Game 58: Denver Nuggets (39-18) @ Dallas Mavericks (26-31) - 8:30 PM ET

ducler · Post #1 » by **ducler** » Fri Feb 22, 2019 8:20 pm

Post #2 » by **NuggetsWY** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 1:19 am

1 of 25 - should be a road win

Post #3 » by **THE J0KER** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 1:48 am

Denver on the road is just 14-14 (0-3 in last 3), and Dallas is the 6th best team on the West at home with the 20-9 record. This is exactly the type of game we losing this season. But Dallas playing without their best player (two best if we count Porzingis), and Denver literally playing for the first time this season without any injured player, so everything except Nuggets victory tonight will be a big surprise.

Post #4 » by **THE J0KER** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 2:53 am

Denver in 2019 so many times played 1stHalf <<<< 2ndHalf that it have no sense to comment our game on halftime

skywalker33 · Post #5 » by **skywalker33** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 3:36 am

IT getting some court time tonight, and he's producing !!

U hova · Post #6 » by **U hova** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 3:47 am

man I love Morris...

Post #7 » by **Yuri Vaultin** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 3:49 am

is it me, or does Barton seemingly freeze certain players out of the offense? Beasley for example.

skywalker33 · Post #8 » by **skywalker33** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 4:13 am

Yuri Vaultin wrote:is it me, or does Barton seemingly freeze certain players out of the offense? Beasley for example.

Don't know about freezing a player out, but Barton has been known as an ISO player and play a little "Hero-Ball"

Post #9 » by **THE J0KER** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 4:41 am

OK, a routine win at the end, Denver outclassed Dallas in first 15 minutes of 2nd half. Tomorrow home game vs OKC is key for our chances to stay #2 on the West.

Yuri Vaultin wrote:is it me, or does Barton seemingly freeze certain players out of the offense? Beasley for example.

That can be fixed with using these two in different rotations. But I can't see how to fix the fact that Barton does not fit Jokic game. Actually, I have some ideas about the upcoming offseason this summer.

skywalker33 · Post #10 » by **skywalker33** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 4:47 am

THE J0KER wrote:Tomorrow home game vs OKC is key for our chances to stay #2 on the West.

We don't play OKC until Tuesday, but I agree it will be huge in our playoff run.

Post #11 » by **THE J0KER** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 5:39 am

skywalker33 wrote:
THE J0KER wrote:Tomorrow home game vs OKC is key for our chances to stay #2 on the West.
We don't play OKC until Tuesday, but I agree it will be huge in our playoff run.

Correct... unfortunately, OKC just won the double-overtime game vs Utah.

Post #12 » by **NuggetsWY** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 3:29 pm

Well, we lost in the 1st & 4th quarters but won in the 2nd & 3rd. The third quarter was our best offense with the other three fairly consistent. I can live with that on offense. What I do not like is the defense in the 1st & 4th quarters.

Typical Jokic game - outstanding.
Very nice Millsap game with a monster effort on the boards.
Barton only took 8 shots but some of those were the ISO-ball types. He just doesn't fit in the offense.
Beasley had an okay game but not great.
Murray also had a nice game but not great.

Plumlee had a very nice game with his double-double.
Thomas had a decent game also.

Don't miss these stats
Nuggets had 21 offensive rebounds while Mavericks had 7.
Nuggets had 63 total rebounds to only 42 for the Mavericks.

Nuggets had 32 assists on their 42 made shots. That is the way our box score should always look: assists. Even better; we only had 13 turnovers. The way the Nuggets throw the ball around, turnovers are going to happen, but 13 is a very nice number.

Does anyone even care that we only had 2 blocks? Probably not! Not our strength but while we expect a block from Millsap, I loved watching Murry's block.

Post #13 » by **The Rebel** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 3:39 pm

I do not remember a single time in watching NBA basketball that I saw a team's starting PG standing with his hands straight up in the air trying to get a pass 4 or 5 times in 1 game, at one point Murray was jumping up and down trying to get Barton's attention but was ignored. Hard for our starting PG to get going when he never sees the damn ball.

I noticed in the 3rd quarter we finally ran a couple of dribble hand offs and pick and rolls, since Barton has been back, and with IT now playing, I was beginning to think they took those out of the playbooks.

Our small ball lineups are just going to have to outscore other team's benches, Juancho is not big or strong enough to guard bigs, and Thomas is not stopping anybody in the backcourt. I don't know if I like the idea, but it does not appear that Malone wants to cut Beasley or Morris's minutes while still ensuring he gets Thomas some minutes so that is the way it will have to be. I would much prefer to see Morris/Beasley/ Juancho/ Vanderbilt/ Plumlee, but that is just me. Some of you know that I am not nor have I ever been a fan of Thomas.

Post #14 » by **NuggetsWY** » Sat Feb 23, 2019 5:09 pm

The Rebel wrote:I do not remember a single time in watching NBA basketball that I saw a team's starting PG standing with his hands straight up in the air trying to get a pass 4 or 5 times in 1 game, at one point Murray was jumping up and down trying to get Barton's attention but was ignored. Hard for our starting PG to get going when he never sees the damn ball.

