That was the question that many among the Denver Nuggets were asking this offseason after the team was ousted in the Western Conference Finals by the Lakers.

Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony

Some will say Denver was two inbound passes away from winning the series and others will say the Lakers have arguably the best coach of all-time in Phil Jackson and the best player in the league in Kobe Bryant. Oh and don’t forget the bigs up front – Andrew Bynum, All-Star Pau Gasol and Ron Artest and arguably the best sixth man in Lamar Odom.

And after an offseason of standing pat, have the Nuggets shortened the distance between the two teams and can they stay with the Lakers in a seven-game series?

Unstoppable

1. KOBE – There is only one Kobe in the league and needless to say the Lakers have him. Bryant is about as stoppable as there is in the league and he also plays hurt.
2. ZEN MASTER – Phil Jackson has 10 titles to his name, six with the Bulls and four with the Lakers. Hard to name a better coach in the league.
3. LENGTH- One thing the Lakers have to their advantage over the Nuggets is their size. In fact no other teams have a more-talented 7-footer duo. Pau’s length and offensive and defensive repertoire has been huge, same for Bynum. Not to mention Odom, who is a versatile 6-foot-10 player that can play numerous positions.
4. NO DAHNTAY – Dahntay Jones was a nice role player for the Nuggets. Starting the game, Jones would frustrate opposing teams’ players like Chris Paul, Kobe and even D-Wade. However, this year Arron Afflalo has overtaken Jones’s place in the lineup but he doesn’t have Dahntay’s fiery attitude that got under opposing players skin.
   

   Laker-stoppers

1. THAT’S THE LAW, SON – Despite a smallish 6-foot frame, Ty Lawson may be the big man to get the Nuggets past the Lakers. Can anybody on the Lakers stay with the speedster, definitely not ancient Derek Fisher. But can Jordan Farmar or Shannon Brown? Or even Sasha Vujacic?
2. 1-0 – Denver won the lone matchup between the two squads with a 105-79 shellacking. Kobe Bryant struggled with only 19 points in the contest and the Lakers were without Pau Gasol.
3. K-MART – Kenyon Martin is having his best season in a Nuggets jersey. K-Mart has shown added toughness, ripping down at least eight boards in 20 of the previous 21 games. He also has more adapt offensive repertoire and is hitting a consistent range to go with his aggressive defense.
4. MR. BIG SHOT – Chauncey Billups has been playing out of his mind over the previous month and his winning attitude continues to radient through the Nuggets locker room.
5. AAA- Afflalo has settled into his role on the Nuggets, a nice spot-up shooter that works well off of Melo and Billups. He also plays tough defense and works hard on the glass.
6. MELOMAN – While Carmelo Anthony has dealt with injuries this season, he is also posting his best season of his career with 29.7 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists.
   

   K-Mart vs. Lamar Odom

The scouting reports are out

1. LOST IN THE FLOCK – Chris Andersen caught the league by surprise last season, however, this year is different as team’s have a scouting report on the Birdman. And at the top of the list is he falls for pump fakes and upfakes (see Manu Ginobili, Brandon Bass and Craig Smith). He also doesn’t run out on three-point shooters (Andres Nocioni and Channing Frye).

Wild-card

1. BIG SOFTIE – No doubt, ‘The Brazilian Hammer’ has been through a lot as he fought through testicular cancer. Last season he surprised many with his play and while he may be the best passing big man in the league he also is one of the softests refusing to dunk on most big guys.
2. SWISH – It seems like it has been a long time since JR has been the unstoppable player off the bench, as Smith’s head has bounced around from scoring 41 points one night with seven treys or drawing blanks from behind the arc.
3. MR. KOOL – Renaldo Balkman was a fan favorite last season with his attitude, hustle and play on the court, but off the court the Nuggets’ coaches questioned his work ethic and intelligence. Balkman hasn’t seen the court in over three months and most likely won’t seen the floor anytime soon.

Rumors were out and about before the game, as numerous media outlets stated that Carmelo Anthony was going to return from his twisted ankle. However, those rumors proved to be premature and hours before the game it was relevant that the star wasn’t playing as Joey Graham was once again given the starting nod.

Steve Nash just can't miss. (Jonathan Maness)

Maybe the Nuggets as a team bit too early into those rumors as not one player had an answer offensively for the Suns high-powered duo of Amar’e Stoudemire and Steve Nash. And if there was one game Melo’s 30 points were missing it was this one.

Worried about the duo Denver switched consistently on defense, as Robin Lopez and Jason Richardson took advantage of mismatches in the first half. It didn’t help that the Nuggets’ bigs continue to struggle with the high pick and roll, leaving the likes of Jared Dudley and Channing Fry open from behind the arc.

