Apologies for missing Golden Nuggets last week but I was out of town on personal leave…apparently the Denver Nuggets didn’t get the memo. So this week’s Golden Nuggets will be a two week version, capturing interesting Nuggets related tidbits around the NBA sphere from the past fourteen or so days.

The Houston Rockets are the early surprise team

Most people had Houston pegged for a high lottery pick again this year and that may very well end up what happens, just look at the Utah Jazz’s strong start last year and where the ultimately ended up. Still, the Rockets bounced back from an 0-3 start to win five straight with their next date being the Nuggets on Sunday. Robby Kalland at Dime Magazine took a deep dive on the team and what’s driving their new found success.

There’s more to basketball than just physical ability

Basketball isn’t just about who is the fastest and can jump the highest or even who shoots the best and plays the toughest defense. A huge aspect of the game is mental, arguably the biggest aspect. To help with this, the Nuggets have team psychologist Alex Reed. Reed is also the director of behavioral health education for the family medicine residency at CU Anschutz. They did a nice profile on him earlier this week.

The national scene is noticing Denver’s bench

The Nuggets bench has been a big contributor to the hot start to the season (the game against the Golden State Warriors notwithstanding). Last season non-Nikola Jokic minues were a major weakness for the team, but to start this season it’s been a different story. The bench is going to get stretched a bit further with Jamal Murray’s injury, but there’s reason to believe they can weather the storm. Sam Quinn with CBS Sports recently looked at how different the non-Jokic minutes have been thus far.

Stiffs Emeritus Adam Mares is teaming up with Tim Legler

Another former Stiff is going national on the podcast scene. This time it’s our friend Adam Mares with the All-City Network. Adam is teaming up with longtime ESPN NBA analyst Tim Legler for a 4x a week podcast covering the NBA as a whole called the All NBA Podcast. One of their episodes this week covered Nuggets division rival the Minnesota Timberwolves who have been the talk of the talk to start the season.

New Balance release Nuggets themed TWO WXY v4

New Balance, who sponsors Jamal Murray, released the My City colorway of the TWO WXY v4 kicks a couple weeks ago. According to New Balance, the shoes are “taking the Denver Nuggets’ classic retro color palette and interpreting it through a modern lens.” I have to say the shoes look pretty sweet with the retro rainbow jersey colors as a theme. At $120 bucks as well they don’t break the bank which is always a plus. You can snag a pair at New Balance’s website.

Side view of white, blue, and red New Balance basketball shoes.