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Defense has never been the Nuggets' greatest strength as far as I can recall and certainly not recently. However, after just 3 games they certainly are great. Why? We didn't add anyone during the off-season.

Coaches always say defense is "effort" and/or "commitment" and/or "desire" - but in my opinion, defense is actually all about "team". The terms like "defensive rotation" and "help-the-helper" --- meaning not just switching but covering the open man and then another guy covering that open man. So we are back to "hustle" but the BB IQ along with that hustle is what impresses me.

Let's hope it continues AND improves.

2016-17 BOTTOM-10 defenses (by defRtg):
109.7 Cleveland Cavaliers
110.0 Portland Trail Blazers
110.1 Brooklyn Nets
110.3 Orlando Magic
110.7 New York Knicks
110.7 Sacramento Kings
110.9 Minnesota Timberwolves
111.3 Phoenix Suns
111.7 Denver Nuggets
112.0 Los Angeles Lakers

2017-18 BOTTOM-10 defenses (by defRtg):
109.6 Brooklyn Nets
109.6 New York Knicks
109.9 Denver Nuggets
110.0 Atlanta Hawks
110.1 Minnesota Timberwolves
110.2 Memphis Grizzlies
110.3 Sacramento Kings
110.4 Chicago Bulls
111.0 Cleveland Cavaliers
111.6 Phoenix Suns

2018-19 TOP-10 defenses so far (by defRtg):
92.9 Denver Nuggets
97.3 Boston Celtics
102.0 LA Clippers
102.9 Golden State Warriors
103.5 Indiana Pacers
105.1 Memphis Grizzlies
105.7 Toronto Raptors
105.8 Milwaukee Bucks
106.1 Philadelphia 76ers
106.5 Miami Heat



Nobody of course expecting from us to stay #1, but if we stay TOP10, or at least TOP15 with our NBA TOP5 offense, we are almost sure bet for TOP5 seed on the West!

I'm shocked of course see our team at #1, despite it is just 3 games, but not surprised at all we are TOP15. We are #15 defense last season in opening 16 games before Millsap injury. When he is back, our 2nd best defender Harris suffers injury, so the team played less than 25 games with Harris, Millsap, and Jokic playing together. Plumlee is also some kind of defensive specialist, and he is now in best physical shape ever, and Monte Morris is better on defense than Mudiay/Devin Harris last season from the bench. Also, at the start of this season Jamal Murray struggling offensively, but seems that he takes more seriously his defensive duties. All these improvements should put us into the TOP15 half, and maybe into defRtg TOP10.

Millsap and the coaches have all openly talked about changing the system, and worked on it all of training camp. I said last season they need to start having Jokic and the bigs hedge and switch when needed instead of having the big step back and try to defend the rim while the guard gets beat to hell fighting over screens, this year they are doing it. Here is an article with a solid write up of our new defense.

https://www.theringer.com/platform/amp/nba/2018/10/22/18008362/nba-opening-week-takeaways

I am not sure that we can expect to be the best defense or even top 5 by the end of the season, but I see no reason we cannot be in that top 10 range.

THE J0KER wrote:2016-17 BOTTOM-10 defenses (by defRtg):
109.7 Cleveland Cavaliers
110.0 Portland Trail Blazers
110.1 Brooklyn Nets
110.3 Orlando Magic
110.7 New York Knicks
110.7 Sacramento Kings
110.9 Minnesota Timberwolves
111.3 Phoenix Suns
111.7 Denver Nuggets
112.0 Los Angeles Lakers

2017-18 BOTTOM-10 defenses (by defRtg):
109.6 Brooklyn Nets
109.6 New York Knicks
109.9 Denver Nuggets
110.0 Atlanta Hawks
110.1 Minnesota Timberwolves
110.2 Memphis Grizzlies
110.3 Sacramento Kings
110.4 Chicago Bulls
111.0 Cleveland Cavaliers
111.6 Phoenix Suns

2017-18 TOP-10 defenses so far (by defRtg):
92.9 Denver Nuggets
97.3 Boston Celtics
102.0 LA Clippers
102.9 Golden State Warriors
103.5 Indiana Pacers
105.1 Memphis Grizzlies
105.7 Toronto Raptors
105.8 Milwaukee Bucks
106.1 Philadelphia 76ers
106.5 Miami Heat



Nobody of course expecting from us to stay #1, but if we stay TOP10, or at least TOP15 with our NBA TOP5 offense, we are almost sure bet for TOP5 seed on the West!

I'm shocked of course see our team at #1, despite it is just 3 games, but not surprised at all we are TOP15. We are #15 defense last season in opening 16 games before Millsap injury. When he is back, our 2nd best defender Harris suffers injury, so the team played less than 25 games with Harris, Millsap, and Jokic playing together. Plumlee is also some kind of defensive specialist, and he is now in best physical shape ever, and Monte Morris is better on defense than Mudiay/Devin Harris last season from the bench. Also, at the start of this season Jamal Murray struggling offensively, but seems that he takes more seriously his defensive duties. All these improvements should put us into the TOP15 half, and maybe into defRtg TOP10.

Not only an impressive growth in just two years but a very impressive differential between our current rating and the 2nd & 3rd teams. While it's still early, it shows growth potential in this team. .

