As the Denver Nuggets travel to Oakland to take on the Golden State Warriors I have been informed that there’s rampant speculation about … something. I haven’t determined what that is yet.

I never liked David Lee as much as other people did.

I know what you are thinking "gasp! You FOOL".  Its true though. I always thought Lee was a nice player who worked when the situation was right, but I never thought he was the cure all for the Nuggets. The Nuggets have a power forward, his name is Nene. You are familiar with him, I hope. He is a power forward playing center. I wonder if there is some sort of trade out there to address this issue, you know, the issue of Nene moving back to his natural position. I can't possibly think of one.

To whit, the Nuggets venture to Oak Town to take on the Warriors (22-28) and face Denver Stiffs’ fan favorite Lee and his interesting combination of teammates. I can’t really put my finger on a personality for the Bay area’s only basketball team. They have talent, whether it be Monta Ellis jacking up shots and hitting a good percentage. Be it Stephen Curry, a shooting guard playing point guard. Be it Andris Biedrins, the 7′ center whom the Nuggets unsuccessfully attempted to trade for during the draft. Include sweet shooting Dorell Wright into the equation too.

In my eyes, the Warriors are missing some ingredients to become a consistently successful team. They seem to alternate good wins with disheartening losses. I suppose you could say that applies to just about every young team. I can’t help but think of the Nuggets future without Carmelo Anthony, regardless of whatever trade the Nuggets potentially pull off, and how the Nuggets could look very similar to this Warrior team. One would hope that the Nuggets would have enough talent (like this Warriors team has) to make things at least entertaining. There’s no doubt this team is more competitive under Keith Smart than a clearly disinterested Don Nelson. One can hope they can continue on the upward swing.

Meanwhile our beloved Nuggets are coming off a very sullen looking loss to the Houston Rockets. Chauncey Billups injured his left knee (strain) and is day to day. Nene sat out that game because he had the flu. Apparently he had an IV today and traveled with the team to Oakland. He is a gametime decision.

The Nuggets questions, obviously, have a greater scope. As a new round of endless speculation starts up, we are left to wonder if this season will ever be distraction free. There's people who blame Melo. There's people who blame the Front Office. There are people who blame both. Regardless, its been an exorcise in frustration for both team and fans. It's made an already pessimistic leaning fanbase even more dour. Let me join the chorus of voices that just want this circus to end.

 

Nuggets of Wisdom

The Nuggets (30-22) have won four of their last six on the road. The road has actually seemed to be a bit of a sanctuary for the team. Last road win against the Timberwolves in Minneapolis was one of the best road wins of the season and the team played their most unselfish basketball of the year. The Nuggets need to take care of business. Go about their work and come back to Denver with a win.

In order for that to happen, they need some players scoring besides Melo. His 50 points on Monday were impressive, but it didn’t net a win. The offense without Chauncey sputtered, and it was as if people didn’t know where to be on the floor or how to get the ball inside the hoop. If Chauncey doesn’t play tonight Ty Lawson needs to be more assertive and control the game. He was too passive in the third quarter on Monday, and if Chauncey isn’t going to play then Ty needs to be the LEADER. Not the meek follower. I hope that J.R Smith and Arron Afflalo can step up and show of their nice chemistry they displayed against the Wolves.

Time to get a good win on the road.

Oppositions Take: Golden State of Mind