The Good Guys
Their adversaries
Nuggets vs Kings II: "King Me!"
If you are viewing the pre-game version of the TPM piece and you enjoy gonzo-basketball reporting, I invite you to please join me after the game where the same link will lead you to the post-game version. In it, all of the disjointed/unsightly blanks below will be filled, complete with data/analysis and more snark than "Snarknado VI: Snakenado", which I'm told is about a pessimistic, albino, black mamba who emerges from micro-bursts to torment the people of Los Angeles with shady tweets.
Also, my DIY music production and videos can be heard/seen here if you don't value your ear-balls & eye-drums.
Got it? Or as the immortal Syd Barrett might say, "Have you got it yet?"
I've also recently made a compilation of all of Pink Floyd's essential studio works, including solo projects of all five members, all in chronological order from '65-2017 which you can check out here.
And now what none of you come here for; how about some basketball nerdery?!?!
(After these messages... Er Nicknames)
Denver Nuggets Roster
| Name | POS | Age | HT | WT | College | Salary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
SF
|
29
|
6' 5"
|
181 lbs
|
Memphis
|
$13,723,214
|
|
 |
C
|
21
|
7' 2"
|
209 lbs
|
Oregon
|
$2,058,240
|
|
 |
PG
|
29
|
5' 11"
|
165 lbs
|
--
|
$3,200,000
|
|
 |
SF
|
23
|
6' 8"
|
236 lbs
|
--
|
$1,517,981
|
|
 |
PG
|
24
|
6' 6"
|
205 lbs
|
South Carolina
|
$1,762,796
|
|
 |
PF
|
30
|
6' 8"
|
227 lbs
|
Alabama
|
$7,199,760
|
|
 |
PG
|
19
|
6' 6"
|
176 lbs
|
--
|
$2,193,040
|
|
 |
SG
|
26
|
6' 4"
|
205 lbs
|
Michigan State
|
$19,610,714
|
|
 |
C
|
22
|
7' 0"
|
249 lbs
|
--
|
$1,620,564
|
|
 |
PG
|
21
|
5' 11"
|
180 lbs
|
Marquette
|
--
|
|
 |
C
|
25
|
7' 0"
|
284 lbs
|
--
|
$29,542,010
|
|
 |
PF
|
35
|
6' 7"
|
257 lbs
|
Louisiana Tech
|
$1,000,000
|
|
 |
PG
|
25
|
6' 2"
|
183 lbs
|
Iowa State
|
$1,588,231
|
|
 |
PG
|
23
|
6' 4"
|
215 lbs
|
Kentucky
|
$27,285,000
|
|
 |
PF
|
19
|
6' 11"
|
240 lbs
|
Arizona
|
$2,284,800
|
|
 |
PF
|
22
|
6' 10"
|
218 lbs
|
Missouri
|
$3,550,800
|
|
 |
SF
|
27
|
6' 8"
|
212 lbs
|
Georgetown
|
--
|
Coach: Michael "Post" Malone
Sacramento Kings Roster
| Name | POS | Age | HT | WT | College | Salary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
PF
|
21
|
6' 11"
|
235 lbs
|
Duke
|
$8,963,640
|
|
 |
SF
|
28
|
6' 8"
|
225 lbs
|
North Carolina
|
$22,215,909
|
|
 |
PF
|
32
|
6' 10"
|
234 lbs
|
--
|
$7,150,000
|
|
 |
PG
|
23
|
6' 3"
|
185 lbs
|
Kentucky
|
$8,099,627
|
|
 |
SG
|
23
|
6' 1"
|
167 lbs
|
Virginia
|
--
|
|
 |
PG
|
20
|
6' 5"
|
175 lbs
|
Iowa State
|
$3,831,840
|
|
 |
SG
|
28
|
6' 4"
|
220 lbs
|
Oklahoma
|
$24,701,834
|
|
 |
C
|
27
|
6' 10"
|
235 lbs
|
Bowling Green
|
$5,005,350
|
|
 |
SG
|
23
|
6' 7"
|
190 lbs
|
Wyoming
|
$1,517,981
|
|
 |
SG
|
23
|
6' 5"
|
230 lbs
|
Tulsa
|
$1,445,697
|
|
 |
PG
|
29
|
6' 3"
|
200 lbs
|
Texas
|
$12,600,000
|
|
 |
PF
|
25
|
6' 8"
|
245 lbs
|
Duke
|
$6,500,000
|
|
 |
SG
|
19
|
6' 3"
|
190 lbs
|
Texas Tech
|
$1,000,000
|
|
 |
SF
|
26
|
6' 6"
|
222 lbs
|
Michigan
|
$1,620,564
|
|
 |
C
|
31
|
7' 0"
|
265 lbs
|
Marshall
|
$1,620,564
|
|
 |
SG
|
21
|
6' 7"
|
235 lbs
|
Mississippi State
|
$1,500,000
|
Coach: Luke "Tiddy" Walton
Update: JaMychal Green and Greg Whittington will miss another one with a left calf strain and left knee sprain respectively. For the Kings, DaQuan Jeffries is in a quandary; that is he's questionable with a back ailment.
