Dear Philadelphia Phillies,

I’m glad it was you.

Just like last year, charging in to dash our hopes with your veteran band of overpaid sluggers.  Seasoned pros.  National League dominators.  Death in Red.

Nobody else would do.  You’re like our big brother.  We take all the trouble to build up this amazing, awkward, “I think I can” season, and you carelessly kick it down from on high.  Sweep through on your way to another playoff run where Charlie Manuel will somehow cobble together a pitching staff with recycled specialists and rubber cement.

But this is good.  We asked for this; a series of brutal home-field deaths.

After we rocked your world (and your bandbox ballpark) in ‘07, we knew there would be consequences.  So now each time we rise up from the high plains to deal some damage, there’s always the 2^nd biggest NL payroll to violently put us down.  Our scrappy little home-grown ball club ever that one big hit or shutdown inning away from coming out on top.

And that should worry you.  Because the Rocks are scrappy but they’re also young.  Dugout-to-rotation young.  And season will come when Colorado is ready to take the wood to ya again.

When that day comes, we’ll remember all the breaks going your way.  We’ll remember our bullpen collapsing under the weight of your 142M worth of talent.  We’ll grudgingly remember your veteran guile and our rookie shortcomings.

But most of all, we’ll remember the Phillies faithful infesting our stadium with their loud, otherworldly obnoxious brand of fandom.  (I was there last night.  Bore witness to it; a culture of sports fans who come to games to get thrown out of them.  Keep it in Philly, please.  This is a nice place, and we could do without cheesesteak-filled balloon people muckin’ it up.)

And in that glorious hour, we won’t say a word against you.  Just leave you to mire in a drunken stupor.  Just take this wide-open National League from you and walk away.

Sincerely,

One Bummed Out Rockies Fan

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The first game, I watched with half-interest due to visiting family in town, but we all piped down our conversation and paid attention when Tebow hit the turf in Cincy for the first time. The second game, I watched intently, hoping to glean whatever insight I could. The third game I watched from the friendly confines of Section 530 at Invesco Field, which provided an interesting birds-eye view and a glimpse into the hearts of the Bronco faithful. Today’s preseason review and season preview takes the form of What I’m Buying and What I’m Not Buying. Josh McDaniels is no different from any other coach (we did some things well, we have some things to work on, it’s just preseason, etc etc blah blah blah). But what are you buying that is legit about this team, and what is not legit? Here’s my answer.

What I’m Buying

Tim Tebow. First things first – I’m not buying that he’s ready to be an NFL starter. I am buying that he is good for the Broncos, and he’s ready to be a backup QB. He’s made some good decisions, and couple bad decisions. But what I saw against Pittsburgh was a guy that made the defense think twice about just sending the house in a blitz package because of his mobility. With the exception of the one interception, he seemed to see the field well. His throwing motion is a bit long, like all the scouts have said, so he’ll have to tighten that up, but he’s an exciting player to watch, and I think for once Broncos fans almost universally have the right attitude – start Orton, as he’s clearly the only guy that gives Denver a chance to win, and let Tebow learn and get some reps and grow up as a QB, and he’ll be our franchise guy in due time. I’m also buying the goodwill he brings to the franchise. Fans at Invesco were clamoring for more. Tebow jerseys outnumbered any other single player represented in the crowd, except maybe Elway. (That includes Marshall jerseys altered with duct tape)

Jabar Gaffney as a #1 receiver. Dude is quick, runs routes well, and has all the makings of a #1 receiver. Glad he’s getting the chance.

Parrish Cox. Seriously. That guy can run. He’ll make some boneheaded plays because he takes chances, but that’s the kind of reckless play that defined Champ Bailey early in his career – a risk-taker.

Kyle Orton as the starter. I kinda summed this up in the Tebow paragraph – Kyle is the guy. He knows the system, and anyone with half an iota of football sense knows he’s the Broncos best chance of winning some football games. An all-pro he probably ain’t , but he’ll win the Broncos some games this year, and I doubt he’ll cost them many, if any at all.

What I’m Not Buying

The defense. Sorry. I’m not buying any of it. Byron Frickin’ Leftwich moved down the field on them. I know, I know, it was the scrubs not the #1 unit, but they didn’t exactly shut Dixon down either. To be fair, I’d probably put this in the “half-buying/half-not-buying” category, because I think they showed some flashes of brilliance, but in the last few years, no matter the coordinator, the Denver D has made average quarterbacks look great. And Denver’s schedule pits them against several elite QBs. I’m just not convinced this is a unit that can stop much of anybody.

