2009 Preseason takes Nuggets to Asia

The team’s preseason trip overseas jumped off the screen and sent her searching for her cell phone.

"She texted me," Malik Allen said. "She said, ‘You’re not going to believe you guys are going to China.’ I was like, `You’ve got to be kidding.’"

No joke. For the second year in a row, Malik Allen would be heading to China as part of the NBA’s continuing attempt to promote the game globally. He was with the Milwaukee Bucks when they played the Golden State Warriors twice last October.

"I’m glad I was able to do that," Allen said. "Nine times out of 10, people aren’t going to pay to go on that trip. I know I wouldn’t, but I’m glad I went. It was incredible, actually."

The Nuggets left Monday for a trip that will include exhibition games Thursday (5:30 a.m. MDT) in Taiwan and Sunday (10 p.m. MDT Saturday) in Beijing. Both games are against the Indiana Pacers.

Like Allen, Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony knows what to expect in the days ahead. He helped Team USA win the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

"The fans over there have been great. It’s going to be exciting," Anthony said. "We’re going to give the fans what they want to see. … It’s going to be crazy."

For Chris Andersen, the trip comes 10 years after he played professionally in China against soon-to-be Houston Rockets center Yao Ming. His four-plus months overseas came before he was known as Birdman.

"It’s a tough trip," said Andersen, who traveled to China in August to promote the upcoming exhibition games. "I tried to tell the guys how to prepare for it."

Because of the 16-hour plane ride and 14-hour time difference, there was some tempered enthusiasm about traveling round-trip from Denver within a seven-day span. Rookie Ty Lawson viewed the trip as a new adventure.

"Basketball’s taken me a lot of places where I wouldn’t have went," he said, "so just enjoy life and have fun with it."

Lawson has been given a few souvenir requests from family and friends. Among the targeted items are a new laptop. "I hear technology’s five years in advance over there," he said.

While the Chinese technology might be ahead of its time, the Nuggets are hoping the trip doesn’t set their bodies and minds back a few weeks upon their return.

Allen said he was still having trouble adapting to the time difference a week after the Bucks came home last October.

"I was out of it," he said. "Your clock is totally screwed up. It’s not like going from L.A. to Jersey – four hours."

Coach George Karl has continually downplayed the potential side effects throughout training camp. As someone who eats, drinks and sleeps basketball, Karl simply loves to share it with others.

"I like the exhibition season being an ambassador for the game," he said. "It’s a way of giving back to the game, giving back to the fans."