Nuggets' Small Forwards

Post #1 » by **NuggetsWY** » Sun Aug 19, 2018 5:04 pm

Barton will be starting and he deserves it. Hopefully as the small forward, he'll stop trying to dribble behind his back and pass behind his back. He's just doesn't have great handles. With the Nuggets, he doesn't need great handles. His job is to score! Do you think he'll finish the year as the starter? It seems likely.

Who is Barton's backup? Malone is unlikely to use two players there, at least not a lot. Craig seems like the most well-rounded SF ont he team, at least at this point. He's probably our best defensive SF and his offense isn't terrible. He seems content to take advantage of opportunities but not insist on his own scoring.

Hernangomez is probably the best offensive option but he's a little slow to play defense against some SFs in the league. If we had a good team-defensive-scheme, he might work better. Just not sure Malone's going to give him a serious chance. Then again, if he is on fire, all bets are off and he could get loads of minutes.

Not expecting many minutes at SF from Lyles or Lydon or Vanderbilt; but what about Porter? If he plays in training camp, he just might be our second SF. If he doesn't play in training camp, it seems unlikely that Malone will trust him to play very many minutes (and that's OK IMO). He could finish the year at backup, but might not - he might have to wait until next year (just because the Nuggets are going to want to play it safe with him).

Hopefully, Porter is the SF of the future, but we shall have to wait a year or two to know for certain.

skywalker33 · Post #2 » by **skywalker33** » Sun Aug 19, 2018 6:04 pm

Seems promises were made to Barton, rightfully so as he seemed destined to replace Chandler (who really NEEDED to go). I believe it'll be training camp that will really tell who's going to be the backup and not Malone's trust (or whim).

Agree that neither Lydon, Lyles or Vanderbilt will see time at the SF position, Juancho seems the most logical to me as it looks like Craig will get some mins as a swing. I'd really prefer MPJ wait until next year but if he's truly 100% healthy he may be too good to resist giving mins to.

TunaFish · Post #3 » by **TunaFish** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 6:58 pm

Barton earned the right to start based on his performance at the end of the season. I think we will see plenty of Hernangomez and Craig rotating into the small forward position and we will see Barton rotating in at shooting guard as well as starting at small forward. Barton is looking at some heavy minutes.

I kept a copy of the Nugget's - Bucks game at the end of the season because of the great comeback by the Nuggets (won in overtime after being down by 15 in the fourth period). In this game Harris is out and Barton is starting at the two. They played a lot of Hernangomez and Craig and often rotated them at the end of the game to take advantage of their respective skills. Both impacted that game. I can see this becoming a pattern at the back up sf position this next season.

Porter is the wild card here and he has the talent to be special. However, who can say whether he will overcome his injuries. I am betting that he will but it may take some time.

Post #4 » by **THE J0KER** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 11:34 pm

Barton played last season on three positions, pg-sg-sf, and he is most productive in SF role, which should be his the only, or at least clearly dominant role this season if backcourt guys Murray/Harris/Thomas stays healthy. BTW, talking about this three, no surprise if some minutes (5 per game for example) we will play this season using small-ball Thomas-Murray-Harris rotation on floor, with Harris in SF role! But the biggest mystery for SF spot is the unknown strategy about Porter Jr. If he is going to be used at some point, he should be a first backup option, if not a starter (fairy tale best case scenario: Tatum SF case in Boston). If he is going to be redshirted, in which case we should not complain even after reports about his good health, the next mystery is how good is Juancho now for SF role. Juancho very good fit with Jokic, so he should cover many minutes when Jokic is in. Even scenario with Juancho as a fake starter (with under 20mpg) could be possible to maximize his time on the floor with Jokic. The T.Craig case is similar to M.Morris/M.Beasley backcourt case, and his playing time will directly depend on injuries of other Nuggets players than on his personal shape or improvement. I have zero expectations from Vanderbilt before the 2019-20 season.

skywalker33 · Post #5 » by **skywalker33** » Wed Sep 5, 2018 2:59 am

Maybe another look ahead:

https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/1036693105888518144

Post #6 » by **THE J0KER** » Tue Sep 25, 2018 1:09 am

Our starting lineup is obvious, and backup options also - Isaiah as a backup guard, Lyles as PF, and Plumlee as a backup center. The only mystery is backup-SF. There are many still open questions about that: can we relieve of all backup-guard duties Barton and allow him to play 100% at SF only (especially at the start of the season when Thomas maybe will not play)? Will Juancho be ready to play on enough high level and can Craig be ever used effectively for more than 5-10mpg? Will be at least one of this year Denver SF rookies be able to play this season (MPJ and VJ)?