Brady Quinn. He’s been simply awful. There’s no possible way he stays #2 on the depth chart. I’m sure he’ll make the roster, but you have to activate Tebow as the backup/special package guy, and hang on to Quinn in case Orton goes down. Even at that, based on preseason I can’t imagine BQ is the guy you want. He looks like a lost puppy on the field. I feel bad for the guy, he got stuck with the crappiest of situations, but he’s just not looking like an NFL QB right now.

The running game. These ain’t your momma’s Broncos. No zone-blocking, chop blocks, plug-and-play RB system here. It’s all about beef and power, and the O-line is young. They’re going to wear down, and even Buckhalter will have a hard time hitting holes. That assumes he’s back. Moreno has a bad hammy, and it looks like probably LenDale White will make the squad behind Buckhalter and Moreno. Yikes.

The Bottom Line

This team is, in the oft-quoted words of Dennis Green, exactly who we thought they were. An 8-8 team that will miss the playoffs, but contend in some good games, and be a couple breaks away from either going 6-10 or 9-7, depending on how the breaks fall. It’s an average team, make no mistake. The short pass game that tries to set up the run game is dangerous, the long-passing game, while improved, can’t be relied upon to save a season, and the defense just won’t be able to hold up to massive offensive assaults. This is a very utilitarian year for me. Get through it without too much damage, get guys healthy, pray for a new CBA, and roll in to next year with a solid squad that’s ready to contend. I think they’re close, but this won’t be their year.

And even still, I’ll wear my orange every Sunday and hope for the best.

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When ESPN’s Ric Bucher published a short article guessing that Carmelo Anthony would leave the Nuggets, he was not engaging in any sort of responsible journalism.

Bucher cited “league sources” as claiming that Anthony was on his way out of Denver, that it was just a matter of time until Carmelo found his way to New York City.  Whether by sign-and-trade or free agent departure, Melo’s days in Denver were sadly numbered.

Of course, “league sources” could mean almost anyone with ties to the NBA.

Ric could have been chatting up a towel boy or waxing philosophical with a front office paper-pusher from any NBA club.  He could then cite that blatantly non-expert opinion as a “league source” with “special knowledge” of the situation.  Even though “special knowledge” could mean anybody with half a brain who has kept up with Carmelo’s offseason refusal to sign a lucrative 3-year extension with the Nuggets.

“…he’s going to make it real clear that he’s not coming back,” said one of Bucher’s league sources.

A nebulous quote that says nothing in particular, but which harkens back to Lebron’s definitive decision to “take my talents to South Beach.” The perfect line to kick off ESPN’s inevitable three-week coverage marathon on The Decision II: Melo’s Dilemma.

I won’t go so far as to say that ESPN’s editors put all of their NBA writers’ names in a hat and drew for who got to “break” this invented story, but it is unlikely that Ric Bucher made it up all by himself.

ESPN needed another juicy headline to fill out the front page until the US Ryder Cup team is selected in September (because nobody is sick of reading about Tiger Woods yet… somehow.)  And Carmelo left an opening when he failed to downplay toasts made by several guests at his wedding reception insisting that he take his talents to the Big Apple ASAP.

Shake, stir, add a dash of hearsay and a heaping spoonful of conjecture… BAM!  Headline news.

One Wedding & a Funeral

It was July 11^th, the day after Carmelo Anthony finally tied the knot with long-time girlfriend/fiancé La La Vasquez.

A host of high-profile guests included some prolific representatives of Melo’s NBA clique.  Lamar Odom was there.  Amar’e Stoudemire and Kenyon Martin both attended.  Lebron James may have been somewhere nearby.  But it was Chris Paul of New Orleans Hornets fame who stirred the pot by offering a half-joking toast to Carmelo and his future with the New York Knicks.  (Paul is also rumored to be looking for a road that leads to the NYC.)

