execution, and keeping our foot on the throat of any team we play. AND (here's where im gonna run into trouble but) not letting fans of other teams waltz on to our website and say ANYTHING without at least a little friendly, and COMPLETELY NORMAL trash talking. Its our house, and we get to decide how long a GUEST can stay and how much iced tea we're gonna give em.  I guess I'im saying, being "the bigger person" doesnt really apply to Fandom....Cause believe me, what people are saying about our nuggets on other sites is some pretty crazy shit.

     Before anyone responds to this, please understand, im not asking or even talking about "in-fighting" on this site between fellow nuggets fans.  The last time this happened it spiraled out of control to the point that another poster actually threatened to threaten me if it weren't for the rules.  THIS IS NOT A PERSONAL ATTACK ON ANYONE!  We are all different kinds of fans, but I kinda miss the pre PC days where i could say fuck Kobe Bryant, fuck Tim Duncan, Fuck Shaq, Fuck Laker fans, Fuck everybody except my team and have it met with someone just kinda shaking their head and going, "jeez, that guy is crazy about his team. CRAZY"

     Anybody who has yelled at the TV, broke something that they realized they needed 30 minutes later, not been able to watch ESPN for a couple of days to avoid highlights of any kind, or seen someone with a Lakers shirt and stifled the desire to ask "Are you really a fan? or are you wearing that cause it really brings out your Asshole?" will know exactly what im talking about.

   SO LETS WALK PROUD AND ACT LIKE WE DESERVE TO BE COCKY ARROGANT AND DOWNRIGHT RIDICULOUS FANS OF OUR NUGGETS!!!

This week's Stiff List includes the Nets, A.I., the Spurs, T-Mac and David Kahn...

TGIF Nugg fans!  It feels like there has been a drought of games over this past week.  The early stages of Nugg withdrawal are starting to set in and it hurts.  Thankfully, we have a game tonight against the Clippers and one against the Bulls tomorrow.  I see us winning both, and 10-3 sounds pretty sweet to me.  However, a black cloud is forming on the horizon.  A full, healthy Lakers squad has returned to the NBA. 

The reason for this post is Pau Gasol.  Last night he made his season debut and the Lakers handled the Bulls by 15 points.  Pau had 24 points on 9-14 shooting, 13 boards, 6-6 from the line, and put in 35 minutes of work.  He took scoring pressure off Kobe and helped the Laker offense run really smooth.  To be honest, Kobe doesn’t scare me that much.  At this point, I think his production is neutralized by what Melo does for the Nuggs.  However, we have NO response for Pau.  Frankly, that guy owns us.  I love the Nene/Kmart/Bird front line, but they aren’t going to stop Pau.  A constant discussion on this site is the acquisition of a big man, and lots of good ideas have been proposed.  I don’t know what the Nugg F.O. office has in mind, but I do know that we play the Lakers twice in February (both in LA).  We beat their behind a couple weeks ago, but it will be an entirely different story with Pau in the lineup.  I love my Nuggs, LOVE THEM.  But I think the Lakers are still the team to beat and I think the Nuggs have to add a decent big to get past them.  Hopefully, I’m wrong about this.  Or even better, hopefully the F.O. makes a fucking move, Kroenke shells out some luxury cash, and Denver picks up a decent BIG.

NUGGS UP!!        

Has there been a better team at finding real talent at the bottom of the roster the last few years than Denver?  A couple of years ago it was Von Wafer, who they let go to Houston.  He didn't do much in Denver, but in Houston got 19 minutes and 10 points a game.  Not bad for an end of the roster guy.  Now on a two year, $10 million  contract in Europe. 

Last year it was Birdman and D. Jones.  Birdman played well enough to earn a midlevel contract from Denver.  Denver gave Jones an opportunity to prove himself, and despite some dirty plays, he is averaging 17 points and 4 rebounds per game. 

This year it's Afflalo who is looking like he might play himself into the midlevel exemption. 

The nuggets FO really deserves a pat on the back.  Yes, Billups has been the biggest addition, but can you imagine where the team would have been without Bird, Jones, and AA?  Players off the scrap heap that make important contributions to a contending team.

Four members of the Denver Nuggets have made the official All-Star ballot: guard Chauncey Billups, forwards Carmelo Anthony and Kenyon Martin and center Nene. Remember you can also do "write in" votes. Support the Nuggets and get out and vote early and vote OFTEN. Let's get the deserving Nuggets into the all-star game. Click here to get to the voting link on NBA.com.

