Media vs the Nuggets

[Ballin02]

Okay, so like many, I read and listen to the media coverage the Nuggets get. I can understand constructive criticism and all, but is it me...or does the media go a little too far with their hate for the Nuggets? A player like Iverson has always been the "King of negative press"...any negative press they can give, they will give the guy no matter what. Some of it has been self inflicted on his part and some of it is just hate on thiers, either way I am never surprised and expect it when it comes to him. But after watching the media, I can honastly say that I have never seen a team more hated on then the Nuggets. A lot of people don't like the Nuggets style of play (many of us here don't), fine, but is it really that serious to go on and on with the negative press? I mean they keep pounding the same thing down the publics throats over and over.

Regardless if people like their style of play...they are still a 50 win team are they not? Listening to a lot of the media, if I didn't know any better, I would think the Nuggets were sitting at the very bottom of the Western conferense with the Sonics and the T-Wolves. Is it me or do they continuously seem to make excuses for every other team...but bash the Nuggets in the same breath for the same thing? They talk about the Nuggets defense (which it is a mess at times) but let teams like the Lakers and Suns off the hook? When they have the strong tendency to give up just as many points in a game. They talk about teams that have been biten with injuries, well the Nuggets stay injured and this year has had some major injuries to key players....but no one is making excuses for them. I don't know, I just think there is a differense between being responsible and giving the public the information they need to hear..and being flat out disrespectful. And I think that the majority of people have just been disrespectful. I think the Nuggets certainly do deserve some criticism,but this season the media has gone above and beyond with that team and I don't think I have ever seen a winning team more ridiculed. To me its just ridiculous. Honastly both Iverson and Carmelo have had good seasons, but the only thing the media seems to show is the negative. Carmelo can't make it at the top of sportscenter unless he gets a DUI?

I'll give you another example:

>>We all know those "Where NBA happens" ads that the league runs. Every other player in those ads seem to have something positive to go with their picture. Its either about heart or pride or something like that. When they show Melo and Cambys picture in those ads...they look all distressed. Melo has his head in his jersey and it says "where theres nowhere to hide happens" and Camby is holding his head and it says "where regret happens" WTF?

And as if the vast media isn't bad enough, the Nuggets have comentators that hate on a constant basis....

Public Enemy #1: Charles Barkeley

Now I think that Charles calls the Nuggets out so much because he wants that team to succeed and is disappointed they haven't lived up to their potential, so I honastly don't think he wants them to fail....but sometimes Charles takes things too far. Everyone knows about Charles and Iversons past...but now he has reverted to bashing Melo as well. And it got to the point at times this season that I didn't even want to watch that show (as much as I like it) when the Nuggets played because I already knew he was going to be talking sh*t. At least he thinks the Nuggets can have a fighting chance against the Lakers though.

Public Enemy #2: Jon Barry

I seriously can't stand when this guy is commentating a Nuggets game. He makes good points on defense but he just goes on and on and gets beyond ridiculous.

Public Enemy #3: ESPN and Skip Bayless

The little smart mouthed comments the commentators give at times are beyond annoying. Again, the way they act you would think the Nuggets are the Sonics.

I just thought I would rant a little about this, because I know I can't be the only one that see's this crap. Again, i'm all for responsible reporting and criticism and understand every team gets their share...but the Nuggets to me get it the worse....I mean they could be right up there with the Knicks when it comes to negative media to me its just getting old now and I feel like it wouldn't have mattered if the Nuggets had won 5-7 extra games they should have won and were sitting on top of the West, I get this feeling that the hate would still be there regardless. If these guys on the Nuggets have any pride (and we know most of them do) they would give this series all they had and pull off an upset or at least push the series as far as possible and give the Lakers the fight of their lives, just to shut all these people in the media the hell up. Thoughts?

[TEAIM]

I totally agree. The media flat out hate the Nuggets. I can understand a lot of the criticism but come on; they act as if we're the only team who doesn

[nola3]

Don't mind Barkley, he's been jealous of AI since AI came to Philly.

[Marcy]

Of courese the nuggets screw up a lot, both on and off the court...
But they don't get the kinda recognition a 50 win team should get..
They have 50 wins and yet they hype teams like cleveland with 45 wins (in the EAST) they wouldn't even make it to the playoffs in the west...

[Peanut]

1. I hear what you're saying, but the Nuggets bring it on themselves. They're the 8th seed with 50 wins, but they could've easily had the same amount of wins as the Hornets, Lakers, Jazz, and all them other teams in the top 6. They blew games that they shouldn't have lost, so I agree with the comments such as "they're the most disappointing team in the league".

