Just heard this news.

http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_3790609

He's been a lameduck GM all season. His contract expired this summer anyway and an extension was only going to come with a good playoff showing. This allows the org. to bring in the next leader before the draft and free agency.

I though Kiki did a good job with that franchise. He recruited Karl, he acquired a lot of talent to a squad that looked radically different before he got there.

Roster 2000-1

Antonio McDyess
Nick Van Exel
Raef LaFrentz
Voshon Lenard
George McCloud
James Posey
Robert Pack
Kevin Willis
Keon Clark
Mark Strickland
Ryan Bowen
Tariq Abdul-Wahad
Anthony Goldwire
Tracy Murray
Terry Davis
Calbert Cheaney
Dan McClintock


Roster 2005-6

Carmelo Anthony
Andre Miller
Earl Boykins
Kenyon Martin
Marcus Camby
Greg Buckner
DerMarr Johnson
Francisco Elson
Eduardo Najera
Earl Watson
Ruben Patterson
Linas Kleiza
Reggie Evans
Voshon Lenard
Howard Eisley
Julius Hodge
Nene Hilario
Bryon Russell
Charles Smith

If Nene, Martin, and Camby were to have been healthy all year they would have probably passed the Suns and could well still be playing. And they would have had pieces to trade over the summer to relieve the big man log jam.

Maybe Kiki should have hired a better trainer.

All right, anyone who pays Martin serious bucks might not be all there, but still...

I wonder if the KMart deal was the last straw. They paid alot of money for a guy that was suspended during the playoffs.

If Nene, Martin, and Camby were to have been healthy all year they would have probably passed the Suns and could well still be playing. And they would have had pieces to trade over the summer to relieve the big man log jam.

Maybe Kiki should have hired a better trainer.

All right, anyone who pays Martin serious bucks might not be all there, but still...

I got a question. How much blame do you put on the coach, if you were the owner? Or can you really blame the coach? It didn't seem like their coach had much power. He tried to suspend Melo a time or two, but the GM didn't back him up. I know little or nothing about the Denver team, but when I did seen them play (including 3 Denver home games I attended), it just didn't seem like they had any respect for their coach. They did what they wanted to do. I remember one game, he tried to get KMart to go in the game, and he wouldn't. When he finally went in, he just stood around. And I saw Camby just standing around a couple, especially during the playoffs. I thought that was different because he normally is a pretty good player. And I have heard that Melo throws tantrums at times. So, can the coach shoulder some of the blame for their failures? If so, is he next in line? Just asking your opinion. I trying to learn the ends and outs.:)

I thought he did a decent job considering the Nuggets were a gimmick and then a Joke. Everyone blows draft picks. Look at Joe D.
If anything Kiki put too much worth on talent. You need to look at the total package. But he did do better than a few people who STILL have their GM hats on.

forget that, the real story is dang, his wife is hot!!

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20060505/capt.0f83a6c8aa914ea185e4d5203bfcedf8.nuggets_vand eweghe_basketball_codz102.jpg

Whats up with the kid and his surgery gloves?

wait, there's a kid in that picture?? :eyebrows:

I got a question. How much blame do you put on the coach, if you were the owner? Or can you really blame the coach? ... If so, is he next in line? Just asking your opinion. I trying to learn the ends and outs.:)

Good question. I'm guessing if you aren't in the middle of it, you never really know the thought process that goes on. And maybe not even then.

My POV is that the majority of winning or losing is on the players. But, they're not so easy to fire so the coach and GM take a disproportionate share of the blame when things go wrong. This is of course exacerbated because owners hardly ever fire themselves.

Based on what I've heard (and I haven't paid much attention to the Nuggets), it seemed to me like Kiki did a decent job. He put as much talent on the floor as other GMs, more than a good many, and he brought in Karl. Detractors talk about the mix of players he acquired, too many big guys, not enough shooters, etc. And their attitudes - Martin and Anthony are not bad nominees for the all head case team.

And as you point out, Kiki seems to have sided with the players over the coach relative to suspensions and other disciplinary actions, and if true means that one or the other of them had to go. That’s a seriously ugly situation and forces the owner to make a move. At that point ownership probably just picks one to fire based on their own POV and how easy it would be to find a replacement.