If I Were Coach of the Denver Nuggets

I by no means am an expert at basketball nor do I claim to be good at it or anything of the sort. I do though understand the game and have a passion and love for the game probably only matched by the likes of MJ or AI.

If I were the coach of the Denver Nuggets, these are the immediate changes that I would make:

1. AI would start as Point Guard. - He is still the most effective assist machine on the team because defenders all expect him to shoot. also the team's record is something like 24-4 when he get's a double-double in Points & Assists.
2. AC as backup Point Guard. - He would get his minutes by giving AI a rest, at least 3 minutes per half, so AI is fresh to finish off the 4th.
3. JR would start as Shooting Guard. - He brings more height, offense AND defense to the perimeter. High risk, high reward. He has been playing smarter lately, he is worth the risk.
4. We can blow any team out of the court with AI and JR in the Back Court. AI and JR are too proud to let the other back court get the better of them, and can you imagine the speed? Woohoo! This doesn't even have to be every game, but at least when playing teams with taller more athletic shooting guards like Kobe or T-Mac.
5. Use Diawara more as the "Bowen" of the team and have him lock down the luck offensive player of the other team.
6. ANY Player that is 0 for 5, will come out of the game to sit down and think about it. ANY PLAYER. It doesn't have to be 5, it could just be too many jump shots. The "Sit Down" rule should be if you miss 3 jumpers, you need to TAKE IT TO THE HOLE.
7. I would have the team practice EXTRA hard on THREE POINTERS & FREE THROWS. If we make these we lessen the chance of any close games that translate to losses.
8. Improve perimeter Defense, see AI and JR above for taller shooting guards above.
9. Have Melo, AI, Camby work on go-to set plays like PICK-&-ROLL a la Stockton & Malone, these could be very potent, but NOOOOOO>>>... I'm just a fan, who's gonna listen to me?
10. Convince AI and Melo that they need to work on other facets of their game and prove doubters that they are not One-Dimensional Players. AI could easily get a dub-dub in Points & Assists every night and Melo could work a little harder and get a dub-dub in Points & Rebounds every night. It's a lot of pressure on them yeah but they are the most consistent players on the court most of the time, and that is why they are called the Dynamic Duo.
11. Talk to Nene and decide on whether he is coming back this season or not. Make it clear to the team as well so they know where they stand and what they need to do with what.
12. Coach Carl has been doing this lately, well, somewhat but, I'd try to give more playing time to JR, LK43, Najera, Diawara & Atkins. See the "Sit Down" rule above for application.

BASICALLY I WOULD HAVE AN OVERALL SMARTER APPROACH TO EACH AND EVERY GAME. IT'S ALL ABOUT MATCH-UPS, RECOGNIZE THEM AND PLAY THEM ACCORDINGLY, LIKE A GAME OF CHESS. If this means that your starting 5 changes once in awhile depending on who we are playing then so be it.

Oh well all I can do with all this is blog about it and use it when I play NBA 2K8 on my playstation. =P'

NuggSter