I noticed in the 3rd quarter we finally ran a couple of dribble hand offs and pick and rolls, since Barton has been back, and with IT now playing, I was beginning to think they took those out of the playbooks.

Our small ball lineups are just going to have to outscore other team's benches, Juancho is not big or strong enough to guard bigs, and Thomas is not stopping anybody in the backcourt. I don't know if I like the idea, but it does not appear that Malone wants to cut Beasley or Morris's minutes while still ensuring he gets Thomas some minutes so that is the way it will have to be. I would much prefer to see Morris/Beasley/ Juancho/ Vanderbilt/ Plumlee, but that is just me. Some of you know that I am not nor have I ever been a fan of Thomas.

and that's my real problem with Barton on a Malone coached team - many have said Murray is not a true PG, that he's a SG and Malone likes Barton to play point - "point" means setting up other players - our best point is Jokic and Barton doesn't even throw the ball to him to start plays, not often enough in my opinion

SkillzFromThe6 · Post #15 » by **SkillzFromThe6** » Sun Feb 24, 2019 12:11 am

The Rebel wrote:I do not remember a single time in watching NBA basketball that I saw a team's starting PG standing with his hands straight up in the air trying to get a pass 4 or 5 times in 1 game, at one point Murray was jumping up and down trying to get Barton's attention but was ignored. Hard for our starting PG to get going when he never sees the damn ball.

I noticed in the 3rd quarter we finally ran a couple of dribble hand offs and pick and rolls, since Barton has been back, and with IT now playing, I was beginning to think they took those out of the playbooks.

Our small ball lineups are just going to have to outscore other team's benches, Juancho is not big or strong enough to guard bigs, and Thomas is not stopping anybody in the backcourt. I don't know if I like the idea, but it does not appear that Malone wants to cut Beasley or Morris's minutes while still ensuring he gets Thomas some minutes so that is the way it will have to be. I would much prefer to see Morris/Beasley/ Juancho/ Vanderbilt/ Plumlee, but that is just me. Some of you know that I am not nor have I ever been a fan of Thomas.

Prepare for more of that for the rest of the season. This happens a lot with Barton.

IT will be fine.

I just wish Torrey Craig gets some minutes. I would LOVE if he took some of Will Barton's minutes but Malone loves Will. They're desperately going to need a guy like Craig in the playoffs. I like Millsap but he's too slow to keep up with SFs. I like Gary too but he's too small for SFs.

skywalker33 · Post #16 » by **skywalker33** » Sun Feb 24, 2019 12:17 am

SkillzFromThe6 wrote:
The Rebel wrote:I do not remember a single time in watching NBA basketball that I saw a team's starting PG standing with his hands straight up in the air trying to get a pass 4 or 5 times in 1 game, at one point Murray was jumping up and down trying to get Barton's attention but was ignored. Hard for our starting PG to get going when he never sees the damn ball.

I noticed in the 3rd quarter we finally ran a couple of dribble hand offs and pick and rolls, since Barton has been back, and with IT now playing, I was beginning to think they took those out of the playbooks.

Our small ball lineups are just going to have to outscore other team's benches, Juancho is not big or strong enough to guard bigs, and Thomas is not stopping anybody in the backcourt. I don't know if I like the idea, but it does not appear that Malone wants to cut Beasley or Morris's minutes while still ensuring he gets Thomas some minutes so that is the way it will have to be. I would much prefer to see Morris/Beasley/ Juancho/ Vanderbilt/ Plumlee, but that is just me. Some of you know that I am not nor have I ever been a fan of Thomas.

Prepare for more of that for the rest of the season. This happens a lot with Barton.

IT will be fine.

I just wish Torrey Craig gets some minutes. I would LOVE if he took some of Will Barton's minutes but Malone loves Will. They're desperately going to need a guy like Craig in the playoffs. I like Millsap but he's too slow to keep up with SFs. I like Gary too but he's too small for SFs.

I like Craig too but his shooting is so iffy it moves him down the depth chart when everyone is healthy

Post #17 » by **The Rebel** » Sun Feb 24, 2019 3:07 pm

NuggetsWY wrote:
The Rebel wrote:I do not remember a single time in watching NBA basketball that I saw a team's starting PG standing with his hands straight up in the air trying to get a pass 4 or 5 times in 1 game, at one point Murray was jumping up and down trying to get Barton's attention but was ignored. Hard for our starting PG to get going when he never sees the damn ball.

I noticed in the 3rd quarter we finally ran a couple of dribble hand offs and pick and rolls, since Barton has been back, and with IT now playing, I was beginning to think they took those out of the playbooks.

