“Carmelo will thrive in D’Antoni’s system because he is not a ball-stopper”….Chris Broussard.

I’m paraphrasing there, but I think most people get the point. That one statement makes the word “IDIOT” flash through my mind every time I see him on the 4 letter network. I bring this up because of the notion that our beloved Denver Nuggets are good, but will never be able to win big because they…………all together now…………”DON’T HAVE A SUPERSTAR!”

I hear Broussard and many more like him say that with such confidence all the time. “Not only do you need a star, you need more than one!” “Boston/Miami/LAL/LAC’s big 3”. Don’t believe the hype Nugget fans! I’m here to tell you that a superstar team will ALWAYS beat a superstar talent!

The NBA, more than any other professional league, is so hype driven it’s ridiculous! This is the same league that declared Harold Minor as “Baby Jordan”. HAROLD MINOR! (We all know that honor belongs to Kobe) More often than not it seems that the “hype” of the league gets reported as opposed to the substance of the league. And right now the big hype is that you need multiple stars to win.

To me it’s no different than those people that say the ONLY reason Phil Jackson has 11 championships is because he had All-time legends on his teams. Let’s examine that some.

Yes, the Chicago Bulls of the 90’s had Jordan and Pippen. And the Lakers of the past decade had Kobe and Shaq, but didn’t the Spurs have Duncan and Robinson? The Rockets had Olajuwan! The Pistons had Thomas and Rodman! The Showtime Lakers?!? How about Magic, Abdul-Jabbar, and Worthy. And last but not least, The 2008 Celtics had Garnett, Pierce, and Allen. The Celtics of the 80’s?!? Try Bird, McHale, Parrish, and Dennis Johnson! All of these past championship teams had all-time greats! Phil Jackson won because he got the most out of the talent that he had! Not just because he had it! The talent he had just happened to be enormous!

OK, I know it sounds like I just made an argument for the superstar theory, but not quite. The one thing all of the players I mentioned above have in common is that their talent was the perfect piece to the puzzle that is “a championship team”. If Bird and Olajuwan switched places I don’t think either of them win rings! They both were just the main pieces to their respective puzzles. Carmelo wasn’t going to bring a championship to a Knicks team who’s strength was already “scoring”. As talented as James, Wade, and Bosh are I don’t see Miami winning not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, not 5, not 6 or even 7 championships if their team is only 6 ¾ deep! Magic Johnson doesn’t win 5 rings without Bryon Scott and AC Green! Jordan doesn’t win 6 rings without guys like BJ Armstrong, Toni Kukoc, Ron Harper, and Steve Kerr!

The Nuggets have all the pieces in place to win now and win big! We have above average TEAM defenders at every position! We have 5 guys capable of getting us 20 points on any given night, 4 guys who could give us 8+ dimes any given night, and 4 guys capable of 10+ boards and multiple blocked shots EVERY night! And that’s not counting Manamal and J-Ham! They’re only going to get better folks! The only things stopping us from winning big are our own mental toughness and getting the league’s respect! For whatever reason, Lawson is STILL not getting calls. That could be the difference between 15 and 20 points a game for him. Or to put into a Broussard-ism, the difference between a good PG and an All-star PG.

If last years Mavericks team is any indication, the Davids of the league are more than capable of beating the Goliaths! And even during that series, I remember watching the pre-game to Game 3 after Dallas and Miami had split the 1st 2 games in Miami, and all the so called experts were STILL saying Miami would win in 5! LOL

Don’t believe the hype, my fellow fanatics! The Nuggets are for real!