KoriEllis
08-01-2003, 05:13 AM
www.denverpost.com/Storie...93,00.html (http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~111~1545793,00.html)
Nuggets have it all over Jazz
By Woody Paige, Post Sports Columnist
For more than a decade the Nuggets have been trying to figure out how to jump over good neighbor Utah.
Finally, the Nugs should be able to leap the frogs.
Utahns, I love you. You're the best. Great Olympics. Wonderful ski areas.
But, let's face facts and West. Salt Lake City's going to get its Jazz kicked this season by the league and Denver.
The Nuggets officially got Andre Miller on Thursday and should get Earl Boykins today. Earl "The Squirrel" at 5-feet-5 and, in comparison, Andre "The Giant" at 6-2.
The Nuggets already drafted and signed Carmelo Anthony. If 'Melo, Boykins and Junior Harrington are in the game at the same time, will they be Anthony and the Little Imperials? Meanwhile, the Jazz got nothing but misery.
Denver has Andre Miller, Sacramento Brad Miller and Utah Larry Miller. No matter how Andre and Brad play this year, they'll be more boss than Larry - an old, fat, bald softball player and car dealer who used to live in Denver and has been the Jazz's owner.
If you're keeping score at home, in the free-agent game between the Nuggets and the Jazz, the Nuggets have won one, the Jazz has won none; the Nuggets have lost one, and the Jazz has lost two. The Nuggets are .500, and the Jazz is 0-for-offseason.
And we haven't even mentioned Karl Malone and John Stockton yet.
The Ruth and Gehrig of the Jazz have departed at last. Malone went off to the Lakers, and Stockton to retirement. There went the club's leading scorer, assists man, rebounder and steals man and the two reasons the Jazz has been so competitive so long and so close to one NBA championship and so far above the Nuggets.
When the free-agent pursuit began, the Jazz had $20 million in salary-cap wiggle space, the Nuggets $18 million.
And like a pair of predators on the prowl, they circled the fresh meat of the Los Angeles Clippers and the Indiana Pacers.
The Nuggets and the Jazz approached Clippers restricted free-agent point guard Andre Miller, who decided to sign an offer sheet with the Nuggets. So the Jazz counterpunched by making a proposal to Clippers shooting guard Corey Maggette.
Meanwhile, the Clippers, who had more free agents than the Red Army when the Soviet Union fell, lost center Michael Olowokandi to the Minnesota Timberwolves and watched painfully as forward Elton Brand was given a contract sheet by the Miami Heat.
Still wandering in search of his riches is Clippers forward Lamar Odom.
Can't tell the L.A. free-agent players without a program.
The Nuggets then put the fraternity rush on Indiana center Brad Miller, and the Jazz responded by calling Miller and raising the Nuggets. No bluff. The price of poker continued to rise, and a fool and his money soon would be separated.
Brad Miller, an OK 7-footer, ended up with the Sacramento Kings in a complicated four-player deal.
The Nuggets and the Jazz were out of that hunt, and the Clippers matched the Jazz deal with Maggette. They also stamped their brand on Brand.
After all the spending, the Clippers decided they were in no position to keep Andre Miller, too.
They surrendered early on Thursday, long before the midnight deadline. The Nuggets rejoiced because, unlike the Jazz, they got something.
The Jazz helped the Nuggets by forcing the Clippers to make the Maggette move, but the clubs hurt each other in the Brad Miller maneuverings.
Now, will the two compete for Odom? The Jazz still has $20 million, and, before Boykins signs, the Nuggets have $10 million.
Here's what else the Jazz has: Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs - John Amaechi, Curtis Borchardt, Jarron Collins, Matt Harpring, Andrei Kirilenko, Raul Lopez, Greg Ostertag, Aleksandar Pavlovic and DeShawn Stevenson.
Is that an Olympic ski team from a third-world country? I stare at the current Utah roster, and I cannot twist my mouth to say anything ugly this morning about the Nuggets. The Jazz looks like Charles Laughton in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." Maybe Larry Miller can start for that bunch.
The Jazz long has dominated the Nuggets in the regular season and owns a 2-1 NBA playoff advantage. The Jazz overcame a lack of heart in 1984 for a series victory and lost to the Nugs in the postseason the next year.
But the clubs' last real challenge was in the Western Conference semifinals in 1994, after the Nuggets pulled the biggest Western Conference upset, beating No. 1 seed Seattle. The Nuggets dropped Game 7 to the Jazz, and it's been nolo contendere since.
Could the Nuggets and the Jazz meet again 20 years and 10 years later in the 2004 playoffs? Not a chance.
The Portland Trail Blazers will be without Scottie Pippen, and the Golden State Warriors will be missing Gilbert Arenas. There's a couple of bottom-feeders. The top seven in the West remain San Antonio, Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento, Dallas, Houston, Minnesota and Phoenix, although they will be scrambled. The Clippers, Memphis and Seattle will be virtually the same.
Our friends in Salt Lake City will not be as crispy during the upcoming regular season, while the Nuggets won't be as atrocious. Last year the Jazz finished with a 47-35 record. The Nuggets had just 30 fewer victories. This season the Nuggets could win 20 more games than last, and the Jazz might lose 20 more games.
Leaving the Nuggets with a 37-45 record and the Jazz with a 27-55 record. Quite a turnaround on the two sides of the Divide.
Of course, the Jazz still has Jerry Sloan as coach.
There is work to be done this summer by both franchises. With these rosters, neither team will scare the league or each other.
