Michael Malone new Nuggs coach

[eathb_au]

I don't think he would have that big of an influence but there were reports that he pushed for Ty Lawson to get traded.

[The Rebel]

I do not know if that is about Malone, but the team went into the offseason saying they only wanted guys who wanted to be here, and so that may be why they are all talking up how much they like Denver. Plus listening to interviews and reading articles here and there, I almost get the impression that guys are happy that Shaw and Lawson both are gone, and want to prove that they can play better then they did last year.

[The Rebel]

Decent article on Malone. http://nba.nbcsports.com/2015/10/08/51-questions-is-mike-malone-the-key-to-bringing-denver-back/?ocid=Yahoo&partner=ya5nbcs

[eathb_au]

As a team so far, the Nuggets don't grade well in the metrics/team efficiency but for some reason as of today we are the 8th seed in the West.

I have to be real, Malone is doing a hell of a job considering this is a really average roster that we have. Lots of positives so far - young guys getting played, Faried improving on defense, players seem to like him.

[perempe20]

is this a suprise team?

[skywalker33]

is this a suprise team?

Well, considering many thought we'd be in the bottom 5 teams of the NBA, I'd say YES !

http://network.yardbarker.com/nba/article_external/contrary_to_popular_belief_the_denver_nuggets_are_exceeding_expectations/s1_12668_20052832

[perempe20]

the problem of the better record is that it's still not good enough for playoffs (I hope it's enough!), lower chance for lottery.

Minnesota have 2 young star players, Denver have only one (Mudiay).

[skywalker33]

the problem of the better record is that it's still not good enough for playoffs (I hope it's enough!), lower chance for lottery.

Minnesota have 2 young star players, Denver have only one (Mudiay).

Well, that's your opinion, with Jusef Nurkic coming back, the experience of playoffs will be good for this team, even if it's from the 8th spot. Also, we still can swap with NYK (hopefully it get worse), and the MEM pick next year which has good possibilities too. Plus Nurkic, Jokic, Harris and Lauvergne are all really young with star potential too. Had Jokic came out this year instead of the previous year, many speculate he'd have been a lottery pick too (and it shows in his play). And we have beaten MIN 2 of 3 times, so they aren't there yet either, we just don't believe in tanking. 0East coast fans don't really know what's going on in DEN, but always welcome to learn over here.

[The Rebel]

As a team so far, the Nuggets don't grade well in the metrics/team efficiency but for some reason as of today we are the 8th seed in the West.

I have to be real, Malone is doing a hell of a job considering this is a really average roster that we have. Lots of positives so far - young guys getting played, Faried improving on defense, players seem to like him.

The problem with metrics and team efficiency is that it does not account for injuries, missing Lauvergne obviously hurt the Nuggets considerably, missing Harris hurt them considerably as well. Mainly because those 2 are so much better than Foye and Hickson who replaced them. Have Joffrey and Harris both not miss any games and I would be metrics would be considerably better.

The one metric I have used since I was a kid was the old Moe formula, road wins minus home losses to get either games above or below 500 at the end of the season. Right now the Nuggets are a -1 which means they are on pace to finish the season with about 40 wins.

Now that formula does not always work, but if you watch it over the years it will be pretty close to the ending record from about 25-30 games into the season.

[perempe20]

thanks for the answers. I'll watch Denver games from the new season.