Now that the Denver Nuggets have finally traded Carmelo Anthony to the New York Knicks, it’s time for Denver to take stock of what’s left, and who they got back. And to that end, maybe this next note was a freudian slip from George Karl. Or maybe it was a deliberately sarcastic reaction to having his team gutted overnight? Who can say.
Carmelo Who? For The Denver Nuggets, The Timofey Mozgov Era Starts Now (In Five Years)
I like to think it was the second one, but in any case, Fanhouse’s Chris Thomasson talked to the Denver Nuggets coach about some of his new talent, and he reports:
George Karl likes center Timofey Mozgov. He predicts Mozgov will be a starting center for an NBA team within five years.
Don’t get too excited, Nuggets fans!
Couple reactions to that note there:
- Does Geroge Karl know Mozgov has already started 14 games for the Knicks this year?
- Does he really think it’s a compliment to say someone’s five years away from being an NBA starter?
- Did you see how he said “an” NBA team, and not “my” NBA team?
He’s totally being sarcastic, isn’t he?
And even if he’s being sincere... I mean, wouldn’t that be worse? Doesn’t that make Timofey Mozgov the perfect metaphor for where Denver is post-Melo, and how far away they are from even being average, talent-wise? MOZZZZZZZZZ-GOVVVVVVVVV!
Nevertheless, Denver fans can look on the bright side. First of all, “Mozgov” is a name that was meant to be chanted (“Mozzzzgovvvvvv”), so that’ll be fun. And star or not, Mozgov has the finest Russian blog in the NBA (translated here), and you can laugh if you want, but when we talk about Timofey, we’re talking about one of the finest hoops philosophers of our time.
His reflections after the Knicks loss to the Mavericks earlier this month might as well apply to the whole Carmelo saga, in general. “The hype is over,” he wrote, “passions cooled down, life goes on.”
Not even George Karl, himself, could have injected so much meaning into something so simple.
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