Nuggets Fare Poorly in ESPN’s 2015 Ultimate Standings
By Jack Malloy
ESPN the Magazine released the 2015 Ultimate Standings this week, which is basically the conglomerate’s comprehensive ranking of every professional franchise from the four major sports.
First of all, awesome. I/you/we/North Americans love any sort of power rankings. This went much further than the normal rankings of breakfast cereals and Nintendo 64 games, though. They called upon consulting firms, research companies and thousands of fan surveys to provide eight statistical categories from “stadium experience” to “ownership”. After a weighted average of all criteria, each team found its place on the scale. How did the Nuggets fare? Not so great.
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The Denver basketball franchise ranked a measly 119th out of 122 teams overall, and 29th for NBA teams, only in front of, surprisingly, the historic New York Knicks.
The Nuggets top out at 71st in “bang for the buck” which takes into account wins over the last two seasons per fan dollar. Their affordability is also around league average. They find themselves at the 121st spot in both “title track” and “fan relations”. According to this, we are unlikely to see the Nuggets ever win a title in our lifetime and aren’t talking about the team on social media enough.
So, as a fan, this is a little depressing. Actually, a lot depressing. While the rankings don’t give high hopes for the Nuggets, there are better things on the horizon.
These stats only take into account recent historical data. The Nuggets have made changes this season that show they are moving in the right direction. They also have nine players on their roster under the age of 25, many of whom will play important roles this season.
This is a young team. With that, they will struggle at times, but also have arguably the most room for growth in the NBA. Especially if the core can stay together for years to come in addition to future draft picks.
Mike Malone mans the sidelines as part of the new-era Nuggs. He brings a defensive mindset and a hard-working style that should be perfect to instill in the young talent. The long-time assistant coach went through a similar rebuilding process with the Warriors from 2011 to 2013, and that worked out pretty well for them last season.
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Malone has always been touted as a player’s coach and somebody that earns his players’ respect. After his controversial firing from the Sacramento Kings, this is his second chance at a head coaching job, and he’ll undoubtedly be motivated to get the team headed in a positive direction.
Winning cures all. It brings fans to the stadium, makes the atmosphere electric, gets people talking on social media, sells merchandise and puts the team higher on power rankings. The Nuggets have struggled big time in the recent past, and that’s likely to continue this year, but the potential is there. Many times in sports, that is all you can ask for. It is not a year for tanking or blowing up the roster, it is a year for getting better and showing glimpses of the potential.
So keep your heads up Nuggets fans. If the rebuild goes as planned, this team should take a consider leap in the rankings next year.