Can the Nuggets figure out how to defend Houston's two offensive sets without fouling? When they foul can they get their $'s worth?
Pre-Game Thoughts: I predicted prior to the last game that the Nuggets would lose, followed by a win at Houston. That is just the way this season's Nuggets seem to operate. In order for this to happen, Denver must understand that Houston is an exceedingly difficult team to officiate due to James Harden's ability to "Draw" fouls, and because of this, we have to have an attacking mindset offensively, not one of attempting to draw fouls ourselves. THIS is what ACTUALLY draws fouls (sans superstar status.) Get THEM in foul trouble, before they can do it to us! For once, be pro-active in the game plan rather than reactive, Malone.
Shoot the ball with the idea of finishing. Don't waver mid-air, as they are just ok at defending the paint. Attack, attack, attack on offense, move without the ball, and with the ball, don't settle for bad shots, and defensively, for the love of all that is holy, can we PLEASE start hedging, rather than sagging on the P&R? That is precisely what Harden wants a defense to do. Hedge, and trap him if you are, as reported by Vic Lombardi during a commercial break, trying to get the ball out of his hands Malone! It's not rocket science (ba dum bum ching!).
As I pointed out last game, Houston has only two designed plays when facing this Nuggets squad:
#1 Harden penetrates, Denver's big sags defensively, Harden sees this and continues to penetrate, either scoring at the rim, or else if the center comes to him late and is caught in no mans land, he lobs it to Capella or Nene for an uncontested dunk.
#2 Houston (usually Harden) attempts to draw a foul (often on a 3).
As I also stated last time, Harden WILL draw fouls. When he does, let him know he was fouled at least, and elsewhere, clean up the perimeter close outs. Don't leap forward in the air, at least not directly towards the shooter, 'cause that is just asking for 3 ft's. Do as Murray did in the 2nd half last game. Cut your angle on the close out, and time your jump so you are leaping at the same time, but in a sideways angle from the shooter. As a 3&d pg in my playing days, I found nothing more distracting as a shooter. When someone jumps straight at you, not only is it easy to draw a foul, but it seemingly makes the target more in-focus.
Also, Houston is NOT going to be cold from the 3 with their raucous, home crowd behind them, so continue to play them tightly on the perimeter; shooting is a combination of technique, repetition, focus and above all confidence. Scramble and give effort in rotation, and expend energy defensively, while maybe sprinkling in planned iso when Barton and Murray (or Gallo and Chandler if they play) are in the game, to give our other players a chance to breathe on that end (they are humans who tire, not numbers.) The bread and butter still has to be moving without the ball, but if we can be effective 1/3rd of the time in iso, and run it about 1/4th of the plays, while giving maximum effort on d, a win can be had.
We simply can not afford to take any plays off, hustle wise on the defensive end against Houston, and expect to win. It's that simple. Offense is our strength, but our effort needs to be focused on defense.
Finally, the substitutions by Malone must come early and often in this one, both to keep the defensive hustle fluid, and to keep the distribution of players who inevitably will draw fouls, even. Jameer playing as much as he did (even though it was likely his best offensive game of the year), with his utter inability to defend, caused foul trouble across the board, since we were forced to hide him on less threatening players, exposing all other players to foul trouble. If Gallo, Chandler and Darth are out, this is the type of game we need to extend the bench (ala Pop. He's pretty good), and give both Mudiay and Hibbert some burn. You'll not convince me that 7'3 Hibbert is not still effective at deterring rim assault, in spurts.
Update: Darth, Chandler and Gallo are still out, due to exorbitant minutes on injury prone frames.
1st Half- Nuggets go with the same starting lineup as the last time these teams faced, 2 nights ago. Harden is cold to start, but passing extremely well. Jauncho is not having success defending Ariza, unlike last time. Barton in early to replace him. Jameer is playing no d, but unfortunately, he's "guarding" actual threats in this lineup, now that Ariza is getting going, and as a result he's -8 TPM at the 5 minute mark. Nuggets can't buy a layup. Jokic's passes are not crisp early. Hopefully he remedies it with a gorgeous outlet to Harris for 2. Jameer checks out at the 2:30 mark, a slight improvement over last game. Faried is the first player with 2 fouls for either team at the 2 minute mark. Nuggets are extremely careless with the ball tonight, against an excellent fast breaking team, and are down 13 already. 2nd unit, lead by Barton and Faried, are picking up the effort and closing out the 1st with energy at least. Harris is the lone player in double figures with 11. Barton drills 2 straight 3's to cut it to 7 at the end of 1, 35-28 Houston. MUDIAY CHECKS IN!!! I finally like an in-game move of yours Malone. This is one of the very few times all year that he and Murray are playing together. Nuggets cut it to 3 after just 1 minute of play. Murray becomes the 2nd player on either team with 2 fouls. Nuggets take a 2 point lead, on an and-one by Barton, on Beverly's 2nd foul, following a Mudiay 3. That roll of the dice I spoke of came 3 qtr's late Malone. Get him the fuck out of your doghouse already! 2 rookies, two 2nd year players and Barton are leading the charge for Denver. Murray seems to be running the point with Mudiay playing off the ball most often, interestingly. Houston retakes the lead, then Mudiay drills another 3 to reclaim it for Denver at the 7:30 mark. Harden and Ariza check in at the 7:15 mark. Harris returns for Barton, who played very well. Stunning, running one-handed bounce-pass by Jokic, yields 2 for Juancho. Capella picks up his 2nd foul at the 6 minute mark. Jokic has yet to score, but is certainly eyeing another 3d with 8 boards and 6 helpers. Ally looks smashing in her lavender, Princess-Leia dress. Murray stretches the lead to 4 with a 3 pointer at the 5 minute mark, followed by one by The Beard, and another by Juancho. Murray is starting to heat up. Juancho is the 2nd Nugget in double figures. Jameer enters at the 4 minute mark for Mudiay, up 6. Jameer finally contributes at the 3 minute mark, assisting on a Harris 3, his 18th point, keeping pace with Harden's 17. It is clear, that the only time Jameer should play tonight, is when he can be hidden on Beverly. Even at that, his mere presence dictates that Harden eventually ends up with a mismatch after every P&R, because he is unable to be involved in it. Faried and Murray for Denver, and Beverly & Capella for Houston, are the only players in foul trouble with 2, as 1st half closes, 65-62 Denver.