Re-up: Yes I'm aware that trades/acquisitions may have been made and the above roster and or coach for the opposing team may be inaccurate. Hopefully you are aware that the fan-post format isn't equipped to make adjustments to the above template so it often results in entire pieces being destroyed and or hours of work being lost. Simply put, it's not worth the additional effort/risk to change once the Nuggets have faced an opponent once. No disrespect intended. Tune in next season and I assure you the first time Denver plays your team, the roster will be up to date.
Re-re-up: Murray is a late scratch with an elbow bruise. I'm skeptical as to whether it's a cover-up for a concussion but either way, he should sit.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Data:
TPM™ Game 4 SAC
Nikola Jokic: +41
Jamal Murray: N/A
Michael Porter Jr: +16
Will Barton: +6
Gary Harris: +13
Paul Millsap: -4
Monte Morris: +20
Isaiah Hartenstein: -7
JaMychal Green: N/A
PJ Dozier : +8
Bol Bol: -5
Facundo Campazzo: +5
Zeke Nnaji: N/A
RJ Hampton: N/A
Vlatko Cancar: N/A
Greg Whittington: N/A
Markus Howard: N/A
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Total TPM™
Nikola Jokic: 4 games +181
Jamal Murray: 3 games +29
Michael Porter Jr: 4 games +41
Will Barton: 4 games +34
Gary Harris: 4 games +24
Paul Millsap: 4 games +20
Monte Morris: 4 games +39
Isaiah Hartenstein: 4 games -6
JaMychal Green: N/A
PJ Dozier: 4 games +11
Bol Bol: 3 games -13
Facundo Campazzo: 4 games +10
Zeke Nnaji: 2 games -5
RJ Hampton: 2 games +0
Vlatko Cancar: 1 games +0
Greg Whittington: N/A
Markus Howard: 2 games +0
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Avg. TPM™ Per Game
Nikola Jokic: +45.25
Jamal Murray: +9.67
Michael Porter Jr: +10.25
Will Barton: +8.50
Gary Harris: +6:00
Paul Millsap: +5.00
Monte Morris: +9.75
Isaiah Hartenstein: -1.50
JaMychal Green: N/A
PJ Dozier: +2.75
Bol Bol: -4.33
Facundo Campazzo: +2.50
Zeke Nnaji: -2,50
RJ Hampton: +0.00
Vlatko Cancar: +0.00
Greg Whittington: N/A
Markus Howard: +0.00
__________________________________________________________________________________________
TPM™ Per-Minute Splits Through Game 3: (temporarily last season's chart to allow time for new data)
*Credit DomP on the Spreadsheet. It's as if my (nerdy) baby (TPM™) learned to speak
Analysis:
Qtr1- The Nuggets go with their second starting five, consisting of Morris, Harris, MPJ, Millsap & Jokic. The Kings counter with Fox, Hield, Barnes, Bagley & Whiteside. I'm interested in seeing how the second unit functions with more traditionally sized / less-ball-dependent players like Facu/Bol in for Monte and PJ sliding out of the 4 to the 3. I've not been a fan of playing four ball-dependent guards + Monster as a hockey-line-change. Sheesh, enough with the hyphenated phrasing! MPJ gets the scoring underway with a baseline J. Jokic is cookin' as he has been in every game, and the good guys lead 8-2 at 9:53.
