![]() ![]() Michael Porter, Jr heard the criticisms and attentions to his past game, and spent his recovery time in Study Hall, learning more of the defensive game while he was down so he could become a more complete player as he worked his way back into game shape. Nugget is an oft-underrated key to this season’s overall success. When Murray and MPJ were finding their sea legs, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Bruce Brown were still learning what Jokic-Ball made truly possible, Gordon was the second fiddle and stalwart through the first third of this Nuggets season, carrying them until they started getting the larger offensive engine to truly fire. Whatever summer school AG went to deserves a 50 in its own right, as AG has been a man possessed on the defensive side of the ball all season and all playoffs long, and contributing on the offensive end as a former-first-and-now-often-fifth option. The love and latitude Malone showed his fiery on-court avatar is now paying off in spades, with Murray buoying Denver on a few occasions with his incendiary scoring.Īaron Gordon took a look the mirror after a season-plus with Jokic and was man enough to realize he still had some basketball IQ to gain. After two years of toil and reconstruction, Jamal built his game and his bravado back brick by brick, playing through some of the bumps and bruises a younger Malone might have struggled to watch in a regular season campaign. Jamal Murray lifted himself back from the doubt of a difficult injury return to the pivotal sand burr of a point guard he’d shown himself to be pre-injury. Who knew you’d find a giant gem amongst the crap you thought you might be sifting through? Finding a Jokic in the second round is the equivalent of stumbling upon the Hope Diamond while digging out the space for your septic tank. ![]() He leads the league in the postseason in category after category, a humble little star from a humble little town outshining all those first-round diamonds. After an MVP-worthy regular season campaign, his two highest scoring games of these playoffs have been two of Denver’s three losses, and he is still somehow wildly outperforming every other player on the stage at this stage. Ruminate on how complex a task that is, and marvel that Nikola somehow yet again made it look effortless. Two-time (and we biased folks think maybe shoulda been three-time) MVP Nikola Jokic took a set of capabilities that had just earned him All-Galaxy recognition, and somehow bumped it up a notch while Porter and Murray worked their way back into the fold. Now that every game counts, Denver seems to have answers on the defensive side of the ball that give their opponents difficulties no matter what they attempt. What that prescient thought has returned is a team that got a full season to learn exactly how to pull their “string” on defense, transitioning from a bottom-10 defensive squad at season’s beginning to a top-10 version after the All-Star Break, up until they did some coasting into the playoffs. GM Calvin Booth had a vision that surrounded Joker with defenders who could turn around and have a boat-raiser like Jokic raise all of their collective shooting averages in return. While there have been numerous players stepping up in waves around superstar Nikola Jokic, Coach Mike and his crew have straight up coached their asses off in the first two rounds, and have left the very talented Chris Finch and Monty Williams very much in the dust. Whether that statement was the first domino in the chain of this season, or simply a bellwether of the arc they already knew they were on, the tone was set for this year at every level of the organization.Ĭoach Michael Malone further stretched his growth curve as a leader, expanding his thinking around past inflexibilities like rookie play, platoon replacements, and more to improve on his abilities and give himself a bevy of options that dismantled his first two series opponents. on the horizon, team President Josh Kroenke made it known before the offseason truly started that this year had a single goal that would make it a success: the organization’s first championship. If the former Bull Moose Party leader knows anything about anything, these Denver Nuggets and their fanbase must have a lot of belief, because for better and for worse, the team is halfway there.Īt the close of last season, and with the looming returns of Jamal Murray and Michael Porter, Jr. “Believe you can, and you’re halfway there.”
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