Last night, the Denver Nuggets had a chance to finish off the Dallas Mavericks for the franchise’s first ever sweep, ABA or NBA. Instead, they lost 119-117 as they now go home to try and finish Dallas off in the thin air. While many analysts still believe the Nuggets will finish the job eventually (history doesn’t lie; no NBA team has ever come back from 3-0 down), the loss did raise an old issue with this team; how mature are the Denver Nuggets?

It was a given before the game that these two teams had no love lost for each other, and boy did it show last night; seven technical fouls and two flagrant fouls say plenty of their feelings. All of this coming in the wake of Mavs owner Mark Cuban making insensitive comments towards Kenyon Martin’s mother (depending on what you heard, he called Martin a punk or a thug; Cuban has since apoligized to Martin’s mother). There was one incident, however, that makes me very concerned, and it involves Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony.

In the second quarter, Anthony and Antoine Wright battled under the basket for a rebound, and their arms got entangled. After Wright seemed to refuse to untangle, Anthony let loose a shot that, on replay, connected to Wright’s face. While it didn’t appear to be an outright punch, this only raises the issue of Anthony’s attitude. Remember, Anthony nearly started a riot in New York when he sucker punched another player, and was promptly suspended by the league. The Nuggets can ill afford to lose their best scorer for any length of time. More importantly, this is not the way the supposed leader of the team should be acting in what amounts to an inconsequential playoff game.

But the real reason for the post is this; today, while listening to the hacks on ESPN, they bounced around the idea that the Nuggets were distracted from winning because they were only concerned with Cuban’s comments. If so, then the Los Angeles Lakers or Houston Rockets shouldn’t have much problem in the conference finals. Because if a team allows itself to get preoccupied with an owner’s words, they aren’t championship material. Admittedly, Anthony, Martin and Nuggets coach George Karl were heavily talking about Cuban before the game. Cuban must be a master manipulator if that caused Denver to lose.

Will Anthony get suspended? I don’t really know for sure, but if a flagrant two foul is hitting a player in the face, then at the very least, give him a fine. But more importantly, if the Nuggets want to show that they are true contenders, they need to better handle adversity. If they’re letting one person’s words get to them, what will happen if they lose to  the Lakers because Phil Jackson said that he agrees with Cuban and that they are thugs? Or if Rick Adelman said the same thing? Show some mettle, Denver! And Chauncey Billups (the commander-in-chief for the offense, as TNT showed in their broadcast) must assume command, because it appears Anthony isn’t ready for that role yet.

This blog appeared on the basektball-related site "The Basketball Oracle". Visit www.thebasketballoracle.wordpress.com to see this and other great basektball articles!

In the NBA, many players are very conscious of their image and won't give teams any bulletin board material. Today's profilee is not one of those people. He was his biggest self-promoter, but nonetheless was a key defender and rebounder for five NBA title teams, and won two Defensive POYs and seven consequitve rebounding titles. He is "the Worm", Dennis Rodman.

Dennis Rodman was born May 13, 1961 in Trenton, New Jersey. His father left the family when Rodman was three, and the young man eventually grew up in the ghetto of Dallas, Texas, where he was listed on the high school team of South Oak Cliff High School, but rarely played. Rodman would attend Cooke County Community College, but he flunked out due to poor grades, and then attended Southeastern Oklahoma State, where he was a three-time National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) All-American, averaging 25.7 PPG and 15.7 RPG. When he won MVP of the Portsmouth Invitational following his college days, he caught the eye of the Detroit Pistons, being selected with the third pick of the second round (27th overall) of the 1986 NBA Draft.

Rodman joined the Pistons at a critical time, as the team transformed from a finesse, offense-oriented team, to a tough, defensive minded team known as the "Bad Boys". Rodman had a pedestrain rookie season, with averages of 6.5 PPG and 4.3 RPG, and made more waves for calling Larry Bird overrated because he was white than for his play. Rodman steadily improved over time; he averaged 11.6 PPG (a career best) and 8.7 RPG in year two, and was a defensive standout off the bench during the Pistons' first title run in 1988-89. By his fourth year, Rodman got serious recognition, winning the Defensive Player of the Year award in 1989-90 and earning his first of two All-Star selections (the other was in 1992), and helping Detroit repeat as champions.

