Denver Stiffs - Denver Nuggets 2018 Media Day Storystream

Nikola Jokic says Trey Lyles is “like an x-factor” for the Denver Nuggets

2018-09-29T17:14:31-06:00

Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Plus, notes on Monte Morris, training camp intensity, and more

Nikola Jokic took a minute to speak with the media following the 5th and final day of Denver Nuggets training camp on Saturday and shared a few details about how the week has gone. He provided a breif update on his injured right index finger, the intesnity level of camp compared to previous seasons, and brought up Trey Lyles as a player who can be “like an x-factor” for the Nuggets.

On how this camp was different

My first one when coach got the job it was the hardest one. I remember running a lot. I think he’s learning too, he’s learning us too. Not just players, I think the coaches and medical staff did their job because they keep us healthy. Not just the guys who are on the court, the guys who are getting ready for the...IT, Michael Porter Jr. Jarred (Vanderbilt). We all did a good job.

On what to expect in the upcoming game against the Los Angeles Lakers

A lot of mistakes, a lot of running, fun probably. A lot of people, I mean, (LeBron) James the first time in Lakers.

On his injured finger

It’s getting better. it’s still not 100% but it’s getting better. A little sore.

On Monte Morris & Trey Lyles

I think he’s playing really good. He’s working really hard. I know he stayed in Denver for the summer, working with (Denver’s development coaches) J.B. and Steven and Oggi so I think he did a really good job this summer and he just continue to play the same way he is working out.

And not just him, I think Trey (Lyles) is playing really good. He’s going to be...like an x-factor for our team. The guys coming off of the bench have a lot of talent with...he knows how to play the game the right way. Unselfish guy. He’s kind of...he wants to be better. He wants to win. I think he’s going to be very good with Monte too.

On Monte Morris (cont.)

I remember him from last year, he was kind of, not bad but he didn’t see the...he was going too fast. He was making mistakes but right now the game has maybe slowed down for him. He’s making shots, he’s controlling his team. He’s getting better.

On Thomas Welsh

I think he’s great. He’s doing what coach wants him to do. I think that’s a good way to start your career. You can have the coach’s trust. I think he has a really nice touch around the rim. He just needs to get free, relax a little bit.

Jamal Murray sees similarities between Monte Morris and his back court running mate at Kentucky

2018-09-29T13:42:30-06:00

Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Monte Morris is successfully executing his gameplan of becoming a pest

Jamal Murray’s biggest weapon is his three-point shot. The Blue Arrow nickname conjures the image of a long-range assassin, deadliest from distance. Yet through four days of training camp, Murray’s shot seems to be the one part of his game that has been off.

“Jamal has not shot the ball well in camp,” Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone told reporters following Friday’s practice. “He had tweaked his ankle in September and we forced him to miss some time. So I don’t think he’s in great shape right now. And that’s really funny to say about Jamal because he’s one of our best conditioned athletes still, but for him, he’s not in great shape for Jamal Murray.”

Exasperating Murray’s fatigue is his understudy on the team’s second unit: Monte Morris. The undersized, second-year point guard has carved out an identity on the defensive end as an on-ball pest. To hear it from Malone, what Morris lacks in size he makes up for with “tremendous confidence, tremendous grit, and toughness.”

Murray himself has a different comparison for Morris.

“It’s kind of like back at Kentucky whenever I’d go against Tyler (Ulis), he’s always got good hands. Strips the ball, always getting steals and stuff. It kind of reminds me of the same kind of defensive playing style. Always handsy, always trying to strip the ball a lot. You just gotta be ready.”

In other words, Morris’s defensive style is to make himself as much of an annoying and pesky nuisance as he can, staying in his opponent’s face like a gnat. And if “pest” sounds like a derogatory term, it’s one Morris himself embraces. “I just can’t wait to get out there and defend people, pick them up and just be a pest out there 94 feet.”

Through four days of training camp, Morris seems to have executed his plan quite nicely, pushing Murray to adjust to such a frenetic style of pressure and annoyance. “He’s not going to allow teams or players to do whatever they want to do,” says Malone. “One of the reasons (Jamal is) tired is because Monte is making it hard for him. And I think that’s great that Monte understands that’s part of his role to push the guys ahead of them so that they can become better players as well.”

Despite the shooting struggles, Murray’s name has popped up all week as a guy who has stood out for a variety of reasons that have nothing to do with shooting. “He has rebounded at an extremely high level,” Malone added. “He was, I think, our third leading rebounder as a point guard in camp which is terrific. Going into today he had something like 14 assists and only 4 turnovers in all of the live sessions.”

Murray isn’t worried about his shot. There is a reason that at just 21 years old he led the Nuggets in total three-point field goal makes last season, on an impressive 37.8%. Murray’s slump will come to a close. What won’t end is Morris’s energy level on defense. And after the final day of training camp on Saturday, Morris will finally get to focus that energy on somebody else.

