<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">It was Jan. 27, 2001, and something unusual was happening at the Pepsi Center. For the first time in more than a decade, the Denver Nuggets were eight games above .500 and threatening to crash a playoff party that so often had raged without them. A buzz was sweeping through the city as even the most cautious fans began believing the Nuggets were plotting a course toward respectability and credibility. And why not? With a 26-18 record, Denver stood seventh in the Western Conference and was in the midst of a 17-game stretch in which it won 14 times. Denver's 2000-01 first-half success story rapidly turned into a Shakespearean tragedy complete with pain, betrayal, mistrust and, ultimately, failure. After beating the Dallas Mavericks in front of a sellout crowd Jan. 27, the Nuggets proceeded to lose 16 of their next 20 games, effectively ending their hopes of reaching the postseason for the first time since 1995.</div>