Denver is getting their hands in the passing lanes effectively. Does Barnes ever NOT travel? It's a game of runs in the early going and it's all knotted up at 16, as they head to their first commercial break with 6:30 to go. Barton is first off the pine for Denver at 4:40, trailing by one. MIllsap is struggling on the defensive end tonight. Facu is in at 2:30, as is PJ, leading by four. Jokic finally sits at 1:31 with a honey-sweet line of 8/3/6. Bol is in at 1:17, leading by four. He's replaced by Monster and the second line for Denver is in tact.
Denver is paced in TPM by Nikola Jokic: +15 as they lead 34-32 after one.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Qtr2- Facu looks FAR more comfortable than at any point previous, now that he's got a clearly defined role. Bol is really struggling to defend Nemanja Bjelica and it's once again even-Steven at the time of the first commercial break, 10:37. The bench on whole has been bad for Denver, though individually, Barton and Facu have been effective. It's still tied at 8:16 and Denver just is not the same with Jokic on the bench. I think we can expect to see the starting unit return after a commercial break at 7:21, with Denver trailing by one. That's the case, with the exception that Barton is still in there for 'Sap. Why are three point shots so difficult for Gary Harris?
MPJ with the body on Holmes! Millsap is in and immediately surrenders a three to Bagley. Morris is down as they head to another break at 5:22; Sacramento leading by six. Monte is remaining in so it apparently wasn't too bad of an ailment. Sacramento is 10-16 from deep! Meanwhile Denver has gone ice-cold and the Kings' lead is five with 3:20 remaining. MPJ earns his third foul and he's really making a lot of compound errors out there lately. Check that, it's his 2nd foul. Monte has no answer for Fox defensively. Sacramento leads by ten now with just under two minutes to go. MPJ/Monte/Joker are all in double digits for Denver. Bagley has 18 for the Kings and they now lead by 12.
Denver is paced in TPM by Nikola Jokic: +24 as they trail 74-62 at the half.
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Qtr3- Denver needs to dig deep from jump-street. No sense in saving anything in the tank with the next several days off. Big Honey has a 2D with 10/6/10, but the lead for Sacramento is also ten at 11:00. Bagley is really starting to get physical with Jokic in the post. MPJ snags a board and goes coast to coast, cutting the lead to 11, as they head to the first break at 9:12. Harris cuts it to eight on a jumper from the free throw line. The Nuggets are finally starting to show intensity. MPJ in particular has been active on the defensive end. Harris with the steal and layup cuts it to six and he's the fourth in double digits for Denver.
In so doing, he cut the lead to just one and forced Sacramento into a timeout at 6:22. I'd like to see Jokic get a bit more assertive on the black, as a scorer. He's missed only one shot tonight but has 12 points, to go with six boards and 11 dimes. Jokic with the &-1 and Denver leads! A three by MPJ makes it a four point lead for Denver at 5:15. Denver has been in the bonus since Hector was a pup and they are riding the gravy train. By the way, which one's Pink? Nikola is taking over and the lead is now seven at 2:30. MPJ with the three and the lead is ten. Jokic plays the entire third, and why not? Check that, he exits with seven seconds to play.
