champ11 Posted August 26, 2020 Share Posted August 26, 2020 9 hours ago, RandyMossIsBoss said: You know, you'd think losing 1-4 vs 2-4 wouldn't matter or make a difference, but it really does here IMO. So proud to see our 2 building blocks step up big and our entire team and coaching ADJUST to survive an elimination game and prevent the embarrassing backdoor sweep. Now if we go and get blown out of the water on Thursday, all bets are off, but if over these next 2 games we just put up that same fight we have games 4 and 5, win or lose, I'll be proud and less pessimistic even though no matter how you try to spin it, it's brutal getting upset round 1 against the matchup you tanked for. 3-1 deficit, 3 Ls in a row, in what is evidently a poor matchup, pretty easy to see how a team might really just throw in the towel at that point and get boatraced in game 5. Now all that talk is being somewhat realistic and still considering this a lost series, Utah is still exploiting major weaknesses and it took God mode Jokic to keep up in the 1st quarter, followed by God mode Murray down the stretch to secure this game. However, in all this talk of the 3-1 deficit, a huge thing to remember is normally coming back from that requires at least 1 road win. Being in the bubble, playing every other night, and not needing to go on the road, definitely leaves things more open. We'll see. For now, proud as hell from what I saw out of Jokic and Murray. I feel for Millsap and I give Malone a liiiitle slack for giving him a chance .... but he didn't play the last 20 minutes and the nuggets outscored the Jazz by like 17. And Dozier is better than Craig. And Malone relied on MPJ down the stretch and although he was getting picked on a bit he held his own defensively on a few possessions. Incredible game from Murray bro. Incredible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandyMossIsBoss Posted February 22, 2021 Author Share Posted February 22, 2021 So... what do we do? The FA gutting we experienced has proven to be a lot more harmful than we anticipated, while Murray has, again, failed to take that next step after quite literally taking that step a few months before the season tipped off. Weird. MPJ is kind of the same player that we saw last season, as to be expected since that was a few months ago. I'm not gonna expect any strides in his game until he gets a full offseason with this clear new role we have planned for him. Jokic has been a new player since he lost the weight, as good as anyone really. Yet we're playing .500 ball. I've finally reached that tipping point of "slow start, just wait..." to "damn, we're not that good." The D is pretty consistently bad, and on offense it's usually just the Jokic show. How much of this is coaching vs lack of talent? I think most fans are ready to run Malone out of town, and I'm not necessarily against it since it took a few miracles to not get upset in the bubble (although credit to Malone at same time for keeping team dialed in), and if Jokic is as special as we think we really can't afford any wasted seasons. That being said, we lost Grant, Plumlee and Craig, all plus defenders, and gained Green and Barton to an extent. The former just doesn't bring what Grant or Plumlee brought to the paint, and Barton has simply been having a rough year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lomaxgrUK Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 (edited) I think the Hawks game was the first time this year where I have vehemently disagreed with the rotations of Malone. MPJ getting 19 minutes was a joke. I am one of his biggest critics, but he showed energy last night when most didn't, and we were crying out for a scorer with Jokic (finally) have a poor Offensive night. The Defensive effort from our Guards last night was unacceptable. At least pretend you are trying to keep someone in front of you. I am with you on that transition in thought process to us simply not being that good. I thought coming in we'd be in the #3 seed conversation, but now our ceiling is likely a low playoff seed and being that team that nobody really wants to play early in the playoffs. You nailed most of these already, but the biggest factors in our underperformance in my opinion are: * Lack of development from MPJ - so many want to blame Malone. Mike has had so many bad games this year with decisions that someone with the number of games he has under his belt shouldn't be making. We aren't good enough to carry him and win games right now. * 'Bubble Murray' gone missing - he's been better Offensively this month, but his Defense looks abysmal right now. He needs to be dominant scorer if he's going to put in Defensive effort like last night every other game, and he isn't close to dominant on a consistent basis. * Regression of JaMychal Green - this seems like a weird one, but he was sooooo good early in the season. We knew already coming into the season that backup 5 was going to be a sore spot, but Green was that good early on that I thought he get big minutes as Paul's backup and Jokic's backup. Right now, Green's minutes are as bad as anyone we have on the roster (I know he was missing last night). Edited February 22, 2021 by lomaxgrUK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