2. No matter what any stats say, if you watch Denver play, you don't see the defense. Its like teams always have a career high or a breakout game against us.

3. The Lakers have like a 7 point differential margin and the Nuggets h ave 3. The Lakers arae the first seed in the west, but the Nuggets are 8th. The Suns always get picked on by their d, so now you're trying to overrate the criticism that the Nuggets take by lowering other teams.

4. The Nuggets had injuries to Nene and Atkins. Yes they're important players, but they aren't at the magnitude where we become an elite team with them. That's irrelevant. The Lakers lost Bynum and Kobe tore a ligament and they stayed number 1. Even with the Nuggets injuries they shouldn't be a 8th seed. You can't look at 8 rosters in the West and say they're better than the Nuggets.

5. I always laugh at the "where ___ happens" Yea it shows the Nuggets in a negative light, but its funny as hell.

6. Barkley always try to give Denver credit. ALWAYS. I can't tell you how many times he stuck up for Denver. He ever said Denver is going to give the Lakers a run for their money, and other analyst said Denver will lose in 4 or 5. But every time Barkley tries to praise Denver, Denver finds away to make Barkley look like an idiot every time he attempts to root for them or show them respect.

All in all, Denver deserves all the heat they get. You can blame the coach, but its only so much a coach can do. The coach isn't out there playing. Even if you watched the game yesterday, Karl was saying to keep attacking the hole. We can get whatever we want against these guys. But the Nuggets chose to do different, especially Carmelo who kept taking jumpers until the 4th quarter. The only player who really listened to Karl was A.I. who constantly attacked, but kept missing freethrows when the refs were rewarding him.

So the players got to take the blame. There is no reason they shouldn't be the best team in the league. They're like Rasheed Wallace in the aspect that they can be the best, but they're fine with just being good. Iverson hasn't played d for 10 years, Karl isn't going to get that to change now. Carmelo has all the talent in the world, but he falls in love with his jumper. No matter how many times Karl tells him to attack, Carmelo has his own gameplan in his head at times. Anthony Carter hasn't done anything since he been in the league, why would he change now? Camby has never been a good offensive player, but for some reason he believes that he's a point guard and Ray Allen with his jumpshot. The only player I can't bash is Kmart. He was hurt, came back and played great. He settles for the jumper, but even in Jersey he couldn't really create his own shot. Not to mention the team does a horrible job spoon feeding him the ball. The Nuggets does everything wrong, they should receive more heat than they get.

[noone]

I didn't read anything in this thread, but my guess is the no respect they're getting against the Lakers. Are you really surprised? The Lakers are the number 1 seed and a better team than the Nuggets. They're supposed to get all the respect. If Denver doesn't win the series, I could easily see it being over in 5 or 6.

[el loco]

The best way to shut up the media criticism is on the court and until the Nuggets do that nothing is going to change. No offense to JR, Melo, AI or Kmart, but they all bring bad press for this and that reason.

If you really want to blame someone for all of it, blame Mark Warkentien. For the most part, he has helped assemble this group of talent. Yes, Kiki signed Kmart and drafted Melo, but the other two moves were the result of Mark Warkentien. I am not saying they were bad deals because they weren't, but they did/do bring bad press along with there games.

Mark Warkentien was one of the guys that helped assemble the Potland Jailblazers, and he was also one of Tarkanians top recruiters at UNLV. For some reason, he likes players with on/off court issues/problems/pasts. It all starts in the FO.

The only way to change it is by playing as a team on the court and putting a stop to it that way, by changing the FO, or both IMHO.

[pickaxe]

It is now a fact......this team could average 115 ppg going forward (Idk how that came to be), and also could average 125 ppg given up.

I would say the gamble is not working out....giving up 25 more points than they should to get 10 more points on offense. Fast pace or not they are stumbling in the race a little too much.

Get rid of the stumbling and this truly is a dangerous team.

[T-33]

Skip Bayless predicted us to beat the Lakers.

[maxwellcu]

Magic predicted we would beat the Spurs last year. Occasionally, analysts mistakingly pick the Nuggets to play to our potential.

I have little faith in this team to accomplish anything meaningful (and to me, "well, we did win 50 games in a realllllly hard west" doesn't count)until they show me otherwise, although I will continue to watch/support them every game.

[pickaxe]

Magic predicted we would beat the Spurs last year. Occasionally, analysts mistakingly pick the Nuggets to play to our potential.

I have little faith in this team to accomplish anything meaningful (and to me, "well, we did win 50 games in a realllllly hard west" doesn't count)until they show me otherwise, although I will continue to watch/support them every game.