Denver is paced in TPM by Nikola Jokic: +39 as they lead 100-96 after three.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Qtr4- The bench unit plus MPJ is out there to open the 4th. The teams are trading buckets and Denver leads by four at 9:28. Two straight from distance for Sacramento cuts it to one and forces Denver to spend a timeout at 9:10. Jokic is back in after the break. Sacramento regains the lead on a layup by Fox. MPJ gets ticketed for his 4th foul at 7:11, trailing by one. Joseph is teed-off and T-ed up after a foul call at 7:03. Five straight for the Kings and they lead by that margin. Sacramento is the team playing with more urgency at the moment. Millsap enters at 5:14 and the starting five is in tact. Joker is one board shy of his 3rd 3D in four games, but Denver still trails by five at 4:3. A lot of uncalled clutching and grabbing is going on on the defensive end for Sacramento.
Is this the same officiating crew from opening night?An obvious flop on D for Sacramento and it's nervous time for Denver, trailing by seven at 3:50. Denver is absolutely ice-cold and you gotta think that late flight and the B2B game is catching up with them. I'm not sure why Millsap is out there to close after the game he's had. Not his night. The lead is nine at 3:25. Denver simply can't buy a bucket and Sacramento refuses to miss. No gas left in the tank and the lead is 12 with 2:20 to go. Jokic has his 3D of 26/11/12 at least. The lead is cut to seven with 1:30 on a layup by Morris. MPJ also has a 3D of 30/10/1. Jokic breaks the franchise record held by Fat Lever, and moves into sole possession of 8th all time in the NBA. A three by Hield at the 33 second mark ices it.
Denver is paced in TPM by Nikola Jokic: +41 as they run out of gas, losing for the second time to Sacramento, this time by the final score of 115-125
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Final Thoughts:
- This was a definite "age game" on the second night of a B2B for 'Sap.
- Malone had BETTER single out MPJ for his positive defensive adjustment in the second half, the way he has been his errors, in the presser.
- Fox remains very good
- I really dont enjoy the Nuggets playing this team.
-
1-3 start. Sub-optimal.
- The bench is broken.
-
First quadruple double for Jokic (10 turnovers)
_________________________________________________________________________________________
We Suck Again!
_________________________________________________________________________________________
For context pertaining to the statistical aspects of this piece, please open this link: TPM™
A brief statement with regard to this piece on whole:
As a means to avoid repeating myself I will include this descriptive diatribe in all TPM posts going forward.
Sure I like statistics; ever since I was a child collecting sports cards and later a pre-teen who ran pre-internet fantasy sports leagues on ink/paper/spreadsheet for the four major US pro-leagues, I've been fascinated by box-score stats but I'm by no means an expert.
I created TPM (which has been around longer than RPM incidentally and unlike them, I fully disclose my non-proprietary system and I contextualize the action rather than being a boring, mysterious, predictive metric) because it does add immediate and accessible context to what we see and what the numbers indicate, which I like.
While the data is meticulously tracked and demonstrably sound, I'm a creative type, not an engineer. Algorithm is the bane of my existence in fact. I'd far rather approach life with the intrigue of expected surprise than attempt to get to the bottom of why things are the way they are. There are many engineers in my family so I totally understand that joy can be derived from finding solutions to problems, I just can't relate. It's not fun for me. THIS is for the most part, not fun for me.
Now I'm a 43 year old man who was born during the season in which the team I love joined the NBA. I happen to have a lifetime of experience with this sport in several different capacities, including playing (highly underrated within the writing community) so I understand basketball theory in a way most (by no means all) pundits do not.
I was in this case interested in a data-driven approach, which if I'm honest has sapped nearly all fun out of taking in games for me. I get very few days/nights off during the season. One piece requires several hours of research and data entry and all tracking/analysis is done in real time and published mere moments after each game's completion, 82 times per year.
As such, the analysis portion is about 90% (I've run the numbers) creative writing with sarcasm generally indicated through italics, non-sequitur humor and hyperbole, in an attempt to steal back some of the joy this endeavor has snatched away.
Hopefully there is a little something here for everyone but if you came just for data or are averse to colorful language, this is not the place for you. I have no way of knowing how many people even read this so I'll not be affected even remotely if you choose not to indulge. For those of you who do, I greatly thank you for the support.