Some interesting stats (we've slipped to #2 in PPG after Sacramento )

#2 PPG allowed
#9 FG% allowed
#5 3FG% allowed
#1 Steals
#9 Blocks (biggest surprise IMO)
#4 Rebounds

For everyone that says "score off the defense" - our scoring is down and I'm OK with that.

Interesting read: https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/11/2/18048144/denver-nuggets-defense

Interesting read and that explains the improvement in team defense. I took note of Malone's comment about whether they can maintain that level of defense and that is the issue going forward.

If you look at statistics, can you identify what Denver has done to improve their defense?

There are aspects of their defensive scheme that I find dissatisfying but I haven't complained much because overall, they are being effective. But how can it be quantified?

Tied for 10th in opponent 3pt attempts per game... as in they shoot more 3s against us. (17th last year)
Top 2 in opponent 3pt % per game, as in teams shoot the lowest %s against us. (30th last year)

Historically, opponent 3pt% isn't actually correlated to defensive success because it's more or less a stat about your opponent missing their looks, and limiting attempts per game correlates to better defense. We might just be getting lucky, but after 40 games... maybe it's not luck? The reality is some 3pt shots are harder to hit than others, some 3pt shooters are worse than others, and we could just be forcing them into taking bail-out shots, or being smart about who's helping off of who.

Maybe we were just due for a regression to the norm after teams blasted us with the league's worst 3pt% defense, but I think there's visible changes to the defense, like stronger hedges on the perimeter, that would affect the quality of 3pt shots taken.

And it's not directly related to defense but we average the league's best on offensive rebounding efficiency, top 10 in limiting turnovers on offense, top 10 in defensive rebounding efficiency. We control possessions better (we were middle of the pack last year). And directly related to defense - we're the 7th best transition defense in terms of efficiency, as opposed to being in the bottom half last year. That's directly related to who who gets the green light to chase boards.

Better schemes definitely. Opponents have a previous season not only best 3Pt% against Denver but best FG% overall too. This season we are one of the best defending 3pt team and TOP10 in how low was opponents FG% overall. Also, last season opponents have too many assists against Nuggets, we are TOP5 worst team in that category, but this season TOP10 best. The team is not only more focused and better coordinated now in defense, but also individually better by minutes of Chandler, Mudiay, and old veterans Devin Harris and Jefferson replaced by bigger playing time of better defenders Beasley, Craig, Morris, Juancho, and also our best defender Millsap missed over 1/2 of the season in 2017-18, but *only* 1/4 so far this season. And Jokic, Murray and Lyles are still very young, so they also improved individually in defense comparing to last season, and even veteran Plumlee seems physically stronger and tougher too!

What is the Nuggets' defensive approach? I ask because sometimes our players seem confused and we end up with two guys covering one with another having a free shot at the hoop.

Sometimes we switch on picks, sometimes we don't - that can result in that above situation.

When we have a mismatch, sometimes we switch back as quickly as possible, other times we don't switch back. This can result in easy points for the other team.

Where does help come from? Sometimes players look like they want to slide down from the wings to provide help but they hesitate. Sometimes players slide down from the wings to provide help but there's no rotation to cover the man they left open.

I still contend that our defense is based on the All-Star game's approach: Play defense if you feel like it and do it however you want.

NuggetsWY wrote:What is the Nuggets' defensive approach? I ask because sometimes our players seem confused and we end up with two guys covering one with another having a free shot at the hoop.

Sometimes we switch on picks, sometimes we don't - that can result in that above situation.

When we have a mismatch, sometimes we switch back as quickly as possible, other times we don't switch back. This can result in easy points for the other team.

Where does help come from? Sometimes players look like they want to slide down from the wings to provide help but they hesitate. Sometimes players slide down from the wings to provide help but there's no rotation to cover the man they left open.

I still contend that our defense is based on the All-Star game's approach: Play defense if you feel like it and do it however you want.

OUr defensive approach changes at half time, we are the worst defensive team in the league in the 1st quarter and best in the league in the 4th quarter, which says that Malone is adjusting throughout the game. Hard to say it is not working as we keep winning, and I think we win more if he keep Craig at the 12 minutes or less mark.

The Rebel wrote:

NuggetsWY wrote:What is the Nuggets' defensive approach? I ask because sometimes our players seem confused and we end up with two guys covering one with another having a free shot at the hoop.

Sometimes we switch on picks, sometimes we don't - that can result in that above situation.

When we have a mismatch, sometimes we switch back as quickly as possible, other times we don't switch back. This can result in easy points for the other team.

Where does help come from? Sometimes players look like they want to slide down from the wings to provide help but they hesitate. Sometimes players slide down from the wings to provide help but there's no rotation to cover the man they left open.

I still contend that our defense is based on the All-Star game's approach: Play defense if you feel like it and do it however you want.

OUr defensive approach changes at half time, we are the worst defensive team in the league in the 1st quarter and best in the league in the 4th quarter, which says that Malone is adjusting throughout the game. Hard to say it is not working as we keep winning, and I think we win more if he keep Craig at the 12 minutes or less mark.

Is that Malone or the players adjusting? The reason I question it is that if Malone had a system, why would he not play it more often?