The NBA goes back to school: Nuggets, Trail Blazers play on campus

 

The mascot digs its heels. It chafes at the ropes around its waist as its handlers prepare to hang on for dear life. It’s time to charge. The mascot takes off, sprinting around the court of the Coors Events Center…at about one-tenth the speed of a buffalo, because the mascot isn’t a buffalo this time; it’s a man dressed as a mountain lion.

Rocky, the face of the Denver Nuggets, spent the game interacting with the 5,000 fans at the Coors Events Center as his team played the Portland Trail Blazers. Portland beat the Nuggets, 93-75.

Rocky’s opening tribute to Ralphie was a fitting way to kick off the first NBA game at the CEC in seven years. As he circumnavigated the court, the stands looked more colorful than ever. The usual sea of black and gold was replaced by a spattering of Portland Trail Blazers red, a lot of Denver Nuggets blue and one odd jersey from just about every other NBA team — the wine and gold of the Cleveland Cavaliers, even the deep green of the Seattle Supersonics (requiescat in pace).

Few among that plethora — if it can be called that, because only about half the seats in the arena had bodies in them — cared about their home team’s statistics (Denver shot just 33 percent from the field) and only occasionally revived the Keg’s usual eardrum-busting din. When Nuggets’ guard Arron Afflalo nailed a transition three from the left wing for the game’s first points and center Javale McGee checked in for his first action in nearly a year, the scattered crowd went wild, but settled down quickly after. After all, preseason basketball isn’t known for its crispness.

In fact, many fans weren’t in the arena for quality basketball.

Some, like Samir Hotic, came for pride. He attended the third NBA game of his life, wearing a Bosnian flag across his shoulders, to watch his countryman, Nuggets’ rookie center Jusuf Nurkic. Hotic is a Bosnian native who has lived in Boulder for 12 years. He wants go to every Denver home game this season.

“I was proud when [Mirza] Teletovic caught on with the [Brooklyn] Nets,” he said. “But when a guy lands with your hometown team, it’s special.”

Some, like students Jonah Kohn, Katrina Kedzior and Abby Schuster, came for the fun and the cheap basketball. They posted up at their usual haunt, the C-Unit section under the north hoop, but the atmosphere was relaxed. No standing, no yelling, no coordinated cheers.

Besides the ambiance, students noticed a further difference in Tuesday night’s NBA experience. Well, one other difference.

“I’m completely sober,” Kohn said.

Fellow student Bryce Oberg, sitting two rows back, came in his Spider-Man suit.

“Because I got it this weekend and I wanted to wear it,” he said. Fair enough.

Others, like Emrah and Funda Kalemci, came for their kids. They moved to Boulder from Turkey three months ago. This game is boring compared to the European basketball that they are used to, they said, but their son Deniz likes Nuggets guard Nate Robinson.

Putting on the show

Whatever the fans came for, the two and a half hours of basketball that they got took more than two months to plan.

Assistant Athletic Director for the Coors Events Center, Steve Pizzi, and Nuggets Director of Media Relations Tim Gelt said that the two parties came together this summer out of mutual interest.

“We have a great relationship with Colorado,” Gelt said. “We wanted to give our fans in Boulder a chance to see the team.”

The Keg itself was in good shape to hold an NBA game, Pizzi said. The arena’s 360-degree concourse was built to mimic those in NBA arenas. The challenges in readying the CEC came from changing signage — CU and the Nuggets have different sponsors, so Pizzi’s staff replaced some of the in-arena ads — and from taping down three-point lines with exact NBA dimensions.

In some ways, though, this game was simpler than most Buffs’ basketball games. Colorado hires security staff based on attendance; the well-below-capacity turnout made for a less stressful experience with less personnel on hand.

And, despite the token preseason play and many empty seats, the experience was a hit.

“I enjoyed it,” Nuggets coach Brian Shaw said. “I know our players did too. A lot of them aren’t that far removed from college.”

The fans from Bosnia and Turkey and Boulder agreed. Every person the CUI talked to said they want the Nuggets to play at CU annually.

Gelt was noncommittal: “Hopefully we’ll be back,” he said.

Regardless, it was a good dry run for the arena before basketball season starts in earnest on Nov. 14. Maybe that night, before Colorado tips off against Drexel, they’ll let Ralphie run the court.

Notes

• “Get a good look, because you won’t see it again,” Colorado Sports Information Director Andrew Green said when the media trickled into the Keg’s home locker room after the game. Media are never allowed in after Colorado games. It’s swanky; the lighting is dim, and there’s a ring of cushy leather seating around the room. Nuggets players used Colorado lockers; center Timofey Mozgov used freshman forward Tory Miller’s, and forward Darrell Arthur used freshman guard Dom Collier’s.
• Some Nuggets, like Arthur, couldn’t remember the last time they played in a college arena. Javale McGee could — a preseason game at George Mason University during his stint with the Washington Wizards. McGee’s 10 minutes of playing time were his first since he suffered a stress fracture in his foot in February that limited him to five games last season.

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Tommy Wood at Thomas.c.wood@colorado.edu.

 

Contact CU Independent Visuals Editor Kai Casey at kai.casey@colorado.edu.