Strike One: When Denver Nuggets star Jamal Murray went down in the final minutes of an ugly loss to lowly Golden State, things looked bad. When it was announced that Murray was lost for the rest of the season (and the first half of next season) to a torn ACL, they got worse.
Then they didn’t.
There’s no debating the fact that the Nuggets championship aspirations suffered a huge blow when Murray got hurt. The team’s run to the Western Conference Finals last season was due in equal parts to star center Nikola Jokic’s standout play and Murrays. He was often unstoppable against Utah and the Los Angeles Clippers last fall. He carried the team during key stretches leading to narrow victories. He was the Nuggets MVP in the bubble.
Now he’s gone, right when his team – with the addition of Aaron Gordon – seemed to be hitting its stride.
So what happens now? Is…as the national media believes…the Nuggets season essentially over?
Maybe…and maybe not. Since Murray was injured, the Nuggets have won two straight and looked dominant against last year’s Eastern Conference finalist Miami and in a drubbing of Houston. They won’t be better without Murray, but they may not be worse, either.
When any team loses a star player, there isn’t a straight up replacement waiting in the wings. For example, the LA Lakers have had a hard time when either LeBron James or Anthony Davis have been sidelined with injuries. Those kinds of players don’t get replaced by one guy. It’s the same for this Nuggets team. It’s going to take a collective effort to replace Murray’s production.
Still…is this when Michael Porter Jr steps it up?
Remember, at the outset of the resumed NBA season last summer, Murray was out of the line-up with an injury. The Nuggets first breakout “star” in the bubble became none other than Porter Jr., who scored 30+ in two of the first four “seeding” games. MPJ was named to the NBA’s All-Bubble second team, appearing to thrive when more was asked of him. When Murray (and Gary Harris) returned, MPJ resumed his “supporting actor” role.
And yet as we’ve seen, he can be soooo much more than that. For that reason, MPJ remains a little frustrating. Not because of all he’s done – which has been pretty substantial – but because of what he can do and hasn’t yet. At 6’10” he can be much more than a three-point shooter (even though he’s proven to be very good at that.) He can be a premier scorer in the NBA – driving to the basket, getting a bunch of free throws, and creating opportunities for his teammates. He can be the guy the offense runs through.
That’s not likely to happen any time soon. This remains Jokic’s team, and the ball will continue to go through him. But the big fella needs help. The “two man game” that Jokic and Murray are so adept at won’t be the same now…but can there be a new version with Porter as the sidekick?
The Nuggets without Murray will look different. Whoever the point guard is will be more of a true pass-first point man and less of a scorer. Jokic and Gordon will continue to do their thing. Each member of the playing rotation will have to increase their offensive production to varying degrees. But the real difference maker has to be MPJ. If he can increase his offensive production by an average of say, five points per game – he’s averaged 23 points per in his last four games including the two before Murray was injured – it can help greatly offset what Denver will be missing from Murray. Nuggets fans would gladly take 28 points from MPJ every night.
The Nuggets also have a new weapon in their run for play-off success: No one gives them a chance now. They can play with a collective chip on their shoulder. They can play for Jamal. And they can succeed if MPJ steps into the void.
Strike Two: College football fans around the region got a bit of long overdue good news last week when it was announced that the Colorado Buffaloes and the Colorado State Rams were adding six more future game dates to their schedule. The old “Rocky Mountain Showdown” in Denver is a thing of the past, but the two schools will meet on campus again, starting in September of 2023 in Boulder.
The two schools were of course set to play this past fall before COVID intervened and resulted in the cancellation of the game – and most of CSU’s schedule as it turned out. That was going to be the Buffs first visit to Fort Collins since 1996. Since it didn’t happen, the majority of CU fans have yet to lay eyes on beautiful Canvas Stadium.
They’ll get to in September of 2024.
Those two dates were previously agreed to. The additional six games begin in 2029 and wrap up in 2038.
If that seems like a long time, it is…especially in the ever changing landscape of college football.
It’s been several years since any kind of major conference “realignment” happened, but that doesn’t mean it’s over…and it could impact these future games now scheduled between the state’s two marquee schools.
