Van Horn, Smith and a Guy From France

What is it going to take for the Nuggets to finally make it over the first round hump? Denver’s Coach K has some ideas.

A major part of the plan is New Orleans cast-away J.R. Smith who, during his first meeting with the Denver media, compared himself to NBA All Star Vince Carter, may be the outside scoring threat the Nuggets desperately needed last year (the team finished the season with a league-worst 32.5 scoring percentage from beyond the arch). Smith’s average from three-point range fared slightly better at 37.1 percent. Anybody who can hit three pointers will be a plus for the Nuggets. Smith spent the last two seasons with the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets, coming in as a highly-touted high school star, but ended his tenure in the Big Easy as a big headache for coach Byron Scott who kept him on the bench. I’m not getting my hopes up just to have them dashed by a 20-year-old bench warmer who is already comparing himself to Vince Carter. Plus, his defense is going to have to be pretty damn good to replace Greg Buckner’s who, despite his inconsistency as a shooter, was always a reliable top-level defender.

A second part of the plan is Yakhouba Diawara, who will either play shooting guard or small forward this season. Diawara played two seasons at Pepperdine, where he averaged 15.5 points and snagged six boards per game a year ago. He spent last season playing in two different European leagues: He played 20 games for JDA Dijon Bourgogne (French League), averaging 16.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. He spent another 25 games battling with Climamio Bologna of the Italian League, where he averaged 10.6 points and 3.8 boards per game, according to the Denver Post. I haven’t seen this guy play, so I’m not sure yet how I feel about him. But I do know that he reportedly turned down a larger offer from the Dallas Mavericks, who were a few bad calls away from a championship, to play for George Karl. He said he feels “comfortable” playing in the Denver system, and he had a verbal agreement to play for Karl. I want to be optimistic, but the last time this city got excited over a European prospect, we got burned. Let’s all say it together: Tskitishvili.

The Nuggets have also apparently signed free agent center Jamal Sampson. Sampson has played for four teams in four seasons, averaging 2.4 points and 3.9 rebounds. On the surface this seems like a pseudo-replacement for Francisco Elson, who bolted when the Nuggets wouldn’t match a $6 million offer from the Spurs. We’ll have to see how that one works out, but again, I’m not going to hold my breath on a guy who has averaged a bucket and a half per game over the course of his entire career.

Those are the definite additions, but there is one more deal out there that could add a proven veteran to the team. Keith Van Horn is looking for a team to play for, and he may just end up in Denver. Karl told the Rocky Mountain News Thursday that Van Horn, who lives in Evergreen, is on his radar as a shooting threat to relieve the pressure on Carmelo Anthony.

“I don’t think there’s any question I want a shooting big (man) next year,” Nuggets coach George Karl said. “We need somebody to get people off (Carmelo Anthony). I would lean more toward a veteran. (Van Horn) has got to be one or two on that list.”

The Nuggets will have to wait a while to find out, though. Van Horn is on an extended fishing trip in Alaska and his agent said he will not meet with him until mid-August to determine his future.

I was really looking forward to Allen Iverson coming to Denver. The Nuggets were one of the few teams around the league that could offer the 76ers a viable trade for the superstar. I say I was looking forward to it because apparently Iverson is staying in Philly. There may be hope yet: ESPN is reporting that an Iverson deal is still on the table, if the right deal came along. Sixers management had to tell the touchy superstar they wanted him on the team after spending the whole off-season dangling him on the trading block, but truly they want to move him.

Let’s just see what happens when the Nuggets take the floor this season. If everything comes together, and everyone stays healthy (I’m looking at you, Nene) the Nuggets have no excuse for not getting past the first round of the playoffs. Seriously.

The Big One

I’m pretty sure I don’t have to tell any of you how crucial this weekend will be for the Colorado Rockies. An embarassing 6.5 games back in the division, the Rockies have a unique chance to climb right back into the thick of the race with a four-game set at home with the division leaders that starts tonight and ends Sunday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the Rockies’ bats are in the same slump they encountered earlier in the season, and it all comes back to Todd Helton. Helton’s average, .300 and rising at the All-Star break, has dropped back to a mediocre .279, and with it, the entire team’s offense. It seems that the team lives and dies with Helton, which is a predictable but a deadly self-fullfilling prophecy. Helton’s a smart guy, and realizes that the team revolves around his production, which makes Helton think he has to produce more, which makes him squeeze the bat and produce less…last time this cycle started, Hurdle played a big roll in getting the team out of it. His mantra became ‘forget the past,’ and gradually, the team learned to. Every player started saying, at least in public and likely at Hurdle’s command, that they didn’t have residual memories of last night’s game, or any night. It was all well and good, but they were still losing ballgames - until they started to actually believe it, and got out of the slump. The entire team collectively started to believe that regardless of the record or the current losing streak, regardless of Helton’s production, they could win any given ballgame.

The Rockies should do exactly the same thing to get out of this slump, and do it in a hurry. They should realize that they are still in an extremely good position to compete for the division, and that even though they have won just three games since the all-star break, they are still just 6.5 games back, and they have a unique opportunity to beat the division leader four times, and pull right back into the division race.

The division is far from out of reach, and Hurdle should be telling his players right now to forget the standings, forget the losing, and just play the next four games like they’re the first of the World Series. And maybe, in time, they’ll get there.