The Good Guys
Their adversaries
Nuggets vs Wolves I: "Keep that mo"
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 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
Dallas Mavericks Roster
 |
SG
|
22
|
6' 7"
|
216 lbs
|
Colorado
|
--
|
|
 |
PG
|
24
|
6' 1"
|
190 lbs
|
Villanova
|
$1,663,861
|
|
 |
PG
|
28
|
6' 0"
|
185 lbs
|
Michigan
|
$3,000,000
|
|
 |
C
|
27
|
7' 0"
|
240 lbs
|
Kentucky
|
$4,100,000
|
|
 |
PG
|
21
|
6' 7"
|
230 lbs
|
--
|
$8,049,360
|
|
 |
SF
|
27
|
6' 7"
|
220 lbs
|
Florida
|
$4,000,000
|
|
 |
SG
|
20
|
6' 6"
|
210 lbs
|
Arizona
|
$2,816,760
|
|
 |
SG
|
28
|
6' 5"
|
205 lbs
|
Michigan
|
$18,975,000
|
|
 |
SG
|
21
|
6' 5"
|
210 lbs
|
Houston
|
--
|
|
 |
SF
|
26
|
6' 7"
|
195 lbs
|
Kansas State
|
$1,678,854
|
|
 |
PF
|
33
|
6' 7"
|
240 lbs
|
Wake Forest
|
$16,047,100
|
|
 |
PF
|
28
|
6' 10"
|
240 lbs
|
--
|
$8,325,000
|
|
 |
C
|
32
|
7' 4"
|
290 lbs
|
--
|
$3,500,000
|
|
 |
C
|
29
|
6' 10"
|
240 lbs
|
Stanford
|
$11,080,125
|
|
 |
SG
|
27
|
6' 5"
|
200 lbs
|
Tennessee
|
$10,865,952
|
|
 |
PG
|
20
|
6' 2"
|
170 lbs
|
Stanford
|
$1,289,846
|
Coach: Rick "The Mask" Carlisle
Update: Greg Whittington will miss another one with a left knee sprain. For the Mavs, KB is nearing a return and Trey Burke has the creeping crud.
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.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Data:
TPM™ Game 8 DAL
Nikola Jokic: +32
Jamal Murray: +32
Michael Porter Jr: N/A
Will Barton: +1
Gary Harris: +6
Paul Millsap: +7
Monte Morris: +2
Isaiah Hartenstein:+3
JaMychal Green: +2
PJ Dozier : -2
Bol Bol: N/A
Facundo Campazzo: N/A
Vlatko Cancar: N/A
Greg Whittington: N/A
Markus Howard: N/A
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Total TPM™
Nikola Jokic: 8 games +324
Jamal Murray: 7 games +148
Michael Porter Jr: 4 games +41
Will Barton: 8 games +40
Gary Harris: 8 games +39
Paul Millsap: 8 games +38
Monte Morris: 8 games +57
Isaiah Hartenstein: 6 games -1
JaMychal Green: 4 games +43
PJ Dozier: 8 games +5
Bol Bol: 3 games -13
Facundo Campazzo: 7 games +34
Zeke Nnaji: 3 games -5
RJ Hampton: 4 games -3
Vlatko Cancar: 2 games +0
Greg Whittington: N/A
Markus Howard: 3 games +0
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Avg. TPM™ Per Game
Nikola Jokic: +40.50
Jamal Murray: +21.14
Michael Porter Jr: +10.25
Will Barton: +5.00
Gary Harris: +4.88
Paul Millsap: +4.75
Monte Morris: +7.13
Isaiah Hartenstein: -0.12
JaMychal Green: +10.75
PJ Dozier: +1.00
Bol Bol: -4.33
Facundo Campazzo: +4.86
Zeke Nnaji: -2.50
RJ Hampton: -0.03
Vlatko Cancar: +0.00
Greg Whittington: N/A
Markus Howard: +0.00
__________________________________________________________________________________________
TPM™ Per-Minute Splits Through game 7:
*Credit DomP on the Spreadsheet. It's as if my (nerdy) baby (TPM™) learned to speak
Analysis:
Qtr1- The Nuggets go with their opening night starting five, consisting of Murray, Harris, MPJ, Millsap & Jokic. The Mavs counter with Doncic, Smith, Richrdson, Kleber & WCS. TNT/ESPN announcers are always insufferable (Dorris Burke excluded, of course.) Tonights TNT tandem is amongst the more tolerable, in Hill/Anderson. WCS appears to have crawled out from downtown Denver's civic center tent city in time for tip-off. He gets the scoring under way for the adversaries. Barton with two quick fouls, is replaced early by Dozier at 9:23 of a tie game. This results in a six point run for the good guys and a timeout by Dallas. 'Sap is absolutely pummelled en-route to the hoop but nothing is called. Denver is highly focused and energized in the early going and they lead by seven at 6:24. Boban sets to check in; something that rarely happens this season, so aparently coach Mask hasn't forgotten what Bobi does to Jokic.
