Denver at Utah. 2017-18 game 1. "The Janightmere endeth!" aka "Free Mudiay!"
Pre-Game Thoughts: Despite the painful loss of Gordon Hayward (too soon?), this Utah squad is still highly formidable, particularly on defense, where they are lead by a rare, point-of-attack defensive ace in Ricky Rubio, and likely the best defensive stopper in Rudy Gobert. That, in and of itself, will keep them competitive, but when you throw in a (finally?) healthy Alec Burks, the always clutch Joe Johnson, the steadily improving Rodney Hood and the all around talent of Joe Ingles, there is no reason not to consider this Jazz squad amongst the myriad playoff eligible teams in the western conference and SLC is ALWAYS a harsh environment in which to attempt pilfering a road victory.
The Nuggets would be wise to play with pace whenever possible, and try to get easy points before the defense can set up, and will have to communicate defensively, because while offense (particularly shooting) should not be a strength for Utah this season, they have a number of players who are streaky and capable of finding the zone. Denver has to play solid defense, first and foremost, create offense from defense, and just let the offense flow in sets, by moving with or without the ball, to allow the creativity of Jokic, Millsap. Barton and Murray to flourish.
Denver Roster:
Will "The People's Champion" Barton,
Juancho "Ironically, No Room For A Nickname" Hernangomez
Richard "The Dragon Slayer" Jefferson
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
Utah Roster:
Raul "Neat-O!.. R Pronounced H!" Neto
Nate "Don't Call Me Rex" Wolters
Rodney "Mr. Rodney's Neighbor" Hood
Donovan "Lyles/Lydon" Mitchell
Thabo "The Swiss Army Knife" Sefolosha
Derrick "I'll Do You No" Favors
Rudy "The Stifle Tower" Gobert
Tony "Stop Dunking! Shawn Is No Relation, I Swear!" Bradley
Update: Exum is out for Utah. Rodney hood is a late scratch as well, replaced by Donovan Mitchell. No reported injuries for Denver
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Data: Open this link in a new tab for the definition of TPM™
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TPM™ Game 1 Uta
Jamal Murray: +3
Emmanuel Mudiay: +8
Monte Morris: N/A
Gary Harris: +19
Will Barton: +16
Malik Beasley: +6
Torrey Craig: N/A
Wilson Chandler: +1
Juancho Hernangomez: -5
Richard Jefferson: N/A
Paul Millsap: +4
Kenneth Faried: +0
Trey Lyles: +0
Darrell Arthur: N/A
Tyler Lydon: N/A
Nikola Jokic: +0
Mason Plumlee +2
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Total TPM™ starting Game 1 vs. Uta
Jamal Murray: 1 Games +3
Emmanuel Mudiay: 1 Games +8
Monte Morris: 0 Games +0
Gary Harris: 1 Games +19
Will Barton: 1 Games +16
Malik Beasley: 1 Games +6
Torrey Craig: 0 Games +0
Wilson Chandler: 1 Games +1
Juancho Hernangomez: 1 Games -5
Richard Jefferson: 0 Games +0
Paul Millsap: 1 Games +4
Kenneth Faried: 1 Games +0
Trey Lyles: 1 Games +0
Darrell Arthur: 0 Games +0
Tyler Lydon: 0 Games +0
Nikola Jokic: 1 Games +0
Mason Plumlee: 1 Games +2
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Avg. TPM™ Per Game
Jamal Murray: +3.00
Emmanuel Mudiay: +8.00
Monte Morris: N/A
Gary Harris: +19.00
Will Barton: +16.00
Malik Beasley: +6.00
Torrey Craig: N/A
Wilson Chandler: +1.00
Juancho Hernangomez: -5.00
Richard Jefferson: N/A
Paul Millsap: +4.00
Kenneth Faried: +0.00
Trey Lyles: +0.00
Darrell Arthur: N/A
Tyler Lydon: N/A
Nikola Jokic: +0.00
Mason Plumlee: +2.00
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Analysis:
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Qtr1- Lets do this! Denver starts the '17-'18 season with the expected five of Murray, Harris, Ill-Will, Sap & Big Honey. Utah counters with Rubio, Mitchell, Ingles, Favors and Gobert. No alarms and no surprises. It's Chandler early and often, but he just can't convert anything. Plumlee and Barton are first off the bench at 5:45. Sap gets his 2nd foul at 4:25 and is forced to exit. Hood apparently had the good ol' ugly-butterfly tummy initially, but he's in there now. In addition to his backup center duties, Plumlee appears to have won the backup pf positional battle, between Juancho, Lyles & Faried. Denver's most impressive contribution came from the 2 guard position, specifically Harris and Barton, and Denver leads 30-21 after one.
