Mike and the Miracles: Denver Nuggets, under the radar

Do you believe in miracles? Let’s get back to that in just a second, and talk about church first… no, not like that.

My family was pretty good about getting to church every Sunday in my youth, though I often felt like I wasn’t spending the other six days steering myself in the same direction I was being taught every weekend. I liked the couple of hours a week well enough, given lessons, friends, songs, and grape juice and such, and my mom tempted us all just often enough with post-Presbyterian donut runs to ensure our enthusiastic attendance. So on a Sunday almost-exactly forty years ago, I was surprised-but-excited to be taking time away from our usual routine to watch three hours of hockey on a day I figured I’d be elbows deep in Kum Ba Yah and buttermilk bars by noon.

But my Sunday off was one of inspiration. Not mine, my parents had been inspired by a game we’d all watched a couple nights prior, kicking off our weekend with one of the all-time classic under-the-radar wins in sports history, the 1980 USA Hockey “Miracle On Ice”. The game had been especially surprising to my stepfather, who had been on a work trip in New York City two weekends prior, and had ended up with tickets to Madison Square Garden to see Team USA’s final exhibition game before the Olympics started upstate. The game was against the same Soviet squad they’d face two weeks later. My stepdad left the exhibition after two periods. He couldn’t remember the score at that point, but the final tally was a 10-3 whupping by Team USSR.

The eventual medal-round win was even more preposterous, considering the average age of the US squad – 21, the youngest they’d ever fielded, and the overpowering historical success of the Soviets leading up to those games, having won the previous four gold medals, dating back to 1964. Starting with the 1968 games, the Soviet squad had not lost a single Olympic match leading into the game against the young US players.

In retrospect, it’s easier to see a few aspects of Team USA that might have tipped off some of the eventual success they’d enjoy, including the cohesion and style of play they brought to the table, many having played for or around their head coach for years. The team also underwent extensive psychological evaluations that the team utilized heavily to press the players to their utmost without breaking them. While their ultimate outcome was still that of a dark horse in the extreme, there was also cause to have taken them far more seriously than most any observer did going into the games. Everyone had slept on USA Hockey that Olympics, making their eventual triumph seem as miraculous as Al Michael’s famous call of their penultimate game. The miracle hadn’t simply been the team’s win. It had been that they had become a story at all, let alone one of the greatest sports stories of all time.

It was decidedly not a miracle that I was sitting in a sports book in Las Vegas on Wednesday night. The spot was the only place I could catch the Nuggets/Lakers game during my stay, and several of my fellow Angelenos seems to have discovered the same. The group surrounding me in purple and gold seemed far more sure of the outcome than the casino or I did, with the Lake Show a scant two-and-a-half point favorite at game time. A Nuggets victory didn’t actually even seem all that miraculous. Me and my buddy Andrew Jackson agreed it all a fair proposition.

My Lakers compatriots seemed even less excited as those odds shifted in Denver’s favor over the course of the contest, with the line shifting back and forth over a well-fought game. It took overtime for L.A. to cover, winning by four, with most of my blustery neighbors departing the area as certain as they had when they arrived that the outcome and their win had never really been in doubt. It wasn’t the equivalent of a 10-3 drubbing in hockey, but they all went back not their rooms as sure of their team’s superiority as they ever have been. And all I could think was…

Good. Good good good.

Keep sleeping on these Nuggets, Lakers Nation. Clippers Nation, too. Tack on 27 other fanbases on as well. Add the national media, the casual fan, and anyone otherwise engaged, who can all keep not paying attention to what has been percolating in Mile High City Basketball.

Please pay no attention to the dark horse MVP candidate who just played what was possibly/probably the best 10 games of his career, and is still busting his own ass over his performance in the fourth quarter and overtime of Wednesday night’s narrow loss. Don’t look at the  25.4 points, nine assists, and 11.1 rebounds he’s averaged over that stretch. Nothing to see here. It’s not as if he’s willed his team to victory after victory against some of the league’s best. His 30-20-10 game recently? Psh. He’ll just see you at the All-Star game.