2nd half- Both teams sloppy to start the 3rd. Jokic grabs a rebound and goes coast to coast for an and-one, drawing a 3rd foul on Capella. Soon after he draws Capella's 4th, who's replaced by Nene. Jokic, who is really starting to assert himself on offense, is the 3rd Nugget in double figures. Beverly nabs his 3rd foul at the 6:30 mark. Nuggets take a 5 point lead with an and-one opportunity for Harris. Jokic is now just 3 assists shy of a 3d. Faried is in for Plumlee, & Barton in for Juancho at the 5:30 mark, up 5. Harris drills a three at the 4 minute mark, giving him 25. Jameer has got to come out! With Beverly out of the game, there is no one to hide him on and someone is ALWAYS open for a 3, particularly in transition; this time it's Ariza, who drills one and ties the game at 85 at the 3 minute mark. Malone, in his 2nd agreeable substitution tonight (his new single game record), heeds my request, and inserts Murray for him. 5 Rockets are in double figures, paced by The Beard with 25, at the 1:30 mark. Barton is the 4th Nugget in double figures. Mudiay is apparently in Malone's "Nurkic" dog house, where he is only available in the 1st half, no matter how impactful he is. Harden joins Jokic as the only players with a 2d, and then picks up his 4th foul, on a play in which he fouled 5 times, and still complained about it. The Nuggets youngsters, once again right the ship the very moment in which Jameer grabs a seat, and go into the 4th up 97-94. No Nuggets are in foul trouble, while Harden and Capella each have 4 for the Rockets. So glad to be wrong, as Mudiay enters the game to start the 4th. That makes a new inter-galactic record for Malone! Gordon immediately drills two threes to take a 3 point lead, and get the crowd riled up. Momentum is squarely with the Rockets after Beverly follows that up with a 3 of his own. All of this with Harden on the bench. It's amazing what a good crowd can do for a home team. Denver is struggling to rebound, despite Houston going small. Murray is the 5th Nugget in double figures. There have been an unusual amount of jump balls in this one. Nuggets can't buy a hoop, and Houston extends the lead to 6 at the 7:30 mark, as Harden checks in. Jameer also in, down 5. Harris cuts it to three at the 6 minute mark with a 3. He has a new career high with 28. Barton has an outside shot at a 3d with 18-6-8. Beverly is the 6th Rocket in double figures. Harden gets 3 ft's on Houston play #2, a foul on Harris. He sinks 2-3 ft's to stretch the lead to 5. Jokic draws Capella's 5th foul on Houston play #2, & sinks all 3 ft's, trimming the lead to 4. Jokic now has 20-13-7. Beverly stretches it to 7 with a 3 over Jameer, with 3:30 to play. Jameer comes back with a clutch 3 of his own. Harden and Jokic then trade 2's and Harden fouled Jokic another 3 times on that play, but of course, no call. Houston is up 4 with 2 to play, and Denver's ball. Juancho tips in a Jokic miss that is ruled offensive interference, reviewed & overturned, which imho was a bad call, but we'll take it. Harden drills a wide open 3 to make it a 5 point game, but Barton answers with one of his own. Barton ties it up with a layup with :40 to play, and has a chance to take the lead at the line. He calmly sinks it. Harden misses a layup, and Denver has the ball. Surprising to no one, Jameer pounds grass, Hoists up a patented Jameroball Air-ball, that is rebounded by The Beard, who takes it coast to coast, to take the lead, with just 2.4 to play. This play has GOT to be designed for Jokic to shoot! Learn from last game Malone, as you indeed have shown to in terms of substitutions. Not so, as Jokic inbounds a lob attempt to Plumlee, something you should do with .3 seconds or less, not 2.4, that he's unable to handle and Malone spoils perhaps his finest coaching effort as a Nuggets head coach, draws up a stinker, deftly snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Houston wins 125-124 and I want to vomit!
Final Thoughts- END THE JANIGHTMERE! Now if you'll please excuse me, I'm off to smoke 2 cigarettes at once. Jameer's TPM now sits at -3.83, while Emanuel "Dog-House" Mudiay's stands eerily at +3.83. Creeeeeeepy! Also, unfortunately, due to Malone, sss.