The Jazz Age definitely is over. The Nuggets are maturing, but haven't come of age yet.
Nuggets have it all over Jazz
By Woody Paige, Post Sports Columnist
For more than a decade the Nuggets have been trying to figure out how to jump over good neighbor Utah.
Finally, the Nugs should be able to leap the frogs.
Utahns, I love you. You're the best. Great Olympics. Wonderful ski areas.
But, let's face facts and West. Salt Lake City's going to get its Jazz kicked this season by the league and Denver.
The Nuggets officially got Andre Miller on Thursday and should get Earl Boykins today. Earl "The Squirrel" at 5-feet-5 and, in comparison, Andre "The Giant" at 6-2.
The Nuggets already drafted and signed Carmelo Anthony. If 'Melo, Boykins and Junior Harrington are in the game at the same time, will they be Anthony and the Little Imperials? Meanwhile, the Jazz got nothing but misery.
Denver has Andre Miller, Sacramento Brad Miller and Utah Larry Miller. No matter how Andre and Brad play this year, they'll be more boss than Larry - an old, fat, bald softball player and car dealer who used to live in Denver and has been the Jazz's owner.
If you're keeping score at home, in the free-agent game between the Nuggets and the Jazz, the Nuggets have won one, the Jazz has won none; the Nuggets have lost one, and the Jazz has lost two. The Nuggets are .500, and the Jazz is 0-for-offseason.
And we haven't even mentioned Karl Malone and John Stockton yet.
The Ruth and Gehrig of the Jazz have departed at last. Malone went off to the Lakers, and Stockton to retirement. There went the club's leading scorer, assists man, rebounder and steals man and the two reasons the Jazz has been so competitive so long and so close to one NBA championship and so far above the Nuggets.
When the free-agent pursuit began, the Jazz had $20 million in salary-cap wiggle space, the Nuggets $18 million.
And like a pair of predators on the prowl, they circled the fresh meat of the Los Angeles Clippers and the Indiana Pacers.
The Nuggets and the Jazz approached Clippers restricted free-agent point guard Andre Miller, who decided to sign an offer sheet with the Nuggets. So the Jazz counterpunched by making a proposal to Clippers shooting guard Corey Maggette.
Meanwhile, the Clippers, who had more free agents than the Red Army when the Soviet Union fell, lost center Michael Olowokandi to the Minnesota Timberwolves and watched painfully as forward Elton Brand was given a contract sheet by the Miami Heat.
Still wandering in search of his riches is Clippers forward Lamar Odom.
Can't tell the L.A. free-agent players without a program.
The Nuggets then put the fraternity rush on Indiana center Brad Miller, and the Jazz responded by calling Miller and raising the Nuggets. No bluff. The price of poker continued to rise, and a fool and his money soon would be separated.
Brad Miller, an OK 7-footer, ended up with the Sacramento Kings in a complicated four-player deal.
The Nuggets and the Jazz were out of that hunt, and the Clippers matched the Jazz deal with Maggette. They also stamped their brand on Brand.
After all the spending, the Clippers decided they were in no position to keep Andre Miller, too.
They surrendered early on Thursday, long before the midnight deadline. The Nuggets rejoiced because, unlike the Jazz, they got something.
The Jazz helped the Nuggets by forcing the Clippers to make the Maggette move, but the clubs hurt each other in the Brad Miller maneuverings.
Now, will the two compete for Odom? The Jazz still has $20 million, and, before Boykins signs, the Nuggets have $10 million.
Here's what else the Jazz has: Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs - John Amaechi, Curtis Borchardt, Jarron Collins, Matt Harpring, Andrei Kirilenko, Raul Lopez, Greg Ostertag, Aleksandar Pavlovic and DeShawn Stevenson.
Is that an Olympic ski team from a third-world country? I stare at the current Utah roster, and I cannot twist my mouth to say anything ugly this morning about the Nuggets. The Jazz looks like Charles Laughton in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." Maybe Larry Miller can start for that bunch.
The Jazz long has dominated the Nuggets in the regular season and owns a 2-1 NBA playoff advantage. The Jazz overcame a lack of heart in 1984 for a series victory and lost to the Nugs in the postseason the next year.
But the clubs' last real challenge was in the Western Conference semifinals in 1994, after the Nuggets pulled the biggest Western Conference upset, beating No. 1 seed Seattle. The Nuggets dropped Game 7 to the Jazz, and it's been nolo contendere since.
Could the Nuggets and the Jazz meet again 20 years and 10 years later in the 2004 playoffs? Not a chance.
The Portland Trail Blazers will be without Scottie Pippen, and the Golden State Warriors will be missing Gilbert Arenas. There's a couple of bottom-feeders. The top seven in the West remain San Antonio, Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento, Dallas, Houston, Minnesota and Phoenix, although they will be scrambled. The Clippers, Memphis and Seattle will be virtually the same.
Our friends in Salt Lake City will not be as crispy during the upcoming regular season, while the Nuggets won't be as atrocious. Last year the Jazz finished with a 47-35 record. The Nuggets had just 30 fewer victories. This season the Nuggets could win 20 more games than last, and the Jazz might lose 20 more games.
Leaving the Nuggets with a 37-45 record and the Jazz with a 27-55 record. Quite a turnaround on the two sides of the Divide.
Of course, the Jazz still has Jerry Sloan as coach.
There is work to be done this summer by both franchises. With these rosters, neither team will scare the league or each other.
The Jazz Age definitely is over. The Nuggets are maturing, but haven't come of age yet.