Our small ball lineups are just going to have to outscore other team's benches, Juancho is not big or strong enough to guard bigs, and Thomas is not stopping anybody in the backcourt. I don't know if I like the idea, but it does not appear that Malone wants to cut Beasley or Morris's minutes while still ensuring he gets Thomas some minutes so that is the way it will have to be. I would much prefer to see Morris/Beasley/ Juancho/ Vanderbilt/ Plumlee, but that is just me. Some of you know that I am not nor have I ever been a fan of Thomas.

and that's my real problem with Barton on a Malone coached team - many have said Murray is not a true PG, that he's a SG and Malone likes Barton to play point - "point" means setting up other players - our best point is Jokic and Barton doesn't even throw the ball to him to start plays, not often enough in my opinion

We have discussed Barton playing PG for years, it is a terrible idea, but as i have said in the past I truly think that Malone is stuck in the idea that iso players are better than guys who do well off the ball. It is an outdated idea from the iso ball era, but what can we do? Our offense has bogged down and changed since Barton has been back, and not in a good way. Especially since our perimeter defense has gotten worse. Barton has to be traded this summer, there is no way around it.

The whole Murray is not a PG thing drives me insane, it is all bull based on where he played in college, and usually repeated by people who do not watch him or do not understand that there is more to being a PG than fancy passes. Murray is not a pass 1st guy, he is learning to be a floor general more like Morris but is not there yet, instead he is a score 1st PG. HE creates opportunities for others by forcing the defense to adjust to him and creating open shooters. When he actually gets the ball he makes several plays a game that show he has the ability to pass well and court vision good enough to be a true PG, but because of our offense he is only allowed to play on the ball as the primary guy about 6 mpg at most. Yet he is still putting up average assists and below average turnovers for a starting PG. He is not Jokic (as I have said the only player I have ever seen with Jokic's vision and ability was Bird), but he is an average PG at 21 years old. HE can be a very good to great PG when he matures a little more.

Post #18 » by **The Rebel** » Sun Feb 24, 2019 3:11 pm

skywalker33 wrote:
SkillzFromThe6 wrote:
The Rebel wrote:I do not remember a single time in watching NBA basketball that I saw a team's starting PG standing with his hands straight up in the air trying to get a pass 4 or 5 times in 1 game, at one point Murray was jumping up and down trying to get Barton's attention but was ignored. Hard for our starting PG to get going when he never sees the damn ball.

I noticed in the 3rd quarter we finally ran a couple of dribble hand offs and pick and rolls, since Barton has been back, and with IT now playing, I was beginning to think they took those out of the playbooks.

Our small ball lineups are just going to have to outscore other team's benches, Juancho is not big or strong enough to guard bigs, and Thomas is not stopping anybody in the backcourt. I don't know if I like the idea, but it does not appear that Malone wants to cut Beasley or Morris's minutes while still ensuring he gets Thomas some minutes so that is the way it will have to be. I would much prefer to see Morris/Beasley/ Juancho/ Vanderbilt/ Plumlee, but that is just me. Some of you know that I am not nor have I ever been a fan of Thomas.

Prepare for more of that for the rest of the season. This happens a lot with Barton.

IT will be fine.

I just wish Torrey Craig gets some minutes. I would LOVE if he took some of Will Barton's minutes but Malone loves Will. They're desperately going to need a guy like Craig in the playoffs. I like Millsap but he's too slow to keep up with SFs. I like Gary too but he's too small for SFs.

I like Craig too but his shooting is so iffy it moves him down the depth chart when everyone is healthy

Craig has his uses, especially against slashing guards where he is long and quick enough to recover at the rim enough to drive those type crazy. He is not someone that is a great perimeter defender and is not really effective off the guys who play real well off the ball, but what do you expect from a guy who should be our 5th SG/SF.

I have a feeling we will be seeing him more in the playoffs if we get the Jazz, Rockets, Clippers, or Kings, but for now I am okay with him getting spot minutes.

Although as crazy as it sounds I would not be upset if we went back to the rotations we had when Barton was out, we could just pretend Barton was still out.

SkillzFromThe6 · Post #19 » by **SkillzFromThe6** » Sun Feb 24, 2019 6:28 pm

The Rebel wrote:
skywalker33 wrote:
SkillzFromThe6 wrote:
Prepare for more of that for the rest of the season. This happens a lot with Barton.

IT will be fine.

I just wish Torrey Craig gets some minutes. I would LOVE if he took some of Will Barton's minutes but Malone loves Will. They're desperately going to need a guy like Craig in the playoffs. I like Millsap but he's too slow to keep up with SFs. I like Gary too but he's too small for SFs.

I like Craig too but his shooting is so iffy it moves him down the depth chart when everyone is healthy

Craig has his uses, especially against slashing guards where he is long and quick enough to recover at the rim enough to drive those type crazy. He is not someone that is a great perimeter defender and is not really effective off the guys who play real well off the ball, but what do you expect from a guy who should be our 5th SG/SF.

I have a feeling we will be seeing him more in the playoffs if we get the Jazz, Rockets, Clippers, or Kings, but for now I am okay with him getting spot minutes.

Although as crazy as it sounds I would not be upset if we went back to the rotations we had when Barton was out, we could just pretend Barton was still out.

I'm just surprised I'm not the only one that sees Barton is not a good fit on this team.

I haven't been a fan of Will Barton's game since he's joined Denver. So, if you see me rant about him on these forums a lot, just know I've been frustrated with him since he's been here lol.