"It sounds as though the Denver Nuggets may sign free agent point guard Sam Cassell in the near future. According to various reports, Cassell will sign with Denver for the veteran's minimum, with the idea that he'll be able to start training to be an NBA head coach under George Karl, who coached Cassell in Milwaukee. Seems like an ideal situation for Cassell, playing alongside Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson. The Nuggets can now claim a near-monopoly on players who look for their own shot at the expense of all else."

From Hoopsworld

This is an unspeakably miserable move... I really hate Sam, the man is a skeleton who takes bad shots and doesn't pass. Oh man. Maybe I'm wrong about that 8th seed.

...are the Nuggets a playoff team?  I just want to see where everyone's heads are at during the dog days of summer.  Using the present rosters of every team in the NBA, are the Nuggets in the top 8 in the West?  So, answer these questions...

1.) Are the Nugs a playoff team?  Where do you see them seeded?

2.) Who is the best team in the division?

3.) Who are the conference champions for 2008-09 and NBA champs?

4.) Who is going to surprise next season?

5.) Who is going to disappoint?

6.) Is anyone still reading this fanpost?

All, right here are my answers.

1.) No.  9th or 10th

2.) Call me crazy, but I think it's Portland.  I know some think I'm putting too much stock in Oden & Bayless, but even without them this year I think the year's growth would have propelled them past us in the standings.  Adding those two gives them enough to overtake Utah.  They're deep, they play as a team and provided Precious Roy stays healthy, they're a top 4 seed next year. 

3.) I hate to say it, but probably the Lakers.  I'm REALLY hoping New Orleans can overtake them, but it's going to be hard.  Hopefully Kobe does what he does best and proves to be a gigantic prick and causes strife in the locker room.  The East will still be good with Boston, Detroit, Cleveland and my two darkhorses (Toronto & Orlando), but I don't think they're good enough to take out either LA or NO.  Ah, screw it.  New Orleans over Orlando in 6 games in what would be one of the most entertaining (but sadly, lowest ratings) NBA Finals in a long time.

4.) For taking the next step -- Toronto and Orlando.  I called Orlando last year to win the division and make the conference finals and they almost did it.  Detroit was a brutal match-up for them.  Another year together, along with Detroit & Boston getting older, and I think they can do it.  Toronto's another team to watch IMO.  If JON stays healthy, they're dangerous.  I just hope he doesn't slow them down.  As for just improving -- I think Indiana should do better this season.  I've always liked TJ Ford and think that they have a nice little thing going there.  Danny Granger is going to explode this season.

5.) Houston.  Don't get me wrong, I think they were smart to do the deal for Artest, but I just don't like what they have going.  Can TMac stay healthy?  Can Yao stay healthy?  Will Artest explode?  Where is Artest going to play?  I LOVE Shane Battier, but he and Artest basically mirror each other.  Unless TMac is running the point, one fo them is on the bench (I don't buy the Artest at the 4 stuff). 

6.) Oooh!  I am!

Not sure if there are any other CU fans here (Go Buffs!), but I just saw a link at the top of this blog for the Ralphie Report -- a CU blog here on the SB Nation. 

http://www.ralphiereport.com/

I'm ready for college football season.  I need something to kill some time until the NBA starts.  I can't get into baseball at all, hockey's still a while away and the Broncos are (sadly) going to suck this year.  Come on Buffs!

Was I the only one that was seriously disappointed with this game?  Not with the result obviously, but I was really looking forward to watching Ricky Rubio after all of the hype.  I kept hearing not only was he an offensive wizard, but he was a good to great defender.  He looked awful out there.  He had the one touch pass for the oop, but other than that he was getting abused out there.  I know he's only 17.  I know he was going against the best players in the world (namely CP3), but I was expecting him to at least show up.  I'm seriously bummed.

And the Gasol family has to be the ugliest family ever.