In 1990-91, Rodman won his second straight Defensive POY, but the Pistons lost in the conference finals to the Chicago Bulls. As the aging "Bad Boys" began to decline, Rodman started to become a fearsome rebounder. In 1991-92, he averaged a staggering 18.7 RPG (the highest average since Wilt Chamberlain pulled in 19.2 RPG in 1971-72) and made his second All-Star team. However, by 1992-93, things began to fall apart personally for Rodman. The first blow came when coach Chuck Daly resigned in May 1992, causing Rodman to lose the man he looked at as a surrogate father. He then married and soon after divorced Annie Bakes, and by May 1993, he was found in his car with a loaded rifle. While this served as an epiphany for him personally, his relationship with the Pistons soured, and he was traded to the San Antonio Spurs for Sean Elliott.

Rodman played well on the court for the Spurs, winning the rebounding title in each of his two years there, and earning All-NBA 3rd Team honors in 1994-95. But he soon strained his relationship with Spurs management, and after that season, he was traded again, this time to the Bulls for Will Perdue and cash. Rodman gave the Bulls the needed toughness and rebounding void left by former Bull Horace Grant, even though his behavior left something to be desired; he appeared in a wedding dress to hype his autobiography, and headbutted a referee in March 1996, though he wasn't suspended. Rodman won yet another rebounding title with 14.9 RPG and helped Chicago to the greatest season in NBA history, with a record 72 regular season wins and another NBA title.

Rodman's next two seasons were less than ideal in many respects. He was suspended 11 games for kicking a camerman in Minnesota during January 1997, and he was less than effective during the 1996-97 season, despite another rebounding title. He also made several sabbaticals to wrestle for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) alongside pal Hulk Hogan, which earned him some scorn from people who thought he should focus on basketball. Still, Rodman remained a factor as the Bulls won two more NBA titles. After leaving the Bulls after the 1997-98 season, Rodman bounced around in his final two seasons, playing 23 games for the Los Angeles Lakers in 1998-99 and 12 games for the Dallas Mavericks the following year before NBA teams lost interest in him. While Rodman's bizarre behavior may turn some people off, there's no doubt that he will be remembered as a fierce rebounder and defensive presence who won five NBA titles and was a key cog on two of the greatest teams of all-time.

Season-by-Season Statistical Review:
1986-87: 77 GP, 1 GS, 6.5 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 0.7 APG, 54.5 FG%, 58.7 FT%
1987-88: 82 GP, 32 GS, 11.6 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 1.3 APG, 56.1 FG%, 53.5 FT%
1988-89: 82 GP, 8 GS, 9.0 PPG, 9.4 RPG, 1.2 APG, 59.5 FG%, 62.6 FT%
1989-90: 82 GP, 43 GS, 8.8 PPG, 9.7 RPG, 0.9 APG, 58.1 FG%, 65.4 FT%
1990-91: 82 GP, 77 GS, 8.2 PPG, 12.5 RPG, 1.0 APG, 49.3 FG%, 63.1 FT%
1991-92: 82 GP, 80 GS, 9.8 PPG, 18.7 RPG, 2.3 APG, 53.9 FG%, 60.0 FT%
1992-93: 62 GP, 55 GS, 7.5 PPG, 18.3 RPG, 1.6 APG, 42.7 FG%, 53.4 FT%
1993-94: 79 GP, 51 GS, 4.7 PPG, 17.3 RPG, 2.3 APG, 53.4 FG%, 52.0 FT%
1994-95: 49 GP, 26 GS, 7.1 PPG, 16.8 RPG, 2.0 APG, 57.1 FG%, 67.6 FT%
1995-96: 64 GP, 57 GS, 5.5 PPG, 14.9 RPG, 2.5 APG, 48.0 FG%, 52.8 FT%
1996-97: 55 GP, 54 GS, 5.7 PPG, 16.1 RPG, 3.1 APG, 44.8 FG%, 56.8 FT%
1997-98: 80 GP, 66 GS, 4.7 PPG, 15.0 RPG, 2.9 APG, 43.1 FG%, 55.0 FT%
1998-99: 23 GP, 11 GS, 2.1 PPG, 11.2 RPG, 1.3 APG, 34.8 FG%, 43.6 FT%
1999-2000: 12 GP, 12 GS, 2.8 PPG, 14.3 RPG, 1.2 APG, 38.7 FG%, 71.4 FT%

There were many high profile scorers in the NBA during the 1980s. Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Alex English are among the best of the decade. Another high scorer who toiled in relative anonymity is today's profile, Adrian Dantley of the Utah Jazz and Detroit Pistons.

