Nuggets vs. Jazz: Game 80 Preview

(Boulder-CO) Nothing get's my blood boiling more than a Nuggets-Jazz game! And as much as I would like to see everything associated with the Jazz fail, the guys over at My Utah Jazz have quickly created my favorite place to read up on my least favorite franchise in the NBA. So, in the spirit of the rivalry I decided to field questions from Mitchell of the aforementioned. Here are my unrevised, explicit, and completely honest answers to his questions.

M: Simple question. Will the Nuggets make the playoffs? Why or why not?
ND: Simple Answer: Yes, because Denver has displayed the fortitude, despite keeping things a little bit too close to the point of panic, to make the playoffs. The games they have had to win they’ve won and I wouldn’t be surprised if come playoff time they put a serious scare into whoever they face in the first round.

M: What is the mood in Denver after coming in 2nd to the Jazz in the Northwest division two years straight?
ND: Everyone in Denver is just counting their lucky stars that they don’t live in Utah. I mean, they should change their state motto from, “Industry”, to “Only thing in between Colorado and Vegas”.

M: Melo was POSITIVE they would win the division. What does this do to Nuggets team chemistry and will this affect next years lineup?
ND:Divisional Championships are nice, but remind me when the last time the Utah Jazz ever won an NBA Championship? Oh yea, that’s right the answer is never! Just like the Nuggets! See the way I look at it is Divisional Championships are nice, but they’re kinda like taking home the most desperate chick in the bar (a place where adults go to enjoy alcoholic beverages and socialize for all of you folks in Utah who are unfamiliar with what a “bar” is) as the bartender is telling you to leave. Sure, you may get some smile time out of it, but did you really win anything? As for next year’s lineup, don’t you worry about next year’s lineup. The Nuggets did just fine this year without their presumed starting point guard (Chucky Atkins) and power forward (Nene). Now, I’m not making excuses for possibly limping in with the final seed in the Western Conference playoffs, but is there any other team in the league that has done as well as the Nuggets have while sustaining that kind of near total loss of two players who were gauged to start at the beginning of the year?

M: Who do Nuggets fans consider to be their biggest rival?
ND: Easily the Utah Jazz. We don’t like you, and you don’t like us. Let’s stop pretending that there is any other way of looking at.

M: If you were a Jazz fan, who would you consider to be our biggest rival?
ND: I’m not a Jazz, and never will be, so it’s hard for me to understand how one could rank every other team in the league with a shared hatred of the Utah Jazz.

M: Who's blue is better? Jazz blue or Nuggets blue?
ND: That’s like asking an Italian person if they would rather eat a home cooked dinner at their Grandmother’s or go to the Olive Garden for their never-ending pasta bowl! There’s only one blue and that’s Nuggets’ blue. Whether it’s the blue from the ABA days and the miner logo, the rainbow city skyline era, or either of the two most recent color schemes the answer is, and always will be, Nuggets’ blue.

M: Predictions for tonight's game. Score and # of Flagrant fouls on Harpring.
ND: Nuggets by five, 108-103, and Harpring will be lucky to make it out on a stretcher! I would love for Jerry Sloan to try and stop ‘Melo with that stiff. I can’t even believe he’s still collecting a paycheck in this league! Isn’t there at least someone in the D-League that can end his lingering career?

Go Nuggets!