DON’T STOP BELIEVING: How the Denver Nuggets Are Changing the NBA
“The wonderful thing about sports is that anything can happen. Denver has been spoiled by the most unlikely of playoff runs in recent years – examples: Rocktober and Tebow Magic. And this year’s Nuggets squad seems poised to execute their playoff demons of past years and make a run.“
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In a league filled with prima donnas and me-first attitudes, sportswriters and fans alike have been questioning whether or not team basketball still exists in the NBA.
It is becoming more and more of a held belief that a team has to have a superstar to contend for a NBA championship.
At just one glance around the league, even the casual observer can see that teams with superstars have traded team basketball for one-on-one basketball. It seems as if teams want to try and win on a talent alone – and while this seems to work for superstar laden teams like the Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers, and Oklahoma City Thunder it cannot work for everyone.
The NBAis not being set up for every team to have an equal shot at contending for an NBA championship. However, it is becoming evident that a team without a superstar is becoming a contender thanks to playing an old school style of basketball which focuses on defense and the fast-break offense. This team plays in Denver, Colorado.
On a nightly basis the Denver Nuggets run opposing teams out of the Pepsi Center.
Since the New Year began, the Nuggets have transformed into a force that must be reckoned with thanks to ferocious defense and an offense which often resembles a meth addict unrelentlessly sprinting after a Greyhound bus. Teams at the top of both the Western and Eastern Conference have found out the hard way that one does not simply come into Denver and win a road game. As a result, the Nuggets have begun to climb the Western Conference Standings and NBA Power Rankings thanks to their team-first style of basketball.
Often belittled Nuggets coach George Karl has often been criticized for his team’s playoff shortcomings and his, at times, lackadaisical style of coaching.
In the past Karl’s teams have lacked that swagger which all contending teams must possess. However, this year’s Nuggets are different. It has become evident that the Nuggets love playing together and their love for the game is starting to spill over into the people of Denver beginning to rally around the team. And while it’s a known fact that the Broncos will always be the kings of Denver – perhaps the Nuggets are beginning to become a part of Denver sports royalty as well.
The Nuggets have been told by everyone, including their general manager, that they aren’t contenders.
Supposedly, you need a prima-donna multimillionaire with out of this world talent to contender for an NBA championship. Yet, it’s beginning to look like the Nuggets have grown tired of hearing it and have banded together in an attempt to prove that there really isn’t an “i” in team.
Who knows – the Nuggets might surprise all of us and play into June and challenge LeBron and Dwayne Wade for the NBA’s ultimate prize. Stranger things have happened. I mean five years ago people would have laughed at anyone who said that Peyton Manning would be the Broncos’ starting quarterback in 2013. Why can’t the Nuggets surprise us all and make a run this year?
The wonderful thing about sports is that anything can happen. Denver has been spoiled by the most unlikely of playoff runs in recent years – examples: Rocktober and Tebow Magic.
This year’s Nuggets squad seems poised to execute their playoff demons of past years and make a run.
There isn’t a team in the Western Conference that the Nuggets can’t beat right now. And with an NBA best 31-3 home record it’s safe to assume that no team wants to enter the unfriendly mile high confines of the Pepsi Center this spring. The Nuggets are a top three team in almost every offensive category and their defense has frustrated and stopped some of the NBA’s top players at both Pepsi Center and on the road. Maybe the Nuggets are contenders after all.
The key to achieving anything in life is to first believe that you are capable of achieving that said something and it certainly looks like the Nuggets believe they can beat anyone in the NBA.
These Nuggets have always been just good enough to break our hearts, Denver.
It’s fun to be a Nuggets fan but it’s never been great to be a Nuggets fan.
You’ve trained yourself to not get excited when it comes to basketball in the Mile High City because you’ve grown tired of the first round exits and heartbreaking playoff losses to the Lakers.
The playoff resume of Peyton Manning offers little reason to believe that the Broncos can make a playoff run into February next year and yet we’ve all brainwashed ourselves into believing the Broncos are a lock for hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.
Give the Nuggets a chance. Anything can happen in professional sports and that’s the main reason why it’s so great to be a sports fan. So, give the Nuggets a chance to break your heart this year and allow yourself to get excited about your basketball team, Denver.
It’s been said that hard work will beat talent when talent doesn’t work hard.
It’s safe to assume that no one is going to work harder than the Nuggets. George Karl said that the Nuggets weren’t going to have a go-to-guy this year because they were going to have a go-to-team. On any given night, the Nuggets can produce five to seven double-digit scorers thanks to their team-first style of basketball. You need balance to win in sports and the Nuggets certainly have more balance than any team in the NBA. It’s becoming more and more obvious that the Nuggets aren’t just a fun team to watch anymore.
Let’s call them what they are: contenders. Hell, they might just shock the world. Don’t laugh. Stranger things have happened.
Let’s just sit back and enjoy this ride, Denver.
