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Olympic Winter Games, Vancouver, B.C., February 12-28, 2010, to be followed by PARALYMPIC EVENTS---Help the latter with contributions to SPECIAL OLYMPICS-COLORADO, P.O. Box 13979, Denver, CO-80201.

DENVER, February 8, 2010

NUGGETS forward/centers Kenyon Martin, Nene and Chris Anderson have been the go-to guys for skillful defense tactics within the team’s pressing offense, in addition to their keeping opposing teams from scoring in the paint and at the glass, extremely beneficial during the injury-absence of Nuggets star, Carmelo Anthony. In other words, Martin, Anderson and Nene have made it a lot easier for floor boss Chauncey Billups to forge play after play, set up drives, pass to the open man and make perfect shots himself. Fact: due largely to an improved defense and a more pro-active reserve, there have been nights when the George Karl-led Nuggets seemed the most intrepid bunch in the NBA, for instance, versus the L.A. Lakers on Friday, February 5, final score Nuggets 126, L.A., 113, Billups delivering a career high 39 points that included nine successful three-pointers. Five other Nuggets players ended with double-digit points, as well. Phenomenal? The word fits---J.R. Smith finished the game with 27 points, Ty Lawson 13 points during 19 minutes of play, demonstrating again the importance of speed for tunneling through tall timber and twisting upward for a clean shot at the post. Field goal points for the Nuggets totaled 48, many the needed jump-up that defined and dominated third and fourth quarter minutes. Also, Anderson topped off vs. the Lakers with 15 rebounds, Nene 14 points while Martin finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds, the three big guys proving that a Nuggets defense can make L.A.’s Kobe Bryant and company nearly irrelevant.

ARE the Nuggets a truly amazing crew? Yes. Invincible? Well, that’s questionable, as it is for the Lakers, the Celtics and other leading NBA teams. No NBA team wins every game played. After the defeat of the Lakers, the Nuggets lost to the Utah Jazz, 116-106, but valiantly---without Billups and Anthony, the Jazz take was a game in which each of five Nuggets players scored 15 points or higher, Lawson for 25 and Smith for 19, Martin for 16, Joey Graham for 16. Yet at the Pepsi Center on Tuesday last (February 3), the Nuggets played poorly vs. the Phoenix Suns, losing 109-97. Billups, other starters and the bench couldn’t recover from double-digit deficits in the manner that they had vs. the Lakers two nights later. No doubt, study of error in tactics vs. the Suns enabled the Nuggets to fight back and overtake the Lakers, though it seemed that vs. the Suns a kind of lethargy invaded the Nuggets---counter-strikes were sloppy and slow-motion, it was defense-lite for 48 minutes.

THE Nuggets are a leading franchise now. A 34-17 record before All-Star week is more than a good sign that the team is playoff-bound. The Nuggets are first in the Northwest Division by three games, second in the Western Conference behind the Lakers by five. So, I asked Nuggets Head Coach George Karl if his attitude toward leading the Nuggets was something like, “If it aint broke, don’t fix it.” His response was that of the wise NBA coach, implying that any team that stops striving, that quits looking at and testing new concepts could find itself on the down escalator, headed away from playoff contention even if they have arrived at 30+ games won before the All-Star event. The Nuggets beating the Lakers underscored that striving, for which the NBA slogan was created---“Amazing happens!”

DENVER, February 8, 2010

SUPER BOWL XLIV---My take is that this year’s Super Bowl was text-book football, and that it had everything that viewers ought to prefer: an interception + deep run for a TD that put a team in winning position; passes fired like missiles by both QB’s into tight windows and caught; sudden long drives that included swift and unexpected rushes, that is, the element of surprise; aggressive protection of the QB’s, though not always; a brave 50+ yard kick that failed; a two-point conversion; defenders meaner than hungry bears sighting honey, yet slipping back into light footedness; a trophy that went to a deserving team and a deserving city. AS to actions for thought by the Denver Broncos, receivers on both teams hardly dropped even the more difficult passes, thus the number of caught passes thrown by Brees and Manning were many. Defenders on each side played to influence an outcome favoring their team’s turn at offense, with what seemed to be a proper velocity/physical power balance. And, if points were given for the right decisions being made play after play no matter the outcome, both teams would have had much higher scores.  .  .  As readers are perusing this column, a guy whose initials are J.M. is probably reviewing Colts and Saints film for the umpteenth time, pouring notes onto a pad.