The official Denver Nuggets thread.

[beastlyskronk]

Yep. I was very excited for the Nuggets at the start of the season, but that enthusiasm has fallen off a cliff. I don't see the Nuggets making the playoffs; MAYBE as an 8 seed, but guess who they will play first --- the Lakers.

They’ll make the playoffs, probably anywhere from 4-6. Right now the team is in a funk because Harris and Dozier are out and Murray is fighting through a myriad of injuries. Jokic is doing all he can to keep us in it offensively but our perimeter defenders just aren’t able to hold up for us to really build or keep a lead.

Basically it boils down to this, we’re never going to make the jump from fringe contender to legit contender as long as we have so little length on this team. Jokic is someone we have to hide on defense and we don’t get longer and stronger on defense we can’t do that. Milsap is a 6’8” PF maybe and he’s losing athleticism, we doubled down with another aging 6’8” maybe PF behind him. MPJ and Barton are long and good off ball defenders but they’re also candidates to be head hunted on defense. And I’m not convinced MPJ will ever be a serviceable on ball defender, maybe it’s the back surgery he had but he looks very stiff and mechanical in everything he does on the court, even on offense. Still an incredibly beautiful jump shot though. Morris, Harris, and Murray all generally stay in great position but none of them are really long enough to bother teams top shooters and Morris isn’t strong enough to keep them from getting where they want to be.

Dozier is really the only guy who can really (potentially) be a game changing defender night in and night out but he’s still young and inconsistent on that end. RJ Hampton plays with a lot of energy though and is super athletic, if he does get stronger he can potentially be a great defensive piece. And it’s great that he’s getting minutes while we’re missing guys because the quicker he gets adjusted, the quicker we can package some guys off and find a longer strong wing defender.

[beastlyskronk]

It’s gonna be tough for Jokic to get a double double tonight at this rate. He’ll hopefully be sitting the whole 4th quarter so he’s got roughly a quarter to get 5 more assists or 6 more rebounds

[beastlyskronk]

Well there’s the double double with 1:30 left in the 3rd. Was cutting it close there

[beastlyskronk]

Back to back posters by Nnaji and Hampton. These young kids are playing really well tonight

[DenverBlood]

Random side note but as a man who grew up despising all rivalries who wore red with the exception of loving the Avs I’m not a fan of this recent trend of the Nuggets wearing red.

I grew up a Buffs fan so I hate Oklahoma and Nebraska. Both red.

I’m an Avs fan so I hate Detroit. Red.

I’m a Broncos fan so I hate the Chiefs. Red.

Turned into an Auburn fan when my family moved in high school. Absolutely despise Alabama. Red.

Nuggets have never really had a rival that wears red but still not a fan of us doing it.

[beastlyskronk]

Coming out tonight looking like we expected this to be an easy win. Settling for bad jump shots

[lvbronx]

Random side note but as a man who grew up despising all rivalries who wore red with the exception of loving the Avs I’m not a fan of this recent trend of the Nuggets wearing red.

I grew up a Buffs fan so I hate Oklahoma and Nebraska. Both red.

I’m an Avs fan so I hate Detroit. Red.

I’m a Broncos fan so I hate the Chiefs. Red.

Turned into an Auburn fan when my family moved in high school. Absolutely despise Alabama. Red.

Nuggets have never really had a rival that wears red but still not a fan of us doing it.

I hate the red uniforms...and of all the local teams the Buffs have the best colors by far.

Tough win tonight. The silver lining was RJ. We got lucky with the goal tending at the end of the 3rd quarter, which was really the difference in the game.

[beastlyskronk]

I’m so impressed with Zeke Nnaji. I didn’t expect much but he has been lights out with his recent run of minutes. Maybe, just maybe, he’ll impress everyone enough to package some guys for a borderline all star player

[beastlyskronk]

Very interesting that Bol Bol didn’t get any playing time in this blowout especially when you consider that Hampton and Nnaji have become solid contributors while Harris, Dozier, and now Barton have missed time

[DenverBlood]

Looks like the Nuggets were the immediate benefactors of the leagues warning to the lakers about flopping. Got to the line 13 more times.

not taking anything away from the Nuggets on that. Solid three point shooting. But it doesn’t hurt to have play them right after that warning.

[lvbronx]

Very interesting that Bol Bol didn’t get any playing time in this blowout especially when you consider that Hampton and Nnaji have become solid contributors while Harris, Dozier, and now Barton have missed time

Maybe more telling is Cancar getting playing time over Bol...it doesn't make sense to me unless Bol is in the dog house for some reason or they've totally given up on him.

[beastlyskronk]

Maybe more telling is Cancar getting playing time over Bol...it doesn't make sense to me unless Bol is in the dog house for some reason or they've totally given up on him.

