The Denver Nuggets began as an ABA franchise under the leadership of Larry Brown. The legendary coach tried to win with David Thompson, Marvin Webster, Dan Issel, and Bobby Jones, but could not turn their individual talent and the coach’s genius into an ABA Championship. Instead they more often lost in the first round. Brown, the coach who has preached practice and defense throughout his career, was replaced by Doug Moe. Moe brought the Nuggets into their NBA existence with a novel approach. Score, score, and score more. Defense was not something he preached and players like Alex English and Kiki Vanderweghe flourished. The duo helped Nuggets playoff tickets eventually reach the Western Conference Finals in 1985. Unfortunately, the Nuggets met the Lakers. The Showtime Lakers could score with the Nuggets, and they could also play defense. The Nuggets lost and tried to build a new scoring machine without Vanderweghe. The next memorable trip to the postseason came in 1994.
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The Pepsi Center now enjoys a style of basketball brandished by Doug Moe. Allen Iverson and Carmelo are the centerpieces to the high-energy playground game that inhabits the professional arena. The style does little to ensure Nuggets playoff tickets, but does winders to amaze the fans. It is hard to not enjoy the slashing Iverson, the relentless Anthony, and the cast of athletes and shooters that fuel this machine. J.R. Smith comes off the bench to make sure that any scoring woes are quickly cured. His smooth stroke and his athletic moves to the basket make him instant offense. Linas Kleiza comes off the bench as the power forward, but the 6 foot 8 forward is more likely to put up a three with 20 seconds on the shot clock than post anybody up. He is a good rebounder because of his burly body, but he is also a good athlete who is fun to watch on the fast break when he recklessly runs to the rim for a dunk.
The Nuggets schedule gives fans plenty of chances to see those main four play and watch as the rest of the crew get in on the action. Kenyon Martin has some instinct on defense, but he is not the player he used to be and is more likely to enjoy running with the boys than staying home and playing conservatively in the middle. Nene is the front offices answer to losing Marcus Camby. Where Camby blocked shots and changed players’ minds, Nene is will most likely pick up a cheap foul. His backup is Chris Anderson. He is an athletic rail, but is a poor man’s Camby without the distance on this set shot. The roster is really just full of players ready to run and jump and will take every rebound turn into a fast break if possible. Whether this overwhelming force yields playoff tickets is unknown for the upcoming season, but it should be fun t watch.