Payback

It's a nice little coincidence. Sunday the Broncos face the Steelers, who knocked them out of last year's playoffs. Tomorrow night the Nuggets play the L.A. Clippers, who knocked them out of last year's playoffs. Friday the Avalanche host the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, who knocked them out of last year's playoffs. (All right, the part about the Avs was a complete fabrication, but you believed me, didn't you?)

Forget the Steelers game. The last thing I want to talk about right now is Denver's football team. (Seriously, what was that Sunday? I finally start to fall for the defense, and voila! Peyton Manning, for the first time ever, gets the better of it. You win some, you lose to the Colts.)

I'm not so excited about the Clippers game either, per se, but I am glad the NBA is back, especially after this week. So what has changed from when we last left the squad? (Not that much.)

New guys: The Smiths, Joe and J.R., might be Denver's most effective sibling duo since Ellis fraternals LaPhonso and Dale were alternating three-point bombs and ACL blowouts. Joe Smith, yes, is the Joe Smith. Not the founder of the Mor-you idiot, I'm talking about the former No. 1 overall pick of the Golden State Warriors.

If Joe Smith has indeed made a name for himself over the years, it's probably for the money he took under the table from the Timberwolves. That ended up costing them a bunch of first-round picks and helped the franchise squander Kevin Garnett's prime. However, he hasn't really made a name for himself, which is why I felt the need to tell you that story.

J.R. Smith is an "exciting young player" from New Orleans. (The team, not the city.) I don't know much about him, probably because I always confuse him with Josh Smith of the Hawks. (They both made names for themselves at the same slam dunk contest, give me a break.) In all seriousness J.R. should be the starter at shooting guard, and hopefully he can at least slow down the revolving door of mediocrity at the position.

The not-so-new guy: Desite some serious strife at the end of last season, power forward Kenyon Martin remains with the team.

Is he the key to the season? Not the way it's planned out...but sort of. The Nuggets should be deeper in the frontcourt with Marcus Camby, with Nene back, and with Reggie Evans here the whole season. But each of those has either health or ability questions, and it's likely the Nuggets will end up needing a solid contribution from Martin to stack up in the West this year.

The other question is his attitude. If he wants to, Martin can be quite a distraction, as he proved in last year's playoffs. I think that probably won't be an issue-after all, he's still starting when he's healthy, and he's still cashing huge checks-but he's worth keeping an eye on.

Carmelo: The Broncos' defense of basketball players, Carmelo Anthony, once again, will be asked to prove his ability in the pressure of the postseason. He is amazingly clutch in regular season games but falters a bit when everyone else dials it up. Will that continue? I'd say no, but I said no last year, and he didn't really get it done against the Clippers.

We won't know until April. But I, once again, think Carmelo will have a great year, and the Nuggets should be back in position to prove themselves in the playoffs.