Stoudemire who signed with New York this summer kept the pressure on, and Carmelo’s brother Robert added more fuel to the fire.  The whole unseemly interruption into an otherwise civil celebration got ugly when Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke stood up and offered a toast to Anthony’s future in the Mile High City.  (cue crickets)

The end result was a world of speculation as to why Carmelo would not interrupt his own wedding reception to discuss in-depth his plans for the latter half of his NBA career.  (cue ESPN speculators)

It is unclear as to whether the reception will appear alongside the wedding ceremony on the VH1’s La La & Carmelo Reality Show this September 19^th.  However, with Melo’s decision still entirely up in the air, an offer from the Nuggets still on the table, and The Man himself unwilling to give up any potential plot twists, we have to figure out the dirty details ourselves for now.

Or we could let Ric Bucher and his towel boy figure it out for us.  According to Bucher’s source, Melo’s silence during the reception says it all:

“There were other people saying, ‘We’re going to get you guys together,’ but it doesn’t become a runaway train if Melo says something,” said one source. “Maybe he didn’t perpetuate it, but tell people to stop or say, ‘Stan, I’m sorry.’ He didn’t do any of that.”

Suffice to say that Carmelo’s wedding reception may have been a funeral for his career as a Denver Nugget.

The Real Story

In reality, Bucher was just writing what most of America was thinking.

Nobody expects Carmelo to stay in a small market like Denver with the bright lights of New York awaiting him.  And while Anthony can make more money staying in Denver than by testing the free agent market next summer or forcing a trade this fall, there is an option that would be beneficial to both parties.

A sign-and-trade to the Knicks would at least give Nuggets fans a reason not to despise Melo throughout the inevitable rebuilding process that would follow his departure.  If Denver could garner a player and a couple of first round draft picks after signing Anthony to a max deal this offseason and trading him to the wayward Knicks, it would make Melo look like a saint compared to Benedict James in Miami.

While it is no foregone conclusion, the sign-and-trade seems like the only way for the Nuggets to approach break-even on this deal.  If Carmelo plays the entire 2010-2011 season in Denver without a new contract, I would be utterly shocked.  Nobody in this town wants to see Carmelo Anthony on prime time television announcing that he’s leaving while the Nuggets get approximately squat in return.

In fact, I just got the latest from a janitor at the NBA League Offices on 5^th Avenue in NYC:

According to an unnamed league source, “Carmelo and his max deal for Danilo Gallinari and two first round draft picks.  My buddy at the copy center heard some suit from accounting talking about it.  Good as done.”

It’s been swell Carmelo.  Enjoy the bright lights.

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That fantastic run-on sentence notwithstanding, it’s a storyline that seems to be playing out here in Denver. The man once considered to be the star and the savior of the Nuggets franchise, appears to have one foot out the door while the city hangs desperately onto the other shamelessly pleading for him to stay.

The days of the one team, one city athlete are gone. Guys like Peyton Manning are the exception, while the elite in other sports see nothing wrong with “taking their talents to South Beach”. Let’s face it – the NBA is a player-driven league. It’s about stars, celebrities, personal brands. This transformation was made complete when LeBron chose to go to Miami, and did so on national television. This article isn’t about Lebron, I don’t really care to belabor that issue, but it does figure quite prominently into this issue. Why should Carmelo struggle and labor in Denver, as “big” men cycle in and out, as Kenyon Martin gets yet another knee surgery, as Chauncey gets old, as JR Smith throws yet another temper-tantrum? Carmelo sees the money and the bright lights of a major market, owners willing to spend, and the chance to play alongside Chris Paul, and suddenly, the rarified air of the Rocky Mountains doesn’t seem quite so attractive anymore. Even though the Nuggets have put the correct offer on the table, Melo’s reluctance to sign the deal and proclaim himself a Denver Nugget speaks volumes about his intentions.

Now I’m not going to claim that Carmelo is as good as gone, nor will I claim that it’s simply ego-driven if he does choose to leave. The management has failed time and again to give Carmelo what he needs – the addition of Chauncey was a major step in that direction, but the failure to get a big man to put the hurt on Pau Gasol left the Nuggets playing second fiddle to the Lakers (again) for the past couple years, and Melo likely doesn’t see any end to that pecking order in sight.

My complaint here is as much with the system as it is with the player. But since we’ve all seen this drama unfold before, we can see where it’s going. Carmelo might play one more season in Denver, but unfortunately, the smart money is on trading him now while there is value to be brought back in return, and avoid playing an entire season with a player who has mentally already moved on. Sadly, this relegates the Nuggets to the land of the rebuilding teams – where a conference contender once stood, a team with an uncertain future now resides. I hate to even say it out loud, but as the boys across the way at Dove Valley have taught us, it’s not always the worst thing to trade away a guy who doesn’t want to be here. Trade Melo now, get the best value possible, and let’s move on. I hope I’m wrong – I hope he signs the extension, and happily plays out the next 3 years in powder blue and gold. But I’m a little too old for that kind of optimism.