To be fair, the way this team was up and down, and individual players were up down or out, it was an accomplishment to make it this far. BUT. And that's a big BUT, we're here now and that's moot.

This is also part of that journey and to release 4 games like "what'd you expect?" it just pathetic discipline-wise. 130 points apparently does not mean 100 push-ups for everyone on the team.

[Ballin02]

3. The Lakers have like a 7 point differential margin and the Nuggets h ave 3. The Lakers arae the first seed in the west, but the Nuggets are 8th. The Suns always get picked on by their d, so now you're trying to overrate the criticism that the Nuggets take by lowering other teams.

No, i'm not "overrating" anything. The Suns have always got picked on for their defense, we all know that...but can you honastly say that the criticism is anywhere near the Nuggets? Because its really not. And I agree that you can look at the games and see that the defense is off...I never disputed that.

4. The Nuggets had injuries to Nene and Atkins. Yes they're important players, but they aren't at the magnitude where we become an elite team with them. That's irrelevant. The Lakers lost Bynum and Kobe tore a ligament and they stayed number 1. Even with the Nuggets injuries they shouldn't be a 8th seed. You can't look at 8 rosters in the West and say they're better than the Nuggets.

I honastly think having Nene and Adkins the entire season would have helped a lot more then people think. I think it could have potentially gotten the Nuggets 3-4 extra wins, in which they could have at least won the North Western division. Yes, the Nuggets have made mistakes on their own and could have won those games by themselves, I never said they couldn't or didn't underachieve, but having all their players healthy like Chucky, who is supposed to have been the main PG (instead Iverson has basically playing both SG and PG position all year) and Nene who could have taken the pressure off Camby and Kenyon (who was also injured for a while the beggining of the season) would have been a big help. Also, without the Lakers getting Gasol, they wouldn't be #1 in the conferense...Kobe didn't keep them afloat by himself.

6. Barkley always try to give Denver credit. ALWAYS. I can't tell you how many times he stuck up for Denver. He ever said Denver is going to give the Lakers a run for their money, and other analyst said Denver will lose in 4 or 5. But every time Barkley tries to praise Denver, Denver finds away to make Barkley look like an idiot every time he attempts to root for them or show them respect.

I'm not sure what show you were watching, but Barkely has tore down Denver this season more often then not. I was actually surprised that he actually gave Denver a shot against the Lakers. But like I already said, I think he just expects the best out of them and like a lot of people have been dissappointed, unlike some, I don't think he means it to be condesending (I said that in my original post). He actually picked Denver as one of the teams he thought could come out the West at the start of the season.

I think you are mistunderstanding my post. I never said that Denver doesn't deserve any criticism because they certainly do (hell thats what this forum is all about half the time) but what I was saying is that I have never seen a winning team (wether underachieving or not) get the type of criticism they have. I seen one time someone in the media call them the New York Knicks of the West...now thats just (Please Use More Appropriate Word). They act as if Denver isn't a 50 win team at all and act as if any team in the top eight has a shot at winning it, besides the Nuggets (as if the Nuggets are so far out of their league) they basically laugh at the fact. Its one thing to give your criticism and it is another to just be flat out disrespectful. My point also is they continue to give other teams excuses and free passes, yet attack Denver for the same things...which is also truth. I also believe it wouldn't matter if they were the #1 seed or not, I think they would still recieve some of the same hate. I'm not sure if it is an image thing or what, but it is very obvious. I, like others, wish the Nuggets will respond to this criticism by getting out there a proving others wrong...which was truly the point of my topic.

[Reks]

F*ck ESPN
if its not about Kobe or lebron its not important I guess
they are the most bias and stupidest people I've ever seen/watched/listened to
I couldn't care less of what they think of the nuggets or any of their players

[Ballin02]

The best way to shut up the media criticism is on the court and until the Nuggets do that nothing is going to change. No offense to JR, Melo, AI or Kmart, but they all bring bad press for this and that reason.

If you really want to blame someone for all of it, blame Mark Warkentien. For the most part, he has helped assemble this group of talent. Yes, Kiki signed Kmart and drafted Melo, but the other two moves were the result of Mark Warkentien. I am not saying they were bad deals because they weren't, but they did/do bring bad press along with there games.

Mark Warkentien was one of the guys that helped assemble the Potland Jailblazers, and he was also one of Tarkanians top recruiters at UNLV. For some reason, he likes players with on/off court issues/problems/pasts. It all starts in the FO.

The only way to change it is by playing as a team on the court and putting a stop to it that way, by changing the FO, or both IMHO.

