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Post by freakns on Apr 20, 2023 6:47:11 GMT -5
MPJ whips ass and is only going to get better. The injury concerns are scary but there's nothing we can do about it now. Just pray he stays healthy. His athleticism coming back this year has been so cool to watch. Dude is also clutch as f**k. He's building quite a clutch playoff resume. Clippers shot. Blazers shot. Tonights 4Q. Big time player. day we drafted him I wrote he is the guy that will carry us over the hump. without him, this team is not no1 seed and championship contender. what I am surprised is how much he has grown mentally. in two games, he has taken only 24 shots(50%) and has 17 rebounds. Jokic, for example, has 23, Gordon has 15. he also has biggest +/- in this two games(+28). tonight he was guarding KAT few times and he wasn't getting cooked. again, people who don't look Nuggets will claim he is big defensive liability, which he isn't. just like Jokic, if he is engaged, his only issue are smaller players who can drive past him. but almost every big man has that problem. and we already seen he can recover enough and block guys from behind. his biggest issue in defense was missed rotations and lazy plays, and he is past that this season. he is not Giannis, but he is far from being weakness...
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Post by Coach Sticky on Apr 20, 2023 7:17:36 GMT -5
Agree man… MPJ has really taken a BIG jump in terms of maturity and defense.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2023 8:24:08 GMT -5
Only concern is Malone's "coaching" lol. We can't survive on a 7-man rotation. Get DAJ and Braun in there - that recipe created a 30 point win 3 nights ago. Malone's "coaching" will always be an issue
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Post by Ring on Apr 20, 2023 8:56:31 GMT -5
MPJ is my guy. Love him. Wish he was a bigger part of the offense because he's an incredible scorer.
He was pretty rough defensively last night though. Off the ball he was f***ing up rotations quite a bit. Game 1 he was better but still a little rough. He has to tighten up mentally and just get back to reading the rotations properly.
It's not going to kill you in this series (or LAC for that matter so GO LAC) but MPJs PnR defense is going to get murdered against the Suns unless he improves. If you're trailing on Chris Paul, Devin Booker or KD they're going to mid-range you to death or just go downhill at Jokic who is going to have to trail. MPJ has to be better and much more physical in a PnR heavy series.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2023 8:57:40 GMT -5
I would like to see both Braun and Watson get minutes on Ant in game 3
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Post by Ring on Apr 20, 2023 9:01:26 GMT -5
Also to be clear, Malone has been fantastic in this series. The only complaint I have about his series so far is he's playing Bruce too much and Christian not enough. Edwards is way too big and strong for Bruce and that showed last night. He cooked him in the post, off the dribble and in the PnR. Totally got Ant going and he's a player similar to Jamal who can heat up fast.
Brauns length should be utilized on Edwards. Bruce is way too small.
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Post by Coach Sticky on Apr 20, 2023 10:26:53 GMT -5
I wouldn’t mind throwing Payton Watson on Ant for 4-5 minutes next game just to make him work work
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Post by TNF on Apr 20, 2023 11:19:53 GMT -5
My notes - I couldn't be happier with the win because it helped with 2 things that will be critical to this run: 1. Minny punched us hard in the face, in the 3rd quarter. We had to get off the mat and fight - and did just that. Good to have a test like that in the first round. 2. MPJ finally took initiative. Normally, MPJ has saved his best for when Jokic is with him - but this time, he took the ball and put us on his back. This bodes excellent for the rest of the playoffs, because invariably, there will be times that Jokic and Murray are on tired legs (like tonight). Not worried about Jokic. My fav 'amateur' commentator is Ray Martinelli, and his analysis on Twitter is that Jokic is purposely avoiding the double-team trap the Wolves are trying to set. As long as others can score, Jokic doesn't need to playmake as much. It's a good thing - he won't get tired out during the run. Overall - if Jokic needs to go into Destroyer-mode, he will - the situation hasn't called for that (and hopefully wont until round 2 or 3, really). Only concern is Malone's "coaching" lol. We can't survive on a 7-man rotation. Get DAJ and Braun in there - that recipe created a 30 point win 3 nights ago. This.