Besides, what little optimism I have left is currently occupied with Tim Te– er, Kyle Orton and the boys in orange and blue.

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at rocks game… frustrating. this teams goose is cooked for 2010.

That’s right – I played reverse psychology with the baseball gods, and was rewarded with a barely-over-the-wall Tulowitzki shot to end an excruciating offensive drought and give the Rockies a lead which Huston Street would go on to hold and earn the save. Now, it wasn’t a total offensive drought, because the game was scattered with doubles. It was, however, the first time the Rockies showed any propensity for getting a runner into scoring position and then finishing the job, rather than leaving the runner standing hopelessly out on base.

As soon as the Tulo homerun cleared the wall, and the pandemonium in the stands started to die down, my phone buzzed with an alert that someone had replied to my little prediction of doom, asking if I wanted to take back my statement. I replied that I didn’t, because it raises the question: Is the Rockies goose cooked for 2010? In other words, is this season over, the wild-card and division deficits too much too handle even for this team, the undisputed king of late season comebacks in recent years?

It’s our nature in sports as fans, and as writers, to want to call the shot. To be like Babe Ruth, pointing out exactly what will happen, and then watch it come to fruition as we pat ourselves on the back as the greatest sporting sage of our times. And it’s always easiest to be negative, to predict the worst. We don’t want the Rockies to fail, but when we predict their doom and it finally happens, there’s a smug satisfaction in knowing that we saw it coming. That is not what is happening here, folks. I promise you – I want nothing more than to see the Rockies win. I was elated when Tulo turned my frustration into elation in the bottom of the 8th inning last night. The right field stands were buzzing with excitement even as Tulo came to the plate, and I was more than happy to join them, even with my doubts in tow.

What I’m concerned with is the stop and start nature of this team. There has yet to be a good long streak – in either direction, thankfully, but nothing that shows consistency. Having Tulo and Helton back puts the lineup in less of an amorphous state, but it just doesn’t feel like a team that has a run in them. I wish I could belabor you with statistics and empirical data to back up my claim, but all I have is a long-time baseball fan who has watched a ton of teams go through this same place: tons of talent, inability to translate into anything better than a “good, not great” team. I spent my formative baseball years watching the Mariners in the Kingdome – as I grew up in baseball, so did the M’s – Griffey Jr. in his prime, with guys like Edgar Martinez, Jay Buhner, Randy Johnson, and a highly-touted rookie named Alex Rodriguez joined up later on. This Rockies team looks just like those Mariners clubs of the middle-90s: so talented that you go down the roster and find reasons to like every name on the list, but when you look at the standings, you see a mediocre to slightly above average team, that just can’t cross the divide and join the true elites of baseball.

I’m not going to write the in memoriam just yet, and the “what the team needs to do for next year” piece can wait until late fall – but I will say this. The Rockies are on life support. They are too far back in the division behind the enigmatic Padres who just don’t seem to show any signs of fading. They have too many good baseball teams fighting for the wild card ahead of them, and this habit of completely going to sleep offensively, especially on the road, just isn’t going to cut it. I don’t see a run materializing this time around, not for 2010. But there’s still time, and if Rockies fans know anything, it’s to not give up prematurely.

But if it prods the baseball gods into allowing such a run, I’ll go ahead and be more than willing to take one for the team and say it: This team’s goose is cooked for 2010. You hear that baseball gods? Cooked.

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Carmelo Commits

On a night that veteran Chauncey Billups worked to whip his young USA Men’s Basketball squad into shape, Nuggets teammate Carmelo Anthony committed himself to the US Team for the 2012 Olympics in London.

Billups will take the youthful, undersized US Men to Europe on Monday for a series of tune-up games in preparation for the 2010 FIBA World Championships later this month.  Meanwhile, Carmelo will continue a summer break from basketball after his marriage to La La Vasquez in July.

But that doesn’t mean that Melo is ditching the national team for good.

When asked Thursday night if he planned to play on the 2012 Olympic team, Carmelo answered firmly, “Of course. I’m locked in. I’m committed.”

