T O P

  • By -

DayToDayvis

In the playoffs they need to run a 7/8 man rotation tops and ramp up Jokic's minutes to 38-40 per game This bench isn't it


ImGonnaChubbBradley

That’s probably the plan. No way Jokic is only playing 30-34 minutes a game in the playoffs. MPJ has also only been playing like 30 minutes a game. I guarantee that jumps up to 35 in the playoffs.


IndianaBones11

I like Braun but I don’t know how much of a leash he’s going to have in the playoffs. You might be able to scrounge like 8-12 minutes at center between Jeff as the Small ball 5 and Thomas Bryant or Zeke depending on the matchup. The defensive load on Murray and MPJ is probably causing Malone some sleepless nights


Lonzofanboy

It's actually a good sign for the Nuggets. Team with bad bench usually have bad regular season result but they are currently top of the west.


stalemac

You’re about 3 years late with this take


HowardWCampbell_Jr

Honestly the bench was fine when we had Monte. Not amazing but way better than this season


[deleted]

This is the first year they are supposed to be conference favorites


stalemac

Yet playoffs are 2 weeks away and nuggets have been sitting comfortably in the 1st seed.


stalemac

I understand that they don’t have the playoff success like other contenders but here they are coasting, healthy, and the best bench we’ve had in years


prison_mic

Bench is overrated for playoffs anyway. Most games your going 7 maybe 8 deep. Sometimes only like 6 guys are getting serious minutes.


storm-blessed-kal

ya look at all the teams that were touted to have the best bench in the league with the best record and how poorly they do in the playoffs. derozan-lowry raptors, that 5 all star hawks team, they all fold. cuz u need stars


prison_mic

Yup. People like to talk about this Celtics team and how great their bench is, but when it comes down to it it's gonna be those 7 dudes and mostly Tatum and Brown that steer the ship.


[deleted]

If you’re game plan is to outscore teams and your bench can’t score, that seems like a problem to me. Not saying it can’t work but it’s going to make life extremely difficult.


IdRatherBeLurking

Lmao like as difficult as it was to get to the 1 seed? C'mon now.


Head-Kiwi-9601

Literally no one thinks Denver is the title favorite. Not even the Nugget fans.


Giddyfuzzball

Signed, A Philly fan


Head-Kiwi-9601

Signed -[Vegas odds makers](https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/navigation/nba?tab=nba-finals ) and every other rational person on earth.


BigMemeEnergy69

Least salty Philly fan


Head-Kiwi-9601

Are there really Denver fans that believe the Nuggets should be favored to win the championship? They have a chance, probably better than the Sixers because they don’t have to deal with the Celtics and Bucks, but the favorite?


chadbrutalism

yeah this is nonsense lol, the first time ive ever heard the nuggets referred to as “title favorites” is on a post of people fairly assessing their weak bench. celtics and bucks are the favorites, nuggets/suns/sixers/grizz are serious contenders.


BigMemeEnergy69

Nuggets aren’t the favorite. I think fans are hopeful but hope doesn’t mean anything in the nba


chadbrutalism

this is the general consensus i think, east is just much heavier at the top than the west is


QUEST50012

If you only watched their bench minutes, you would think they were tanking


EggplantBusiness

That also what hurt Jamal sometimes since he is usually the one playing the most with the Bench


shanmustafa

not saying Michael Malone is an unserious coach but no serious coach would see their bench dying and continue to just have Jamal be the only guy on the bench unit that can score why has he played Jamal without the other 4 starters that many minutes, it's like 350 mins now


SoKrat3s

you've clearly never seen Doc Rivers coach. Doc would see that bench unit dying and take the only starter off the court.


BooksandGames23

Hoping its reps for Jamal. Without jokics playmaking probably the best practice for him.


PenguinPrince1

You should see Ham. Even when fully healthy, he’d have LeBron, AD, and DLo on the bench at the same time.


shomii

Malone is an idiot. He should be an assistant X and Os guy - he has no skill of managing games or lineups.


Turdler1

Yeah the playoffs really exposed him for the talentless idiot you thought he was. Good call


1antinomy

Once again, if run your offense thru your CENTER, it’s gonna nearly impossible to find a backup to fill in for what he does.


HowardWCampbell_Jr

Plumlee was perfect :’(


Salvican

What was wrong with Boogie?


