Game 9: Miami Heat @ Denver Nuggets 7pmMT

[NuggetsWY]

My favorite stats so far: Jokic 12 rebounds, Whiteside only 1

My favorite stat shows the weakness of +/- (Which I think is good season-long, but of only mild interest by game or short stretches.)

Harris was the only starter with a positive rating - he had a +1.

Usually our bench does not fair well at +/-.
In this game;

Barton +10
Mudiay +3
Plumlee -1
Beasley +5
Faried +2

So Barton had the best +/- of the team, yet he was 3-10 from the field.

[NuggetsWY]

This team is not going to win games doing this is Crap every game, it is weird to me that the young guys all play well together around Jokic and the vets all play better in the drive kick/iso game, yet we destroy teams when it is the Jokic offense if only for a quarter a game and struggle in games where we try the drive and kick.

Isn't a coach supposed to teach? Especially coaches that are "player friendly" and "young player friendly" especially?

Why is it that Jokic still does those stupid backcourt fouls? Is Malone not hard enough on him or is Jokic too stupid? (I know which way I lean.)

Why is it that a "defensive-minded coach" as Malone was introduced, still can't get a decent defensive effort from his team? They play decent man-defense in stretches, but their team defense is pathetic and they don't seem to understand how important this is. Is Malone not a good teacher or is the entire team too stupid? (I know which way I lean.)

Why is it that our veterans, including Millsap, tend to play a lot of ISO ball? Millsap seemed like a great fit for Jokic-ball, but it seems like he gets frustrated with our offense and just takes it on himself to carry the team. Is our team too stupid to learn team defense or are they not being taught well? (I know which way I lean.)

The list goes on and on - habits the Nuggets have and are not changing.

My second biggest concern is Murray starting but Mudiay & Barton playing more minutes and especially when Barton is playing PG and even worse when he's playing PG at the end of games. Barton is not even our 3rd best ball-handler and he is not good at playing PG. He's best on the wing, slashing and shooting. There he's one of our best. This is straight out on the coach without question. Could it be that Malone is not only subtly telling Murray and everyone else, that he doesn't think Murray's a PG but he'll play him there to placate people? Could it be that Malone's strange end-of-game rotations are part of the reason why the Nuggets tend to lose leads late in the game?

We won last night, but in watching the game, it sure seemed like we should have won by about 10 points. Our current play will leave us out of the playoffs, almost certainly.

[skywalker33]

My favorite stats so far: Jokic 12 rebounds, Whiteside only 1

Jokic is an elite rebounder, he could be a scorer too but for some reason team refuse to use him enough.

I’m SURE the team is there telling one of our top scorers NOT TO SHOOT

Jokic is a team player, he worries about WINS not stats

[The Rebel]

My favorite stats so far: Jokic 12 rebounds, Whiteside only 1

Jokic is an elite rebounder, he could be a scorer too but for some reason team refuse to use him enough.

I’m SURE the team is there telling one of our top scorers NOT TO SHOOT

Jokic is a team player, he worries about WINS not stats

It was fairly obvious last night that Jokic was being treated more as a garbage man type player than as a player who our offense should be built around. Especially in the 2nd half where there were multiple time where he got to the elbow turned around and realized that Malone was calling for an iso play and the worst of it was Barton was even refusing to use picks or try the pick and roll offense. There is no way of justifying using that offense when the offense running through Jokic is proven to be the best in the league.

[The Rebel]

This team is not going to win games doing this is Crap every game, it is weird to me that the young guys all play well together around Jokic and the vets all play better in the drive kick/iso game, yet we destroy teams when it is the Jokic offense if only for a quarter a game and struggle in games where we try the drive and kick.

Isn't a coach supposed to teach? Especially coaches that are "player friendly" and "young player friendly" especially?

Why is it that Jokic still does those stupid backcourt fouls? Is Malone not hard enough on him or is Jokic too stupid? (I know which way I lean.)

Why is it that a "defensive-minded coach" as Malone was introduced, still can't get a decent defensive effort from his team? They play decent man-defense in stretches, but their team defense is pathetic and they don't seem to understand how important this is. Is Malone not a good teacher or is the entire team too stupid? (I know which way I lean.)

Why is it that our veterans, including Millsap, tend to play a lot of ISO ball? Millsap seemed like a great fit for Jokic-ball, but it seems like he gets frustrated with our offense and just takes it on himself to carry the team. Is our team too stupid to learn team defense or are they not being taught well? (I know which way I lean.)

The list goes on and on - habits the Nuggets have and are not changing.

My second biggest concern is Murray starting but Mudiay & Barton playing more minutes and especially when Barton is playing PG and even worse when he's playing PG at the end of games. Barton is not even our 3rd best ball-handler and he is not good at playing PG. He's best on the wing, slashing and shooting. There he's one of our best. This is straight out on the coach without question. Could it be that Malone is not only subtly telling Murray and everyone else, that he doesn't think Murray's a PG but he'll play him there to placate people? Could it be that Malone's strange end-of-game rotations are part of the reason why the Nuggets tend to lose leads late in the game?

We won last night, but in watching the game, it sure seemed like we should have won by about 10 points. Our current play will leave us out of the playoffs, almost certainly.

It is no secret that Malone is a huge problem, the only ones that don't see it are a handful of fans and seemingly the front office.

[The Rebel]

My favorite stats so far: Jokic 12 rebounds, Whiteside only 1

My favorite stat shows the weakness of +/- (Which I think is good season-long, but of only mild interest by game or short stretches.)

Harris was the only starter with a positive rating - he had a +1.

Usually our bench does not fair well at +/-.
In this game;

Barton +10
Mudiay +3
Plumlee -1
Beasley +5
Faried +2

So Barton had the best +/- of the team, yet he was 3-10 from the field.

Plus minus requires a much bigger sample size, specifically in games like last night where Barton just happened to be on the court when the team went on the big run in the 3rd, led by Chandler waking up for a few minutes and Mudiay playing great defense when he came in late in the 3rd.