<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Denver Post sports writer Benjamin Hochman posts his Nuggets Mailbag every Wednesday during the 2007-08 NBA season on DenverPost.com. To drop a Nuggets- or NBA-related question into the Nuggets Mailbag click here or visit DenverPost.com's Nuggets Page. I am a big Melo fan. Is there an update on his injury status? -- Scott, New York Scott - "Day to day" is a great cop-out when it comes to injuries, but in the case of Carmelo Anthony, that really is the case. Before the past two games, Anthony thought he could go, but when he worked out his sprained left ankle, he realized he didn't have the capacity to move the way he would have liked. He'll do the same thing at Memphis on Wednesday. And, if he can't go, he'll surely say he's "day to day." But even the fact that he can move on it a little, even if it's not in a game situation, is encouraging that the injury isn't too severe. Benjamin - What do you think about the Nuggets' waiving of Bobby Jones? I really, really think he is a player to keep on your roster. He is a tough defender and, at the same time, he can be explosive. What do you think would be the overall effect of losing him? Salary-cap relief? -- RJ, Philippines RJ - Hope things are going well in the Philippines. George Karl is very honest about Jones - he liked the guy. At times, Jones was arguably the second-best defender out there for the Nuggets. But his offensive inconsistency made the coaches tentative to put him in non-garbage-time situations. And so, they would have had to pay a guy, who they were afraid to play, hundreds of thousands of dollars (if they kept him after the contract-guarantee deadline). So it's hard to knock Denver for opening up a roster spot, which the team could use in an unbalanced trade before the deadline. Three weeks from the trade deadline, and the Nugs are in need of a point guard while Chucky Atkins and Nene are out. Are the Nuggets going to make a deal to land a PG or just to have salary-cap relief? And if ever, who are the PGs that are on the Nuggets' radar? -- Mark, Philippines Mark - Do you know RJ?? As we wrote in the paper on Tuesday, the Nuggets are indeed seeking out another guard, but it looks like it won't be the sparkling Jason Kidd. Denver just doesn't have enough trade bait to snag the perennial all-star from New Jersey. And, Kidd makes a lot of money. If the Nuggets do make a trade, it would be for a reserve point guard, who would help spell Anthony Carter - the 32-year-old starting point guard who is averaging a career-high 30.1 minutes. What exactly does Doug Moe do on the Nuggets' coaching team? I NEVER see him interact with the players during a game. Half the time, he looks like he is sleeping on the bench! -- Jackie, Allen, Texas Jackie - Well, Moe's role isn't as significant as, say, Mike Dunlap, Adrian Dantley and John Welch, who are the three coaches assigned to different opponents during the season. And, no, Moe isn't running in the middle of drills, screaming at players to move their feet. But his presence is really important to the Nuggets. He serves as a soundboard for George Karl, who admires Moe, a fellow North Carolina Tar Heel. Moe has a smart perspective on basketball, and his advice about coaching and life has trickled down from Karl to the players. And, Moe is a good guy to have around, because he brings integrity and a good spirit to the office everyday. When is the NBA going to realize how much it's hurting its product with bad scheduling? Fans are paying big bucks to see the top players in the world, and then get a tired Celtics team playing four games in five nights. Even playing back-to-back with at least one on the road means fans get players at less than their best. -- John Axtell, Chadron, Neb. John - This is definitely a debatable issue. On one hand, you make a great point - if you're going to pay to watch these guys play, you want to see them playing their best. But, because the way the schedule is currently set up, fans get 41 home games. If the games were spread out more, like the NHL, the season would be much longer. There's something to be said about the quick pace of the NBA schedule, the way the season flows and there's always something going on - and little down time. In regards to scheduling, I'm curious what people think about the unbalanced scheduling - with a West team playing Eastern Conference teams twice and Western Conference teams three or four times. It might be the best way to do it now - if you win the West, that means you surely did well against fellow West teams because you play them more. But, because the East is inferior, it leads to bad teams making the playoffs. In the last weeks of the 2006-07 season, they had teams a couple games under .500 battling for playoff spots. Playoffs? Playoffs??</div> Source: Denver Post
