Coming into this series, the Nuggets were supposed to take this one from the Jazz in a hard fought series. After a strong 4th quarter in game one, then the news that center Mehmet Okur would be out for the series for the Jazz, the Nuggets were supposed to take this in five. Now the Nuggets are facing a 3-1 deficit to a team they handled in the regular season without their two star players in Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups. Last I checked, the Nuggets have had those guys in the line-up, yet they are still getting owned in this series. What the hell!?!?

One reason the Nuggets are in the hole that they are is cuz the selfish Nuggets are back. Chauncey dominates the ball, J.R. Smith pops the most ridiculous treys, Nene stands arounds the rim and watches let's players drive right past him. These guys seem to not want to win at the expense of their own ego. Melo is showing up and getting his, the rest of the team has to follow suit and do what they did to get them here. Ty Lawson has stepped into the playoff picture nicely, but he is a rookie and we shouldn't expect too much from him, but he's playing likes he been there before while the rest of his teammates look like a bunch of guys wanting to play some one-on-one. I will tell you right now, if the Nuggets play like that tonight, the season is over.

Is defense so hard to play? It must be, because the Nuggets don't play much of it at all. Time after time Deron Williams has driven right to the rim and finished. Carlos Boozer is getting open jumpers eight to ten feet away from the basket and knocking them down. The perimeter guys need to get up on Williams and make him work if he wants to drive to the hole. Get a hand in Boozers face, because I promise you he will miss most of his contested shots. Nene, GET IN THERE AND PROTECT THE HOOP!!!! Dude's 6' 11", 250 and a little guy like Deron Williams is able to breeze past him with ease? No, that can't fly. Nene has probably been the single most disappointing player in these playoffs so far, and the Nuggets can't move on without him stepping up.

The Nuggets really miss George Karl, because this selfish play wouldn't fly with him. Adrian Dantley needs to demand the same respect and make a statement to his players. He never seems to get mad at his players on the sideline. Hey Adrian, you're the coach, you're in charge, act like it! Show these players who's boss and maybe then they will follow you.
It comes down to tonight. The Nuggets can forget about these last three games, because they don't matter anymore. Tonight is all that matters, and that's all they need to focus on. Play the game the right way and win, you live to play another night. Keep up the selfish attitude, then they're in for a long off-season. This is it, time to put up or shut up Nuggets.

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Let's go back to 2007, shall we.  There were two rotation spots opened in August, with the Rockies on the outside looking in of the wild card race.  Colorado would turn to two of their top prospects to fill those shoes; two kids named Ubaldo Jimenez and and Franklin Morales.  The two went on to fill in quiet admirably and helped propel the club not only to a wild card berth, but a World Series berth.  Those two kids have morphed into a top tier started and a (somewhat) reliable reliever, in case you were wondering.  So what am I saying?  Am I saying that Jhoulys Chacin and Esmil Rogers are going to have such a great impact that our beloved Rockies are going straight back to the World Series?  Or that we are looking at the next Roy Halladay or Tim Lincecum?  Not quiet.  What I am getting at is that this could turn out to be a blessing in disguise.  Maybe these guys are the missing link to help this team make that jump from good to great.  These kids have been raved about in the minors, and we've seen em in brief stints with the big club, but now is their chance to shine, like Jimenez and Morales were able to in the past.  Who knows, maybe there time up here will solidify the first three spots in the rotation for years to come.  All I know is that nobody should panic.  This is there time.  They have the talent, let's sit back and see if they can put that talent to use in the big show. 

I was just watching a bit of PTI, and the 2 were on the topic of the no-hitter from Saturday.  The question brought up was wether Ubaldo was a legit pitcher or if he would fade away in a few years, and Kornidiot and Wilbon seemed to think he was a fluke, with Kornidiot using Ubaldo's record of 34-28 as his basis.  Are you kidding me!?  These guys are typical ignorant East Coast talking heads.  As a fan it was a little irritating to hear, but I really feel bad for Ubaldo to hear garbage like this.  He is one of the hardest working player in all of baseball and doesn't get nearly enough credit for the work he has done.  Hopefully Ubaldo proves them wrong when he is in the All-Star game and in contention for that little award called the Cy Young.