Adrian Dantley was born February 28, 1956 in Washington, D.C. In the early 70s, he starred at DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland, where he played for Basketball Hall of Fame coach Morgan Wooten. He then attended the University of Notre Dame, where he would rank among the greatest basketball players in school history. In his three seasons there, he averaged 25.8 PPG and 9.8 RPG (his best year was 1974-75, with averages of 30.4 PPG and 10.2 RPG), was named an All-American in his final two years, won the National Player of the Year in 1976. He also played on the Notre Dame team that ended UCLA's legendary 88 game winning streak in 1973. Dantley then led the United States to a gold medal in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal before being drafted sixth overall in the 1976 NBA Draft by the Buffalo Braves.

As a Brave in 1976-77, Dantley won Rookie of the Year, averaging 20.3 PPG and 7.6 RPG. After the Braves finished 30-52 that year, however, Dantley was traded to the Indiana Pacers for Billy Knight; he is the only ROY in a major American sports league to be traded after winning the award. His tenure in Indiana lasted only 23 games before he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for James Edwards (a future teammate) and Earl Tatum. Dantley enjoyed a solid year and a half with the Lakers, averaging 17.3 PPG in his only full season there in 1978-79, before being traded yet again, this time to the Utah Jazz for Spencer Haywood. Finally, though, Dantley settled in with the Jazz and became a scoring force as the young team began climbing up the NBA ladder.

In his first season with Utah, Dantley was named to the Western Conference All-Star team for the first time with an average of 28 PPG (his other All-Star nods came in 1981-82 and 1984-86). In 1980-81, Dantley won his first scoring title with an average of 30.7 PPG. After a devestating knee injury occured during the 1982-83 season (causing him to miss 60 games), he returned with a vengence in 1983-84, as he won another scoring title with a 30.6 PPG average as the Jazz made their first postseason ever. By the 1985-86 season, however, Dantley and coach Frank Layden were not on the best of terms, and after the season, Dantley was traded to the Detroit Pistons for Kelly Tripucka and Kent Benson.

Dantley remained a solid scorer as the Pistons emerged as a force in the NBA in the late 80s. Dantley averaged better than 20 PPG in each of his two full seasons with the team, and helped the Pistons reach the NBA Finals in 1988, before he was traded yet again (at the All-Star break in 1989), this time to the Dallas Mavericks, for Mark Aguirre. It was believed by many that the deal was done because Aguirre and Isiah Thomas were childhood friends and that Thomas and Dantley didn't get along (Thomas denied the charges), but Dantley finished the season with an average of 19.2 PPG.

During the 1989-90 season, Dantley suffered another severe knee injury, causing him to miss the final 37 games of the season. Dallas released him, and he spent most of the 1990-91 season unsigned until the Milwaukee Bucks picked him up with 10 games to go in the season. Dantley played those game and the playoffs for the Bucks before being released again. He would finish his professional career in Itlay with Breeze Milan before retiring. He finished with 23,177 points (24.3 PPG career, 18th all-time entering the 2008-09 season) and 5,455 rebounds (5.7 RPG) and was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.

Season-by-Season Statistical Review:
1976-77: 77 GP, 20.3 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 1.9 APG, 52.0 FG%, 81.8 FT%
1977-78: 79 GP, 21.5 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 3.2 APG, 51.2 FG%, 79.6 FT%
1978-79: 60 GP, 17.3 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 2.3 APG, 51.0 FG%, 85.4 FT%
1979-80: 68 GP, 28.0 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 2.8 APG, 57.6 FG%, 84.2 FT%
1980-81: 80 GP, 30.7 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 4.0 APG, 55.9 FG%, 80.6 FT%
1981-82: 81 GP, 81 GS, 30.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 4.0 APG, 57.0 FG%, 79.2 FT%
1982-83: 22 GP, 22 GS, 30.7 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 4.8 APG, 58.0 FG%, 84.7 FT%
1983-84: 79 GP, 79 GS, 30.6 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 3.9 APG, 55.8 FG%, 85.9 FT%
1984-85: 55 GP, 46 GS, 26.6 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 3.4 APG, 53.1 FG%, 80.4 FT%
1985-86: 76 GP, 75 GS, 29.8 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 3.5 APG, 56.3 FG%, 79.1 FT%
1986-87: 81 GP, 81 GS, 21.5 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 2.0 APG, 53.4 FG%, 81.2 FT%
1987-88: 69 GP, 50 GS, 20.0 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 2.5 APG, 51.4 FG%, 86.0 FT%
1988-89: 73 GP, 67 GS, 19.2 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 2.3 APG, 49.3 FG%, 81.0 FT%
1989-90: 45 GP, 45 GS, 14.7 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 1.8 APG, 47.7 FG%, 78.7 FT%
1990-91: 10 GP, 0 GS, 5.7 PPG, 1.3 RPG, 0.9 APG, 38.0 FG%, 69.2 FT%