Anthony attended the World Basketball Festival USAB Showcase at Radio City Music Hall in New York last night along with fellow Olympic gold medalists Dwyane Wade & Lebron James.  Amare Stoudemire & Chris Paul were in attendance as well, with Paul also affirming his commitment to USA basketball heading into the 2012 Games.

Said Paul, “I can’t wait, I definitely want to be a part of that team.”

2010 Team Shakeup

Stoudemire (along with Anthony, Wade & James) was a member of the 2004 Olympic team that mustered a disappointing Bronze Medal in Athens, but did not join the 2008 Redeem Team that leveled a measured, mature campaign to victory.  Paul has yet to represent the United States at the Olympics.

All of them are hoping that Chauncey & The Kids can guarantee the US team an automatic bid to the London Olympics with a FIBA victory this year at the World Championships.  The men’s team is suffering from a lack of size and star power with Lebron and Dwyane occupied by their dynasty-building in Miami, Stoudemire backing out at the request of his new NBA team, the New York Nicks, and Paul recovering from offseason knee surgery.

The biggest blow to the US Team’s chances came when monster center Dwight Howard announced his intention to skip the Worlds one month ago.  NBA sophomore Brook Lopez was added to the roster as a result, and while he matches Howard in height (7’0”) Brook is not the big, muscular body the national team is used to having at center.

Rebounding against the behemoth anchors of these European teams will be a constant challenge for the US Men.

The News Ain’t All Bad

While the absence of the United State’s best NBA players makes them less than a favorite this August & September in Turkey, the stacked 2006 World Championship team that was a favorite came home with an underwhelming Bronze.

That ’06 team sported a preview of the ’08 Olympic champs, but was unceremoniously tripped up in the Semifinals by the Greeks and their veteran zone defense.  Carmelo’s game has always translated well on the international stage, but his teammates (most especially Lebron James) have struggled mightily against the regimented defenses of European squads.

Now US Coach Mike Krzyzewski (also the head coach at the NCAA’s Duke University) will utilize a glut of talented young guards and forwards to run circles around the rigid Europeans.  Where other US teams were heavy on size & talent but light on speed & athleticism, the 2010 model is built to move.  Their speed in transition and ability to move the ball with NCAA precision will be keys to US success in Turkey… luckily most of the team is less than three years removed from college ball.

And as for last night’s intra-team scrimmage?  Team Blue beat Team White in overtime on an athletic alley-oop from young guard Rajon Rondo to the team’s oldest center Tyson Chandler.

Old Man Chauncey, for one, thinks that this rookie-dominated team has a chance to win the United State’s first World Championship Gold Medal since 1996.

“I think we have the best talent in the world,” Billups said. “We’ve got a challenge ahead of us. Together, collectively, we have a chance to be successful.”

2010 US Men’s Basketball Roster

Player – Position – Age

Rajon Rondo – G – 24

Rudy Gay – SF – 23

Lamar Odom – F – 31

Chauncey Billups – G – 33

Tyson Chandler – C – 27

Stephen Curry – G – 22

Kevin Durant – G – 21

Eric Gordon – SG – 21

Danny Granger – F – 27

Jeff Green – PF – 29

Andre Iguodala – F – 26

Brook Lopez – C – 22

Kevin Love – C – 21

Derrick Rose – PG – 21

Russell Westbrook – PG – 21

Team USA hosts France Sunday before departing for Madrid to play Spain & Lithuania next weekend on the 21^st & 22^nd.  Then it’s off to Athens to scrimmage against nemesis Greece on the 25^th, and finally to Turkey for the FIBA World Championships August 28^th thru September 12^th.

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  [caption id="attachment_1058" align="aligncenter" width...

The Denver Nuggets will open next season at home versus the Jazz and finish in Utah against that same division nemesis.  With the release of the Nuggets’ 2010-2011 schedule on Tuesday, we see a clear focus on Northwest Division games when it counts.

Carmelo and the boys welcome the Jazz to Denver on October 27^th to kick off Redemption Year in Nuggetsland.  After injuries (Kenyon Martin, Chris Andersen & Ty Lawson) and coach George Karl’s battle with cancer derailed the Nuggets’ 2009-2010 campaign, this team is bound to come into the new season with a chip on its shoulder.  A home opener versus the same Utah Jazz that rocked the Nuggets right out of last season’s playoffs is the perfect place to start.

