Game 30 : Denver Nuggets @ Oklahoma City Thunder

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[TunaFish]

Covid is having an effect league wide as every few minutes more players are out. However, OKC has not been effected, so our game will likely play. The rest of the league may have some issues though.

I hope the Nuggets have had enough rest to show some strong play on the road tonight. This is the start of a steak of easier opponents and the Nuggets need to take advantage.

[GeorgeSears]

Mike Malone is a very bad coach who deserves to be fired following the season. No excuse to get blown out by a division rival after you have a 5 day break. No preparation at all.

I'm tired of him hiding behind the excuse that Murray and MPJ are out. He's just a bad coach. Period.

[THE J0KER]

The Nuggets in general playing much better this season against good teams than against bad teams, and the young OKC team is a really bad team, so it is actually good that the Nets game are canceled because of Durant, Harden, and Irving would not play

Malone's decision to not play NBA MVP entire 4th quarter despite active -10 result in the middle of the final quarter and despite Jokic coming after 5 days pause, while at the same time he put on court obviously injured Hyland is so wrong. Malone wanted to *punish* our starters or whatever but the team's superstar should be excluded from such decisions otherwise the coach prevented his own team to make a potential big comeback with such a bizarre/ridiculous decision. Once again Malone acted more like a school teacher than an NBA coach, and I'm tired of it.

[Mickey8]

Jokic needs to be aggressive on the offense from the get go , every game if Denver wants to have a chance to win against anyone , that said, I don't think he was the problem in this game and I don't know why he was benched, it was clearly Barton and Morris who were making mistakes and were selfish on the offense plus they were killed on the defense by OKC guards , Gordon and Green took lots of bad shots too , I think Jokic should have stayed in the game with the bench players , I think Malone is way over his head and the only coach who is trying to stir conflict with his star player, it happened in the past as well. Jokic should also played about 36,38 minutes per game , most of the games,until Denver get some help, there is no point keeping him "fresh" for the play off's which they might miss.

[blahblah312]

It started off bad and finished as well.
the first qtr was inconsistent. Gordon looked off for most of 1st. His mechanics were jerky. Open 3 and passing looked like he was second guessing his choice. Running the court was not fluid like he normal plays. Zeke after missing his first 3 seemed scared to miss for fear of Malone pulling him out instead of just dismissing and playing like he has in past. His defender slid down to help other and when Zeke attempt to drive he was covered by 3-4 instead of pulling up for a 10ft
Guy on fox radio was upset that Rivers was able to get fans kicked out but praised James and Westbrook for doing the same early more wc bais

[blahblah312]

Mike Malone is a very bad coach who deserves to be fired following the season. No excuse to get blown out by a division rival after you have a 5 day break. No preparation at all.

I'm tired of him hiding behind the excuse that Murray and MPJ are out. He's just a bad coach. Period.

The players did not come out to play at the start of this game and they never seem to have the energy during 3rd qtr. Are the inures the result of medical staff and strength coaches not preparing or spotting when players are risking injury.
There is blame for Connelly . Look at the players could have drafted, trading mitchell for end of bench, drafting bol and not trading him last year when he had value.

[skywalker33]

Are the injures the result of medical staff and strength coaches not preparing or spotting when players are risking injury.

Well, COVID still having an impact, teams not getting full training camps surely will take some toll, but to what degree. Nuggets aren't the only team dealing with it, but some seem better than our crew

There is blame for Connelly . Look at the players could have drafted, trading mitchell for end of bench, drafting bol and not trading him last year when he had value.

Easy to say, hindsight is ALWAYS 20/20, knocking TC over what COULDA/SHOULDA's isn't fair, no red flags were apparent before almost all his transactions. As far as trading Mitchell, I believe our goal was OG, Tor picked him just before our trade-back pick. Would you have complained had we got OG ??

[The Rebel]

Mike Malone is a very bad coach who deserves to be fired following the season. No excuse to get blown out by a division rival after you have a 5 day break. No preparation at all.

I'm tired of him hiding behind the excuse that Murray and MPJ are out. He's just a bad coach. Period.

The players did not come out to play at the start of this game and they never seem to have the energy during 3rd qtr. Are the inures the result of medical staff and strength coaches not preparing or spotting when players are risking injury.
There is blame for Connelly . Look at the players could have drafted, trading mitchell for end of bench, drafting bol and not trading him last year when he had value.

Look at the players Connelly could have drafted? Why not look at his record of drafting, Somewhere around 75% of his picks are hits despite most of his picks being late 1sts and 2nd round picks. The Nuggets and Connelly especially have drafted as well as anybody in the NBA over the last 7 years. Nobody is perfect and no team hits on every pick.