Watch: Malone speaks with the media following day four of training camp

2018-09-29T12:51:31-06:00

Head Coach Michael Malone gives an update on Jamal Murray, Monte Morris and Malik Beasley following day four of camp

Head Coach Michael Malone spent some time speaking with the media following day four of training camp for the Denver Nuggets on Friday.

Malone offered his opinion on the day’s scrimmages, pointing out that teams typically develop tired legs at this point in camp. The Nuggets were no different. A lot of shots fell short, but Malone liked the energy and he liked the defensive effort. Most importantly, “Nobody got hurt, which is always a good thing,” Malone said. “Guys competed hard and guys competed the right away.”

“Jamal has not shot the ball well in camp,” Malone said, when asked to offer his thoughts on the young guard’s performance through four days. When pressed for an explanation as to why, Malone explained that the 21 year-old isn’t in great shape at the moment. The statement was intended to be a relative one. “He’s (still) one of our best conditioned athletes,” Malone clarified. But a tweaked ankle in the month of September has prevented him from reaching peak form in camp.

Watch the full video of Malone’s comments below:

Listen: Monte Morris interview from day 2 of training camp

2018-09-26T19:55:53-06:00

Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/Getty Images

Monte Morris breaks down day two of camp

Monte Morris sat down with the media for a few moments on day two of Denver Nuggets training camp to talk about how things are going. Our own Brendan Vogt asked Morris about what he’s been working with Isaiah Thomas on and how he is already making an impact. Morris also talked about Jamal Murray (Morris claims Murray actually added 30 pounds of muscle this offseason) and how Morris has to use his quickness to try to get by him. Chris Dempsey of Altitude Sports asked Morris about the difference between last year’s training camp when he was on a 2-way contract to this training camp where he has a full NBA contract. The interview finishes up with with Monte talking about 5 on 5 drills between the bench, which team won and how they are all pushing each other to get better every day. Listen to the whole interview below.

Watch: Paul Millsap speaks with the media on day two of training camp

2018-09-26T18:31:38-06:00

Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

Paul Millsap speaks on what it takes to be a great defensive team and the benefits of continuity

Paul Millsap sat down with the media following day two of training camp at San Diego State University. The big man spoke on what it takes to be a great defensive team and explained the benefit of continuity as he enters his second full season with the Denver Nuggets.

Below are some transcribed highlights from the scrum, followed by the full video:

On what it takes to crack the top five defensively: “I’ve always aimed high. I’m always looking to crack the top 5 in defense. I’ve been a part of some really good defensive teams. I would say it is hard to do, but it’s really not. You get guys locked in, on the same page, staying disciplined throughout the course of the year, you know, you can be a top 5 defensive team. That’s my goal, personally. I’m not sure what coach wants to do, personally, I want this team in the top five.”

On the benefit of continuity: “Last year was a whirlwind, coming from the east coast, coming in here to a different offense—this continuity, it’s completely different. Last year was a whirlwind mentally, and obviously physically, so I’m able to get out here now and be free, and run the plays, and get out there and just play basketball.”

Full Video:

Watch: Michael Malone speaks with the media on day two of training camp

2018-09-26T18:18:14-06:00

Head coach Michael Malone discusses Nikola Jokic’s minor injury, continuity, and of course, the defense

Head coach Michael Malone addressed the media following the second day of training camp at San Diego State.

Malone discussed Nikola Jokic’s status regarding a minor injury to his fingers, and explained that ‘Big Honey’ was limited in Wednesday’s practice. He then discussed the benefit of continuity, an emerging theme among the coaches and players so far as they attempt to explain why this year feels different.

Would it be a Nuggets scrum if the head coach wasn’t asked to discuss the defense? The answer is no. Malone explained what they’re working on in camp to address those deficiencies and that despite Millsap’s defensive prowess, the responsibility to turn it around can’t fall squarely on his shoulders.

Malone also gets us up to speed on how Juancho is playing and where he’s at mentally, before talking at length about Monte Morris’ progression and increased responsibilities due to Isaiah’s extended rehabilitation.

Full Video:

The Denver Nuggets are defined by why they play the game—not just how

2018-09-25T22:02:20-06:00

Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Michael Malone explains what makes the Denver Nuggets one of the most exciting teams to watch in the entire league, it’s not just how they play, but why they play

The Denver Nuggets are entering the 2018-19 campaign with more hype and higher expectations than any season in recent memory. Not since the days of Carmelo Anthony has the attention of both the local and national audience been fixated on Denver to such a degree.

