Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony, left, looks to pass the ball against guard Arron Afflalo during the opening day of the team's training camp for the upcoming NBA basketball season on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
New Nuggets acquisition Arron Afflalo, left, clamps down on point guard Chauncey Billups in practice. (John Leyba, The Denver Post )
Nuggets' Afflalo brings more than meets the eye to the court
By Benjamin Hochman
The Denver Post
Posted: 10/23/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT
Godot wouldn't have kept someone waiting this long.
Arron Afflalo and the Nuggets didn't practice Monday — players came to Pepsi Center to watch film or get treatment — so a reporter figured he would catch Afflalo for an interview in no time at all.
Instead, the reporter waited ("See ya tomorrow, Chauncey . . ."). And waited ("Later, Nene . . ."). And waited ("If the training staff and coaches have all left, then who's with Afflalo?").
Almost three hours after Afflalo had arrived — remember, this was an "off" day — he was still in the practice gym, shooting by himself, working at his craft.
Afflalo is a role player, a guy who could walk the 16th Street Mall and get more requests for change than requests for autographs. He has a paltry career scoring average (4.3 points). And the summertime acquisition from Detroit has yet to play a regular-season game for Denver. But just listen to what they're saying about him in the Nuggets' locker room, and one can quickly conclude he may have a bigger impact for this team than most fans realize.
Teammate Carmelo Anthony: "He doesn't take possessions off. He wants to get better in the gym — every day."
Coach George Karl: "He's the most organized, regimented young player I've ever coached."
Vice president of basketball operations Mark Warkentien: "He is everything a coach wants in a player. . . . We knew he had ridiculously high character."
Now, Afflalo ain't Air Jordan. The guy isn't going to win scoring titles and sell you sneakers. But for a Nuggets team that was yearning for role players — the right role players — Denver feels it got a steal in Afflalo.
"(The Nuggets) had a lot of success last year," he said, "and I just think that the pieces they lost, I have the ability to fill, defense being the primary thing, and secondary, being able to score when needed."
Look for the 6-foot-5 shooting guard to play similar minutes to what Dahntay Jones (18.1) or Linas Kleiza (22.2) logged last season but supply more offense than Jones and more defense than Kleiza.
Asked which NBA player Afflalo reminds him of, Karl said, "Richard Hamilton." That is significant for two reasons. One being that Hamilton is really good, and second, it was Hamilton who mentored Afflalo the past two years in Detroit.
"(Hamilton) is one of those players who every day in practice, he plays his game — he's not a guy who only does it when the lights come on," said Afflalo, whom Denver acquired for a future second- round pick. "Just being able to watch him — and more important get to compete against him — it made me better defensively, and he gave me a few tips that can hopefully help me here offensively."
Although Afflalo is 2 inches shorter than Hamilton, Karl said both shooting guards are excellent at moving without the ball and utilizing screens to get their shot off.
"In my opinion," Karl said, Afflalo "is ahead of the curve from the standpoint of basketball IQ."
The Nuggets believe that Afflalo will doggedly defend, just as Jones did, shoot the corner 3, as Kleiza did, and do so with a salary of $1.01 million, less than both the other two guys will make this season.
"We're into him," Warkentien said. "He's got a future."
When it comes to basketball, the 24-year-old Afflalo is mature beyond his years. After UCLA stunned Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament, Afflalo helped Gonzaga star Adam Morrison, who was weeping, up from the floor.
The one thing Afflalo isn't humble about is his hobby, pingpong. His pingpong table is back in Detroit, where he constantly challenged teammates and Pistons staff members. Asked who his toughest opponent was, Afflalo bragged: "No one. Not even close."
He added: "I ran through everybody in Detroit. It's a hobby I found fun and something I can compete at, and it's similar to basketball in a way, because it has a lot to do with touch and precision.
"Maybe that's why it appeals to me."
In many ways, he's just a 24-year-old going on 14. He plays pingpong, goofs off like a class clown, watches basketball highlights hours on end and he's like a kid in a candy store.
"When I had freedom and a little bit of money to buy candy, well, I can't walk down the aisle without grabbing some candy," Afflalo said.
"I have to start laying low on candy. I love it. I'm trying to change my diet to stay light for the year, stay away from candy, red meat and fast food."
But in basketball years, he's 24 going on 34. He approaches his job like a veteran would (he learned from Hamilton and current teammate Chauncey Billups in Detroit). Afflalo redefines work ethic, when there's no such thing as an off day.
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
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