Michael Malone wants all the smoke

[Castle Black]

Not surprised he feels this way. I would too. I am surprised he’s giving the lakers bulletin-board material though.

[CIN-C-STAR]

I like the confidence but please less talking and more figuring out how to attack the small on Jokic strategy. That was messy as heck again tonight.

The only thing I see is to stagger AG’s minutes more. He’s completely bogging down the Nuggets offense and isn’t doing too much on defense either. Bron’s shot is broke so play Braun or Green on him and go under the screens.

Why reduce AG's minutes when he's a great defender and you already have a thin bench?
He already plays with MPJ a lot, why not just have him screen for him off ball so MPJ can spam 3s instead? If AD wants to float at the rim that is, otherwise, they have Jokic in a one-on-one against a smaller defender.
I see plenty of adjustments in Denver's bag if they want to, but I love Malone's confidence tbh and that he doesn't want to adjust too early.
I also think they can ride KCP more. I think he can go off in Staples Center for one game, after playing there and winning a title only to be shipped off for Westbrick

[Dubnation]

I have no Idea how the Nuggets bounce back from these first two games.

Yeah, it's going to be an uphill battle.

[Lalouie]

very true

but denver is using that

you earn respect by getting to the finals. no one ever remembers #2 in the conf finals

just looks at any post season. no one's posting a bracket,,,only who beat whom in the finals

[AleksandarN]

I actually think he kind of got his lunch ate by Ham today. A lot of stagnant possessions and poor countering to LeBron switches. In the 4th almost every 3 Murray hit was well contested.they did take away the guards well to be fair.

The difference is they have more adjustments to make notably using Gordon so he’ll probably be fine.

But I don’t think he outcoached Ham tonight

Out coached by the same coach who could not score in the second half against Denver’s defence. That coach lol

[nomansland]

He's right but I hope he's not getting lost in what the media is saying or narratives - that stuff doesn't matter to anyone but mongoloids that don't watch games.

Just focus, keep AG out of the paint and capitalize on Jokic being the GOAT offensive big man.

Yeah, one part of me loves to see his attitude but another part of me is thinking, "dude, shut that noise out of your life."

[JnewFTW]

Same thing happening in the other series. Heat win and everyone talks about what Jason Tatum did and did not do.

[The Laker Kid]

Why can’t he just win 4 and then talk? Why do people do this? Fortunately for him, Lebron aint gonna do anything about it.

[Johnny Firpo]

Why can’t he just win 4 and then talk? Why do people do this? Fortunately for him, Lebron aint gonna do anything about it.

He's not even talking about the Lakers other than citing Rui as an example of what the media was doing.

[Wallace_Wallace]

I actually think he kind of got his lunch ate by Ham today. A lot of stagnant possessions and poor countering to LeBron switches. In the 4th almost every 3 Murray hit was well contested.they did take away the guards well to be fair.

The difference is they have more adjustments to make notably using Gordon so he’ll probably be fine.

But I don’t think he outcoached Ham tonight

Out coached by the same coach who could not score in the second half against Denver’s defence. That coach lol

I kinda worried LeBron tbh. First time he looked mortal and straight settled for jumper early in the 2nd half. I’m not sure if less than 48 hours of rest is going to cut it after a grueling battle in the mile high city.

All the Nuggets core are in their physical prime while LeBron is 38 years of age; the Lakers may have to rely on their young guys to step up.

[nomansland]

I just watched the entire interview and you all should too before being too critical of that one particular quote. With the rest of the context it seems pretty reasonable.

[Slava]

Like a Slovenian prophet once said, everybody likes to talk **** when they are 2-0 up.

[lambchop]

Nuggets are looking good. And deserve to get more attention from the media etc. The media has chosen to ignore Jokic for a while now. Even if the Nuggets win a ring, it probably will be the least talked about chip. There's no shame in that, it's just how the NBA media landscape works. Good to see the Nuggets have ability to back this stuff up on the court.

[SalmonsSuperfan]

am i the only one who stopped taking him seriously when he demanded to be called "michael"? i think about that moment every time i read his name or whenever the commentator says his name on tv. what a strange guy

[hauntedcomputer]

Well, if he'd said the same bland crap most coaches say, nobody would thread him.

I like it. Nobody's stopping in the hall to read bulletin board quotes. He's putting Jokic out there and if Jokic wants it, it's all right there waiting for him. If he gets this ring I will acknowledge he is the best player in the world at the moment. If he can't win a series against an old and crumbling team, well, we'll just argue about MVPs and "best offensive center" for another decade instead of an all-time great.

[TheChaser]

Love the thread title.

[Exp0sed]

I like the confidence but please less talking and more figuring out how to attack the small on Jokic strategy. That was messy as heck again tonight.

The only thing I see is to stagger AG’s minutes more. He’s completely bogging down the Nuggets offense and isn’t doing too much on defense either. Bron’s shot is broke so play Braun or Green on him and go under the screens.

there's so much that can be done with AG
there was that one play where he actually used the space he's given to drive to the hoop

here's a simple bit of logic - if you give AG a headstart and loads of space he can drive and collapse the defense, as no1 on the Lakers other than AD is strong enough to containt him close to the basket

if AD recovers, that means some smaller guy is on Jokic so he can feed Jokic inside, or kick it out if there's an open shooter

competely bogging down the halfcourt offense maybe, but he puts ALOT of pressure in transition, especially when he's sealing smaller guys down low as Jokic is masterful at feeding him those trademark arched entry passes that are accurate enough that only AG can catch them and is pretty useful on the offensive boards

with that said, he should never be handling the ball on the break, he's prone to really bad decisions and turnovers, had a couple of bad ones like that in game 2
he can also go DHO with just about anyone (Jeff Green had an open corner 3 that went in and out from this very same play)

he needs to do what WB has done when he was completely left unguarded, use the space to drive and to crash the offensive board. who on the Lakers is stopping AG crashing the boards with a full head of steam (as no1 is around to put a body on him)?

also, he needs to spend an hour before the game just catch and shooting 3's
his shot has been passable throughout the season, obviously he's not a good shooter but there's no reason why he can't convert 35% of his open 3's - he needs to be mentally ready to shoot'em, because you know those shots will be there for him. he's not Vando, he can make some open 3's

[Saints14]

I’ll just go ahead and say it - the media has been gaslighting us about Jokic/Nuggets for 3 years now and they’re finally exposing it. It’s wonderful to see

[Phreak50]

It doesn't matter what the team is doing.

This hack has been one of the worst coaches in the league for years.

He also gets hot headed and defensive often, which says a lot about him.

[Marrrcuss]

Masterclass on keeping his team fully motivated with a chip on their shoulders. #props