The Denver Nuggets have tons of youth, boatloads of athleticism and point-producing potential for days. They've also got a three-year streak of being knocked out of the Western Conference playoffs in the first round, and while the team's gone through quite a transition over the past two years from the Carmelo Anthony era to the present, Nuggets fans would be forgiven for wanting to see the promise of all that youth and athleticism translate into more concrete postseason success. Head coach George Karl thinks that could, and should, be coming along shortly. During a chat with Scott Hastings of KKFN-FM in Denver (as transcribed by Chris Fedor of Sports Radio Interviews ), Karl discussed the Nuggets' run of nine straight playoff appearances, eight of which have ended before the second round, and how the team can take that much-ballyhooed "next step" to the upper echelon of the Western Conference: [...] "We have gotten higher at times and then we haven't gotten as high as we wanted at times, but expectations and excellence is defined by the fan and/or the sportswriter and/or the commentators, like you guys on the radio. We can't do anything about that. We are excited about this season...