And even when the Nuggets slowed the offense, Nash just wouldn’t miss. This former MVP was barely grazing the net during shoot around before the game and his hot shooting carried over to the game. He scored over Graham, Chauncey Billups, Nene and even Kenyon Martin. Even late in the first quarter, Nash nailed a 40-foot desperation shot with the shot clock winding down.

For the game, Nash hit 8 of 15 shots for 17 points to go with 10 assists.

The Nuggets offense was equally as bad as their defense. It was a bad sign things weren’t going right offensively when Graham led the squad in field goal attempts.

Ty Lawson driving to the basket (Jonathan Maness)

If this game wasn’t a sign that it was time for Anthony to come back I’m not sure what is. Not only did Denver look lost offensively, the cake schedule is done as the Nuggets have to travel to Los Angeles to face the Lakers Friday and then go to Utah to face the red hot Jazz Saturday. The schedule doesn’t get any better as Denver plays two tough home games next week, Tuesday against the Dallas Mavericks, who beat Denver at home in the first meeting, and the San Antonio Spurs, who were embarrassed at home by the Nuggets last Sunday.

Tidbits from the game

• Billups was added to the All-Star game Wednesday to replace the injured Chris Paul.
• If you look for Nuggets’ assistant coach Tim Grgurich during the game, you won’t find him with the rest of the coaches. Instead he stands next to the tunnel by the Nuggets bench for a different view of the court.
• The Suns have two former players on their coaching staff, Dan Majerlie and Bill Cartwright. Both are being groomed to be head coaches in the league. They also have three players, who have brothers playing in the NBA. Taylor Griffin, brother of Clippers’ top pick Blake and interesting enough Robin Lopez , twin brother of Brook Lopez, and Jarron Collins, twin brother of Jason Collins. The two group of twins each attended Stanford University.
• Haywoode Workman joined Dick Bavette and Pat Fraher as the officials for the game. Workman is one of three former NBA players who moved on to officiating. Workman played the majority of his career with the Indiana Pacers.
• Louis Amundson, a graduate of Monarch High School in Denver, is a nice rugged player for the Suns. He gets under opposing players skins and despite being a free agent this offseason, Amundson may not be joining the Nuggets bench. Him and Nene got into during a game last season, in which Nene was given a flagrant 2 and was ejected from the game. Amundson called Nene a ‘dirty player’ and a ‘fake, tough guy’ in which Nene responded by calling Amundson a ;stupid dude’ and a ‘nobody,’ and said a real blow to him would have resulted in a ‘break all of his face.’

The Nuggets are catching fire at just the right time, or maybe at just the wrong time.

With the team’s recent success, winning 13 of the 15 previous games, many may wonder if it would be wise to make a trade and screw up a good thing. But that was the same mentality the Nuggets’ brass had this offseason, not making any major changes and keeping pretty much the same squad together.

However, the recent success could also be a smoke screen, as Denver has played 10 of its previous 15 games at home and now the squad will have to face playoff teams in the next six games – including road games at Utah, L.A. Lakers and Cleveland.

So if the Nuggets are to make a trade, what will they trade for and who would they deal?

If you ask the fans, the Nuggets need another big man and judging by the stats Denver needs helps on the glass. But honestly, if the Nuggets do make a trade it should be to improve the bench.  While other playoff teams can go 10 to 11 deep, Denver struggles outside of its top nine players and especially in the front court. A trade may also help just by subtraction because it is no secret that there is a sign of a minor mutiny on the Nuggets bench.

It is no secret that coach George Karl doesn’t see eye-to-eye with Renaldo Balkman and JR Smith. The duo sit at the end of the bench, fraternize with the crowd while their teammates are preparing for the game and they very rarely talk to Karl in games or at practices.

While JR is too valuable sixth man for the Nuggets  trade, Balkman is a likely trading chip. He hasn’t seen the basketball court since November. And while he has worn out his welcome in Denver, his energy, rebounding and defense would help a playoff team – especially a team in the Eastern Conference – and he also has a cap friendly contract (making $1.675 a year over the next three years). He could be the second-coming of Dennis Rodman if he joins Detroit or Chicago.

Another player that could be in some trade talks is Malik Allen, who is a favorite of Karl’s due to his veteran leadership and being a nice locker room player. But really what does mean when a player is good in the locker room? I take it as he isn’t good enough to play on the court. However, Allen has a nice $1.3 million expiring contract. And while Allen has played good most of the time when he is on the court, he isn’t always ready to play.  In three of the the 24 games he has played in he has had at least two turnovers, which isn’t so bad except he has only eclipsed 20 minutes twice this season. Not quite what you want from your fourth big man. Allen would be a nice role player for Miami (he played there from 2001-04) or Boston.

