The official Denver Nuggets thread.

[Houshmazode]

This team has done a terrible job of getting our players ready to play, and Malone is still a terrible coach.

[sra84]

Malone is not the coach to get us a championship. This team quit in the second half.

[beastlyskronk]

Any word on why Murray didn’t play after playing the scrimmage?

[58_VONDOOM_92]

Any word on why Murray didn’t play after playing the scrimmage?

Hamstring. Sounded not serious. Probably could have played

[the0rangecrush]

From what I've heard players are fatigued from only having 7 or 8 players in the ramp up. Guys had a ton of wear. Doesn't excuse lack of hustle, but guys are overworked or not ready since a bunch just got here.

[lvbronx]

From what I've heard players are fatigued from only having 7 or 8 players in the ramp up. Guys had a ton of wear. Doesn't excuse lack of hustle, but guys are overworked or not ready since a bunch just got here.

Missing 3 starters, all ball handlers, doesn't help either. The local reporting is, with no home court, we are no longer playing for the best possible record. We're entirely focused on getting ready for the playoffs and finishing #6 or above to avoid playing the Lakers or Clippers in the first round of the playoffs. As posted above, Murray has a mild hamstring and probably would have played under other circumstances.

[beastlyskronk]

Whew boy this officiating.

Chris Paul reached out and hit Milsap with a push/pull pass rush move and they hit Milsap with the foul

[Bronco51]

MPJ was outstanding today

[the0rangecrush]

Whew boy this officiating.

Chris Paul reached out and hit Milsap with a push/pull pass rush move and they hit Milsap with the foul

Millsap gets sooo little Respect from the refs.

[beastlyskronk]

Jokic and MPJ looked great today. Milsap was steady. I hope 8 games is enough time for these refs because there were more terrible calls than usual.

Outside of that there wasn’t much going for us. The bench still has the same issues. I really wish they could get a guy in there that can take the ball away from Plumlee, his bull in a china shop routine is way past stale and kills our momentum. Morris needs to be more aggressive, good things happen when he attacks the basket and he has a sweet pull up from the mid range.

I would’ve hoped with Grant taking up some minutes at SF we’d try to utilize the size mismatch but that never happened, even when he had Gilgeous-Alexander on him with 5 fouls for almost an entire quarter. He needs to develop a post game in the worst way because his handle isn’t good enough for him to create his own shots which leads to Plumlee getting too much of the offense ran through him.

Bol Bol got rejected in embarrassing fashion, but he followed that up with a nice 3. Unfortunately Chris Paul started hunting him in transition so Malone took him out for the rest of the game. He’s definitely lacking a feel for the game but that’s to be expected.

[beastlyskronk]

MPJ is going to be special so long as he’s healthy. He has a complete offensive game whether it be creating his own looks, playing off the ball, or attacking the boards for clean up opportunities, he will be a menace for defenses. He’s still developing the passing part of his game, but he still shows tremendous flashes there. And he probably won’t ever be great screening but with the gravity his offensive game generates he doesn’t really have to set punishing screens. He played a good game on defense today too, utilizing his length to really make it tough on the offense, if he can maintain that level on that end Malone shouldn’t cut his minutes.

[lvbronx]

Shannon talking about MPJs game last night....

[beastlyskronk]

MPJ picking up where he left off with 10 in the first quarter, 3/3 from deep

[lvbronx]

How many starts has MPJ had? I think it's 4 or 5. I know he's had 19, 30 and 35 in three of them and didn't play well the first bubble game. But for a rookie his numbers are really impressive.

[beastlyskronk]

The Morris/Jokic 2 man game is incredible. Teams gravitate towards Jokic and Morris is so patient that he can almost get to the rim before having to make a decision to shoot or pass and when Jokic pops out he can get some real easy drives.

Also the on court chemistry between Dozier and Grant that is developing is fun to watch too. That might be something to look into in the slog that is the playoffs. I can only hope Malone doesn’t cut the rotation so short to where Dozier never gets on the court, I think I’d rather him be in than Craig at this point. We at least get another ball handler and he has great length for playing defense and getting boards.