broncosfan07 Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 Had we lost to the Jazz 4-1 it would be interesting if we would've been more aggressive in FA but had we lost that series and had this start to the season I have no doubts Malone would've been fired by now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lomaxgrUK Posted March 2, 2021 Share Posted March 2, 2021 (edited) MPJ has been so much better defensively the last 2 games at the 4. Much more engaged. Still makes some weird decisions, but if he can keep this up it then it will be hugggge for us. Plus, there is definitely a link to Porter's effectiveness Offensively when he's playing well Defensively. I thought Malone made some more screw ups with the rotation last night as well. I know he was limited in terms of personnel, but he put Harty, Cancar, Dozier and Nnaji out there with Jamal; that ain't it. You need either MPJ or Barton out there with 3 of those 4. Edited March 2, 2021 by lomaxgrUK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zukhyubern Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 I'm so discouraged by Malone but would be really sad to see him go. It's just crazy to see a coach of his stature just throwing things at the wall in hopes it sticks. Is it really that hard to get effective lineups, even with the injuries? I'm hoping we make some bold moves by the deadline, it's time for this team to be in aggressive in improving. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
champ11 Posted March 5, 2021 Share Posted March 5, 2021 22 hours ago, Zukhyubern said: I'm so discouraged by Malone but would be really sad to see him go. It's just crazy to see a coach of his stature just throwing things at the wall in hopes it sticks. Is it really that hard to get effective lineups, even with the injuries? I'm hoping we make some bold moves by the deadline, it's time for this team to be in aggressive in improving. I think Malone is a good coach. I don't have much issue with how he has approached the season and the rotation. What are your complaints? The Nuggets are investing in MPJ and there were always going to be growing pains. We're starting to see that investment pay off. I think this team easily has a higher ceiling than last year with how those 3 are playing. I don't see anything significant at the deadline Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zukhyubern Posted March 5, 2021 Share Posted March 5, 2021 3 hours ago, champ11 said: I think Malone is a good coach. I don't have much issue with how he has approached the season and the rotation. What are your complaints? The Nuggets are investing in MPJ and there were always going to be growing pains. We're starting to see that investment pay off. I think this team easily has a higher ceiling than last year with how those 3 are playing. I don't see anything significant at the deadline I just want to know why we're so streaky and lackadaisical at times. This road trip was obviously encouraging and I'm hoping that now that our "Big Three" is clicking we'll finish the season strong going into the playoffs. I also understand that we've had tons of injuries and it's encouraging that Malone has embraced playing the young guys. But as Lomax already mentioned, having Hartenstein, Dozier, Cancar and Nnaji with Jamal just makes no sense. I love the young talent on the team but I think some of that talent could be condensed to get a better defensive wing and some size. Do I think we should sell the farm to get someone like Beal? Not necessarily. But I wouldn't mind going for someone like Lu Dort and trying to remedy some of our glaring perimeter and defensive issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYRaider Posted March 5, 2021 Share Posted March 5, 2021 Reportedly the Nuggets are in discussions with the Pelicans about acquiring Redick. Would be a really solid addition to your bench, imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lomaxgrUK Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 Can someone bring me back down to earth re: Bones Hyland. He might be my favourite player in the history of the NBA. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
champ11 Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 5 hours ago, lomaxgrUK said: Can someone bring me back down to earth re: Bones Hyland. He might be my favourite player in the history of the NBA. i will not be that guy. because same 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lomaxgrUK Posted October 9, 2021 Share Posted October 9, 2021 On 10/5/2021 at 9:37 AM, lomaxgrUK said: Can someone bring me back down to earth re: Bones Hyland. He might be my favourite player in the history of the NBA. HOF player Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lomaxgrUK Posted October 20, 2023 Share Posted October 20, 2023 (edited) BUMP FOR THE CHAMPS So, how we feeling about this year? Few things on my brain: 1) Backup PG. With no BB, can Reggie do enough in the non-Murray minutes, especially the non-Murray & Jokic minutes? Intrigued to see if Christian Braun can offer something here, especially if Strawther can handle SG minutes early. I've not much faith in Reggie at all. 2) Strawther minutes. How can you keep a scorer (at all levels) on the bench? He's so dissimilar to Braun that I could see them on the court at the same time with Strawther playing the 3. 3) Watson minutes. Lots of noise coming from beat writers that him seeing the court late in the game last night was intentional. It would be a real shame if he hasn't earned the bench minutes because his Defensive potential is so high. I fear it will be Holliday over him here to start the season. 4) Zeke's play. Health is going to be the main thing as always with Zeke. If he can stay healthy and play with aggression at the rim, we've got a player. But both of those things are huge question marks Edited October 20, 2023 by lomaxgrUK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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