Couple that with a regular season wrap-up in Utah on April 13^th exactly 24 weeks later, and we get an idea of how the NBA expects this Northwest Division battle to shake out.

But to add both clarity and confusion to this picture, the NBA’s scheduling czars threw the Nuggets a curveball with two games versus the rising Oklahoma City Thunder in the stretch run.

Denver will welcome Kevin Durant and the Thunder to town on April 5^th, travel to Oklahoma City on the 8^th, and return home to play the Minnesota Timberwolves on the 9^th before finishing in Utah.  That’s four of the Nuggets’ final six games against Northwest foes.  Even through the long NBA season, that final stretch will likely determine the division winner.  The rapidly-improving Thunder are the early favorites to come out on top.

More on the Stretch

Two of three games versus the NBA Champion LA Lakers will be played in Denver.  That’s good news.  The one road game in LA comes two days before the final six-game stretch mentioned above.  That’s bad news.

After their only trip to Los Angeles to face the Lakers, Denver will sandwich a trip to Dallas between those two OKC games.  A trip to Sacramento, where the Nuggets have always struggled, and a home game versus the high-scoring Golden State Warriors round out the Nuggets’ eight-game April schedule.

Just to re-cap, Denver will play five of its eight April contests on the road.  Four of those will pit the Nuggets against divisional competition, and three of those four come versus the two teams that Denver will most likely be vying with for the division crown.

The moral of this story?  The Nuggets will need to be playing hot or have a bit of a lead going into April if they want to be a top seed come playoff season.

The Best of the Rest

The Nuggets will have a chance to get off to a hot start with their biggest home stand of the season just 15 games in.

After hosting Chicago & Phoenix on November 26^th & 28^th, Denver gets the road-weak Bucks, Clippers & Grizzlies on December 1^st, 3^rd & 5^th.  The only elite road games preceding that home stand come back-to-back at the Mavericks on November 6^th and at the Bulls on November 8^th.  (Make special note of that visit to an increasingly dangerous Chicago team that added old Nuggets nemesis Carlos Boozer in the offseason.)

Kobe and the Lakers come to town early (Game 9) on Thursday, November 11^th.  LA visits Denver again smack in the middle of the season on January 21^st.  Both games are nationally-televised on TNT and ESPN respectively.  Altogether the Nuggets will play 25 contests before a national television audience in 2010-2011.

If you’re looking to catch the suddenly Champion-favorite Miami Heat, grab your tickets early.  We’ll know a lot about the playoff potential of James, Wade & Bosh by the time they visit Denver on January 13^th.  Last year’s Championship runner-up, the Boston Celtics (plus recent FA acquisition Shaq), will head to Denver on February 24^th.  Both games are part of TNT Thursday night showcases.

Link to the Nuggets’ 2010-2011 Schedule

Download a PDF of Denver’s 2010-2011 Schedule

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Mark Warkentien is on his way out of Denver after the Nuggets announced they are not interested in renewing the contract of their VP of Basketball Operations.  With him will go Rex Chapman, the Nuggets’ VP of Player Personnel, whose contract has also expired.

Mark & Rex took their positions at the head of the Nuggets’ front office before the 2005-2006 season, and have shown a proclivity for finding diamonds in the rough since.

However, the duo was never able to land a mega-acquisition to partner with Carmelo Anthony, and Denver may lose Melo as a result.  Despite the addition of Chauncey Billups in 2009 (a move fueled more by Chauncey’s desire to return to Denver than Mark’s negotiating chops), the Warkentien Era in Denver will go down as only slightly better than a failure.

The Nuggets did pick up JR Smith and Aaron Afflalo on Warkentein’s watch, and Denver reacquired fan favorite Chris “Birdman” Andersen as well.  But even as Afflalo quickly became a starter, all of these guys were role players on a team that needed a second star.  Even Billups, at this late stage in his career, was rarely able to hoist the Nuggets on his back over the last two seasons.

Read more about the Nuggets’ front office woes:

Denver Nuggets sit out another loaded NBA Draft

West competition gets bigger while Nuggets stand pat

That left Melo on an island, and Anthony’s initial refusal to sign a lucrative contract extension this offseason speaks volumes about the lack of faith he has in this organization’s ability to get him some help.

After all, through the most loaded free agent class in the modern history of the NBA, the best the Nuggets could do was grab… Al Harrington.  And Harrington almost ended up in Dallas before Denver came through with more money.