Morris is in at 3:58, along with Green. It's even-Steven on the strength of a 12-3 run by Dallas. Jamal is called for a foul as he backs nto a pick. I'm not sure how that's a foul on either player, but if it's on one of them, shouldn't it be the guy who sees it coming? Monster is in for Denver at 2:10, trailing now by three. The offense has been dreadful for both squads, so Malone should be over the moon. Denver takes the lead on a three by Green with under a minute to go. Excellent first period for Jamal Murray, though he's called for a questionable blocking foul in the waning seconds. Malone is challenging it. I like these early challenges sometimes as it gives the officials pause for the rest of the game, if overturned. This rule needs loopholes closed and there should be one challenge per half, however. Malone is successful in a challenge for the second straight game, and Murray nails a 40 footer at the buzzer. He's first to reach double digits for Denver.
Denver is paced in TPM by Jamal Murray: +21 as they lead 25-22 after one.
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Qtr2- The defensive rotations have been as good as at any point in this young season, for the Nuggets. Barton checks back in at 10:33, leading by eight. Monster with a swat worthy of the nickname I've ascribed to him. He's doing excelent dirty-work in the paint tonight. God am I glad Reggie Miller or Mark Jacksons voices are not on my tv right now. Monster quickly and predictibly earn his third foul, and he's replaced by Big Honey. Barton drills a three and the Nuggets lead by 11 heading into a break at 7:27. Millsap returns and the starters are in tact. Doncic's entire game is foul seeking, at least on this night. Not great strategy for NBA longevity.
Jokic is getting absolutely pummeled inside but getting no respect from the refs. WCS has his 3rd foul at 3:24 and he checks out. Denver leads by ten at 3:24. Dallas is starting to play defense for the first time with 2:27 to go, trailing by nine. Jokic makes two in double digits for Denver. Jokic gets his third foul, all of which have been questionable. The drespect-given descrepancy, in terms of officiating, between Jokic and Doncic, is criminal. Will Murray have B2B good shooting quarters at some point in this season? Harris also has three for DEenver, one of which was a foul.
Denver is paced in TPM by Jamal Murray: +23 as they lead 52-43 at the half.
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Qtr3- Foul trouble has absolutely derailed Jokic for the third game in a row. He gets another cheapie in the early moments of the third and Malone should leave him out there. It appears as though that's the case. WCS gets his fourth foul and Bobi replaces him. Jokic continues to garner no respect from the officials. Nonetheless, Denver leads by seven at 8:18. Joker with the Sombor-Shuffle from 18 and it's true. The Nuggets lead by nine as they head to a break at 6:32. Denver dodged a bullet and I'd be ok with Nikola resting at this point, with the idear of him going the whole 4th quarter, fouls permitting.
Barton's closeouts on threes have been dreadful tonight. Two straight threes by Morris give Denver their biggest lead of the night, 12 points, at 4:12. Jokic remains out there. Harris and Morris make three and four in double digits for Denver. Hardaway with two straight threes and the lead for Denver is down to seven. Denver's flow has gone to shit since Jokic checked out and the lead is now four at 2:06. The four guards under 6'5 +6'7 power forward lineup, continues to be an unchecked, unmitigated disaster. Doncic plays the entire third period, save the final six seconds. Every 50-50 call is in favor of Dallas.