So basically because some the players on this team have had on and off the court issues at some point in their careers it warrents bad press at all times? I'm trying to figure out what does that have to do with them playing the game? I know a player like Iverson has certainly had his fair share of off court issues but hasn't been in trouble for sometime and from what I have heard has actually been a model citisen in Denver, yet the media continues to give him any negative press they can. Its like no matter what that guy does, he is stuck in that place and they keep him in a box as the "Villian". I remember him saying once that he knows about some athletes that have done things he would never dream of doing yet the media treats them like heros, and I beleive him. Let me ask you, if the Nuggets went out and did everything that was asked of them from the media (played decent defense and whatever else) and was sitting on top of the West, do you think they would still get heat from the media?

[Ballin02]

I didn't read anything in this thread, but my guess is the no respect they're getting against the Lakers. Are you really surprised? The Lakers are the number 1 seed and a better team than the Nuggets. They're supposed to get all the respect. If Denver doesn't win the series, I could easily see it being over in 5 or 6.

You didn't read anything in this thread so you wouldn't understand the point of it, it wasn't about them vs the Lakers.

[el loco]

-= original quote snipped =-



So basically because some the players on this team have had on and off the court issues at some point in their careers it warrents bad press at all times? I'm trying to figure out what does that have to do with them playing the game? I know a player like Iverson has certainly had his fair share of off court issues but hasn't been in trouble for sometime and from what I have heard has actually been a model citisen in Denver, yet the media continues to give him any negative press they can. Its like no matter what that guy does, he is stuck in that place and they keep him in a box as the "Villian". I remember him saying once that he knows about some athletes that have done things he would never dream of doing yet the media treats them like heros, and I beleive him. Let me ask you, if the Nuggets went out and did everything that was asked of them from the media (played decent defense and whatever else) and was sitting on top of the West, do you think they would still get heat from the media?

I understand where you are comming from. I just know that once an athlete gets a tag or a label placed on them that it can follow that particular player around all throughout their career. Not only in Basketball but other sports as well.

For example: If I mention these guys names, what are the first 3 things that come to your mind about them?

Barry Bonds
Bill Belichik
Mike Tyson
Terrell Owens

Were they all positive thoughts?

[Ballin02]

El loco, I understand completely where you were coming from and believe that you touched down on part off the issue. I think it is because of the image that some of the Nuggets players have that it warrents some of the negative press no matter what. Like I said, Iverson is has been the King of negative media in the NBA, they basically marked him as the NBA's bad boy from start...add him to this Nuggets team with Melo (who has had some of his own issues) and JR Smith (who many label as a knuckle head) and it only fueled the media even more to attack that team.

But I also think that if they were sitting on top of the NBA right now, the hate probably wouldn't be any different, and that is whats unfortounate. We all agree that at this point the Nuggets need to inforce their will on other teams and live up to their potential....that way the media won't have a choice but to respect their gangsta. I'm just kidding, but I do feel it is sort of like them against the world at times, so if the media is going to talk...give them a reason to talk by continuing to win. They should have the attitude of "you may not agree with the way we play or our image...but you are going to respect us" type of thing.

[el loco]

^^^ I agree with that. The only way to shut them up is to do it on the court instead of in court.

[Peanut]

No, i'm not "overrating" anything. The Suns have always got picked on for their defense, we all know that...but can you honastly say that the criticism is anywhere near the Nuggets? Because its really not. And I agree that you can look at the games and see that the defense is off...I never disputed that.

The Suns have been to the WCF and past the first round for the past 2 years. They play bad d, but they still find a way to win. Denver play bad defense and get out of the first round. Do you not see the difference? The Suns doesn't deserve nearly as much criticism as the Nuggets. Its simple.

I honastly think having Nene and Adkins the entire season would have helped a lot more then people think. I think it could have potentially gotten the Nuggets 3-4 extra wins, in which they could have at least won the North Western division. Yes, the Nuggets have made mistakes on their own and could have won those games by themselves, I never said they couldn't or didn't underachieve, but having all their players healthy like Chucky, who is supposed to have been the main PG (instead Iverson has basically playing both SG and PG position all year) and Nene who could have taken the pressure off Camby and Kenyon (who was also injured for a while the beggining of the season) would have been a big help. Also, without the Lakers getting Gasol, they wouldn't be #1 in the conferense...Kobe didn't keep them afloat by himself.

Having Nene and Atkins doesn't mean we don't blow a 23 pt lead to the Bucks, lose at home to the Kings or lose on the road to a Sonics that Denver beat by 53 points. Obviously teams are better when fully healthy, but no team goes a whole season without losing a player, it just doesn't happen. The Nuggets should've still won more games than that. Houston loss Yao and still are the 3rd seed in the West. You can say they played easy teams, but the easy teams that they beat to help them get where they're at is the easy teams that we loss to that put us in the 8th spot.