The top two executives in the Denver front office likely won’t be finished clearing out their desks by the time the next tremor hits in this huge shakeup.

The Nuggets have not announced any replacements, but a thorough reconstitution of the front office is clearly in the works.  Paul Andrews, President of Kroenke Sports Enterprises, announced in a press release earlier today that:

“We are in the process of evaluating and restructuring the Nuggets front office and have begun a search for possible replacements as we prepare for the upcoming season.”

The rumblings started mid-season when it was reported that Warkentien had been courted by the Portland Trailblazers.  Mark showed interest in the job, despite winning the NBA’s award for Executive of the Year in 2009 with Denver.

Now, with Stan Kroenke moving to transfer ownership to son Josh, the shakeup is in full effect.  There was always a feeling that Warkentien was Stan’s boy and that Josh, the Nuggets’ VP of Team Development, would find a replacement as soon as he could.  That may explain Mark’s early interest in the Portland job, although his interactions with the Blazers mid-season (and especially before the all-important 2010 free agency period) still border on unforgivable. The front office insecurity became a detractor for potential free agents as a result.

The only shame in the deal is that Rex Chapman, whose eye for talent is largely responsible for the Nuggets going after Afflalo & Smith, will be leaving with him.  Chapman, unlike Warkentien, knows the value of executives in the player-driven NBA:

“I feel like this league has always been about the players, coaches and owners, and the rest of us are highly replaceable.”

Read Josh Kroenke’s team bio

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Troy Tulowitzki strikes out with vigor in his first return to the plate since suffering a broken wrist in June

In order to understand the Colorado Rockies you need to have been there in 2007 when Todd Helton and Troy Tulowitzki willed their team to the playoffs.

To really get the depth of suffering in Colorado baseballand you will have waded through an abysmal 2008.  You would remember watching, helpless, as every dependable player from that magical ’07 run declined, even the ones that went to other teams (Fogg, Taveras & Matsui.)

You will have stared blankly at a post-All Star Break club that has sucked in every conceivable way that a baseball team can suck, rolled snake-eyes in every conceivable situation that requires luck, and lost eight straight games, alternately in gut-wrenching blowout fashion and then with fist-pounding inadequacy in close contests.

And the only reason you believe that there is a ghost of a chance that the Rockies can make up 9 games in their remaining 55 is that you saw them charge back in two of the last three seasons after everybody, including you, had written them off as well done… cooked.

But you will have also watched this Colorado team repeatedly threatened with its postseason life in the last week respond by committing a litany of mistakes; from formerly dependable starters to typically shutdown fielders to otherwise intelligent management.

And you will believe again, as I do, that the Rockies’ season is finished before its time.

Oddly, though, it would seem that this team thrives on its own dysfunctional countenance.

The Rockies are deeply, characteristically humanistic in their approach to baseball.  Even by comparison to similarly streaky teams.

What I mean here is that the Rockies feel like they’re on an epic losing streak right now, and it shows in every movement, every anxious swing.  Each driving hit straight into a defender’s glove seems scripted by the very demeanor of the club, and the only way out is an equal, opposite and, yea, inevitable resurgence in the opposite direction.

The Colorado Rockies are a team of players whose most defining attribute is their inherently natural approach to the game.  Brad Hawpe, Carlos Gonzalez, Ubaldo Jimenez and Troy Tulowitzki, the Rockies’ youth core, are very simply a band of gifted naturals.

Hawpe has one of the most beautiful swings ever created by the baseball gods, but struggles mightily to control its intricacies.

Gonzalez is so intensely gifted at finding ways to drive a baseball thrown anywhere near the strike zone that he dooms himself to low-percentage, awkward swings in high-pressure situations.

Jimenez didn’t start playing baseball until his teens, and his otherworldly physical talents still seem underdeveloped at times.  His incapability to cope with a mechanical glitch, in fact his tendency to exaggerate the motion that is blowing his pitches off-course, is sophomoric by comparison to his level of experience in the major leagues.

And poor Troy Tulowitzki had gotten it all figured out after two years of struggle when a brush-back pitch broke his wrist in mid-June.

Before that injury, Tulo had finally found a way to harness his obvious natural skills, to take advantage of his de-facto confidence, and to do so while still allowing the game to come to him.  In his two games back, Troy has been wound so tight trying to make plays that he has committed a fielding error and a major base-running gaffe, and frustratingly driven the ball hard straight at opposing fielders.  (He has also struck out dramatically– see picture above.)