OK, I'm James and I'm a basketballaholic.  I watch way too much of it.  If you look at my DVR right now, you'll see last Saturday's Broncos game (which I can probably delete), the two Arkansas games from the NCAA Tournament that CBS College Sports just re-showed (gotta watch Sonny!) and about 5 summer league games.  That's it.  So obviously, I need mental help.

Anyway, I was just curious other than the Nugs, what teams do you enjoy watching?  Last season, I "adopted" four other teams -- all in the East or Central time zone -- that I would watch pretty regularly.  Orlando, Atlanta, Toronto and Memphis.  3 out of 4 ain't bad.  So what about this season?

* Orlando - as long as Dwight Howard is there, they're staying in my list.  Also, as much as I ripped on Turkoglu, he really picked it up last season.  It was a travashamockery that he didn't make the all-star game.

* New Orleans - CP3 baby!  If you don't enjoy watching him, you don't love life.  Chandler's a badass, West is an all-star.  Basically, this is the team that the Nugs tried to be and failed miserably. 

* Portland - I welcome our Trail Blazer overlords.  Watching them in January during their 12 game winning streak was amazing.  Brandon Roy is probably the most underrated player in the league.  Add Oden, Rodriguez, Bayless and Koponen (who I wish the Nugs would try to get) and you have a playoff team.

* Philadelphia - Andre Miller is my favorite player in the NBA and it'll be great to see him surrounded with a solid cast.  Add Brand to the mix, and it's even better.

I'm also excited to watch a little of Minnesota (Kevin Love!), Toronto (Bosh, O'Neal and Calderon make them scary) and Chicago (who every year suck me in, only to disappoint).  I used to love watching the Clippers, but now that my favorite team is Camby free, I'm not going to watch a team that has him.  The SOB is out of my life.

Grizz sign Josh Smith to contract.  Hawks have a week to match.  They'd better match.

Apparently, this must be 75 words long.  So I will now talk about why I want Josh to stay with Atlanta.  First, they're in the East.  I like teams in the East being good.  Secondly, I watched a lot of Hawks games last year.  I don't know why.  I really like Joe Johnson (The Armdaillo Cowboy!).  Josh Smith is one of the top 5 exciting players in the game.  Acie Law IV was great in college.  Al Horford is a badass.

That has to be 75 words, right?

Because hey, what better way to start a season than to lose at your most hated rival without your star player.  Awesome!

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/aug/05/melo-will-be-back-for-nuggets-home-opener/

Also, Portland (who along with New Orleans gives me hope for the future of basketball) apparently has a brutal start to the season.  From the Blazers.com blog:

Wednesday morning the NBA schedule will be released. I've seen it, and was even pouring over it with Kevin Pritchard last week. One word describes the first six weeks of the season- brutal. I don't mean kind of difficult, I mean brutal. You'll understand what I mean when you see it, and I'm sure you'll agree. If this team comes through the first 24 games with a record anywhere near .500 it will be remarkable. You think I'm overstating that. Again, you'll see.

I guess a babtism by fire isn't necessarily a horrible thing. For this team's sake, let's hope not.

We also know that Xmas will give us Magic vs Hornets (yay!), Lakers vs Celtics (boo!) and Spurs at Suns (meh).  Hawks open the season at Orlando (which, provided Atlanta has removed their heads from their asses and re-signed Josh Smith should be fun).  Oh, and the Nugs play at Toronto on New Year's Eve.

EDIT - see my reply for the schedule that was just announced.

this story is showing up in Truth & Rumors on SISports.  From the Cleveland Plains Dealer:

http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/blog/index.ssf/2008/08/terrys_talkin_about_davis_tack.html

The Cavs are talking to Denver about restricted free agent J.R. Smith, and they should go after him hard. The 6-6 Smith is athletic, shot 40 percent on 3-pointers and 46 percent overall while averaging 12.3 points in only 19 minutes a game. With Denver signing wing man Dahntay Jones and being on a binge to cut payroll (they gave Marcus Camby to the Clippers to cut $10 million), it seems Smith should be available. The Cavs have plenty of expiring contracts, which should help Denver if it continues to want to keep payroll under control.

