Denver Nuggets Head Coach On Preseason

Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone reacts in the fourth quarter against the Phoenix Suns at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

The Denver Nuggets are still winless in this preseason, and after an overseas trip to Abi Dhabi and getting schooled by the backups for the Phoenix Suns, coach Michael Malone was not happy. He questioned their conditioning and habits, which was backed up by a couple of players as well including Michael Porter Jr. Can Denver find a gear to fix their 1-on-1 defense and play the whole 48 minutes against the Thunder? Or because they are seeing Oklahoma City next week to open the season, is this more of a “show nothing and let the reserves play” kind of game? Stay tuned – if you can find the game.

Coach Malone lamented Denver’s defense and its conditioning, and whether it’s the starters or the reserves getting the bulk of the minutes there is no doubt he has been harping on those two things since Denver’s latest loss. Will Denver come out on fire, or will they shuffle through the motions and save their energy for the regular season? Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon have a couple of leg tweaks between them, so deciding when discretion is the better part of valor when it comes to getting ready for the season is definitely a fine line. Russell Westbrook has opinions on how well the “flip a switch” thing works, but Denver won a title doing it so they may feel differently.

Peyton Watson being out has affected Denver’s defensive rotation. If Jamal Murray takes the night off for his knee that will affect Denver’s guard rotation. The PG issue behind Russell Westbrook still hasn’t been confirmed, so Trey Alexander and Jalen Pickett should both get chances to prove they deserve minutes. If a rotation looks bad, please remember that Malone is getting an example on video to prove WHY it’s bad and what can be done about it. Denver knows its expected starters – Malone said today that Braun compliments the starters and Strawther does the same for the bench and that the shooting guard competition for the majority of minutes is over. Strawther will get some minutes there, but Malone has that 5 locked down for the regular season opener. Getting minutes with the reserves, and filtering them in with starters to limit minutes doesn’t mean a ton in the fourth preseason game. Don’t do this crossword in pen just yet.

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