Today, we continue with the player/coach profiles and highlight one of the most innovative coaches in the NBA. His teams, in an era of defense-dominated teams, has perfected the run-and-gun offense, and has given us concepts like the point forward. He is the coach of the Golden State Warriors, Don Nelson.

Don Nelson was born May 15, 1940 in Muskegon, Michigan. He later moved to Illinois, where he was a great ball player at Rock Island High School. Nelson then attended the University of Iowa, where he was a two time All-American and averaged 21.1 PPG and 10.5 RPG from 1958-62. Nelson was drafted 19th overall (1st pick of the third round) in the 1962 NBA Draft by the Chicago Zephyrs (now the Washington Wizards). After a decent rookie year, Nelson ended up with the Los Angeles Lakers the following season. After two non-descript seasons in L.A., he signed as a free agent with the Boston Celtics in 1965.

Nelson soon blossomed into a reliable sixth man as Boston won championships in three of his first four seasons there. Nelson averaged over 10 PPG in nine of his eleven seasons in Beantown (career best 15.4 PPG in 1969-70) and led the league in feild goal percentage in 1974-75. The following season, Nelson retired as a player. He won five NBA titles as a Celtic. But the next phase of his career was just beginning.

Immediately following his retirement, Nelson joined the Milwaukee Bucks as an assistant to coach Larry Costello (the first ever Bucks coach). However, 18 games into the 1976-77 season, Costello was replaced by Nelson (who also became Bucks GM). After a mediocre finish, Nelson took the Buck to the playoffs in his first full season, setting the stage for a memorable run. Between 1979-80 and 1985-86, the Bucks won a division title in each season (the Midwest in 1979-80, the Central every year after that). They made the conference finals three times during that span, as Nelson created innovative offense schemes, including using SF Paul Pressey as a 'point forward' to bring up the ball on the break. By the time he left the team in 1987, he had amassed seven seasons with over fifty wins (1981-87).

In 1988, Nelson resurfaced in Golden State as coach/vice president of the Warriors, who had won just one playoff series between 1978 and 1988. Nelson guided the Warriors to the playoffs four times between 1989 and 1994, winning two playoff series and getting 50 or more wins twice. Nelson also won the Coach of the Year award in 1992 (the third time he won the award; 1983 and 1985 were the other years) as his high-octane offense was driven by stars Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin (know collectively as Run TMC). However, Nelson resigned early in the 1994-95 season (45 games) after a dispute with Chris Webber. A year later, he was hired by the New York Knicks, but only 59 games into the 1995-96 season, he was fired despite a 34-25 record because of philosophical differences and his reported desire to trade star C Patrick Ewing to clear room to sign free agent-to be Shaquille O'Neal.

Nelson proved he wasn't done with the NBA, however, when he became GM of the Dallas Mavericks in 1996-97. In his first year as a GM alone, his trades helped the Mavericks make history as the team that used the most players in a season. Early in the 1997-98 season, he replaced Jim Cleamons as coach, and after a rough start, Nelson led Dallas to their first playoff berth since 1990 in 2001, upsetting the Utah Jazz in the first round. Nelson guided Dallas to four straight fifty win seasons (2001-04) before resigning late in the 2004-05 season. After a one-year hiatus, Nelson returned to Golden State for a dramatic encore. Nelson led the Warriors to their first playoff berth in 13 years in 2007, and in one of the greatest upsets in NBA history, took the 8th seeded Warriors to a six game upset of his former team, the Mavericks, who had won 67 games that season. Overall, Nelson ranks second in career wins (behind Lenny Wilkens) with 1,285, and has eighteen playoff berths and 75 playoff wins.

