Their other shooting guards – Austin Rivers and Bryn Forbes – were either defensive stoppers or 3-point specialists. But as glaring as those faults were, many were a result of the fact that he was the only real wing on the Nuggets’ roster last season and they were severely compromised due to injuries. There were lapses on defense, including badly timed missed box-outs, and other times when he’d submarine possessions on offense. Among the starters, that was usually a better outcome than if the ball found Gordon or Jeff Green late in the shot clock. As one of the only Nuggets with an ever-present attack mindset, he would more often than not be the outlet when defenses swarmed around Jokic. For Barton, now 31, that comes with the territory. Yet Barton, whose 14.7 points per game last season narrowly trailed Aaron Gordon (15) for second-most on the team, drew the lion’s share of the criticism when things went wrong. But they weren’t ready, and that’s all there was to it.Digital Replica Edition Home Page Close Menu “They weren’t able to play this year and that was tough for a lot of people to understand. “It’s really an important offseason for both those guys,” Malone said. Malone said his expectations for Murray and Porter next season are “just to take it slow and not expecting ‘bubble’ Jamal Murray and not expecting ‘peak’ Michael Porter right away.“
NUGGETS BASKETBALL FREE
Malone added that “the best perimeter defenders are tough dudes” and he has two on his roster in forward Aaron Gordon and guard Austin Rivers, a pending free agent along with center DeMarcus Cousins, guards Bryn Forbes and Facu Campazzo and forwards Vlatko Cancar, Davon Reed and Markus Howard. Malone said “to be a dangerous, deep playoff team you have to have an elite defense, and that’s one of the areas we have to really focus on.” “That’s a bad combination if you struggle to guard the ball on the perimeter and you don’t have Dikembe Mutombo blocking shots behind you.” We were 29th in blocks per game,” Malone said. “And then in the half-court, our inability to guard one-on-one, contain the ball, led to a lot of rim attacks and I think we were 30th in opponents’ rim field-goal percentage. We as a coaching staff have to come back and prove we can find ways to help this team.”ĭuring the season, Malone noted, Denver allowed 17 1/2 points per game on turnovers, “so we fuel teams’ breaks, we give them easy baskets.“ There’s the draft, trades and free agency, Malone said, “but I always tell our players they have to come back better players. “We have to capitalize while we have a special player in Nikola and do everything that we can as an organization - and I know we will - to put the best players around him to give ourselves the best chance to win the world championship.”
We have a 27-year-old phenom who will hopefully soon be named a back-to-back MVP.
NUGGETS BASKETBALL WINDOWS
“We have a window and I think windows are only open so long.
“Everybody wants to just say, ‘Well, it’s just Michael and Jamal coming back healthy.’ And that’s just a starting block, but it doesn’t end there,” Malone said. Malone called this “a huge offseason” for the Nuggets, who aim to surround Jokic with the proper supporting cast to capitalize on his prime years. The Nuggets lost to Golden State in five games in Round 1 of the NBA playoffs with their two max players looking on in street clothes from the bench. Thanks to an historic season by reigning MVP Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets won 48 games despite Murray missing the entire season while recovering from ACL reconstruction and Porter missing the final 73 games and the playoffs following back surgery. back on the court.ĭenver’s coach said Wednesday the Nuggets need to vastly improve on defense, whether that’s through attitude adjustments or player acquisitions. DENVER (AP) - Michael Malone says the Denver Nuggets realize they won’t transform into NBA title contenders simply by getting Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr.
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