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Post by scooter on May 22, 2024 11:21:45 GMT -5
agreed. Dallas just won two straight series' without homecourt advantage and they have every reason to be confident against the Tpups. Malone gunning for a top seed resulted in exactly jack s**t. I agree as well. Malone’s old school approach and mentality has its pluses and minuses. On the plus side, Malone is at heart a tough, gritty, NYC guy and some of that filters down to his team. On the flip side, he’s such an NBA lifer that — because he has spent so many years in and around the league — he sometimes is slow to grasp changes going on in the league. We know the stats about how only top regular season teams advance and home teams win game 7s and all that but stats are based on the past and the league has more parity — and maybe more injuries — now than in most of its past. Malone needs to adapt a bit and ease up just a bit in some regular season games. |
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Post by GBG on May 22, 2024 11:55:31 GMT -5
Pickett should have been the backup PG in ten games, and RJ should have been DNP in those ten games, playing 72 rather than 82 games. Then, we’d know if Pickett has anything to offer even though we’d lose a couple more games this way.
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Post by JB on May 22, 2024 11:57:40 GMT -5
no team has ever won a title without utilizing their bench and riding their starters in the manner the Nuggets did this season.
the closest was the Heat and they had perhaps the greatest athletic supehero in his absolute prime, a slightly past-his-prime but still effective D-Wade, Bosh who went from franchise player to MPJ-role and a revolving door of ringchasers ranging from Ray Allen to Birdman.
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Post by wizardofcozz on May 22, 2024 11:58:57 GMT -5
Pickett should have been the backup PG in ten games, and RJ should have been DNP in those ten games, playing 72 rather than 82 games. Then, we’d know if Pickett has anything to offer even though we’d lose a couple more games this way. I've never been a big Pickett guy, didn't really like the pick to begin with, but 100% agree with this. He at least deserved a chance to showcase what he could do. |
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Post by GBG on May 22, 2024 12:06:23 GMT -5
Pickett should have been the backup PG in ten games, and RJ should have been DNP in those ten games, playing 72 rather than 82 games. Then, we’d know if Pickett has anything to offer even though we’d lose a couple more games this way. I've never been a big Pickett guy, didn't really like the pick to begin with, but 100% agree with this. He at least deserved a chance to showcase what he could do. And what was the point of giving him a standard contract rather than a two-way, if they knew all along he’d be a benchwarmer and only would see garbage time? I’m not huge on Pickett either, but if you’re gonna give three drafted rookies precious roster spots on mulityear deals, you sure as hell better play them some to see if they are a part of the future. The mismatch between Booth and Malone on this developmental strategy is glaring. |
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Post by famicommander on May 22, 2024 12:39:12 GMT -5
Pickett couldn't even handle full time PG duties at the G-League level. They played him next to CG and Andrew Funk as much as they could to mitigate his ball handling misadventures. Whenever Pickett was on the court the entire offense was designed around limiting exposing his dribble to defenders.
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Post by wizardofcozz on May 22, 2024 12:43:08 GMT -5
Pickett couldn't even handle full time PG duties at the G-League level. They played him next to CG and Andrew Funk as much as they could to mitigate his ball handling misadventures. Whenever Pickett was on the court the entire offense was designed around limiting exposing his dribble to defenders. Wasa an absolute wasted pick, but RJ isn't the answer either imo. So something is going to have to give ata some point. I'm not sure there is an internal answer. I think CG can absolutely be our 3rd string PG and play the spot in a pinch 10-15 games this year. But we need another creator on this team. |
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Post by TNF on May 22, 2024 13:15:33 GMT -5
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Post by famicommander on May 22, 2024 14:44:05 GMT -5
This is an absolutely brutal quote: "I think Malone will have to play them. Hunter and Julian, these guys can manufacture points on their own. And I like the balance between Jamal and Jalen, who has been basically Joker Lite wherever he’s been. What happens when Jalen goes out there with Jokic and the ball’s moving around with both of those guys? It’s going to be like San Antonio with Boris Diaw.” - Calvin Booth Jalen Pickett is Joker Lite? Yikes. He was the 4th best player on our G-League squad this year (after Gillespie, Key, and Huff; just ahead of Tyson). |
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Post by JB on May 22, 2024 14:58:58 GMT -5
Calvin is basically admitting with that quote that he deliberately constructed the roster to force Malone's hand in playing his draft picks.