Now our training staff could be an issue, but the guy that Jokic celebrates with on big plays is also our head athletic trainer. I find it odd that Harris, Barton, and Juancho all went down with hip injuries over the span of about 3 weeks. None of them have ever fully recovered from those injuries, although Harris and Juancho clearly had their careers destroyed. Jamal and Jokic had played the most game time between the bubble and last season than any other player in the league and it wasn't particularly close when Jamal got hurt. He was also playing injured, he shouldn't have been out there, who's fault is that? MPJ was a risk from the start, I cannot blame anybody for that.

Obviously if Harris, Juancho, Barton, Murray, and MPJ never get hurt this season would be very different. Our roster would be different, and we would arguably be the most talented team in the league by far. Unfortunately injuries happen, and in all the years I have followed the league they have derailed more contenders than anybody realizes. Connelly has not done a good job recovering from those injuries, outside of Nnaji and Bones our bench is Misérable. Even if you put Morris at backup PG we have done a terrible job adding real depth to the team since we traded Beasley and Juancho our good depth has declined with each passing trade deadline and offseason. It was obvious to me that we needed a scorer and a shooter off the bench last summer, even with MPJ healthy that would have been a huge problem, that is on the front office.

[blahblah312]

Look at the players Connelly could have drafted? Why not look at his record of drafting, Somewhere around 75% of his picks are hits despite most of his picks being late 1sts and 2nd round picks. The Nuggets and Connelly especially have drafted as well as anybody in the NBA over the last 7 years. Nobody is perfect and no team hits on every pick.

Now our training staff could be an issue, but the guy that Jokic celebrates with on big plays is also our head athletic trainer. I find it odd that Harris, Barton, and Juancho all went down with hip injuries over the span of about 3 weeks. None of them have ever fully recovered from those injuries, although Harris and Juancho clearly had their careers destroyed. Jamal and Jokic had played the most game time between the bubble and last season than any other player in the league and it wasn't particularly close when Jamal got hurt. He was also playing injured, he shouldn't have been out there, who's fault is that? MPJ was a risk from the start, I cannot blame anybody for that.

Obviously if Harris, Juancho, Barton, Murray, and MPJ never get hurt this season would be very different. Our roster would be different, and we would arguably be the most talented team in the league by far. Unfortunately injuries happen, and in all the years I have followed the league they have derailed more contenders than anybody realizes. Connelly has not done a good job recovering from those injuries, outside of Nnaji and Bones our bench is Misérable. Even if you put Morris at backup PG we have done a terrible job adding real depth to the team since we traded Beasley and Juancho our good depth has declined with each passing trade deadline and offseason. It was obvious to me that we needed a scorer and a shooter off the bench last summer, even with MPJ healthy that would have been a huge problem, that is on the front office.[/quote]

The ? is still on the training staff for the habitual injured. Barton and Harris also seem to be out last few years. Are they telling Malone they need to rest more or are their bodies not up to rigors of long seasons as they get older. Then Connelly should be made aware to trade when value is higher. The world knows MPJ is fragile with bad back. Did they try aquatic training to lesson strain on back while building up muscles. He pulled a miracle by getting thru season but the break between the season was shorter this year. Should he have given more rest before he went down. What did they drs convey to Malone

Yes Connelly has gotten value in later picks but he never gets the same value on trades. He is forced to trade at worst times. With Beasley and Juancho, if you knew they were not going to resign trade in off season while you can get better value. Get players to sign non guaranteed for the end of bench, so you can rotate in others if not working out. Start using the GL now that you have an affiliate to develop end of bench.

[blahblah312]

Are the injures the result of medical staff and strength coaches not preparing or spotting when players are risking injury.

Well, COVID still having an impact, teams not getting full training camps surely will take some toll, but to what degree. Nuggets aren't the only team dealing with it, but some seem better than our crew

There is blame for Connelly . Look at the players could have drafted, trading mitchell for end of bench, drafting bol and not trading him last year when he had value.

Easy to say, hindsight is ALWAYS 20/20, knocking TC over what COULDA/SHOULDA's isn't fair, no red flags were apparent before almost all his transactions. As far as trading Mitchell, I believe our goal was OG, Tor picked him just before our trade-back pick. Would you have complained had we got OG ??

The Nuggets had their starters for the front court and backups and bigs are easier to find cheaper as FA. They needed wings more since the game has changed to more backcourt play. Jazz scouts seemed to know more.

[The Rebel]

The ? is still on the training staff for the habitual injured. Barton and Harris also seem to be out last few years. Are they telling Malone they need to rest more or are their bodies not up to rigors of long seasons as they get older. Then Connelly should be made aware to trade when value is higher. The world knows MPJ is fragile with bad back. Did they try aquatic training to lesson strain on back while building up muscles. He pulled a miracle by getting thru season but the break between the season was shorter this year. Should he have given more rest before he went down. What did they drs convey to Malone

Those are questions that ownership and the front office should be asking. None of us really know what programs they are on.

