When we see the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers in a playoff series, we see 2 powerhouse teams. We always know Kobe Bryant is going to be a huge part of the series but now he has a huge supporting cast. With Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom down low, Andrew Bynum possibly coming back for the playoffs and Derek Fisher playing very well, this team can be unstoppable. Then you have Denver. Last season with the acquisition of Allen Iverson at the trade deadline and Carmelo entering his 3rd season in Denver, people didn’t think that they could mesh. But they proved people wrong and got the 8th seed in the 2007 NBA Playoffs. They would eventually be beaten by the San Antonio Spurs but people thought they were going to be huge coming into this season. But it wasn’t the case. They played a lot like they did the year before and got the 8th seed in this years playoffs against the Lakers. Plus some off the court problems with Carmelo Anthony after being arrested for a DUI a couple days before the start of the playoffs. You’d think that the Lakers would get a scare from the Nuggets with there dynamic duo of Marcus Camby, Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson, a bench of J.R. Smith, Linas Kleiza, and Nene, and the comeback of Kenyon Martin this year. Well, that’s not the case either as the Denver Nuggets have forgotten that this is the playoffs and are down 3-0 in the series losing 102-84 at home in Game 3 and no team has ever come back 3-0 in NBA history in the playoffs. And looking at the play of this team (with mostly a ton of offense and no defense), it seems that George Karl’s heart is not in this game anymore. In my opinion, I think that George will not be back next year because his heads not in it and the organization must not be happy. But now a job opening could be open for none other than Larry Brown.
Larry resigned as the 76ers executive VP on Thursday so he can coach again either in the NBA or in the college ranks. It’d be great for him to coach college basketball again, but to have a chance at possibly coaching Allen Iverson again could get him back to the playoffs and get the Nuggets out of the 1st round. There are probably only 2 open coaching spots right now but Denver would be the way to go to coach one of your great players again. Charlotte and New York are the jobs open now but coaching the Bobcats would be like coaching the New York Knicks again and we all remembered what happened there. I remember the days when Allen Iverson and Dikembe Mutombo were a huge powerhouse with the coaching of Larry Brown in Philadelphia. They dominated to get to the Finals against the Lakers and were a huge force in the Eastern Conference. Larry coaching the Nuggets would be like coaching the 2000-2001 Philadelphia 76ers. You’d have your old player in Allen Iverson with a Dikembe-like player in Marcus Camby. Then you have the chance to work with Carmelo Anthony and some of the other younger guys like J.R. Smith and other guys.
So my message to Larry Brown is to wait till after the Finals are over, wait to see what Denver does before you make a move you might regret.
With Larry in Denver, he could help them a ton and get Allen Iverson (the highest scoring player in the league right now without a championship) to the NBA Finals again.
