Sorry Shannon.

This is an apology letter to my friend Shannon who is a big time Denver Nuggets fan because of his man crush on Carmelo Anthony dating back to Syracuse. I predicted on this blog that the New Orleans Hornets would win in seven. Looking at back on this, what an awful idea this was after the Hornets gave up on their coach Byron Scott and got drubbed by fifty-eight points in game four.

We talked a bit after game two and he was on cloud time after the Nuggets gave the Hornets the business. I told him that I still hated J.R. Smith and his god-awful shot selection (he agreed with this). Smith is still an x-factor in the next series because when he hits a couple threes and catches fire then Smith will shoot the most ridiculous shots that you will ever see. I also said George Karl is the worst playoff coach in my opinion after seeing how much he sucked with the Milwaukee Bucks for most the time he was here. He also felt that Karl should be fired a long time ago so he is with me there as well.

As you can see, Shannon is a realistic Nuggets fan but I was a big time hater because they have the most dysfunctional team in the NBA I can remember. I mean they have a white guy (Birdman Anderson) who has more tattoos and drug problems then most hard rockers on MTV. Then you have Kenyon Martin who is always a loose cannon practically shut down David West on defense and did what he needed to do on offense for the Nuggets. The matchup between him and Dirk Nowitzki should be an awesome battle all series long. I have always been critical of Melo's defense in the past couple of years but he seems to have it together plus last night had a playoff high of thirty-four.

The overall reason is Chauncey Billups. They made the best deal of 2008 by dealing Allen Iverson (probably the biggest headcase of them all) and bringing in Billups. He is a great player and has shown no signs of slowing down. He needed a change after being in Detroit for so long. I cannot think of one player that has been more clutch since 2000 than Billups. He can do everything for a team and having a matchup against Jason Kidd works out well for the Nuggets too.

-Charlie.