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Qtr2- Juancho and Faried are in to start the 2nd. So much for that 9 man rotation I questioned Malone utilizing in his pre-season rhetoric; we are up to 10 already. Barton is en fuego! The 2nd unit + Jokic seems to be an abject failure defensively. They need to stagger that lineup with 2 starters imho. Ingles is hit with his 2nd foul at 8:30. Utah is on an 8-0 run. Denver inserts Murray and Harris at 7:00 and immediately goes on a 7-0 run of their own. I didn't allot enough space on my pad of paper for Barton, but I'm not complaining. Ingles is sneaky-good at finding himself open behind the 3 point line. Back in my playing days, this used to be one of my specialties; catching my defender with his head turned, and when he returns his eyes to me, I'm nowhere to be found. Drove people nuts! It's why I always preach, a defender should always use peripheral vision to eye both the ball handler, AND the man they are guarding. Nurkic is extraordinary at this, and Sap seems to be as well, but no one else on this Nuggets squad seems to understand the magnitude of this very simple trick. That's on the coaching staff. Needless to say, Rubio is going to enjoy playing with Joe Ingles. Utah is now starting to get in a flow with their Rubio-led P&R game, and cut the deficit to 3. Barton is now running the point for Denver, along with the starters. I like it! THIS is why we don't need no stinkin' Jameeroball. Malone wisely replaces Sap with 1 to go, to protect him from foul trouble. Jokic is already nearing a 3d. Harris is an impressive +15 TPM. Barton is 7-8 from the floor, 3-3 from downtown and 4-4 from the line, and an INSANE +23 TPM, as Denver leads 58-49 at the half.
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Halftime: Smoke break? Don't mind if I do!
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Qtr3- Hood is in to start the 3rd for Utah. He must have eaten some of that tainted lettuce that I hear has been goin' around. Denver is looking very good from three point land. The Favors/Millsap match up has been very fun so far, but Favors is starting to get the better of the exchanges. Ingles gets his 3rd foul at 7:45. It's good to see Murray starting to "Get a Rhythm", as Johnny Cash might say, offensively. Jokic's defense doesn't appear to have improved in any measurable way in the off season, but Gobert is a tough match up for him, or anyone really. Utah is starting to pick up the defensive intensity. Favors nabs his 3rd foul and takes a seat. Malone must be reading along as they make a line change, but leave Harris and Sap in this time with the bench unit. Gorgeous drive and dish from Mudiay to Plumlee. Plumlee returns the favor to Mudiay, these two have palpable chemistry. Joe Johnson banks in a desperation three to end the period, but Denver still leads, 83-78
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Qtr 4- Utah is feeding off the momentum of that crazy heave by J.J. and they cut it to one within the 1st minute. It's crazy how something as non-quantifiable as momentum can play such an enormous role in basketball, but sometimes it is everything, and comes from out of nowhere. Barton has not been as effective in the 2nd half; that is to say he is no longer unconscious. Due to his uneven game, my Barton TPM numbers read like a baseball score card after September call-ups, in a game where there were several anomalies (outfielder involved in a triple play, gratuitous substitutions etc. Lots of red ink, so to speak). The refs are letting Utah get away with some physical play, but if that's the case, Denver needs to counter-punch, metaphorically speaking of course. Calm down Sap. Utah is on an 11-2 run. Barton has been noticeably bad defensively in this half. Jokic is completely out of sorts, as is the team on whole. Where is the timeout Malone? It finally comes, but not until Utah takes a 9 point lead, after a 17-2 run. Favors gets his 4th foul at 8:30. Malone needs to sub Murray in for Barton, like, yesterday. Plumlee gets hit with his 5th foul at 7:00. Murray comes in, but Barton remains. Utah is already in the bonus, with 5:00 yet to play. Jokic has also been a non-factor in the 2nd half. Denver can't buy a hoop, and aren't moving enough to earn one. Utah is getting all of the momentum calls at this point, as is usually the case in the NBA. The Jazz are on an inexcusable 27-3 run, and lead by 16 with less than 4:00 to play. Malone, rightly removes the listless starters with a little over 1:00 to play and that's a wrap. A couple of late three's by Mudiay lure the score into having the appearance of an outcome far more contentious than the actual end result, as Utah wins, 106-96.
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Final Thoughts- Momentum is everything. A tale of two halves for The People's Champion. Mudiay should have gotten some burn earlier in the 4th when it was apparent that Rubio was affecting the play of Barton and Murray. Same old in-game coaching mistakes by Malone. When will the Jazz rename their team to something more appropriate to Utah? Something (aside from Raptors, obviously) involving dinosaurs would seem fitting imho. Polygamasourae? Hell I dunno.
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