My Salieri moment yesterday…
I’d decided a little earlier in the day than my usual pressure-prompted blather to write a list-based column. Something positive. Why not? Better than the internal grousing I’ve been doing for the last seven days. And then I stumbled across Daniel Lewis’ exceptional list (OF 82 THINGS, YOU OVERACHIEVING SON OF A…) of revealing stats from last season, and realized quickly that I just couldn’t hang with Daniel. But maybe I could hang ten.
And then I decided, “eh… then just be Salieri.” Here’s a Top Ten (or so) list of reasons it’s good to be off to the postseason.
#10 – You didn’t run into the buzz saw that was the Golden State Warriors in the first quarter of last night’s game. Or the third quarter. Oof.
#9 – You get a chance to start healing up from a season’s worth of injuries, physical and otherwise.
#8 – It’s improvement time. Instead of the game-to-game grind, you have the offseason to do what Gary Harris did last offseason. Work your ass off and get better in places you’re not better yet. Harris was a positive example of the power of polishing your game, and made quite a leap forward, bounding from 35% (last year) to 42% from beyond the arc this season.
#7 – You get to see your family. And friends. And hometown…
#6 – You’d have missed a chance to attend this Saturday’s 1st Annual Red Rocks BBQ & Brewfest. No, I’m not associated with the event, I’m just already stretching mightily to find something positive to round out the first half of this list, knowing there would have been a game in Denver on Saturday.
#5 – We get it. The Nuggets players really like one another, but it never hurts to get away from anyone you just spent the last eight months working, playing, rooming, dining, sweating, and showering with. That’s pretty familiar.
#4 – You could take up a hobby. I hear adult coloring books are very popular…
#3 – You’re in the lottery, anyway. And though the odds of the Nuggets winning the NBA lottery outright feel like they are about on par with one’s odds of winning the Powerball, they are actually about 200 million times better than that. This is about the bright side, remember?
#2 – If you’re going to go on a quick food bender before getting back to work for next season, you should be about waist deep in ice cream right about now.
#1 – Nothing. Not a dog-damned thing. This sucks, and I’d have happily hit that buzz saw with everything we had last night. The best thing about your summer starting early should be the bad taste in your mouth that you don’t want to savor next season, Denver Nuggets. Let that bitter bit last long enough to remind you that every game is precious come October.
Crap. I almost made it to ten. Seriously, Daniel made it to eighty-freaking-two. You animal. Call Guinness, Go Nuggets, and what’s the best thing about starting the offseason, Nuggets Nation?
This content is no longer available.
