<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Denver Nuggets have entered the make-or-break portion of their NBA schedule. The Nuggets are in the midst of a five-game road trip. Tonight -- a prime time, nationally televised bout with Cleveland -- is the first of five out of six on the road. Of the remaining 15 games on their schedule, nine are against playoff-bound teams. Denver is in seventh place in the Western Conference standings, but just 2 1/2 ahead of ninth-place Golden State. All of those facts add up to this: Denver is at the crossroads. It can go either way. But with new leader Allen Iverson, the Nuggets are feeling good about themselves. Yes, Iverson, the talented but volatile former Sixers star, was applauded this week for his leadership skills by his new coach.</div> Source
The more Iverson leads, the less Karl leads, and the better it is for the Nuggets, because Karl is coaching this complex team like a scared rabbit. Karl is so concerned about avoiding bad play, that he isn't getting enough good play from his team. Melo is not putting 100% into either playing or leading the last few weeks, and he seems to lead by example only and not in any other way so far in his career. A.I. and maybe an assistant coach or two are all the Nuggets have as far as leaders who lead by example and by intelligence about basketball and by motivating.
This is Iverson's team. Not Melo's and definitely not Karl's. He is the leader both by playing and vocally. If this team would dedicate themselves to the defensive end, they would literally be unstoppable. They have the firepower to outscore any team easily, including pheonix or dallas. The only thing they lack that the good teams have is a consistent defensive effort. That is supposed to come from the coach getting his players to take pride in their defense, but it looks like Iverson has taken that job. I thought it was a perfect visual when AI dove for a loose ball against Lebron. After that happend, Kliza came in and played well and hustled, and after him, Smith came in and had 3 steals and shot the lights out. This team should be focused around Iverson, and just commit to the defensive end. IF they do that, there is not reason why they should not win a championship THIS YEAR.