You should also not look at the team’s 7-3 record over those last 10 games. Aside from a tough-to-stomach loss to Memphis in that stint, this Nuggets team is a well-timed two points away from that being a 9-1 record, all while missing a menagerie of players that ranged from 1-4 starters, key bench players, and an uphill climb of a schedule heading into the All-Star break.

Speaking of that schedule, those shorthanded wins came against the likes of Houston, Milwaukee, San Antonio, and Utah (twice). Another against always-feisty Portland and ever-dangerous Phoenix rounded out the seven. Another point gets a win against both Detroit and the Lakers if they come in regulation. But none of that is even worth mentioning, so just ignore that, for sure. I know I’ve beaten that shorthanded drum once or twice, but…

The story you should truly ignore is the Magnificent Seven game against the Jazz. Yes, I said Magnificent Seven. Yes, like the movie. I know, cool title, right? But trust me, you wouldn’t be interested in why it was interesting, you should go back to paying attention to one of the teams from the coasts. Trust me. Or what about that crazy win in Milwaukee? The one where all nine guys… well, again, it was historic, but it would probably just bore you. I’m sorry. Mid-market basketball. Nothing to see. Move along.

It’s not as if our rock star point guard has repeatedly willed himself off the training table to gut out several recent late-game performances worthy of trophy cases. Who’s interested in boring stuff like that? Not a town full of storytellers. And definitely not Kirk Gibson, I can tell you. Sorry, just trying to keep this Angeleno-parable-reference-worthy.

And geez, once you wade past most all of that, please do keep sleeping on the guy who may be the most electric rookie playing this season. And to the league, definitely do NOT have him over for anything that would recognize his… uh… rising stardom. Do you have anything going on like that soon? THAT would be wholly inappropriate. And embarrassing. Geez, we’d hate for his preternatural doubly-doubly self to make you doubt whether or not you actually pay attention to what’s shaking at altitude. He’ll just use that time away to keep prepping for his first playoff appearance.

While I’m on the topic, definitely don’t look at how defensively sound these Nuggets have become. That’s just gravy. Oh, and the unparalleled team chemistry is definitely something you should overlook as well. I would also absolutely avoid mentioning their depth. Because while I know, I know, depth doesn’t necessarily win you playoff series, it’s true, it does allow you to be a matchup nightmare for any and every team you face…

I’m sorry, I digress. You were trying to ignore us. My apologies.

And most of all, do NOT say anything about the fact that this team has yet to play to the best of their ability this year. A slow start, some chemistry configuring, and a rash of injuries have combined to spin this squad to a point in which they:

• are still 38-17, tied for the best start in their history
• are also on pace to tie their best regular-season record at 57 wins
• have yet to play their best basketball. By an order of magnitude. Of all of the teams who theoretically have “another gear” to hit before the playoffs, these Nuggets have the greatest delta between their current achievements and their potential.

So, to everyone outside of Nuggets Nation, keep sleeping on us.  Doubt away. We’re starting to enjoy it. These Denver Nuggets have beaten every team in the league at this point, sometimes with one hand tied behind their back. Have they still made some young and dumb mistakes? Good grief yes, including a few against a full-strength Lakers team they nearly bested a couple nights ago. But those same young players knew the errors they’d made before they even left the floor. They’re figuring it out faster and faster now. They see what is possible in front of them now, and with every setback and victory, small and large, they realize that they not only belong in this conversation, they could very well own it. As head coach Michael Malone has boldly asked them since camp opened… Why not us? Why not now? The answers to those questions are slowly going away, game by game. Win by win. There’s no one in the league this Nuggets team is afraid of any more, and somehow that doesn’t scare any of you outside of our Mile High fan base one bit. You know what? That’s just fine. Pay no attention to what we’re up to. We feel fairly confident we’ll have your attention soon enough.

Do you believe in miracles? Actually, yes. I do. On the ice, on the hardwood, and all over the danged place. But I’m fairly certain it won’t require a miracle for this talented Denver Nuggets team to overshoot larger expectations and win a title. Even in this season. I know, I know. Laugh it up. Or better yet, keep ignoring us. A healthy roster and a few fortunate bounces, and stranger things have certainly happened. The smaller miracle will be when anyone outside of the Mile High City starts thinking that outcome could even be a possibility.

Oh look, a major market NBA team!