Smith won't be 23 until September. He has averaged 10.9 points in 21 minutes a game during his four-year career. He had some maturity issues in the past, but he also was just a kid who skipped college entirely. Denver has said it will match an offer for Smith. I think the Cavs should offer something close to the mid-level exception and see if the Nuggets will do it -- or force their hand in a deal.

If they can possibly get West or Varejo out of the deal, might not be a bad move.  Yes, JR is one of the most explosive scorers and if he gets playing time, he can ignite the offense.  However, I'm still not sold on his intelligence for the game, and he struggles to play good D consistently.  In light of the Nuggs cost cutting approach, if he's looking for a long term, big money deal, they might be better off trying to get something for him in the short term.

There have been some interesting, and I would say disappointing, changes recently in Denver sports radio.

The first was the decision to move The Fan from 950 AM to 104.3 FM.  Obviously the sound is better, but do we really need to hear all the sounds that Irv Brown and Joe Williams make?  Now when you are listening to The Fan when you turn it on and they are playing their bumper music (or is it buffer music?) it sounds like a typical FM station playing music. 

That is all well and good, but what I really liked about The Fan was that I could hear it hundreds of miles away in Kansas or Wyoming.  It is bad enough driving through Kansas or Wyoming without knowing you are missing out on listening to a Nuggets game.  Now that they have switched to FM I cannot even get reception in my office just 50 miles north of Denver (although that is probably more the fault of my radio than their signal, but my radio did get 950 AM so perhaps both can share the blame).  What little gain they have made in sound quality, which I could really care less about, has been achieved at the expense of greatly reducing their broadcast range. 

However, as far as the Nuggets and Avalanche go, the decrease in range by The Fan does not matter.

Kronke Sports Enterprises (KSE) has signed a deal with Mile High Sports Radio 1510 AM to broadcast Nuggets and Avalanche games.  They will no longer be found on The Fan.  Considering the loss in range by The Fan, that sounds like good news.  Unfortunately, as of now, it is actually very bad news.  Why?  1510 AM has an even weaker signal than 104.3 The Fan.  At least The Fan comes in clearly in my car.  1510 AM does not come in at all. 

According to the announcement from the Nuggets website the station knows that their tiny broadcasting radius is insufficient and they will seek to acquire affiliates to broadcast games in areas that do not receive their signal.

The bottom line is I believe both of these moves are bad for Colorado sports fans.  When it comes to sports radio what I hate more than anything is not being able to listen to a game I want to hear.  Next season I may be able to hear Spurs games in 1200 AM from whatever massive station they have in Texas blaring that crap, but I will not be able to listen to Nuggets games unless we have a local affiliate?

What I do not understand is if the Front Range is a region that is rabid enough to have three sports radio stations (104.3 FM, 1510 AM and 1600 AM) shouldn’t someone like me who lives 50 miles away be able to hear all of them in my car?  Especially the one the station the Nuggets and Avs will be on. 

I am sure that KSE will ensure that Mile High Sports either boosts its signal or acquires enough affiliates to keep Nugget and Avs fans happy.  Then again, last season when the Nuggets and Avs both played on the same night one of the games was broadcast on 1600 AM and apparently the fact that the radius of that station was only slightly larger than the stench from a tire fire did not seem to bother KSE.

Carmelo Anthony is averaging 15ppg, shooting 60%, including 44% from behind the arc in 19mins/game over the last 3 contests against turkey, lithuania and russia. he has committed just 2 turnovers so far. he is also rebounding well and hes moving the basketball well.

for comparison, the reigning mvp is averaging 13 points per game and shooting 51%, including 27% from 3 in 22min/contest. he has totalled 4 turnovers so far.

im just sayin..