I'm not sure what show you were watching, but Barkely has tore down Denver this season more often then not. I was actually surprised that he actually gave Denver a shot against the Lakers. But like I already said, I think he just expects the best out of them and like a lot of people have been dissappointed, unlike some, I don't think he means it to be condesending (I said that in my original post). He actually picked Denver as one of the teams he thought could come out the West at the start of the season.

I think you are mistunderstanding my post. I never said that Denver doesn't deserve any criticism because they certainly do (hell thats what this forum is all about half the time) but what I was saying is that I have never seen a winning team (wether underachieving or not) get the type of criticism they have. I seen one time someone in the media call them the New York Knicks of the West...now thats just (Please Use More Appropriate Word). They act as if Denver isn't a 50 win team at all and act as if any team in the top eight has a shot at winning it, besides the Nuggets (as if the Nuggets are so far out of their league) they basically laugh at the fact. Its one thing to give your criticism and it is another to just be flat out disrespectful. My point also is they continue to give other teams excuses and free passes, yet attack Denver for the same things...which is also truth. I also believe it wouldn't matter if they were the #1 seed or not, I think they would still recieve some of the same hate. I'm not sure if it is an image thing or what, but it is very obvious. I, like others, wish the Nuggets will respond to this criticism by getting out there a proving others wrong...which was truly the point of my topic.

The Nuggets have 50 wins, but should have more, so you can throw the 50 win book out of the window because it quite honestly doesn't matter. There is still 7 teams above them no matter how you look at it. If the Nuggets played up to their capabilities, they could've won 55+ games. Yea, you can say its only 5 more, but 5 more games are the difference between the 8th seed and 3rd seed.

Denver also doesn't have a shot to win it. Every analyst said there is only 6 teams that can win and Denver along with the Rockets are being left out. Can Denver beat the Lakers? Sure, but do they shoot their self in the foot every time in the playoffs? Yes they do, so why pick them if they constantly beat themselves? They've done it for the past 2 or 3 years, why should any analyst expect them to change?

You can say they give other teams free passes if they want because they deserve it. The Lakers are the number one seed no matter what kind of d they play. They have the best player in the league and a great big man with a good supporting cast. They deserve a free pass. The Suns been a championship contender for the past 3 years, they deserve a free pass. The Hornets don't get a free pass by the media. Despite them having the 2nd seed they still get called inexperience, they're not getting a free pass because they didn't earn it. The Jazz play d, good offense, great coach, and play good basketball. They deserve a free pass. The Mavericks have the reigning MVP, a Hall of Famer, another Allstar in Howard and just been to the finals 2 years ago. They deserve a free pass. Denver won 50 games to become the 8th seed. Denver lost in 5 the past 4 years and possibly this year. Denver is the most disappointing team in the league.They have all the talent and all the right pieces except for a pg. GMs would kill to have 4 players in your starting lineups that consist of a great man defender, a great help defender, and 2 superstar players that can win games. This team has that, but they don't put it all together. They shouldn't be fighting to get out the first round, they should be one of the top teams in the league, but they aren't. They deserve all the heat they get, no matter if you like it or not, thats your problem. You would think that Denver would attempt to win a game with all the criticism that they get, but they prove it all to be true.

Sorry if you feel bad, but it really doesn't matter. Until they prove them wrong, they'll continue to get much deserved criticism.

[Peanut]

-= original quote snipped =-



So basically because some the players on this team have had on and off the court issues at some point in their careers it warrents bad press at all times? I'm trying to figure out what does that have to do with them playing the game? I know a player like Iverson has certainly had his fair share of off court issues but hasn't been in trouble for sometime and from what I have heard has actually been a model citisen in Denver, yet the media continues to give him any negative press they can. Its like no matter what that guy does, he is stuck in that place and they keep him in a box as the "Villian". I remember him saying once that he knows about some athletes that have done things he would never dream of doing yet the media treats them like heros, and I beleive him. Let me ask you, if the Nuggets went out and did everything that was asked of them from the media (played decent defense and whatever else) and was sitting on top of the West, do you think they would still get heat from the media?

The media doesn't pick on Iverson. You're making things up, now. The only person in the media that bashes him is Skip Bayless, who not many people listen to anyway(he picked Denver to beat the Lakers). Iverson has received nothing but good press since joining Denver. As I said before, you team to overrate the media criticism to prove a point and you're flatout wrong. Its like you see what you want to see instead of seeing whats actually there.