I predicted that because of potential lack of enough good backup-SF options, about 5 minutes per game Denver will play with Gary Harris as SF with Thomas and Murray also on the floor. But after Nuggets Media Day it seems that Malone has some other ideas on how to solve these 5-10 missing minutes if Juancho is not ready enough for 15+mpg job. It seems he will try with Trey Lyles playing couple minutes on SF spot. Or maybe that plan-B is related to the time when Lyles and Juancho are both on the floor with Juancho playing PF and Lyles SF. Personally, I thought that plan-B option for Lyles is to play a couple of minutes per game on center position when we playing small-ball, not at small forward for sure. Good side about this eventual Malone/Lyles experiment is that covering both forward positions Lyles will gets his 20+ minutes from the bench, which he deserves.

skywalker33 · Post #7 » by **skywalker33** » Wed Sep 26, 2018 1:49 am

UTH fans would be all over this, but I'll wait on judgement. I like his shooting, size (creates mis-matches) yet does he have the speed and defense to keep up with smaller/quicker SF's ???

Post #8 » by **NuggetsWY** » Wed Sep 26, 2018 3:52 am

skywalker33 wrote:UTH fans would be all over this, but I'll wait on judgement. I like his shooting, size (creates mis-matches) yet does he have the speed and defense to keep up with smaller/quicker SF's ???

I'm not convinced Lyles or Hernangomez or Lydon have the speed and defense to keep up with around half of the SFs in the league.

Post #9 » by **THE J0KER** » Thu Nov 1, 2018 8:06 pm

I predicted before the start of the season that Denver will play about 5 minutes per game small-ball backcourt rotation with Thomas/Murray/Harris lineup on the court (with Garry Harris as SF), a little trick which will allow Thomas to play 25+ and Murray and Harris 33+ minutes per game in the same time.

But even before Thomas started to play for the Nuggets, thanks to Barton injury, Morris and Beasley improvement, and Malone mistrust in Craig and especially in Juancho, this "Plan C" becomes our "Plan B" or even main plan for SF spot. 3 out of our 4 small guys (Morris, Murray, Harris, Beasley) are about 20 minutes together on the court, with Harris/Beasley temporarily playing SF.

Malone love for this small SF option is maybe sign that M.Porter will be PF next season, with Barton as SF starter.

Post #10 » by **NuggetsWY** » Thu Nov 1, 2018 11:27 pm

THE J0KER wrote:I predicted before the start of the season that Denver will play about 5 minutes per game small-ball backcourt rotation with Thomas/Murray/Harris lineup on the court (with Garry Harris as SF), a little trick which will allow Thomas to play 25+ and Murray and Harris 33+ minutes per game in the same time.

But even before Thomas started to play for the Nuggets, thanks to Barton injury, Morris and Beasley improvement, and Malone mistrust in Craig and especially in Juancho, this "Plan C" becomes our "Plan B" or even main plan for SF spot. 3 out of our 4 small guys (Morris, Murray, Harris, Beasley) are about 20 minutes together on the court, with Harris/Beasley temporarily playing SF.

Malone love for this small SF option is maybe sign that M.Porter will be PF next season, with Barton as SF starter.

I could live with that especially if Vanderbilt works out well. Those two at forward, rotating at PF with Porter at some SF and Barton along with Lyles and/or Hernangomez. Sounds interesting.

Post #11 » by **THE J0KER** » Fri Nov 2, 2018 12:18 am

Watching Juancho today vs Cavs (scored 12pts so far in 1st half), Malone mind becoming an even bigger mystery for me. Next first game after Barton injury we beat GSW in a game where Juancho was a hero. But despite good play and Barton injury, Malone gives Juancho SF minutes to Craig and Beasley!? Three guards lineup should be an only tactical variant at the ends of 1st and 3rd quarters, not the main strategy.