Monday Morning Point Guard

The majority of the news surrounding the NBA lockout this season has been bad.

In fact, the news has been so bad, we are almost to December, and no professional basketball has been played.

But it appears us basketball fans have more to give thanks for this holiday weekend, considering some actual good basketball news is on horizon. An agreement appears imminent between the owners and the players, and reports predict that a 66-game season could get underway on Christmas day.

So the good news is it looks like an NBA season will actually happen, when many feared the entire campaign could have been lost.

The bad news is the season will be only 66 games. And there is no possibility of getting the lost games replaced on the schedule. Carmelo's return to Denver, the Knicks prospective game visiting the Nuggets on November 16th, has vanished from the schedule.

The good news is the Nuggets will be back in action, and the city of Denver will have another professional sports team to support. Tebow Mania has swept across the Front Range, no doubt about it. But when the Broncos hang up their cleats for the off-season, Denver will cherish the Nuggets, considering the Avalanche continue to rebuild and the Rockies are once again mediocre.

The bad news is the Nuggets won't have all their players back in action, because some of them signed communist Chinese contracts that don't allow them to abandon their responsibilities halfway through the season. Kenyon Martin, Wilson Chandler, and J.R. Smith are not allowed to leave their teams mid-stream, preventing them from being a part of the Nuggets roster this season.

Speaking of J.R. Smith, the good news is his immature antics, and sometimes-selfish style of play will not negatively affect the Nuggets this year.

The bad news is the Nuggets will miss J.R.'s explosiveness. Despite his reputation as a crappy teammate at times, J.R. has the uncanny ability to hit seven 3-pointers in a row or even dunk from the free throw line.

The good news is the Nuggets are getting back Andre Miller. He's a savvy, veteran point guard that is durable, intelligent, coachable, and adept at getting his teammates involved.

The bad news is the Nuggets are getting back Andre Miller. He is not getting any younger, can't shoot the 3 to save his life, and he always has a terrible haircut.

The good news is the Nuggets won't have any Melo-drama hanging over their heads to start this season. Melo already had one foot out he door when last season began. The Nuggets played the entire first half of the year being held hostage by their star player, playing each game with the burden of the Melo trade rumors swirling.

The bad news is the Nuggets no longer have Carmelo Anthony. He is a bona-fide NBA superstar. He put points on the scoreboard and fans in the seats. He brought the Nuggets from the cellar of the NBA back into the realm of respectability. The divorce was necessary. He wanted out. We received a lion's share in return. But just like the delicious meat loaf your ex-wife used to cook, there will be certain things we miss about Melo.

The good news is the Nuggets drafted Kenneth Faried, and it seems like there might be a lot of upside with this rookie.  Time will tell of course, but he has an NBA ready body, and looks to have a motor that won't stop running.

The bad news is all rookies are basically being catapulted into their inaugural season.  Training camp will literally be two weeks long and the acclimation process of how intense the NBA actually is will be quite severe.

The good news is there will be basketball on Christmas. It is always nice opening Christmas presents with the NBA on in the background in beautiful HDTV.

The bad news is there will not be basketball on the first night of Hanukkah. It begins on the December 21st this year.  It's always nice opening Hanukkah presents with the NBA on in the background in beautiful HDTV.

Whether you are Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Mormon, Agnostic, or even Atheist, if you are a fan of hoops, we can all agree, that it is good news the NBA is back. It is fun watching some of the world's best athletes compete at the highest level. And let's be real - witnessing Blake Griffin palm a lowly defenders face as he tomahawk jams the ball into the hoop, seeing Kevin Durant swish a jumper from way downtown or experiencing Derek Rose swiftly crossing up a defender - is why we will continue to watch.

Let's play ball!

Contact the writer at newsroom@milehighhoops.com

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