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Linas Kleiza has been absent from the Denver Nuggets and Lodo's bar scene for  3 months now, opting instead for getting trashed in Greece and moneybags full of Euros (Eurobags?).

Denver whittled away lots of trade assets in offseason moves, including most of their upcoming draft picks and even the rights to unsigned draft pick Axel Hervelle. Most of the tradable contracts are minimum deals and not of much value, so fans have been speculating on potential trades involving Kleiza's rights. From my understanding of the CBA and consulting with some more knowledgable heads on the subject, it seems clear to me now that Kleiza's rights or LK himself can't be traded for the forseeable future (while he is under contract), and even after that moving him remains kind of a headache.

Mark at ShamSports knows whats up, he clarified it for me and on a previous message board post a while ago. Here's what he said

No they can't.

Kleiza can be signed and traded (if he's not under contract somewhere, that is), and the Nuggets can match any offer sheet he gets as he's still a RFA. But they can't trade his Bird rights. You can't trade anyone's Bird rights. Never could.

Read the whole post here if you don't believe me

The same problem exists with Josh Childress' signing in Greece 2 years ago.  Both he and Kleiza are still restricted free agents, with their rights held by Atlanta and Denver respectively. That means they can only be signed and traded or signed to offer sheets once they are no longer under contract in Europe. The Nuggets could match any offer for Kleiza, they could sign and trade him to someone if he were not currently under contract. Kleiza has an opt-out after 1 year in Greece, so if he wants to return to the NBA Denver could re-sign him then or sign and trade him to another team. Or, he could sign an offer sheet with another team, and Denver would have seven days to match. None of this can happen until he terminates his contract in Europe though.

Josh Childress tried to return to the NBA after 1 year in Greece. Both Cleveland and Milwaukee wanted to sign Childress, but it didn't work out for several important reasons which are relevant to LK's situation now. Milwaukee and Cleveland would have had to use their MLE to offer Childress a contract, which Atlanta could match and would have 7 days to decide whether or not to do that. During that waiting period Milwaukee/Cleveland could miss out on other free agents they wanted to sign while Atlanta made their decision. Dallas signed Gortat to a full MLE deal which Orlando matched just to screw with Dallas, after stealing away Brandon Bass while Dallas waited for them to not match the Gortat offer.

The other, more attractive option would be trying to work out a sign and trade deal with Atlanta. Milwaukee and Cleveland would rather do that because Childress' would be signed with his bird rights by Atlanta, then traded to them so they would still have their MLE to spend on other free agents. Obviously, Atlanta wasn't amenable to this - they have no reason to help out Cleveland or Milwaukee by giving them Childress. At the least they would demand something in return like a draft picks, cap relief, or a cheap role player or two.

Childress is making decent dough in Greece, so even though he probably would have taken a cheaper deal to return to the NBA, the politics and rules of the CBA prevented it from happening. It was a hassle, so both teams said screw it - Milwaukee signed Hakim Warrick and Cleveland signed Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon. Atlanta still holds Childress' bird rights, they will wait for a good deal to sign and trade him. Or, they will wait for him to sign a cheapo contract to return to the NBA, which they could match within 7 days if they wanted to.

Until then, everything is in limbo. Childress opted into the second year of his Greek deal and now he isn't a tradeable asset until next year, just like Kleiza. Bottom line, the Nugs can;t get anything for Kleiza right now. They can deal with trading him whenever he is done with Europe and chooses to return to the NBA. My guess is Kleiza will stay in Europe for at least 2 years, if he comes back to the NBA the most likely scenario would be back to the Nuggets on a pretty cheap contract. Anything could happen though, but LK cannot be traded until he's out of his Euro contract for now. Complicated, I know. Kind of a bummer too

Hm.

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I just wanted to comment on something about the current stiffs - the New York Knickerbockers.  The idea of New York tanking the season to get the first pick, if I understand correctly, is quite null and void because that pick goes to the Utah Jazz to complete a Tom "Addicted to Mountain Dew" Gugliotta from way back, way back in the day.  Consequently, we should be hoping that the Knicks start winning to some degree or the Jazz are going to end up with a top 5 pick making our division, already filled with the up-and-coming Thunder and the already challenging Blazers more tough.  Also, should the Jazz continue to suck and find themselves in the lottery - that'd be two lottery picks in what is expected to be a strong draft.  yikes

I was reading the Denver post this morning and i read that coach Karl and the nuggets would consider getting Ai with a injury happened to one of the guards. you can read about it here. http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_13811769?source=rss

So In my view getting Ai would help us and hurt us. We get a great scorer. But we get less passes. Although we would have a killer line up. think about it

Starting

PG- Chauncey Billups

SG- Allen Iverson

SF- Carmelo Anthony

PF- Kenyon Martin

C- Nene

and our 2nd unit would be

PG- Ty Lawson

SG- Jr Smith/ Aaron Affalo

SF- Aaron Affalo/ Jr Smith

PF- Renaldo Balkman

C- Chris Andersan

or if Ai can get over his ego it could be

PG- Chauncey Billups

SG- Aaron Affalo

SF- Carmelo Anthony

PF- Kenyon Martin

C- Nene

and our second unit

PG- Ty Lawson

SG-Allen Iverson

SF- Jr Smith

PF- Renaldo Balkman

C- Chris Andersan

now that is a great line up.