I would argue that Harris's injuries all come directly from his hip injury in 2018, hip, knee and ankles are all going to have issues after a major hip injury. I would also argue that Barton has the same issue, and that is one reason I hoped that we would not re-sign him last summer.

Yes Connelly has gotten value in later picks but he never gets the same value on trades. He is forced to trade at worst times. With Beasley and Juancho, if you knew they were not going to resign trade in off season while you can get better value. Get players to sign non guaranteed for the end of bench, so you can rotate in others if not working out. Start using the GL now that you have an affiliate to develop end of bench.

Waiting too long to make deals has long been a complaint that I have. Beasley should have been traded the previous offseason, not just because they wanted to clear minutes for MPJ, but also because it was obvious he could be a good player and that Malone was never going to play him due to his issues on defense. When last season started and Malone decided that Bol was not getting minutes, why not trade him then? After another full year on the bench and I wonder if we can even get a late 2nd for him.

Using the G league for the end of the bench sounds good in theory, but the fact is we have 4-5 rotation guys out and are playing guys on a 10 day deal major minutes. If a guy cannot get minutes at this point than he should be traded or cut to sign someone that we need desperately now.

[The Rebel]

Are the injures the result of medical staff and strength coaches not preparing or spotting when players are risking injury.

Well, COVID still having an impact, teams not getting full training camps surely will take some toll, but to what degree. Nuggets aren't the only team dealing with it, but some seem better than our crew

There is blame for Connelly . Look at the players could have drafted, trading mitchell for end of bench, drafting bol and not trading him last year when he had value.

Easy to say, hindsight is ALWAYS 20/20, knocking TC over what COULDA/SHOULDA's isn't fair, no red flags were apparent before almost all his transactions. As far as trading Mitchell, I believe our goal was OG, Tor picked him just before our trade-back pick. Would you have complained had we got OG ??

The Nuggets had their starters for the front court and backups and bigs are easier to find cheaper as FA. They needed wings more since the game has changed to more backcourt play. Jazz scouts seemed to know more.

Mitchell isn't really a wing, he is another combo guard. At the time of the draft we had pre-injury Harris, Murray, Mudiay, Barton, and Beasley. There were clear arguments whether Harris was our best player when he injured his hip and arguments whether he was a better prospect than Murray, Beasley was a year removed from being a projected lotto pick who fell because of his knee injury, and was showing promise in very limited minutes while still rehabbing. I am not sure if Mitchell is a better player than Murray prior to his injury, and I am sure that he would not have been better than Harris if Harris did not get injured a year later.

We had plenty of young top end talent to develop at guard, what we did not have enough forwards with good talent to develop. Hell we were starting Wilson Chandler at SF despite it being obvious that his career was over after that 2nd hip injury. At that time the only forward we had on the roster under 27 years old was Juancho.

We had no need for Mitchell, and never would have drafted him if we kept the pick, it was Annunoby the entire time. This time Connelly tried to get cute by picking up a 2nd forward prospect they were high on and it bit them in the ass.

[blahblah312]

Well, COVID still having an impact, teams not getting full training camps surely will take some toll, but to what degree. Nuggets aren't the only team dealing with it, but some seem better than our crew



Easy to say, hindsight is ALWAYS 20/20, knocking TC over what COULDA/SHOULDA's isn't fair, no red flags were apparent before almost all his transactions. As far as trading Mitchell, I believe our goal was OG, Tor picked him just before our trade-back pick. Would you have complained had we got OG ??

The Nuggets had their starters for the front court and backups and bigs are easier to find cheaper as FA. They needed wings more since the game has changed to more backcourt play. Jazz scouts seemed to know more.

Mitchell isn't really a wing, he is another combo guard. At the time of the draft we had pre-injury Harris, Murray, Mudiay, Barton, and Beasley. There were clear arguments whether Harris was our best player when he injured his hip and arguments whether he was a better prospect than Murray, Beasley was a year removed from being a projected lotto pick who fell because of his knee injury, and was showing promise in very limited minutes while still rehabbing. I am not sure if Mitchell is a better player than Murray prior to his injury, and I am sure that he would not have been better than Harris if Harris did not get injured a year later.

We had plenty of young top end talent to develop at guard, what we did not have enough forwards with good talent to develop. Hell we were starting Wilson Chandler at SF despite it being obvious that his career was over after that 2nd hip injury. At that time the only forward we had on the roster under 27 years old was Juancho.

We had no need for Mitchell, and never would have drafted him if we kept the pick, it was Annunoby the entire time. This time Connelly tried to get cute by picking up a 2nd forward prospect they were high on and it bit them in the ass.

not so much Mitchell. More that the value in return is never the same as the value sent. The picks made are always better than what they end up being after a trade.