I’m beginning to think they see him as too big of a project. Obviously he’s super athletic and long and can do things a guy his size shouldn’t be able to, but either his basketball IQ is extremely low (makes sense given how little he’s actually played throughout his career) or he’s content to just rely on his natural gifts.

I think he’s got to be on the trade block

[Bronco51]

Joker with 39 of the 75 points thru 3 quarters. They need a consistent Robin to his Batman. Murray ain't it. He is consistently inconsistent.

[beastlyskronk]

Joker with 39 of the 75 points thru 3 quarters. They need a consistent Robin to his Batman. Murray ain't it. He is consistently inconsistent.

I don’t think it’s really Murray that’s the problem. Especially last night when it was just Murray, Jokic and our g league team.

Right now the team relies on Jokic for everything. Murray is the only other person that can create for himself outside of the occasional Milsap bulldozer. But when Murray is out there without Jokic there’s no one to take attention off of him which is where he really struggles and it’s why he’s been used as a 2 guard in those situations. But Murray is still adding to his game which is good. His little post up is nice, now he just needs a counter because it’s always a fade away jump shot.

But no one else has really stepped up. At least not the people we had hoped for. MPJ’s plan to score is still the same as when he came in, just shoot over the top of people. And he is really starting to seem uninterested in being a 3rd or 4th option as he’s doing more and more standing around and half the time he’s bobbling passes because he isn’t paying attention. Barton is still to frail to finish at the rim consistently and his jump shot has always been hit or miss. Harris started to find his stroke from the lower wing down but who knows how long it’ll take to get going again once he finally comes back.

Dozier and Morris have really been our best tertiary scorers. Dozier 3 ball was getting consistent before the hamstring and he generally finishes well around the rim, but you can tell he’s still unsure as he’s driving whether he should facilitate or score but that should get better as he settles into being a wing player and not a point guard. Morris is always steady, he’s never really going to put up a lot of points himself but he finishes well and can knock down open shots and gets everyone involved while protecting the ball. But these guys are our bench right now at least until Hampton and Nnaji get up to speed.

Tricky thing is, we need Harris for defense and Barton provides an extra ball handler to do the 2 man game with Jokic so it isn’t always Murray. Right now we should probably be looking to package Barton, Bol Bol, and at this point even MPJ for a legitimate scoring threat on the wing. But the question is who? I’d have argued for Wiggins awhile back but GS isn’t letting him go now. Julius randle maybe? Buddy Hield might be a good option for scoring especially as a 3rd option but he’s not good defensively and probably can’t give you many minutes at the 3 but Malone is also trotting out lineups with Murray at the 3 and Green at center so who knows

[darryn16]

I don’t think it’s really Murray that’s the problem. Especially last night when it was just Murray, Jokic and our g league team.

Right now the team relies on Jokic for everything. Murray is the only other person that can create for himself outside of the occasional Milsap bulldozer. But when Murray is out there without Jokic there’s no one to take attention off of him which is where he really struggles and it’s why he’s been used as a 2 guard in those situations. But Murray is still adding to his game which is good. His little post up is nice, now he just needs a counter because it’s always a fade away jump shot.

But no one else has really stepped up. At least not the people we had hoped for. MPJ’s plan to score is still the same as when he came in, just shoot over the top of people. And he is really starting to seem uninterested in being a 3rd or 4th option as he’s doing more and more standing around and half the time he’s bobbling passes because he isn’t paying attention. Barton is still to frail to finish at the rim consistently and his jump shot has always been hit or miss. Harris started to find his stroke from the lower wing down but who knows how long it’ll take to get going again once he finally comes back.

Dozier and Morris have really been our best tertiary scorers. Dozier 3 ball was getting consistent before the hamstring and he generally finishes well around the rim, but you can tell he’s still unsure as he’s driving whether he should facilitate or score but that should get better as he settles into being a wing player and not a point guard. Morris is always steady, he’s never really going to put up a lot of points himself but he finishes well and can knock down open shots and gets everyone involved while protecting the ball. But these guys are our bench right now at least until Hampton and Nnaji get up to speed.

Tricky thing is, we need Harris for defense and Barton provides an extra ball handler to do the 2 man game with Jokic so it isn’t always Murray. Right now we should probably be looking to package Barton, Bol Bol, and at this point even MPJ for a legitimate scoring threat on the wing. But the question is who? I’d have argued for Wiggins awhile back but GS isn’t letting him go now. Julius randle maybe? Buddy Hield might be a good option for scoring especially as a 3rd option but he’s not good defensively and probably can’t give you many minutes at the 3 but Malone is also trotting out lineups with Murray at the 3 and Green at center so who knows

Absolutely agree with this. It's almost like the rest of the team is standing by and watching Jokic to see what he will do. No help equals inconsistency and getting bounced from the playoffs; IF they make it.