Infinite Llamas wrote:canada_dry wrote:That's a FO problem and a roster construction issue. Basically what i mentioned above. We agree that jokics peak isn't being taken advantage of well enough but that's really not all on Murray. In fact id say it's unfair to put all that on his shoulders when its not his fault the team is built so crap. Jokic fans should be able to recognize that too rather than to continue to pile on just because that takes blame away from jokic who shouldn't have much blame either. For the most part Murray is filling the role of #2 star to expectations of what a #2 star is. Its too bad they don't have a white, porzingis or holiday. But a roster that deep doesn't only cover up for brown as a #2, It covers up for tatum as a #1 when hes inevitably scoring inefficiently in the playoffs drop again and they can still win. You could argue for jokic, THE best player in the world, that shouldn't be necessary. He doesn't need a bomb squad like Boston to win. He's proven that already.Infinite Llamas wrote:
Yes Murray has been playing better but then I think about 3 games in the past two weeks. Lakers. Bucks. Thunder. Murray was a no show in these games against top teams when Denver desperately needed him to show up. Bucks game wasn’t as bad but still, he was underwhelming. The 55 against Portland and 30+ against Charlotte looks nice, but it’s against the marquee teams that he needs to provide more. Iirc he was invisible against the Celtics in the first half when the team fell into a hole.
I’m a Celtics fan so I know all about Jaylen Brown. He has a criminally low bball iq but he plays with other high iq players that mask his deficiencies quite well. The Celtics don’t need Brown to show up every night though. Guys like White and KP and even Pritchard can step into that #2 spot on any given night. Denver just has a lot less room for error. And if Murray is having a bad game, you can almost pencil in the loss for Denver.
I wouldn't be surprised if come playoffs Gordon is healthy(very under discussed), jamal Murray is playing like himself, mpj , while inconsistent, is able to go off some games each series...things will start making a bit more sense.
I don't really buy that if murray struggles its an automatic L for denver. Jokic has won many games without him in his career. He also won games at the beginning of the season with murray playing like booty water. Its the regular season and the playoffs is different obviously but still. He's that good. This level of Murray is a Godsend tbh. Look at the rest of the roster.
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I mean, yeah…it’s a front office issue. The owner is clearly a football guy and Denver is forced to overpay for guys like MPJ because they’ll never bring in star name free agents. It’s the curse of being a small market team with an inept GM and bumbling owner. Braun was a hit but they let worthy backups like Hartenstein and Huff go. They killed Zeke Naji trajectory by miscasting him as a backup center and never bothering to develop him. Malone still doesn’t seem to fully trust Peyton Watson. A guy like Beasley wanted out because he couldn’t get minutes. Somebody like a Lonnie Walker would be more productive than Strawther but Denver sat on their hands.
Their management put all the eggs into the starting lineups basket and haven’t made any shrewd moves to build a team with the constraints they clearly have. There’s just little maneuverability with the team in the case of an injury like Gordon. They just, quite simply, don’t have enough NBA players on their NBA roster.
I don’t think any Denver Nuggets fan is going to sing the praises of Booth/Kroenke.
I think you are letting Malone off the hook. Booth did a good job in finding guys like Hartenstein and Huff. It's Malone's job to integrate these guys into the lineup and he's done a poor job of developing his bench when compared to other coaches.