CSU fans still hunger to join a “Power Five” conference and for the opportunity for the program to grow – like former Mountain West conference foes Utah and TCU did when they joined the Pac 12 and Big 12 respectively 10 years ago. This is where we get back into the argument about the need to be successful on the field in the conference you are currently in before you earn the opportunity to get promoted. Utah and TCU won conference titles and got invites to major bowl games before they were invited to join bigger conferences. Colorado State hasn’t won the MW since 2002 and has yet to earn an invitation to a major bowl game. The Rams still have a lot of work to do before any P5 conference is going to come calling.
Then again, none of us know what the Power Five conferences will even look like by the time CU is scheduled to visit Canvas Stadium for what would be the second time in September of 2029. Will there even be a Power Five as part of what we currently know as college football at that point?
Many believe that when several current TV deals expire in and around 2025, that another major upheaval is coming. As they were a decade ago, Texas and Oklahoma are at the forefront of the discussion. Could they – would they – leave the Big 12 at that point? Or might the P5 collectively opt to leave the NCAA altogether and break off to form something like a 64-team super league where they’re free from NCAA regulations and pesky little things like Title IX? Would that group even refer to itself as “college” football anymore? And if so, what happens to previously scheduled games against non-power five schools…like the CU v CSU contests? Might they just get scrapped?
Odds are that CU – part of the Power Five of course – and CSU will play those six additional contests between 2029 and 2038. And the odds are that the Rams will play their future scheduled games against other P5 schools Vanderbilt, Iowa, Michigan, Washington State, Texas, Texas Tech, Wisconsin, and Arizona as well. But as we’ve seen, nothing is for sure in the world of college football anymore. The possibility does exist that Colorado and Colorado State will be in different “leagues” by 2029, along with the possibility that those different leagues won’t be competing against each other any longer.
So Buff fans, do yourself a solid and make sure you get to Canvas Stadium for the game on September 14, 2024. Might be your only chance to see your team play there.
Strike Three: Foxboro. Arlington. East Rutherford…and…Commerce City?
Let’s begin here: Stan Kroenke is first and foremost a real estate mogul. He’s totally in tune with what’s currently happening in Colorado’s goofy real estate market, where a double-wide trailer is currently selling for north of $300,000.
The owner of the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche and Colorado Rapids soccer team knows that location means everything in real estate, and the real estate he owns in the middle of downtown Denver is worth gazillions.
At present, his arena that houses his NBA and NHL teams – and the large parking lots that surround it – sit on that prime piece of real estate. Kroenke has to be looking at his property and wondering, “what if…”
What if he decided that he could build literally hundreds of high end homes/condos/apartments on the land where Ball Arena and Elitch Gardens currently stand? What would he be likely to do?
The answer is simple: Build a new arena (and perhaps amusement park) somewhere else…say, out by the cool soccer stadium he owns in Commerce City? Then he could “relocate” his NBA and NHL teams, and remove the 20-something year old arena and 25-year old amusement park from that prime Platte Valley real estate…and start building those new residences sooner rather than later (depending on his legal agreements, etc.)
This is not a crazy scenario. In fact, it’s very likely to happen.
Word has been that Kroenke has intended to relocate Elitches for some time now. Since he owns the land, he can do as he pleases. And if there’s one thing we – and the fine people of St. Louis – have learned it’s that Stan Kroenke does as he pleases.
Question is, would this be a bad thing?
It’s great to have all four major pro sports teams playing within walking distance of the hopping lower downtown area. Most fans would probably prefer it stay that way. And there’s no indication that the Broncos or Rockies ownership – who just invested some of their own money in some real estate of their own next to Coors Field – have any intention of relocating. But Kroenke is a different animal. He has proven to have wandering eyes and bigger plans.
Building a new arena near Dick’s Sporting Goods Park off Quebec and I-70 wouldn’t appear to be a difficult thing for him to accomplish. The soccer stadium and facilities are outstanding. The area around it is growing rapidly too, even if the real estate is slightly more affordable than it is downtown. The access by car wouldn’t be a problem. Initially, the foot traffic wouldn’t be close to the same – the lower downtown area is thriving while there is little or no “night life” in that part of Commerce City…yet. But Kroenke being the developer he is would undoubtedly have plans to make the northeast Denver area the next big thing.
With his new football palace in Los Angeles now complete, Stan Kroenke probably needs a new project to capture his interest. Commerce City…get out those hard hats and get ready for some new construction.