Nuggets fight through tough early stretch, come out shining

•What an opening statement by the Nuggets. The team that made the West finals but could have stepped in an early hole after losing Dahntay Jones and Linas Kleiza to free agency and J.R. Smith to suspension went 5-2 in the games without Smith's scoring punch and were at 6-3 on Thursday despite a roster shuffle compounded by Kenyon Martin's bruised left leg, despite playing seven-of-nine on the road and despite getting three back-to-backs on the just-completed six-game trip. The composure that underlined the 2008-09 success didn't leave.

•Of course Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins seems overwhelmed by the media attention as part of the Allen Iverson circus train. He was overwhelmed before Iverson even played his first game, let alone once life actually turned complicated, delivering prickly answers to the most basic A.I.-related questions and not doing too well with inquiries about other players either. If Hollins is stressing his way through the pre-game gaggle with reporters wondering about the progress of O.J. Mayo and Mike Conley and the development of raw rookie Hasheem Thabeet, good luck with the genuine challenges.

•Clippers center Chris Kaman is leaning toward reprising his 2008 role and playing for Germany if it qualifies for the next summer's world championships in Turkey. He plans to wait several months before finalizing a decision, wanting to make sure Dirk Nowitzki is also on board and hoping to have a better read on his own health after missing large portions of the last two seasons. But Kaman loved the experience of the Beijing Olympics and welcomes the chance to remain with his adopted national team. Germany is a favorite to secure one of the four wild-card invitations that will be announced in December.

•Julian Wright being benched in favor of Peja Stojakovic at small forward in New Orleans is a double blow. First, Wright loses the starting job after seven games of what the Hornets thought would be a breakout season for the 2007 lottery choice, and now the team has to be concerned with how Wright handles the demotion. "The biggest thing with Julian has always been his confidence in himself," coach Byron Scott said. The response to what has become a 3-6 start also includes Devin Brown for Morris Peterson at shooting guard.

•Part of the back story of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and his now-public battle with leukemia -- cancer of the blood or bone marrow -- is that his father fought cancer and the disease claimed the lives of an uncle and grandfather. Said the NBA's all-time leading scorer when asked about learning of his diagnosis: "It was fear. It was scary." Part of his plan to educate the public includes a Facebook page.

•As if the start isn't disaster enough on its own, losing five of the first seven games while too often looking disinterested has come in the soft part of the Warriors schedule, with the last five games against teams at a combined 12-29 before Thursday's games. Yet Golden State had a shameful blowout home loss to the Clippers and 48 hours later a white flag of blowout loss at Sacramento with the Kings on the second night of a back-to-back and Kevin Martin and Francisco Garcia sidelined by injury. All of that just in time for the stretch that begins Tuesday: at Cleveland, at Boston (back-to-back), vs. Portland, at Dallas, at San Antonio (back-to-back), vs. Lakers.

•The list of meaningful offseason additions in San Antonio -- Richard Jefferson, Antonio McDyess -- now includes the new George Hill in what could become an important development for the entire league. A virtual unknown as a first-round pick from the truly unknown Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Hill, after working hard on his shot in the summer, has jumped from 40.3 percent shooting as a rookie to 46.3. He was already a good defender and strong around the rim. Hill as a dependable perimeter threat behind Tony Parker makes the Spurs that much deeper as they load up for a championship push.

•And one from the mailbag: At first I was a firm believer that Iverson was selfish for not wanting to come off the bench for a contender -- or any team for that matter -- until I thought about it for a second. It's obvious that he's not ready to become a role player, and why should he? He averaged 20-plus points in Denver, and then was traded to the Pistons (a team that really didn't need him). But before all that, we must admit that Iverson was one of the league's top scorers for the past 12 or 13 years. So here's the solution: Why not trade him to New Jersey? It's obvious that they have one hot mess over there, and can use a 20-plus scorer. I mean, he's under a one-year contract, and the fans can really use something to cheer about, because right now New Jersey is clearly the worst team in the NBA.

My response: The Nets will stay away for the same reason the Grizzlies should have. New Jersey has a young, promising backcourt and reason in general to be encouraged about the future despite the terrible record. It doesn't make sense to let Iverson do a cannonball into the middle of that. The only ones that should consider adding Iverson, whether in trade or as a free agent if he breaks with Memphis, are the teams that see him as a final piece to a potential playoff run.

Scott Howard-Cooper has covered the NBA since 1988. You can e-mail him here.

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