This dynamic has emerged from a medley of factors. Of course, there’s the budding stardom of of Nikola Jokic, the seeming lack of a ceiling to Gary Harris’ game, and the mouth-watering prospect of Jamal Murray reaching his full potential. But what has head coach Michael Malone so excited about the upcoming season isn’t just the talent his front office as amassed, nor is it the return of the hype. It’s rooted in something they haven’t had in a long time. Something they’ve been working towards since Malone was tasked with rebuilding the culture in Denver from the ground up.

The Nuggets have an identity.

“I think we are one of the most exciting teams in the NBA to watch,” Malone proclaimed after the first day of training camp at San Diego State. “If you’re just an average fan—we are a team that is really unselfish, that plays up tempo, that plays the game the right way. You’re not gonna see 17 dribble possessions with one-on-one isolations. The ball is going to move.”

Denver has risen to the top of the unofficial ‘League Pass darling’ rankings, and a lot of it has to do with what Malone described. Their play style is unique—a free flowing offense that requires the ball to keep moving and is initiated not by a guard, but by their playmaking center. How the Nuggets play the game of basketball is reflective of, and predicated on, the type of player that Jokic has become.

“We have an identity now,” Malone remarked during his Media Day press conference. “And Nikola is a huge part of that identity. Once we all realized that, hey, Nikola’s our best player, were going to play through him—he is the centerpiece of all that we do and everybody else has to fit in around him, it made things a lot easier and simpler.”

Serbia’s favorite son serves as Denver’s celestial one, every piece of their roster orbiting around his star-power and benefiting from his egalitarian inclinations on the offensive end. What happens on the court is dictated by how he plays, but after Tuesday’s training camp session, Malone explained that their identity runs deeper than what happens on the hardwood.

What makes the Nuggets who they are, what has them on the verge of tapping into something “special”—a word Malone seems to have grown fond of in the last year—is not just how they play the game, but why.

“We got guys that genuinely care for each other,” Malone said when asked to elaborate on just what that identity is. “And you can see it. I can say it, but I think you as a fan—when you watch us play—you can see it on the floor, that they are really invested in each other. We don’t play just with each other, we play for each other. And I think that’s a big difference.”

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That’s a quote you might expect from a head coach on day one of training camp, but it’s far from an unsubstantiated claim. For evidence, look no further than how—and where—the Nuggets spent their respective summers.

“Our players are so invested in this season that they were in Denver all summer. They were in Vegas, they were in Atlanta, they were back in the last week of August, before labor day,” Malone said. “We’re ahead of the curve. We have hit the ground running. We are ahead of probably a lot of teams because of that continuity that we have, and I think that’s a great luxury.”

It’s something that Malone has worked hard to establish. When he was hired, this team was in a liminal, and frankly, potentially toxic phase. Instability was the closest thing to Denver’s identity at the time, and as Malone points out, the door to the Pepsi Center has been a revolving one in the years since.

“Since I first got here, this team has changed quite a lot. Think of all the guys that have come and gone,” Malone said on Tuesday. “You know, it’s funny. This might be the first training camp, definitely since I’ve been a head coach, but maybe even as an assistant, but we went 5 on 5 scrimmage at the end of practice, on day one. I think the advantage that we have (now) is continuity. Year 4. We know each other.”

For the first time in the Malone era, this team enters the season with a sense of who they are, what’s expected of them, and what it will take to turn a corner. What’s clear now more than ever is that whether or not those aspirations are realized, it will be a group effort. They’ll chase it with everything they have and they won’t just do it together—they’ll do it for each other.

The Denver Nuggets were cohesive, focused, and driven on media day

2018-09-24T23:04:21-06:00

Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Locked on Denver Nuggets podcast

The Locked on Nuggets podcast is the premiere, daily podcast on the Denver Nuggets.

In today’s episode, I share some sights and sounds from media day and talk about how the vibe around the Nuggets was that of a team returning to camp with focus, drive, and cohesion. Michael Malone talked about how is challenging Gary Harris and Nikola Jokic to grow as leaders. Isaiah Thomas addressed the Denver media for the first time and explained why he chose to come to Denver. Paul Millsap demonstrated his wrists’ flexibility and talked about when he first started to feel confident in his ability to take contact with his wrist.

Nikola Jokic talked about his horses and shared a time when Michael Malone actually rode one of his horses, Dreamcatcher, around the track in Serbia. Gary Harris talked about learning to be a more vocal leader and how he is getting more comfortable with that role every day. Jamal Murray added a bunch of “good” weight. Michael Porter Jr. seems at peace with his recovery process, even if he was unwilling to share an estimate for when he thinks he can be back on the court.

Monte Morris shared a couple different stories about how he has relied on veterans like Harris and Isaiah Thomas for advice for young players. Trey Lyles looked more fit than ever before. Tyler Lydon said that his knee was “night and day” better than it was at Las Vegas Summer League.

I touch on all of these storylines and give an overarching perspective on media day and where the team is at as they enter training camp.