Nuggets' Balkman works hard to make team

Renaldo Balkman has a heavily taped sprained left middle finger and no time to think about the pain.

The Nuggets forward has a job to do. He has a coach — George Karl — to convince. Maybe even significant playing time to win.

"I want to play," Balkman says, "and show him that I want to play."

It really is as simple as that. Balkman is tired of sitting, tired of being injured and tired of others pointing out what he needs to do. This time he's just doing it. He is the Nuggets' hustle man, a player who won over the hearts of fans with relentless play on the court two years ago, then disappeared as fast as he had burst onto the scene.

This time, staying relevant is the goal. Since the Nuggets traded with New York for the 6-foot-8 forward in 2008, Balkman has been in and out of the lineup. Part of that was because of injuries, and some was his inability to consistently crack the lineup.

Balkman has endeavored to become a more detail-oriented player. And yes, a harder-working player. Arriving early and staying late are now norms. Coming into the Pepsi Center at night to get shots up is in as well.

"Last year was hard for me," Balkman said. "I was hurt and didn't play in a lot of the games; I sat out probably half of the season due to my back. But I came in this year with an attitude like, injury-free with the mind-set that I'm going to play my heart out.

"Staying after late like I'm doing now, come in later on at night and coming in early, that's showing all of the coaches that I'm dedicated to the game, dedicated to the team."

It hasn't gone unnoticed.

"Renaldo has been very professional, very good about his attitude and his approach," Karl said. "It's refreshing to see that he's made that adjustment. Two years ago he was a factor in our games. Why we never got to that last year, it might be the coach, might be the player, might have been both."