It was a full 45 minutes into the world’s preeminent highlight show that they got around to mentioning the Denver Nuggets exciting double overtime win over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden that night. Evidently, every single college basketball game, a handful of other NBA games – including one between teams the Nuggets had just beaten – and even a soccer exhibition match were bigger news stories.
I don’t get it.
Okay, yes I do. The first letter in the initials of the four letter network may as well stand for “Eastern.” The bias lives, and it remains very powerful. We all know that. But something tells me that if Carmelo Anthony had gone off for 40 points and lifted the Knicks over the team he jilted, that the only game between the two teams this season may have been given a higher priority number. Then it would have had the necessary "eastern" flavor.
Maybe the suits – and the NBA beat writers – back in NYC don’t want to have to admit the truth: That Denver got the better end of the big trade that was supposed to transform the Knicks back into NBA royalty. Perhaps the idea of Danilo Gallinari outplaying Anthony was too much for them to digest. Perhaps watching Anthony throw the ball away at the end of the first overtime and then cry to the refs about it was something they couldn’t stomach – because they sure as heck didn’t show it.
When they finally did get around to mentioning the game, we got to see Carmelo make a shot to send the game into overtime. It was one of the 10 shots he made – and they showed none of the 20 shots he missed. If you hadn’t watched the game, you would have thought the Knicks had had their way with the poor, meaningless, small market Nuggets. The only surprise is that they didn’t show La La in the stands grinning and showing off her bling.
And nary a highlight of Gallinari on his way to a career high 37 points to lead a courageous effort from a team that had played five games in seven nights – the last four on an eastern road swing. Not a mention of the fact that the Nuggets got into their hotel at 5am after winning in Washington the night before. Not a mention of the fact that George Karl’s deep bench was depleted by injury and he could only play seven guys all night…and still won to sweep an eastern road swing.
Nah. That exhibition soccer “friendly” was a bigger story. So was that Heat – Sixers game.
Alas, complaining about it won’t do a thing to change it. Only the Nuggets going out on a nightly basis and showing all of us who wondered if they could win without a superstar on the roster that they’re among the best teams in the NBA will earn them more notice by the eastern media. They should have already done that to some respect, having beaten the Lakers, the Heat and the Sixers already – teams that the prognosticators raved about before the season. Guess what, folks...the Denver Nuggets ARE A BETTER TEAM than the Lakers or the Heat. If you watched the games, you’d come to no other conclusion.
This is a group that plays team basketball. They seem to value an assist as much as a made basket. Their amazing depth will become even more important as the condensed season goes along. Nagging injuries have already sidelined guys like Dwayne Wade, Chris Paul and Derrick Rose. The Nuggets are likely to have starters miss multiple games as well…the key being that Denver’s replacements are better than almost everyone they will face all season.
We are not far removed from the days when Nuggets fans would be thrilled with the team going 2-2 on any sort of eastern road swing. The fact that they just went 4-0 – winning a pair of back-to-back sets of games – is testimony that this is a new team, capable of great things.
Just don’t try to tell the eastern media that. They have so many more important stories to show us.
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