I'm posting this as a FanPost because I'm being all fan here ...

I was as upset with the Nuggets effort last night and execution as I've ever been. I casually watched the third quarter (while reading) and turned off the game before it ended in hopes of getting a little sleep.

Had a dream last night that the Nuggets traded J.R. Smith for Shaq ... I remember thinking it was an awful trade. Woke up wondering why I dreamed that up and it hit me ... I was talking to my girlfriend about how she used to collect Shaq cards as a kid for some odd reason and how she even bought his rap album.

That got me thinking this morning. I, like some of you, thought about the possibility of management perhaps blowing this team up in the offseason. Especially given K-Mart's injury history and his fat expiring contract. But you know what, I also thought about how much I would miss this group of misfits.

Our resident optimist jpage78 never really seems to waver for his positive fandom in the Nuggets and that is admirable. I cursed the team last night, wanted to tear my hair out and couldn't even watch the end of the game. I love the Nuggets so much that it makes me go crazy when they don't play how I expect them to ... especially since we all know how well they can play.

A lot of us were really upset last night with the game and that has carried over today. We are all still Nuggets fans, but we handle wins and losses differently. I texted Andrew plenty of awful things during the game about the team because in the moment I was upset and when I'm upset I often don't think rationally. My fandom took over as I was disappointed in our team.

It's funny what a night of rest can bring ...

Am I still disappointed that we lost in the fashion we did to the Suns? Yes. Do I think Denver is up shit creek without any paddles because of that loss? Not any more.

If we have to play the Suns in round one it will be a dogfight. If we play Utah it will also be a dogfight. If/when we advance to round two and if/when we play the Lakers then we might get them with some fresher legs. The road goes through L.A. no matter what and Denver can't escape them and I don't think many of us want to escape them, rather we want to face them and prove we can beat them.

To win a championship you have to go through the best teams in my opinion. Would cake walking through the first two rounds like last season be the way you want to win a championship? Would you rather face your toughest opponents so when you stand alone at the mountain top you can say you took on all comers and bested them all?

Would beating a Brandon Roy-less and Greg Oden-less Blazers team mean you are the champs? Or, would beating a Suns team that had your number in the regular season feel better? Would beating a surging Jazz team that would surely be picked by some experts to knock off the Nuggets feel better?

Would not allowing the Lakers to even advance to the Western Conference Finals as they are trying to defend their championship feel better?

Ask yourself these questions. How do you want your team to win a championship?

Me? I'm willing to go through hell in order to get to heaven, after all the risk is worth the reward.

Now, who's coming with me?

[email protected]
Twitter: Nate_Timmons