What are your guys thoughts on this

Great, not good teams win Championships. Early season wins are nice, but it all comes down to getting wins in April, May and June. Melo has been amazing so far! It's incredible how good he is when he is in shape!! Lawson and AAA have been stellar additions and have finally forced GK to do what we have all been screaming for, for a couple years now, and that is to put AC on the pine. He's a good locker room vet, but I can't stand his game.

 BUT.......

A few things need to happen for the Nuggets to become great. Nene has to develop a mean streak and become an absolute enforcer inside. He is too big and too talented, to not be dominating. He also needs to stop with the weak finger rolls and just dunk the damn ball! Next, JR has to keep playing at a high level on both ends of the court and be the best 6th man in the game. Finally, the FO must add another impact big man to the front line. (Can you imagine our draft if they would have snagged DeJuan Blair in the 2nd rd instead of trading our pick.?? We might not be having this conversation if that were the case)

The Lakers are going to be an absolute monster when they get Gasol back. Bynum just keeps getting better and better each day, and by playoff time, Ron Ron will be nice and cozy with his role so they are going to be even tougher than last year. And lets face it, if the Nuggets are going to make it to the Finals, they will have to beat the Lakers. As the roster is currently assembled, we just aren't big enough to compete with them in a 7 game series. Sure we can beat anybody on any given night, but in a 7 game playoff battle its a whole different ballgame. The FO has to understand that with an aging Chauncey, the Nuggets window to win a title is about 2-3 years. We are so close to being great! I really hope that they understand this and do any and everything possible to bring in a QUALITY big man. And it's not just the Lakers that we have to worry about. There is Portland, and San Antonio in the West and potentially Boston or Orlando in the Finals.

So here are the potential players that could come in here and help give us a parade in June .

My pipe dream big man, which I know will never happen, because A, we aren't the Lakers and B, the Logo wasn't a Nugget, is the Grizzlies, Marc Gasol (3.3 in 09-10 & 3.5 Mil 10-11) He would be perfect, even the Grizzlies aren't that foolish to give up on such a quality young big man, that is making peanuts by NBA standards. Another decent footer would be the Wizards, Brendan Haywood (6 mil) but I doubt that the Clippers East, I mean the Bullets, would let him go. But who knows, because they are the Clippers East?? Oh and don't even get me started with the 9 million dollar trade exception that we let expire without using on November 3rd. Sure we would have been well over the luxury tax, but this is NBA/monopoly money and Silent Stan and his old lady are both Billionaires so cry me a luxury tax river. WE WANT A CHAMPIONSHIP! That could have been the final piece.

So back to reality.....

The potential list: Most of the players with the exception of Gortat, come from non contenders, or lottery bound teams that are much easier to deal with around the trade deadline.

Marcin Gortat               Magic (5.8, 6.3, 6.7, 7.2 & 7.7) Large contract but fell in love with his game in the playoffs last yr

Marreese Speights   76ers (1.6 & 1.7 Mil)   Huge upside, but I doubt Philly would give him up

Andray Blatche           Wizards (3, 3.2 & 3.5 Mil) Same story as Speights

Jeff Foster                   Pacers (6 & 6.6 mil) Rebounding machine!

Hilton Armstrong        Hornets (2.8 mil) Decent player at that price tag

Chris Wilcox                Pistons(3 mil) Dunks in traffic the way I wish Nene would.

Ronny Turiaf               Warriors (4.2 & 4.2) RT would be a nice addition

Fabricio Oberto          Wizards (1.9 Mil) 34 years old but might still have a little bit left in the tank

Aaron Gray                  Bulls (1 mil) Young and big. Probably more of a long term project than a quick fix

Think about the big picture folks. It's going to take one last piece to put us over the hump. Lets cross our fingers, that the 3-headed front office creature is paying attention. Capish, Rex, Brett and Mark?!?!?!?

Go NUGS!!! This could get exciting!