Some of my work from Fly Magazine

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Nuggets going with new trend: Character players



Long gone are the days of the "Denver Thuggets" who stood two games away from the NBA finals.

Ok the Nuggets tried the street route with Allen Iverson, Kenyon Martin, Carmelo, Birdman, J.R. Smith.

The signing of Wilson Chandler today by Nuggets brass shows they are committed to character more than pure talent. The move could pay off in the long term.

Read my blog about the Broncos during week 3. I don't wanna brag, but I told you so.

With the emergence of great draft picks like Ty Lawson and Kenneth Faried, the Nuggets are stacked not only with talent but character.

Right now.. Lawson, Galo, Mozgov, Faried, Afflalo, Chandler and newly aquired Javale McGee are locked into long term contracts. With Harrington, Miller, Anderson, Fernandez and Brewer locked in for the playoffs.

The biggest problem for George Karl is that he has too many weapons. Something he is not typically good at managing.

My biggest grip with Karl has always been that he does not have the right lineups playing in the late games of the playoffs.

I mean let's go back to game 3 of the WCF against the lakers and the insertion of Anthony Carter to throw the ball in. Carter should be banned from Denver forever for that pass. If not for that play the Nuggets could have been up 2-1. The following game he allow the dumbass Kenyon Martin to fall into the same exact play.

To win a Championship you must have 8 players with significant talents. Starting five, a good back up point guard, a tweener Big man who can guard 4's or 5's, and a wild card player.

Right now the starting Ideally would be

Lawson, Afflalo, Galo, Faried, Mozgov.
insert
Miller/pg
harrington/ tweener big man
Chandler - wild Card

with a 9man rotation of Anderson/Fernandez/Brewer depending on the opponent and you have a bad ass playoff line up.

Hopefully Karl can get the most out of this lineup and the Nugz can make a deep Playoff run. If not... We will be in the playoffs every year for the next 5 anyway.

Carmelo resurrected the franchise and he was my favorite player, but what he did by leaving us was better than anything he could have done in a Nuggets uniform. Thanks Melo

Saturday, March 17, 2012

The Lingering Effects of Death

I am writing this blog because it is therapy.

I know people see me in social networking and probably wonder, what is this guys problem? I accept that, however there is much more beyond the depth of my surface that makes up who I am. I first want to say for anyone who reads this; I do not require or want pity.

Since the moment I was born, death has loomed over me like a cloud. I could have died at birth if not for the pumps to keep my lungs working. That is a miracle in it's self.

at the Age of 4 I seen my first murder. My cousin cut a man from stomach to groin while holding my hand in West Denver. Now from there on it just steam rolled.

By 5 I had witnessed 4 different murders, two by gun, two by knife.

Unfortunately at the Age of 6 I witnessed my own mother shot 4 times point blank range with a .45. Needless to say something that will never be erased from my brain. She survived, but that was only the beginning of the chaos.

In the midst of a 90's crack epidemic, my mother's injuries lead her to become addicted to crack-cocaine.

I have slept in every shelter in Denver, city park, the bus station. I have been a 7 year old child out in the cold night at 3am. I have slept in the crack house.

Unfortunately death kept following me. by the age of 12 I had witnessed 7 murders, and lost friends to gang violence.

by the time I was 14 I was no longer living with my parents and dropped out of high school as a freshman. I did manage to go back.. throughout my school career I went to 17 public schools.

fortunatly ... (book in the works).. something miraculous happened to me. God gave me a vision. About myself and my family's problems. That was 4 years ago.

Due only to sheer determination not to end up stuck in the hood I have embarked on a journey in my professional life that has lead me to some incredible feats in my eyes.

However at the end of the day, all the things I have been through and wtinessed have been burned into my heart and mind.

Although I strive to become more professional and controlled, I struggle trying to rationalize people's actions among other things.

I bottled up my anger, rage, love, hate and every emotion for so long, now that I am free to be myself. I do not know how to control my emotions.

I know this is not a trait that is supposed to be associated with a man, but I cannot and will not suppress how I feel about anything. I can't... it leads to a darker road. Even though I battle with depression, I feel like I am winning the fight and have lots of reasons to hold my head high.

Please do not take this as plea for attention, for those who truly know me or care about me this is only a glimpse of myself I share with you so you know why be wilding out.

I appreciate your support.

Ontoneyo