Joey Graham also has a very favorable contract, with a year worth of the veteran minimum. He hasn’t quite been the player were hoping for when the Nuggets signed him this offseason. He was suppose to be another Dahntay Jones and was stepping into Linas Kleiza’s old role. However, Graham was recently benched due to his defensive intensity and he doesn’t have a lot of range on his jump shot. He has had a few good games replacing the injured Carmelo Anthony in the offense, but at the same time he has lacked consistency – scoring in double-digits three times this season. A team like New Jersey or New York could trade for him and cut his salary.

Johan Petro may also be a nice trading chip, he has good size and is only 24 years old. However, he hasn’t quite made it into Karl’s rotation and this year has posted career lows in every category. Petro would be a nice pickup for a team in the rebounding mode with also a veteran minimum contract.

Not sure if there is any fans of ‘House’ out there. But recently there was a episode of the show, in which a patient had a condition called a Mirror Syndrome, a syndrome in which he mirrored how the people around him acted. Of course that is a fictional show, but tonight I could have sworn the Denver Nuggets had a case of the Mirror Syndrome.

Barely 30 hours earlier, the Nuggets went into San Antonio and played like a composed and under control team that looked like a title contender, which was the M/O of Spurs over the years. However, Monday it was a completely different story as Denver struggled against a Sacramento Kings team that is sitting 10 games out of the playoffs, but somehow had swept the season series with the Nuggets going into the contest. And to the disgust of coach George Karl it looked like the Kings were going to keep the sweep going Monday.

“This team has given us two miserable nights and we came out like we were playing an exhibition game,” said Karl, who

Chris Andersen blocks Sergio Rodriguez

benched Joey Graham after the first nine minutes due to his lack of ‘defensive intensity’.

And to make matters worst Chauncey Billups, aka Mr. Big Shot, struggled from the field. He hit 6-of-25 field goals but also finished the game with 23 points and nine assists. It was the Nuggets’ million dollar man Kenyon Martin, who continued his roll on offense. He followed up Sunday’s 27 point, 11 rebound effort with a 24 point and 12 rebound performance Monday. He also won a jump ball and tipped the ball over to Arron Afflalo, who hit the game-winning shot with 18 seconds left in the contest and give Denver (33-15) the 112-109 overtime victory.

While the victory kept the Nuggies solely in second place, there was no celebrating in the locker room after the game as Denver was facing a 14-point deficit in first half. The Kings used high pick and rolls and backdoor cuts to lose Denver’s defense and they did it without their star rookie Tyreke Evans, who missed the game due to a hip injury. Not like they needed him, well at least in the first half.

Sacramento’s second unit took the game over in the second quarter with an offense that drew a smile to the face of the father of the Princeton offense and current Sacramento Kings assistant coach Pete Carril. Andres Nocioni kept catching Chris ‘The Birdman’ Andersen snoozing in the paint and drained three treys a two0minute span. Than there was second round draft pick Jon Brockman that beat up Nuggets’ big man Nene in the paint and finished the first half with 11 points and seven rebounds.

Arron Afflalo drives to the basket.

Next up for the Nuggets is Wednesday when they host the Phoenix Suns at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN.

Tidbits from the game

• Nuggets improve to 7-3 without star Carmelo Anthony. He has missed five consecutive games due to a sprained left ankle, he is questionable for Wednesday’s game against the Suns.
• Chauncey Billups’ younger brother Rodney Billups was in attendance at the game. The two exchanged a look after Chauncey discussed a no-call with official Mark Ayotte.
• With New Orleans’ Chris Paul getting hurt and not playing in the All-Star game, Billups is his most likely replacement.
• While the Sacramento Kings may not be in playoff contention, they have one of the best coaching staffs. Paul Westphal is leading the way in his first year as the Kings’ head coach. He is also joined by Mario ‘Junkyard Dog’ Elie, Carril and former All-Star Shareef Abdur-Rahim.
• Kings’ rookie Omri Casspi, who is the first Israeli to play in the NBA, had his own fan club with the Israeli flag being well represented at the game.

Anthony Carter signed earlier this week for the veteran minimum, about 1.3 million.  After trying to get a multi-year deal from the Nuggets, he realized that Denver is the only team in the league that even wants him and the fact that he gets 20 minutes a game is a miracle.  He brings his toughness, play making, and not to mention a “silky smooth jump shot.”  He’s not terrible but he has no upside and Lawson should be getting the bulk of the minutes while Chauncey is on the bench.