I have never understood why owners of professional teams cannot seem to figure out that giving one person complete control of an organization never seems to work out.

	Dan Issel and his staff appear safe for the season.

It did not work with Don Nelson in New York. It has not worked with Pat Riley in Miami. It certainly is not working with Rick Pitino in Boston. And in Denver, well, we'll just say Dan Issel is not even making a go of it.

People need checks and balances. They need perspective. They need an unbiased sense of judgment. At times, they need somebody to come in and say, "You know what, you screwed up evaluating this guy's talent. No matter how much you play him, he is not going to make himself or you look good."

Issel needs somebody to say that to him.

The Nuggets' 109-107 overtime victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves Wednesday night notwithstanding, this team is in turmoil, and worse, it is in trouble.

A look up and down the roster reveals they have one -- count em, one -- really talented player, Antonio McDyess. And McDyess has been having back spasms all season long, unable to get going even in a season that just began.

(As an aside, you have to wonder if the Olympics have anything to do with McDyess' injury. Historically, players that compete in the Olympics get worn down over the course of the season. Is McDyess already worn down from his experience in Sydney?)

Other than McDyess, though, this team has almost nothing. Let's face it, Nick Van Exel is talented, but his best days are way behind him -- and Issel gave him $87 million when probably nobody else in the league would have even considered it.

	LaFrentz

	Van Exel

	McDyess

The Nuggets have four former Washington Wizards -- Robert Pack, Tracy Murray, Calbert Cheaney and Terry Davis. And you've seen how far they took the Wizards. Issel is responsible for bringing all of them in.

And they have Raef LaFrentz and Keon Clark and Voshon Lenard and James Posey and Mark Strickland and George McCloud. Is this a team that is going to be imposing to anybody?

C'mon, this is the worst team in the Western Conference. And they are all Issel's guys. No more excuses about having to deal with somebody else's dregs. He made the decisions to bring them in.

And now he has to deal with them.

Murray already has complained once about his playing time, leaving Issel to try to make a point, publicly. He kept Murray on the bench in a recent game and played Strickland.

"I told Mark in front of the team that, to me, that's the sign of a true professional," Issel said. "He didn't play at all the game before. He didn't complain. He didn't hang his head. He got his opportunity, and he came out and earned some more playing time.

"That's the way you are supposed to handle yourself. That's the way it's supposed to be done. You earn playing time by working hard in practice and when you get your opportunity in the game, you make the most of it. Not everybody can play 35 minutes a game. So what you have to do is earn the coach's confidence, and he certainly did that in the Phoenix game."

	“	Right now it's obvious that we're playing selfish basketball. We're not playing team basketball. Nobody in this room ever won a (gosh darn) thing. So we all need to try and get on the same page because we're not going to win separately. It's like, 'Get your money and you're happy.' And it's some BS, some straight-up BS. It's selfish. ”
		— Van Exel

Van Exel recently called out his teammates for being self-centered.

"Right now it's obvious that we're playing selfish basketball," Van Exel said. "We're not playing team basketball. Nobody in this room ever won a (gosh darn) thing. So we all need to try and get on the same page because we're not going to win separately. It's like, 'Get your money and you're happy.' And it's some BS, some straight-up BS. It's selfish."

And McDyess said the season so far, all five games of it, is unappealing. And he wasn't even talking about for the fans.

"I'm going to tell it like it is," McDyess said. "We are not having fun. It's like we come out real passive, real uptight and scared to play. I wish I knew why (we are not having fun). I wish I knew."

I think I can help with that: BECAUSE YOUR TEAM IS NO GOOD.

They had to have a players-only team meeting the other day to straighten everything out, and the result was their win over the Timberwolves. That momentum, however, will not last.

Look, there are a lot of teams around the league struggling right now, underachieving even. Seattle is 1-4. Milwaukee is 1-4. Portland is 2-3. Toronto is 2-3.

The difference is, those teams have talent. It is early, they are still trying to figure it out. But eventually, over the course of an 82-game season, they will. Talent always tends to come through in this league, even if takes time.

But in Denver, they have no talent. Or not much, anyway. And over the course of an 82-game season, that usually comes out, as well.

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