NuggetsWY wrote:Coeur wrote:I love Thrill Barton but want him off the bench. Right now is the right time to give MPJ the chance as a starter for 20 games and see if it works. Just focus the beginning of games a little more on Jamal Murray getting going
Murray
Craig
MPJ
Grant
Jokic
Harris, Barton, millsap, Plumlee off the bench
Barton gets minutes Murray is off =
I agree - I've said it before, Barton is best off the bench. Play him and if he's hot, let him play. If he's not hot, pull him and give him another try in the second half. We have the depth, so why not?
That works for now and better, it gives some bench players a chance to develop (read that as young players). That helps in the future and we can figure out if they are any good before we trade them or let them walk.
Consider where a few former Nuggets are.
Beasley &
Hernangomez are the latest who are now starting and playing well although it's only been a few games.
Chandler is doing well in New Jersey.
Gallinari is doing well in OKC.
Nurkic was doing well before his injury.
Lyles seems to be playing well now.
I'm not saying we should have kept all of those players, but ... that's six players that are either starting or playing plenty of minutes.
Part of the problem is that Barton is paid starter money, so they have to insist on starting him or they have to trade him. I think the real issue is that Barton was allowed to be a vocal leader on this team, you can tell he is arrogant and believes that he is a great player, and when the young guys were scared to shoot early in their careers Barton was the guy who loved to do it. If you follow that theory than you can see why Malone always played him a couple of years ago, and why they cannot call him for his **** now. When he was out last year Jokic and Murray grew up a lot as far as leadership, but even still they kind of look at him for leadership.
I love and hate Barton. Within a couple of weeks of getting here he was **** talking Corey Brewer, and you need some of that especially with a young team. That is the good part of Barton, a guy confident no matter what. The bad part of Barton is that he will make comments like he did last night, acting like it was not a big deal instead of taking responsibility. He wants to take over when he is on the court, partially from believing that the team needs that but also because that is who he is, even when he is having a terrible night. With him insisting on being a starter and I am sure that the front office and coaching staff agreed to make him the starter when he re-signed, he cannot be benched on this team. His attitude will kill the entire roster so he should have been moved.
As for the guys who have left
Gallo left for more money, the front office wanted to save the money with committing so much to Millsap, but I think they did not realize what they would have had with him. I think they underestimated how good Jokic really is, and how well they fit together.
Lyles is the only 3rd year guy who publicly came out to complain that they had long practices.
Chandler was always going to bitch if he wasn't a starter, and he still isn't a starter. After his last hip injury it was bound to happen.
Beasley, Juancho, and Nurkic all bugged me.
I still believe that Nurkic and Jokic would have worked, but they had to use the Jokic system and for whatever reason Malone was still trying to force them into traditional roles which was a huge mistake. By the time we traded him I understand why we had to do a terrible deal for us, although I partially blame Malone for that relationship getting that bad that quickly. Of course that is a habit of our front office.
Beasley should have been starting over Barton at least. Harris has at least brought great defense, but since his hot start Barton has struggled badly. Prior to the season there were many that felt Barton should have been traded and Beasley should have been the starting SF. Most young players are going to struggle with ever changing minutes and such a short leash as he and Juancho both had when we were healthy. Malone has said multiple times that Juancho and Beasley were never going to get minutes here, yet they are showing that they were both as good if not better than Barton. The fact that we traded both for a late 1st and end of the bench guys really bugs the **** out of me.
