FanHouse George Karl

DENVER -- Allen Iverson back in Denver?

Don't completely rule it out. At least that's the word from Nuggets coach George Karl, who said Tuesday the team would consider bringing back the guard if there were to be an injury on his team.

"A.I. for us is an injury discussion,'' Karl said. "I don't think it's a discussion right now for us... But just say somehow (guard) Ty Lawson is out for the season, I think speed and quickness is what Ty gives us. A.I. would be on the list of speed and quickness.'

For now, though, Karl said the Nuggets aren't eyeing Iverson, who played for them from 2006-08, when he had his last two impressive NBA seasons.

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DENVER -- Final four week turned into a flop of finalists.

Meetings of last season's conference finalists got started Wednesday when Cleveland took a huge lead and clobbered defending East champion Orlando 102-93. An even bigger dismantling occurred Friday night at the Pepsi Center.

The way the Nuggets demolished the Lakers, you'd have thought they tried to smuggle coke into the building.

The Nuggets got some revenge against the defending West and NBA champions 105-79. It wasn't even that close.

"Hopefully, this is a big message, not just to the Lakers but to the whole NBA. We're a legit team,'' said Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony, who scored a game-high 25 points and outscored Lakers star Kobe Bryant 18-0 in the second half (no, that's not a misprint).

Raw Like Sushi was the name of a Neneh Cherry album. It also could end up being the title for the Hasheem Thabeet rookie highlight video.

Of course, if you think this guy is green now, Memphis coach Lionel Hollins says you should have been around for his first workout after the Grizzlies took the 7-foot-3, 267-pound Connecticut center with the No. 2 pick in last June's draft.

"He was really bad,'' Hollins said. "Even though he's a shot blocker, he only had to stand in the paint in college. Now you've got guys attacking you and how you have to go meet them, he knew none of that. He had no footwork. He had no jump hook. He had nothing. And I can say that out of all the rookies in this draft, he probably has come the farthest. He has the farthest to go, and he still has a long ways to go.''

DENVER -- Midway through Wednesday's game, Denver coach George Karl suddenly stopped writing "Rookie'' on his coach's board and instead wrote "Ty.''

Could it be that Ty Lawson, in his very first NBA game, dispelled the myth that Karl doesn't have an appreciation for rookies?

"Things might be changing,'' Lawson said. "Every day up until (Wednesday) he wrote 'Rookie.' But he changed it to 'Ty.' I don't know what that means.''

What it means is Karl has got himself one heck of a rookie. Lawson scored 17 points and handed out six assists to help the Nuggets to a 114-105 opening-night win over Utah at the Pepsi Center.

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DENVER -- George Karl isn't telling the Cleveland Cavaliers how to run their team. Then again, maybe he is.

Karl admits he's providing an "amateur fan evaluation'' regarding his son Coby Karl, a guard for the Cavaliers. But how many fans throwing out opinions on Coby have more than 930 NBA coaching wins?

Unless Lenny Wilkens, Don Nelson, Pat Riley, Jerry Sloan, Larry Brown, Phil Jackson, Bill Fitch or Dick Motta have spoken up, that would be none.

George Karl, the coach of the Denver Nuggets, doesn't understand why the Cavaliers might sign guard Antonio Daniels, which could result in his son being waived after making Cleveland's opening-day roster.

FanHouse previews all 30 NBA teams in advance of the 2009-10 season.

Denver's previous coach wasn't bashful about title talk.

"To win a championship, you've got to talk championship,'' Michael Cooper said on several occasions as members of the media attempted to keep from snickering.

Let's just say Cooper, who compiled a 4-10 interim coaching stint before being silenced in January 2005, didn't do much more than talk championship.

Now, the guy who replaced Cooper is doing a lot of such spouting. But nobody is snickering.

"I believe this team can win a championship,'' said George Karl, who has led the Nuggets to five straight playoff berths since taking over.

SALT LAKE CITY -- It seemed as good of a time as any to test these rookies.

Thursday's preseason opener marked the first NBA game for three replacement officials. The Denver Nuggets didn't wait long before resorting to some trickery.

Late in the first half of their 103-87 loss to Utah at EnergySolutions Arena, Nuggets forward Renaldo Balkman was fouled, and timeout was called. After the timeout, rather than have Balkman, a 53.6 percent career free-throw shooter, go to the line, up stepped Nuggets guard Arron Affalo, a 79.7-percent career marksman.

Thankfully, the replacements caught it and ordered Balkman to the line. If not, they might have been replaced.

DENVER -- Kenyon Martin can joke a little about replacement officials. Overall, though, he doesn't think it's too funny.

In an interview with FanHouse, Martin said he believes games will be "terrible'' with the replacements.

"I joked the other day with [Tim Grgurich] and Jamahl Mosley,'' the Denver Nuggets feisty forward said about talking to a pair of assistant coaches. "I'm going to get suspended in the first month of the season. I'm going to have 15 technicals in the first month just for the simple fact [replacement officials] don't know how I run my mouth. They don't know how I approach the game.''

They might find out in a hurry. Martin and his Nuggets play Thursday at Utah in the NBA preseason opener and first game using replacement referees.

Bert Smith has been there, done that, so when an NBA replacement official calls him this week to ask for advice, on what to expect from star players and volatile coaches, on what it's really going to be like doing the games, they would be wise to listen closely.

It will range from obstacle course to gauntlet.

Smith was a young, promising official working college basketball games in the Big 12 and Conference USA when the NBA plucked him to be a replacement in 1995 during the last referee union lockout.

He worked 16 games that year, including a Sonics-Pacers game Nov. 18 in Indianapolis when he ejected then Seattle coach George Karl, who kept riding him over a call he didn't like, got a technical foul, then drop kicked the ball into the stands to show his displeasure. Smith tossed him.

DENVER -- In this faltering economy, there are have been lots of good deals. Low-interest car loans. Double frequent-flyer miles. A cheaper menu at Quiznos.

Many good deals won't last. But some in the NBA might.

Everybody knows about NBA salaries having spiraled out of control the past few decades. Owners are determined to reel them in, which is why there's a decent chance there will be a lockout after the 2010-11 season.