Are the Nuggets falling apart?

Maybe, Nugzfan will get his wish & Issell won't make it to the end of the season. The owner has to step in eventually & stop this crap from continuing. It's a lot easier to fire the coach than the team. RealGm is reporting that Rider has been waived also. If true, he sure didn't last very long. Notice the section that I highlighted in blue. Hmmmm....... This sure makes me appreciate Rudy even more.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/nuggets/article/0,1299,DRMN_20_868725,00.html

It's a matter of time for Nuggets

Scoring-oriented Rider, Lenard disappointed about not playing more

By Kyle Ringo, Special to the News

Denver Nuggets players expect a little reading between the lines when asked about coach Dan Issel's strategy decisions.
When the tough questions come, center Raef LaFrentz cautiously tries to find the right words to avoid widening the fissure in his relationship with his coach.

The center's self-control might be the biggest reason he's still a Nugget and why the relationship hasn't completely disintergrated.

Voshon Lenard smiles and politely asks for what he knows will be the next version of the same inquiry about how Issel doles out playing time.

Isaiah Rider winks.

Sometimes they are less subtle. One of those instances came Saturday night in the team's Pepsi Center locker room after a 106-94 loss to the Sacramento Kings.

Rider, who is new to the team and no stranger to controversy at his other four stops in the NBA, said he should be on the floor more than the 5 minutes he played against Sacramento.

Rider said he is needed if the Denver coaching staff expects to improve its offense, which is running almost exclusively through point guard Nick Van Exel. In fact, Van Exel leads the league in scoring through three games while his teammates are struggling to find their rhythm.

Rider has been coming off the bench at either small forward or shooting guard, where defensive-minded James Posey and Tariq Abdul-Wahad are the starters.

"The bottom line is Tariq and Posey have been here," Rider said. "That's what's going on. . . . If they're going to play 30-35 minutes a game, they've got to get more than 15 points between them for all three games. I can do that in 25 minutes. I've been playing 16 minutes and I was getting seven or eight points making three or four shots. Multiply that times two and you've got 15 to 20 a game."

Issel's mantra always has been "the players that play the best defense get the playing time."

Rider believes that philosophy is bogus in today's NBA.

"Offense wins games in the NBA," Rider said. "If you have a weak defender, yeah, it will hurt you. But that's never been my M.O., ever, if you just look at the history of the guys I've played against. I've got a lot of pride is what I'm saying. You've got to come play against those guys hard every night and destroy them before they destroy you."

Sacramento beat Rider to the punch Saturday. Rider twice gave up easy buckets to the player he was guarding during his 5 minutes of action. He made one of three shots and scored three points.

Rider wasn't the only one questioning how Issel's split the playing time Saturday. Shooting guard Lenard, who started 58 games for Denver last season and scored in double figures 54 times, said he is in the best shape he has been in for a number of years and should be on the floor more.

Lenard led the team in three-point field goals made last season and three-point shooting percentage. He saw his first action of the season Saturday, playing 12 minutes and failing to score after Denver had fallen behind by double digits.

"I feel I should be playing, but that's how it is," Lenard said. "We have a rotation. I don't know why I'm not playing. So I just have to sit it out until things change. I thought I was playing pretty good defense to tell you the truth."

Don't expect this saga to end here three games into the season.

"The bottom line is defense has never been a problem with Isaiah Rider," Rider said. "It's evident on the floor. Period."

Rider's absence Saturday was more evident.

 

But, it brings NugzFan such joy.

NugzFan,

I promise to give it up, once we get LaFrentz.

Actually, this article could be a good sign for the Nuggets. If Issel is sent packing, then you guys probably won't lose LaFrentz to free agency.