Denver is paced in TPM by as they lead 78-76 after three.
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Qtr4- Joker's gonna have to regulate upon re-entry, if Denver hopes to beat Dallas (and once again, the officials.) He's in to open the fourth. Dallas takes the lead on a three from Johnson, before PJ takes it back with one of his own. The refs REALLY don't want to call even the hardest of fouls, defending Jokic. It takes a raised Dallas hand for them to even consider it. Unreal! Denver leads by one at 10:00. Morris is struggling mightily to stay in front of James Johnson, defensively. The lead is three on a tip-in by Green at 9:33, as they head to a break. He makes five in double digits for Denver. No 3D watch on this night, for Big Honey. Back to back off games (for him.) I with Grant Hill didn't have the same vocal tone as Mark Jackson. Makes me an irrational hater at times. Doncic is in to close out at 8:06, trailing by two. Bobi also enters. Green has been huge on the offensive glass in the second half. He's one board shy of a 2D and continues to impress in his new home. Harris hits what feels like his first three of the season (not far from the truth.) Dallas is now geting called for all the ticky-tac calls, as the refs work to even out their past discressions. Denver is in the bonus as a result, and lead by two with 6:24 to go, as 'Sap checks in.
Luka could be called for traveling on nearly every posession in which he handles the ball. Denver CONTINUES to suck at the charity stripe. Luka travels for the second consecutive play (that was called anyway.) He's then absolutely gifted a foul call on a three attempt in which Harris never even touched him. That's five fouls for Gary. Denver leads by one at 4:45. Barton enters at this point and the starters are in tact. A three by Kleber after Jokic was again pummelled on one end and out of position on the other as a resut, and Dallas now leads by four with 3:55 to play. A three by Jokic gives Denver the lead at 3:05. This one's going down to the wire as Kleber drills a three. Jokic has 14 points in the period. Jokic sticks 1-2 at the line and Denver leads by that margin with under a minute to go. Murray takes an ill-advised 20 footer and Dallas will get the final shot, trailing by one, with under eight seconds remaining. Joker has a 2D with 33/10/4. Kleber sticks a wide open three and Denver has it with under three seconds left, trailing by two. I wish we had OTO inbound plays that weren't disasterous, like the one we just witnessed. What do you know. When you allow Jokic to take the important shots, he drills them, and we're heading to bonus ball.
Denver is paced in TPM by Jamal Murray: +31 as they head into OT, 109 a piece.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Overtime: Here we go. Barton drills a three to get OT underway. Doncic returns fire with a three of his own. PJ is out there rather than Millsap. Dallas leads by two at 2:56. Theye are solely attempting threes at this point. Barton ties it up on a tip-in. Richardson gives Dallas the lead on a drive. He then facials Murray with a three and the lead is five with 1:25 to go. This one is gonna sting if Denver cant pull it out.
Dozier has been really bad with the ball in his hands in OT which begs the question, why is anyone byut Jokic/Murray handling it? WCS goes to the line and hits 1-2, and the lead is six with one minute to go. Joker for three! Doncic gets two back and the lead is five. Murray heaves a desperation three and that'll likely do it. Denver loses a hearttbreaker in OT, 117-124
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Final Thoughts:
- Doncic is just like Harden; a professional foul-benneficiary. I disapprove. Also like Harden, he appears to poach defensive boards and hunt assists when it's not the correct play in the flow of the offense. The one thing I'll give him credit for that I'll never accuse Harden of is playing the passing lanes (or indeed moving at all) defensively.
- Best game of the season for Gary Harris. He was superb defensively and not horrible offensively.
- Jokic gets fouled on the block nearly every time and almost never gets the call.
- Horrendous officiating once aagain tonight.
- Not the best effort by Barton tonight.
- Somebody please explain to me what MPJ did that has the league so pissed at him.
- MAKE YOUR DAMNED FREEBIES!
- I'm gonna need 48 minutes out of Jamal at some point.
- Green, not Millsap/PJ should have been out there in the 4th/OT
- Severely mismanaged overtime.
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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.
