Forward Juwan Howard was waived to make room for the salaries of Billups and McDyess. With McDyess making it clear he would rather sit around at home all day eating peanut butter right out of the jar than be a Nugget again, the forecasted buyout eventuated, leading most of us to assume the vet big Howard would be resigned post-haste. This did not occur, with some sources saying Stan Kronke needed the money to buy the Arsenal cheerleaders new ski gear.

Hoopsworld is now reporting (8PM on the 16th in the US) that Juwan has been working out voluntarily at the Nuggets practice facility. [ http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=10621 ]

With Steven Hunter crippled, our frontcourt has looked mighty thin of late, and although I was orginally against Juwan as the answer (*COUGH* Theo Ratliff *COUGH) he was nice for us and we need him back. When Nene gets into foul trouble we are painfully weak up there. Flimsy center Chiek Samb is probably more use off the court than on. Lets hope Stan finds it in his heart to beef up the Nuggets frontcourt and put us back in the luxury!

Go Nuggets!

Editor's Note:  joshhopp was able to watch the Nuggets/Jazz game online.  The information you need to watch games online is contained in the comments to this post.  Should you decide to download the software and visit the website joshhopp mentions Pickaxe and Roll is not responsible for any destruction that may befall your computer.  I am not saying anything will happen, I just don't want you complaining to me if something does.  Complain to joshhopp.  That being said, I just might have to try it.

We started small:

G: AC

G: D. Jones

F: LK

F: Melo

F: K-Mart

End of the first: AC was terrible in the first; he committed one or two atrocious turnovers, handing out a handfull of assists to D-Will.  But he did connect on a successful alley-oop to K-Mart while falling to the hardwood. The tone changed for the better as soon as Smush came on at about 6:00. K-Mart was nice in the first; he forced a few turnovers inside and got to the line a fair bit, in the process getting Ukur into early foul trouble, which was nice. LK was cold from downtown in the first, Melo looked committed on D.

End of the second: We start out sloppy and the Jazz start the quarter with a 7-0 run and Karl calls a hasty time out. Smush responds by throwing the ball directly out of bounds when play restarts. JR steadies the ship with a long 3 and a steal. But then Utah produces a 9-0 run! No inside presence whatsoever, Kosta Koufus walzting around the paint grabbing offensive boards. The quarter ends with a clear run to the basket for Smush who throws the damn ball away. 58-51 to the Jazz, and, bugger, I just realised I've got class now (its 1.20pm here).

Not feeling too good about things. Our point guard situation is dire, our inside game was non-existent although thus far neither Nene or Birdman have seen any minutes. JR was superb off the bench, I think he got 9 points on 4-4 in like 4 minutes, and Balkman is just so active on both ends. The Jazz are just a class act, forcing mistakes and converting on offense. We are in with a chance though; I'll check back in an hour to see if I can contribute anything else. Sorry about the abrupt end to this, hopefully someone else can comment.

ESPN gave our team a sobering preview of the season to come: http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-34-63/Turmoil-to-Follow.html 

We managed to beat out the Warriors, Suns and Knicks as the team most likely to descent into turmoil in 08-09! We have already discussed similair articles, but there are a few points I'd pull them up on:

1.. Nuggets are regretting letting go of Andre Miller because look at how well the 76rs did without AI last year.

The Nuggets won a ton more games with AI than without him. Plus we are competing in the actual NBA, i.e. not the east, which means our making the playoffs was a significantly more impressive feat than Philly making it.

2. Rockets got a few votes as a team that could descent? Wtf?

3.Allen Iverson didn't get his extension, which at his age and contract demands was understandable but may not exactly have him thinking team-first right now.

The fact that AI is in what may be his last season as a Nugget mean that our SUPERSTAR SCORING GUARD will EXPLODE. God-damn. People refuse to acknowledge how incredible a basketball asset that guy is for some reason. Put the man on the floor and he will give you 25 points. Peroid.  Is that such a bad thing?

4. J.R. Smith now has more years on his contract than George Karl, which makes you wonder how that relationship will continue to fester.

Karl loves JR.