strictly 4 my N.U.G.G.E.T.Z.
Carmelo Anthony may be a question, but now the Denver Nuggets have The Answer.
I was all ready to unload the boomstick on Isiah Thomas, that smirking punk-ass bitch, for getting off scot-free following the melee at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, which cost the Nuggets their best player (and the league's leading scorer) for 15 games, even though it was painfully obvious to everyone except NBA commissioner David Stern that Thomas ordered the code red that triggered the brawl. Not that Carmelo didn't deserve his penalty. He fucked up, no matter how satisfying it was to see him pop Mardy Collins, Thomas' designated goon. The fight might have died down at that point if Melo hadn't gone 2Pac on Collins' ass. At 22, Anthony is still learning to think before he acts.
He earned his suspension, no matter how damaging it may be to the Nuggets' season. I guess I'll have to settle for Thomas being forced to coach the thugs, underachievers and playground rejects currently wearing New York Knicks uniforms as suitable punishment. Unfortunately the Knicks don't play Denver again this season, so that smarmy, smirking little toad won't find out what it's really like to run up the score.
Because now, you see, the Nuggets have, or will have once Melo returns, the two top scorers in the league. I'm not sure of when the last time that happened-Jordan and Pippen, maybe? Magic and Kareem? Add to that mix J. R. Smith, who's the best outside shooter Denver has seen in years, and now you've got three guys on the floor who can fill it up every night.
This will be fun. And admittedly, it could be a disaster. Iverson will have the next 14 games to show Denver fans what he's all about. Once Smith and Anthony return, there's really no telling what their on-court chemistry will be like. Iverson has long been accused of being a ball hog, mostly by fans and the media. And he does shoot a lot; with a career 42% field-goal average, he has to in order to score that many points. But he also penetrates and creates all sorts of havoc inside the lane, and now he's got real shooters to kick the ball out to. If everything clicks, the Nuggets could be unstoppable. But if not . . .
I've long thought of AI as a punk. Not like Isiah Thomas, who's almost universally despised in the league and has mostly skated on his reputation as a Hall of Fame player. Thomas has left nearly every place he's been a shambles; he literally ran the Continental Basketball Association into bankruptcy. Iverson meanwhile is generally well-liked by other players. But he's been a problem child for coaches and his off-court brushes with the law are well-documented. And let's not even get started on his stillborn rap album.
We'll know soon enough if this is the move that puts the Nuggets over the top. Actually, it already puts the team over the top in terms of payroll; Iverson is now their highest-paid player, and Kenyon Martin will earn nearly $12 million this season to rehabilitate yet another knee injury. (Ironically, the underachieving Knicks have by far the biggest payroll in the NBA.) About the only guarantee the Nuggets have is that they, and their fans, are about to go on one wild ride.
I was all ready to unload the boomstick on Isiah Thomas, that smirking punk-ass bitch, for getting off scot-free following the melee at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, which cost the Nuggets their best player (and the league's leading scorer) for 15 games, even though it was painfully obvious to everyone except NBA commissioner David Stern that Thomas ordered the code red that triggered the brawl. Not that Carmelo didn't deserve his penalty. He fucked up, no matter how satisfying it was to see him pop Mardy Collins, Thomas' designated goon. The fight might have died down at that point if Melo hadn't gone 2Pac on Collins' ass. At 22, Anthony is still learning to think before he acts.
He earned his suspension, no matter how damaging it may be to the Nuggets' season. I guess I'll have to settle for Thomas being forced to coach the thugs, underachievers and playground rejects currently wearing New York Knicks uniforms as suitable punishment. Unfortunately the Knicks don't play Denver again this season, so that smarmy, smirking little toad won't find out what it's really like to run up the score.
Because now, you see, the Nuggets have, or will have once Melo returns, the two top scorers in the league. I'm not sure of when the last time that happened-Jordan and Pippen, maybe? Magic and Kareem? Add to that mix J. R. Smith, who's the best outside shooter Denver has seen in years, and now you've got three guys on the floor who can fill it up every night.
This will be fun. And admittedly, it could be a disaster. Iverson will have the next 14 games to show Denver fans what he's all about. Once Smith and Anthony return, there's really no telling what their on-court chemistry will be like. Iverson has long been accused of being a ball hog, mostly by fans and the media. And he does shoot a lot; with a career 42% field-goal average, he has to in order to score that many points. But he also penetrates and creates all sorts of havoc inside the lane, and now he's got real shooters to kick the ball out to. If everything clicks, the Nuggets could be unstoppable. But if not . . .
I've long thought of AI as a punk. Not like Isiah Thomas, who's almost universally despised in the league and has mostly skated on his reputation as a Hall of Fame player. Thomas has left nearly every place he's been a shambles; he literally ran the Continental Basketball Association into bankruptcy. Iverson meanwhile is generally well-liked by other players. But he's been a problem child for coaches and his off-court brushes with the law are well-documented. And let's not even get started on his stillborn rap album.
We'll know soon enough if this is the move that puts the Nuggets over the top. Actually, it already puts the team over the top in terms of payroll; Iverson is now their highest-paid player, and Kenyon Martin will earn nearly $12 million this season to rehabilitate yet another knee injury. (Ironically, the underachieving Knicks have by far the biggest payroll in the NBA.) About the only guarantee the Nuggets have is that they, and their fans, are about to go on one wild ride.