But where they Rockies have a tendency to perpetuate their own bad fortunes, they are also capable of waking into a flurry of ferocious winning at any time.

Those ’07 & ’09 teams needed catalysts in the form of an emotional game-winning home run by Helton for the former and an intensely personal managerial change for the latter.

The Rockies’ front office has very publicly pursued not just good, natural baseball players, but also good, natural human beings.  We’re talking good people here, with strong morals and well-developed character.  The result has been a team that moves as one through the season, sometimes slipping into a self-perpetuated depression, and sometimes rising to unbelievable heights of excellence.

The Colorado Rockies are a family unit with well-defined roles, desire and passion throughout.  Their collectivism is their greatest strength and most damning weakness.

So even if I have to believe, statistically… rationally, that the Rockies are done in 2010, there is still a chance for resurrection.  And even if the ’10 Rocks don’t make it rain, the ’11 Rocks look mighty potent given a healthy pitching staff.

Even as we give up on the boys in purple pinstripes, they are yet a dynamic ball club full of potential for greatness.  Even if the season fades to an untimely black, it is still good to be a baseball fan in Colorado.

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The Denver Nuggets are on the verge of signing veteran free agent Al Harrington after being stymied all offseason in their efforts to fill the gaping hole at power forward.

The Nuggets had pursued an assortment of other veteran free agent forwards, most notably Jermaine O’Neal and Udonis Haslem.

O’Neal went to Boston to fortify their bulky interior.  Haslem took less money to re-sign with Miami in pursuit of another Championship in his hometown.  Other big-time PF’s on the open market included Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh and Amare Stoudemire, but Denver watched as each in turn chose large-market Eastern Conference teams Chicago, Miami & New York respectively.

That left Denver scraping the bottom of the barrel… and willing to pay a steep price for the privilege.

Harrington played with the New York Knicks most of the last two seasons, and has had a renaissance of sorts following a couple of down years in Golden State.  The 12-year veteran played the first half of his career in Indiana after being drafted by the Pacers in the 1^st Round of the 1998 Draft.

Post-Pacers, two seasons with Atlanta and two with Golden State drew a stark comparison on Harrington’s career.

In Atlanta he was at the apex of his productivity, averaging 18 points and 6.9 rebounds a game.  The following two seasons with the Warriors (briefly interrupted by a return to Indiana) saw his stat-line decline precipitously through the end of the 2007-2008 campaign.  Harrington averaged 17.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game last year in New York after being traded to the Knicks early in the ’08-’09 season, a move that spurred his rapid return to relevance as he had the best statistical season of his career.

We in Nuggetsland have to wonder, though, if the 5-year, $34 million deal that Denver has reportedly offered Al will be worth it in the long-run.  The move wreaks more than a little of desperation, but was actually the product of a bidding war with Dallas as both the Mavericks and Nuggets scrambled to keep up with the rest of the league’s contenders.  The offer that Harrington appears ready to sign would constitute the full mid-level exception, effectively a max deal for a second-tier free agent.

Harrington will be 35 by the time the proposed contract expires, though, and his inconsistent career promises nothing in the way of guaranteed production.

The Nuggets are obviously frantic to show Carmelo Anthony (who has still declined to sign a contract extension) that they are willing to do what it takes to surround him with the talent required to win a Championship.  But Melo could be gone after next season if he doesn’t re-up, and the Big Al Signing would go down as another in a litany of poor choices by the Nuggets’ front office since drafting Nene & Melo in consecutive seasons.

Then again, Harrington has typically been on teams light in talent, and his glory years in Atlanta mirrored their rise to semi-prominence in the East.  If Al can be a healthy alternative to the perpetually injured Kenyon Martin & Chris Andersen at big forward, he may provide those two with the light early-season load necessary to keep them fresh until the playoffs.  (Neither K-Mart or Birdman are expected to start the ’10-’11 season after matching knee surgeries in this offseason.)

The Nuggets were scary good when they were all healthy in the first half of ’09-’10.  Kenyon’s potency at 100%, combined with Harrington’s added length (6’9”) off the bench and the inspiring return of coach George Karl could be enough to keep Denver afloat in the stacked West.

But another disappointing early exit from the playoffs would likely pave the road to New York for Carmelo, and with him would go the Nuggets’ hopes of winning an NBA Title.

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