The final pre-season game for Denver before the '17-'18 season gets underway in earnest.
Pre-Game Thoughts: I personally don't get carried away by much that transpires in pre-season, however there is some intrigue involved in terms of the rotations coach Malone will trot out in the regular season, if indeed tonight's game serves as an indicator of that.
Will he stick to his plan of utilizing a 9 man rotation, and if so is that going to be fluid, game-to-game or static? Who does that leave out? With the apparent regular season starting five pictured above, it would seem that the positional battles will be between Nelson and Mudiay for the backup pg spot, and a combination of Faried, Juancho & Lyles to battle it out for the final rotational spot, with Barton and Plumlee being locks to play big minutes off the bench.
In my opinion, the 9 man rotation is more of a dream than a reality at this point, that will take hold as the season progresses, but if he is planning on going that route from jump street, Juancho would seem to make the most sense both for his (projected) ability to play both forward positions, as well as Faried/Lyles lack there of, but all of the coach's comments thus far seem to indicate that the Manimal has been caged and that Malone likes playing a combination of Lyles & Plumlee off the bench. We shall see.
Denver Roster:
Jameer "The Human Fire Hydrant" Nelson
Will "The People's Champion" Barton,
Juancho "Ironically, No Room For A Nickname" Hernangomez,
Kenneth "The Manimal" Faried
Trey "Bien" Lyles
Darrell "Darth" Arthur
Tyler "Not just Anunobody" Lydon
Nikola "Big Honey" Jokic
Mason "Plumdog Millionaire" Plumlee
Michael "Mr Imagination" Malone
Oklahoma City Roster:
Russell "Rocky Horror" Westbrook
Semaj "I Love Your Christ, But I Dislike Your" Christon
Raymond "Insert Fat Joke" Felton
Bryce "The Magnificent" Alford
Markel "Down Town Julie" Brown
Terrance "Thunder From Down Under " Ferguson
Carmelo "CarMElo AllforME" Anthony
Josh "Seriously, Who Is This?" Huestis
Steven "I Eat Hobbits For 2nd Breakfast" Adams
Update: The Blue Arrow appears to have won the starting gig, to the surprise of no one.
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Data: Open this link in a new tab for the definition of TPM™
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TPM™ Final pre-season game OKC
Jamal Murray: +6
Emmanuel Mudiay: +3
Jameer Nelson: -3
Monte Morris: N/A
Gary Harris: +9
Will Barton: +21
Malik Beasley: 0
Torrey Craig: 0
Wilson Chandler: -7
Juancho Hernangomez: -3
Josh Childress: N/A
Paul Millsap: -1
Kenneth Faried: +5
Trey Lyles: N/A
Darrell Arthur: N/A
Tyler Lydon: +3
Nikola Jokic: +19
Mason Plumlee: 0
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Total TPM™ starting Game 1 vs. Uta
Jamal Murray: 0 Games +0
Emmanuel Mudiay: 0 Games +0
Jameer Nelson: 0 Games +0
Monte Morris: 0 Games +0
Gary Harris: 0 Games +0
Will Barton: 0 Games +0
Malik Beasley: 0 Games +0
Torrey Craig: 0 Games +0
Wilson Chandler: 0 Games +0
Juancho Hernangomez: 0 Games +0
Josh Childress: 0 Games +0
Paul Millsap: 0 Games +0
Kenneth Faried: 0 Games +0
Trey Lyles: 0 Games +0
Darrell Arthur: 0 Games +0
Tyler Lydon: 0 Games +0
Nikola Jokic: 0 Games +0
Mason Plumlee: 0 Games +0
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Avg. TPM™ Per Game
Jamal Murray: +0
Emmanuel Mudiay: +0
Jameer Nelson: +0
Monte Morris: +0
Gary Harris: +0
Will Barton: +0
Malik Beasley: +0
Torrey Craig: +0
Wilson Chandler: +0
Juancho Hernangomez: +0
Josh Childress: +0
Paul Millsap: +0
Kenneth Faried: +0
Trey Lyles: +0
Darrell Arthur: +0
Tyler Lydon: +0
Nikola Jokic: +0
Mason Plumlee: +0
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Analysis:
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Qtr1- The predicted Nuggets' starting five is in place to begin. There is a lot of good hair on this year's team. OKC's iso style of offense makes tracking our defensive TPM relatively easy. 'Sap and 'Melo are goin' at it hard! Nuggets' offense is running smoothly but the shots aren't falling. 5:49 Melo gets his 2nd foul. 5:32 Sap gets his. Barton is the first off the bench at this point for Sap. Westbrook is still good at basketball. Jameer is the first pg off the bench. BOLLOCKS MALONE! Ally = still pretty. 16-3 run for OKC. Juancho is our 9th rotational player, if tonight is any indication. Zero movement without the ball now that Murray/Jokic are out. Big Honey is +9, head and shoulders above all Nuggets in TPM, as OKC is up 25-17 after one.
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Qtr2- 11:16 Sap gets his 3rd foul (a bad call on a charge). Fat Lever is in the house! 5 minutes into Jameeroball and there is still no movement without the ball. Barton gets two straight steals, yielding 4 straight points. This unit might have to create offense from gambling defense. Stout defense by Jameer on PG13 results in an airball. The Nuggets are now getting into more transition offense run by Plumlee, and it's resulting in points. Points, when stacked one upon another are a decent strategy for winning basketball games. Walking up and down the court and refusing to move on offense and defense, is not. Murray/Chandler/Jokic check in. Denver immediately starts playing actual basketball, but is still having trouble sticking shots. OKC leads 49-39 at the half.
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Halftime: Smoke break? Don't mind if I do!
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Qtr3- Torrey Craig starts the 2nd half in the place of Chandler. Denver comes out rather listless. 11-0 run to open the quarter for OKC. The Jameero effect has continued into the 2nd half. No movement with or without the ball. I can not possibly stress enough the negative impact this guy has on the "on court" play of this team. Sure, he's a great presence off the court, but it's time for some of the younger guys to assume that role so we can kiss his sorry ass goodbye. Barton checks in for Craig. Is Chandler injured? Adams already has 4 fouls at 6.00. In comes Jameer for Harris at 5:30, with the Nuggets down 16. Jokic with a 2d. Westbrook picks up his 3rd turnover. Meanwhile, Mudiay has zero turnovers thus far. Barton is carrying this unit on both ends as they cut the lead to 5. OKC's bench is dreadful! OKC leads 69-64 after 3.
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Qtr 4- The combination of Barton, Plumlee and Murray are playing spirited defense to make up for that of Juancho and especially Jameer. People calling for Beasley to play rather than Barton at this stage, are out of their minds. I would love to see what Mudiay could do alongside Murray against this shallow OKC bench. "A terrific rebound by Jameer Nelson" declares Marlowe, as is his wont, as the ball is clearly bouncing around in nobody's possession. Barton is STILL carrying the team as he splashes a three to close it to one with 6:30 to play. Faried checks in for the first time and immediately scores. This lineup is clearly fatigued and as a result OKC stretches the lead to 8. So much for seeing that 4th qtr lineup Malone promised, as Beasley, Craig & Mudiay check in with 5:20 to play. Mudiay immediately contributes a give and go bucket to Faried. PG13 and Huestis are drilling threes with impunity at this point and the result seems no longer to be in question. In comes Lydon at 2:20, down 14. and this one is ova! The Thunder are going to be a handful, bench or no bench. OKC wins 96-86.
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Final Thoughts- End the Janightmere! Start the season! Free Mudiay, then start the season! Anybody need a power forward?
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