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Post by GBG on May 22, 2024 15:01:38 GMT -5
This is an absolutely brutal quote: "I think Malone will have to play them. Hunter and Julian, these guys can manufacture points on their own. And I like the balance between Jamal and Jalen, who has been basically Joker Lite wherever he’s been. What happens when Jalen goes out there with Jokic and the ball’s moving around with both of those guys? It’s going to be like San Antonio with Boris Diaw.” - Calvin Booth Jalen Pickett is Joker Lite? Yikes. He was the 4th best player on our G-League squad this year (after Gillespie, Key, and Huff; just ahead of Tyson). For what it’s worth, one of my close friends who is a Penn State alum, follows their program, and is a Nuggets season ticket holder raved about Pickett to me last summer too. Didn’t say he was Joker Lite, but completely believed that he’d earn a rotation spot, eventually supplanting Jackson. Did Booth go to Penn State too? |
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Post by famicommander on May 22, 2024 15:16:40 GMT -5
This is an absolutely brutal quote: "I think Malone will have to play them. Hunter and Julian, these guys can manufacture points on their own. And I like the balance between Jamal and Jalen, who has been basically Joker Lite wherever he’s been. What happens when Jalen goes out there with Jokic and the ball’s moving around with both of those guys? It’s going to be like San Antonio with Boris Diaw.” - Calvin Booth Jalen Pickett is Joker Lite? Yikes. He was the 4th best player on our G-League squad this year (after Gillespie, Key, and Huff; just ahead of Tyson). For what it’s worth, one of my close friends who is a Penn State alum, follows their program, and is a Nuggets season ticket holder raved about Pickett to me last summer too. Didn’t say he was Joker Lite, but completely believed that he’d earn a rotation spot, eventually supplanting Jackson. Did Booth go to Penn State too? Yes, he went to Penn State. And he tried to give Pickett every advantage, bringing in his college backcourt mate in Andrew Funk to play in Grand Rapids with him. I am quite sure I watched more Jalen Pickett minutes than anybody else on this site this year and I can say that I see why people like his passing, and I believe he has a chance to be a decent shooter. I just have never seen a point guard with such limited ball handling in the past. It truly was an offense entirely constructed around giving him outlets if anyone put pressure on his dribble, anywhere on the court. |
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Post by TNF on May 22, 2024 15:55:24 GMT -5
In the limited amount I've observed Pickett, your thoughts are right on. The guy can shoot...and pass...but he can't bring the ball up the court.
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Post by famicommander on May 22, 2024 16:28:29 GMT -5
A high dribble, slow feet, and small hands is a bad combination. He can learn to lower his dribble and he can improve his footwork and the angles he takes, but he'll always be slow and small.
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Post by GBG on May 22, 2024 16:57:42 GMT -5
A high dribble, slow feet, and small hands is a bad combination. He can learn to lower his dribble and he can improve his footwork and the angles he takes, but he'll always be slow and small. Not that this is important, but when I was reading about Pickett after we drafted him, I recalled something strange about his game. In his two years at Penn State, he didn’t have a single slam dunk. As if he is just not athletic enough to leap for a dunk, or possibly his small hands means he’d turn it over and not finish the dunk, and he’s smart enough not to try it. One needs to grip a ball to dunk it. In any event, I thought that was weird, and points to Pickett having limitations on expanding his skillset. Maybe this is why Booth referred to Jalen as Joker lite. Both perform below the rim. |
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Post by famicommander on May 22, 2024 17:08:55 GMT -5
A high dribble, slow feet, and small hands is a bad combination. He can learn to lower his dribble and he can improve his footwork and the angles he takes, but he'll always be slow and small. Not that this is important, but when I was reading about Pickett after we drafted him, I recalled something strange about his game. In his two years at Penn State, he didn’t have a single slam dunk. As if he is just not athletic enough to leap for a dunk, or possibly his small hands means he’d turn it over and not finish the dunk, and he’s smart enough not to try it. One needs to grip a ball to dunk it. In any event, I thought that was weird, and points to Pickett having limitations on expanding his skillset. Maybe this is why Booth referred to Jalen as Joker lite. Both perform below the rim. Collin can dunk and Pickett is marginally taller with a marginally better vertical, so I would think if he can't dunk it's not a verticality issue. Might be a grip thing, might be a confidence thing, who knows. |
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Post by TNF on May 22, 2024 17:08:58 GMT -5
I too remember that. Did Dre dunk? If so it was rare. Pickett has been compared to Dre. If he was as good...ever...we'd be lucky to have him. Dre was one of my all time Nugget favorites. Loved his game and his training regimin was classic stuff. Too bad that idiot Laker coach Shawful dissed him.
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Post by GBG on May 22, 2024 19:45:07 GMT -5
I too remember that. Did Dre dunk? If so it was rare. Pickett has been compared to Dre. If he was as good...ever...we'd be lucky to have him. Dre was one of my all time Nugget favorites. Loved his game and his training regimin was classic stuff. Too bad that idiot Laker coach Shawful dissed him. Miler was my wife’s favorite player. |
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Post by passtheballquick on May 22, 2024 20:27:13 GMT -5
It took Jamal 4 years to learn how to play with Jokic and now if we're going to wait until the youngsters learn how to play we're doomed. If Kroenke's allow that fuc* them. I'll appreciate Malone more if he never plays them
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Post by wizardofcozz on May 22, 2024 20:45:28 GMT -5
It took Jamal 4 years to learn how to play with Jokic and now if we're going to wait until the youngsters learn how to play we're doomed. If Kroenke's allow that fuc* them. I'll appreciate Malone more if he never plays them Is it really that hard to play with Jokic? It should be easy! |
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