I think it may have started with the Mozgov trade. I really liked Mozgov not because he was such a great player but because you could see him developing and beginning to live up to his potential. I just didn't see the point of helping Cleveland and I didn't see Nurkic being ready to step in. Having Nurkic not ready for the start of the season didn't help either. Having Wilson Chandler out for the season didn't help either. I really like the players and the culture we have now but it was obvious that we were in for another "re-building" season. Since the early '70s I've seen too many rebuilding seasons.It's hard to have rebuilding seasons when you were never really "built" to begin with. I think the Broncos season spoiled things for me a little bit too in that the Broncos seem to have the approach that they aren't in it to have rebuilding seasons or good seasons; they're in it to have championship seasons.

I thought that with the coaching change we might have seen an improvement in the execution of the pick and roll. Hastings is always complaining about the guard leaving early (which buys the big a screening foul) but much less often complains about the big pivoting the wrong way on the roll. The Nuggets are not the only team that has this problem but still I'm getting tired of seeing the big pivot the wrong way on the roll. I've seen plenty of times when the big muffed the incoming pass because he was late getting there due to having pivoted the wrong way. I have to wonder why Malone and Pinckney tolerate it. Don't they know any better?

Having said that, I also have to admit that due to my mobility issues it's very difficult to go to the games so I watch the games on TV. Despite some positive things that have been said about Chris Marlowe on this forum lately I've had just about as much of him as I can take. The guy is not a basketball guy; he's a volleyball guy and he has been working too hard to try to convince us that he knows basketball. That effort has exposed his ignorance more than convince me that he knows basketball. Here are some things that Marlowe needs to stop saying:

1. Volleyball. I don't think he has gotten through one game without saying somebody volleyballed the rebound out or somebody would have made a good volleyball player or some mention of volleyball. The game is basketball and I'm betting all the rest of the announcers in the league have no trouble getting through a game without saying volleyball.

2. Bunny hop in the pea patch. Yeah, OK, it's an old time colloquialism for traveling; heard it when I was a kid. It's way over used by Marlowe though. Maybe three or four times a season, OK, but basically every game?

3. Off the heel. When Marlowe first started I never could figure out what he was talking about when he said this. Apparently this is some term for the back of the rim/ orange square of the basket that I never heard in my years of playing, coaching and refereeing basketball. I really don't care how the shot was missed, I don't need to hear "Off the Heel."

4. Dribble drive. I know this term has developed some popularity but I'd sure like someone to explain the difference between a dribble drive and a drive. A travel drive? Let's just call a drive a drive.

5. Extra pass. This is another one that has developed some popularity but there's no such thing as an extra pass. What is called an extra pass might be called an unselfish pass but to me it is simply the pass you were supposed to make in the first place. Why draw attention to what should be normal basketball? The big problem with this one is that Marlowe frequently gets on these "Extra Pass" jags and calls out "extra pass" for every pass that he thinks is going to lead to a shot. I've seen plenty of times where Marlowe called "extra pass" and then there were two to five more passes after that one. That "extra pass" call is useless and I can certainly do without it.

6. Wilt Chamberlain on a ladder. This one has crept in lately but already has been overused.I don't think Marlowe truly knows how high Wilt could get. He wasn't just 7' 1" but he could jump. Every time he says that I think "Eh, David Thompson could have gotten it, shoot maybe even Darnell Hillman."

7. Since Hector was a pup. Thankfully this one has faded away a bit. This one never bothered me that much since I was vaguely familiar with it before Marlowe came along but the point is that if you use the same expressions over and over they get tiresome.

I'm sure if I was writing this during a broadcast I could come up with more.

Marlowe is getting better about knowing the calls but he still falls far short of the sort of professionalism that is expected of a big league announcer. He still tries to predict what a call is going to be and doesn't look to the officials to see what the signal is. One has to wonder if he even knows what the referee signals mean.

I do like Scott Hastings, he pretends to be a dumb old hick from the sticks but he's actually one of the more intelligent voices around. Keep Scott Hastings and get somebody to replace Marlowe. Oh how I long for the days of Al Albert.