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Post by scooter on Apr 20, 2023 11:27:01 GMT -5
I really want a sweep to show we’re serious FOR f***ing ONCE Just take Game 3. One game at a time. Game 3 I think is the one where Jokic really needs to step up. He's the one that can basically single handedly steal you a road game. He's due. 27/9/9 is plenty good for me. Against the only team in the NBA with 2 all-star seven footers including the 3x DPOY who is huge, I don’t expect Jokic to increase his scoring aggression. It was running the court that got the Nuggets their big first half lead last night, and in my mind playing fast and moving the ball should be an emphasis against a very big TWolves team. Also, Porter is 6-12 on threes through the two games and I’d to see the Nuggets run some more actions for him, as his court spacing gravity can make the offense easier for everyone and force the TWolves to cover ground defensively. Being in Denver for the last 2 weeks should help the Nuggets aerobic conditioning and I’d like to see them take advantage by pushing the pace, spacing the court and moving the ball quickly on offense. It was awesome that Murray was red hot in this game, but I don’t think its a great idea for him to get too ball dominant now, for both short and medium term reasons.
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Post by nuggetshipster on Apr 20, 2023 11:29:54 GMT -5
Only concern is Malone's "coaching" lol. We can't survive on a 7-man rotation. Get DAJ and Braun in there - that recipe created a 30 point win 3 nights ago. Malone's "coaching" will always be an issue Coaching will always be an issue for most fans. No matter the coach
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Post by nuggetshipster on Apr 20, 2023 11:30:39 GMT -5
Agree man… MPJ has really taken a BIG jump in terms of maturity and defense. I legit only remember you and me not having a meltdown when MPJ was injured. Cheers
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Post by nuggetshipster on Apr 20, 2023 11:31:15 GMT -5
Also to be clear, Malone has been fantastic in this series. The only complaint I have about his series so far is he's playing Bruce too much and Christian not enough. Edwards is way too big and strong for Bruce and that showed last night. He cooked him in the post, off the dribble and in the PnR. Totally got Ant going and he's a player similar to Jamal who can heat up fast. Brauns length should be utilized on Edwards. Bruce is way too small. Agreed!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2023 11:31:28 GMT -5
Malone's "coaching" will always be an issue Coaching will always be an issue for most fans. No matter the coach One of the few times, I will agree with you ...the point being Malone should not be coaching a team with NBA championship aspirations ...he belongs in the G League, WNBA or at best a team like the Pistons, Charlotte Hornets
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Post by scooter on Apr 20, 2023 11:32:58 GMT -5
I’d like to see Nnaji get on the court and get playoff acclimated a bit.
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Post by scooter on Apr 20, 2023 11:36:44 GMT -5
Malone's "coaching" will always be an issue Coaching will always be an issue for most fans. No matter the coach Coaching is an issue with fans of basically every team in every sport.
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Post by freakns on Apr 20, 2023 11:48:56 GMT -5
Agree man… MPJ has really taken a BIG jump in terms of maturity and defense. I legit only remember you and me not having a meltdown when MPJ was injured. Cheers neither have Jimijam nor myself.
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Post by rock on Apr 20, 2023 11:51:16 GMT -5
I'm old enough to remember NBA fans laughing at the thought of Jokic being better than KAT. Yeah but who would you rather have? Okafor or jokic?
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Post by Coach Sticky on Apr 20, 2023 12:01:19 GMT -5
Agree man… MPJ has really taken a BIG jump in terms of maturity and defense. I legit only remember you and me not having a meltdown when MPJ was injured. Cheers MULTIPLE BACK SURGERIES
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Post by LotharBraunBrownBryant on Apr 20, 2023 12:04:12 GMT -5
I legit only remember you and me not having a meltdown when MPJ was injured. Cheers neither have Jimijam nor myself. Also me. Like, yeah, I would consider a trade centered on MPJ and OG because I think having another really good defender who is adequate offensively *might* have a better chance going deep in the playoffs than having a great shooter who has become adequate defensively. But I don't think we need to get value out of him rn just because I fear he's going to have another injury. It's frustrating when he is injured, but then, Jamal is an ironman who missed a whole season due to kind of a fluke thing, and there have been plenty of other NBA players who missed significant time because they tore something or broke something when they weren't considered "injury-prone" players, they just landed bad or had a bad collision.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2023 12:09:28 GMT -5
I’d like to see Nnaji get on the court and get playoff acclimated a bit. Yes, along with Watson, Bryant, Reggie Jackson ...more minutes for Braun
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