Season-by-Season Statistical Review (Player):
1962-63: 62 GP, 6.8 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 1.2 APG, 44.0 FG%, 72.9 FT%
1963-64: 80 GP, 5.2 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.0 APG, 41.8 FG%, 74.1 FT%
1964-65: 39 GP, 2.4 PPG, 1.9 RPG, 0.6 APG, 42.4 FG%, 76.9 FT%
1965-66: 75 GP, 10.2 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 1.1 APG, 43.9 FG%, 68.4 FT%
1966-67: 79 GP, 7.5 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 0.8 APG, 44.6 FG%, 74.2 FT%
1967-68: 82 GP, 10.0 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 1.3 APG, 49.4 FG%, 72.8 FT%
1968-69: 82 GP, 11.6 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 1.1 APG, 48.5 FG%, 77.6 FT%
1969-70: 82 GP, 15.4 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 1.8 APG, 50.1 FG%, 77.5 FT%
1970-71: 82 GP, 13.9 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 1.9 APG, 46.8 FG%, 74.4 FT%
1971-72: 82 GP, 13.8 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 2.3 APG, 48.0 FG%, 78.8 FT%
1972-73: 72 GP, 10.8 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 1.4 APG, 47.6 FG%, 84.6 FT%
1973-74: 82 GP, 11.5 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 2.0 APG, 50.8 FG%, 78.8 FT%
1974-75: 79 GP, 14.0 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 2.3 APG, 53.9 FG%, 82.7 FT%
1975-76: 75 GP, 6.4 PPG, 2.4 RPG, 1.0 APG, 46.2 FG%, 78.9 FT%

Season-by-Season Statistical Review (Coach):
1976-77 Milwaukee: 27 Wins, 37 Losses (did not make playoffs)
1977-78 Milwaukee: 44 Wins, 38 Losses (5-4, lost conf. semifinals)
1978-79 Milwaukee: 38 Wins, 44 Losses (did not make playoffs)
1979-80 Milwaukee: 49 Wins, 33 Losses (3-4, lost conf. semifinals)
1980-81 Milwaukee: 60 Wins, 22 Losses (3-4, lost conf. semifinals)
1981-82 Milwaukee: 55 Wins, 27 Losses (2-4, lost conf. semifinals)
1982-83 Milwaukee: 51 Wins, 31 Losses (5-4, lost conf. finals)
1983-84 Milwaukee: 50 Wins, 32 Losses (8-8, lost conf. finals)
1984-85 Milwaukee: 59 Wins, 23 Losses (3-5, lost conf. semifinals)
1985-86 Milwaukee: 57 Wins, 25 Losses (7-7, lost conf. finals)
1986-87 Milwaukee: 50 Wins, 32 Losses (6-6, lost conf. semifinals)
1988-89 Golden State: 43 Wins, 39 Losses (4-4, lost conf. semifinals)
1989-90 Golden State: 37 Wins, 45 Losses (did not make playoffs)
1990-91 Golden State: 44 Wins, 38 Losses (4-5, lost conf. semifinals)
1991-92 Golden State: 55 Wins, 27 Losses (1-3, lost conf. 1st round)
1992-93 Golden State: 34 Wins, 48 Losses (did not make playoffs)
1993-94 Golden State: 50 Wins, 32 Losses (0-3, lost conf. 1st round)
1994-95 Golden State: 14 Wins, 31 Losses (resigned after 45 games)
1995-96 New York: 34 Wins, 25 Losses (fired after 59 games)
1997-98 Dallas: 16 Wins, 50 Losses (did not make playoffs)
1998-99 Dallas: 19 Wins, 31 Losses (did not make playoffs)
1999-2000 Dallas: 40 Wins, 42 Losses (did not make playoffs)
2000-01 Dallas: 53 Wins, 29 Losses (4-6, lost conf. semifinals)
2001-02 Dallas: 57 Wins, 25 Losses (4-4, lost conf. semifinals)
2002-03 Dallas: 60 Wins, 22 Losses (10-10, lost conf. finals)
2003-04 Dallas: 52 Wins, 30 Losses (1-4, lost conf. 1st round)
2004-05 Dallas: 42 Wins, 22 Losses (resigned after 64 games)
2006-07 Golden State: 42 Wins, 40 Losses (5-6, lost conf. semfinals)
2007-08 Golden State: 48 Wins, 34 Losses (did not make playoffs)
2008-09 Golden State: 29 Wins, 53 Losses (did not make playoffs)