Isn't this Malone's 2nd year?

Gentry gotta be fired tomorrow right? They're about to be 0-8

you forgot the best part where to address their terrible defense he put rambis in charge of it. this coming a few days after i think it was melo said a big problem was they only practice against the triangle which no one plays so their preparation on defense is basically useless. he really could give a **** less about the knicks and only gives a crap about his ego

Yessir, but this offseason they completely changed up the way they guard the PnR. Malone's gripe was that they tended to overhelp and allow too many swing swing wide open 3s. So they made it more of a two man game and started dropping the bigs back and icing the PnRs ftmp. This concedes pull-up but makes it difficult to get a drive and kick 3.

The change was pretty stark if you look at the shots they are giving up now, they are near the league lead in 3pa and 3pfg% allowed, and are now near tops in 2 point jumpers allowed.

And they've done this sans two of their best defenders Gary Harris and Darrell Arthur. Add it all up and as of this morning they were 8th in total defense after finishing around 28th last year, all while playing the most difficult opening schedule ITL. There will probably be some regression, but given what we have seen and the youth on the roster I could see them actually being a good defense in a couple years.

I expect Wiggz/Barnes retractions to be made soon

Probably Barnes. Wiggs I have generally said is awesome at individual scoring, but he really blows in almost everything else. He hit the boards which is nice, but how can a player take that many shots and not pass the ball? It makes his team really easy to defend imo, and I really think there is some meta stuff that makes the players around him try less hard on defense while being less involved on offense makes them play worse.

I have nothing tangible to back this up, but then I watch Lebron play and think otherwise.

I still take a lot of 3+D guys like Midds/KCP over him for that team, and yes I may be stupid. (Although I bet JTM agrees). I have a real disdain for high-usage guys who can score well but not shoot or pass, I don't think we've seen them be that successful in a team environment unless they are in the Mark Aguire/Adrian Dantley role, and even then that could be getting phased out.

Also here is an article on the Nuggets change in defense this year. I've been trying to post less Nuggs stuff this season so just ignore unless you are really bored.

i am def surprised by barnes dropping 30pt games on the reg and his handle looks vastly improved, but he's making a lot of tough shots and is doing nothing outside of scoring. i expect him to finish the season with pretty meh stats

Been rebounding better. Also a good & versatile defender. Most noticeably impressive thing about him is his footwork. He really reminds me of Kobe operating from the mid-range wrt footwork (obv not nearly as effective).

Biggest wart is his passing, or lack thereof, which I think will be hugely helped by playing with Dirk & being coached by Carlisle. He missed so many passes tonight facing up but I just think it's not something he ever was taught or had to do. In HS/college he could score on anyone, then he went to a team where he was mostly spotting up. He may never turn into an actual good passer, but I do believe he'll eventually become a more willing passer.

On the handle bit, the Mavs brought in God Shammgod on the staff. I guess it's paying off.

lol that's awesome

Malone was ridiculous in that last shot yesterday. Play Faried as your tallest guy on the floor when the only possibility is a weird alley oop attempt

Also why did Gallinari guarded the inbound, instead of the guy with the biggest wingspan in the Denver roster ?

Not fouling down 2 with 25 seconds to play was also really stupid from Tyronne Lue

NBA coaches are WOAT at managing the last seconds of a close game

I haven't watched much Pelicans this season but has Buddy Hield been as bad as his numbers look? He's last in the league in 3 pt % (obvious small sample for a high variance stat) but what's more surprising is that he hasn't been getting to the line at all. He was not very good in summer league or preseason either. I greatly disliked him as a prospect but still didn't expect him to be this bad.

I thought this way at first, but then I read some twitter stuff that made a bit more sense.

Faried is their best "max vert" guy and probably their fastest at making up ground. Gallo is also longer than Jokic but not Nurk. If you know it's going to be a lob then obviously you put a big in the paint and park him, but .7 seconds is plenty of time to get a catch and shoot provided the shooter isn't moving at the time. Putting a guy like Jokic in there kind of guarantees that Gasol gets a catch&shoot, and that's worse than the chance at a lob.

The issue I have if any was not having Nurk guard the inbounder as he is their biggest space eater, but he also may have been concussed that game because he was never the same after Jarnell knocked him out.

Hield has been horrendous two games I've watched.

Heild and Dunn have been atrocious

Murray has shot bad but he's looked great otherwise... and now he's starting to find his range. I see a lot of Chris Jackson in his game geoff.

I think my third favorite team (behind Denver and the Cleveland GOATS) might be Brooklyn. They play so hard and together, it's quite fun to watch. Sean Marks and especially Kenny Atkinson have done a great job with very little imo.

Also, Sean Kilpatrick may be this years Will Barton/Robert Covington. Looking at his stats it makes you wonder how Minnesota and Denver didn't keep him on their roster, he was actually decent for them last year... It's crazy how a player in a position of need like that can slip through the cracks. He seemed like such an awesome teammate last year in Denver, and I was pumped when I found out he got a guaranteed deal for this year... and next year he will be vastly underpaid. What a perfect situation to land in.

Embiid via Twitter:

Well America is tanking!!! All we can do is Trust The Process...

Embiid is absolutely amazing with words.

Embiid for president.

glad barnes is doing well and hope he continues to excel, but he's due for some shooting regression

a brilliant light admist the darkness

Horford still out with a concussion. Has he played 75+ games in a season ever?

Watching Atlanta/Cleveland, man Dwight is looking pretty amazing defensively despite appearing to be a bit on the pudgy side. I wonder if it's an indictment on Harden/McHale that Dwight didn't play this well for Houston?

I've read on Golden State of Mind and Denver's blog that both teams should look into a trade involving something like Klay for Nurkic+Faried a couple of their talented wings, for example Gary Harris and Wilson Chandler. As awesome as Klay is and as much as that improves Denver, I think making a trade like that pretty much hands Golden State the title for the next 5+ years. If Denver's end-game is to contend, then that seems like a dumb move.

Not that Klay would be traded anytime soon, but in a mythical world where no team has feelings for their players I could see that working.

Seems like something you could have taken 30 seconds to work out.

Is Leo Trollstoy? I remember him being a delusional homer more than a Boston badger.