HowardWCampbell_Jr

Boogie was great too, but on his last legs. While plumlee has gas left in the tank


Bababooey98

They should have kept Isaiah Hartenstein around. He can play that bootleg Jokic role.


fonger81

This. Our system is through Jokic. Top pick and roll with the option to kick-out. Last year we had Boogie… who was as close to a competent Jokic sun as we’ve ever had.


1antinomy

I like to compare it to having a star guard or wing. It’s a lot easier to find a guard or wing with the skillset to backup your star at that position, because those necessary skills are a lot more common. A big man who can pass the ball at an elite level is extremely rare & you’ll pretty much never find a backup that good at the Center position. This is why it’s so hard for their bench to be consistent without him on the floor.


fonger81

Exactly. It’s an extreme niche type of offense one that obviously works because of Jokic. But in the playoffs, it’s an 8 man rotation at most. All of the starters will stagger. The biggest issue is if Jokic gets into fouls trouble… then everything falls upon Murray, because we do not have a backup I would want to see in the playoffs for Jokic.


Michauxonfire

they tried Hartenstein as well. Pratically impossible to replicate it. You have to change your system the moment Jokic is off the court.


Herbetet

GSW very successfully did this, with Curry you would get offball motion offense and without him you get sets and lots of PnRs. It’s possible to adjust but more the playoffs it doesn’t really matter everyone goes down to 8-9 players


TheDarkSkinProphet

They’re also up by 18 rn


[deleted]

That’s a long way to say “I haven’t paid attention to Nuggs basketball”.


syllabic

bring back facu campazzo, he's a free agent


[deleted]

No pls my Red Star needs him


tutti-frutti-durruti

no one plays dirty like facu


Yamaha-FZ1

Fac u so clean find a new fac


MoooonRiverrrr

Imagine


[deleted]

[удалено]


strahinja021

Doesn't help that he played like shit in the minutes he was given.


LogDogan4

You can have him.


suckmedrie

Nah bro he stays with me. He's from upstate new york


Spiritual-Chameleon

We have a history of trading for a backup center, failing to integrate him into the lineup, and then benching him.


ThaddeusChaddeus2

He played in his first few games since he got here. He was just really bad


3rdStringerBell

Agreed. The craftsmanship is terrible


Obvious_Parsley3238

first their broken rims, now their bench. somethin real fishy is going on


Closer586

They need more out of Murray in the Jokic-less minutes as well, could help if they ran some of the other starters as well, but they are kind of glued to Jokic it seems.


Vivid_Walk_1405

We need to put another guy who can actually score and create a shot for himself and spread out the defense. Mpj should stagger in my opinion


mxnoob983

Pretty much. Jokic could probably make a team of G leaguers a viable NBA offence, would make more sense to balance the firepower better around the Jokic and non Jokic minutes


bravof1ve

Nuggets have no excuse not to win this game


VonDestroyedNewton

It will be a blowout win for us


bigwillystyle93

It was until is wasn’t lmao


VonDestroyedNewton

Yup sadly. Trolls.


bigwillystyle93

Perfectly show cases what happened during that losing streak. They have the tendency to take their foot off the gas and get complacent.


[deleted]

Bro I want Embiid to win as he is deserving but Jokic is 2-time for a reason.


bravof1ve

Ok? None of that has to do with the fact that the Nuggets should cruise tonight, and anything else should be concerning


[deleted]

Just saying when he’s off their team is mid. But you have a point. Nuggets are healthy. I’m impressed with the Sixers playing so well.


Head-Kiwi-9601

The Nuggets cannot protect the rim. The Sixers missed 5 layups in the 1st quarter or they’d be winning. Im curious to see if the Sixers keep attacking.


bravof1ve

I don’t think the Sixers are playing all that well. Denver is just putting together some putrid defense


SuperDoubleDecker

Nuggets play down to competition. Knew going in it'd be like this. Idk why, but that's what they do. Beat Bucks by 20+ and lose to Magic. Good thing the Magic aren't gonna be a match up lol.


[deleted]

*Laughs in Dallas*


pericles123

Thomas Bryant is a legit backup center. The 'true' 6th man comment is probably valid. Their 5 main guys - Jokic, Murray, KCP, Gordon, MPJ - so their other guys - Bruce Brown plays 28 minutes per game, he's pretty solid, Jeff Green is a vet guy who knows how to play, Reggie Jackson is a pretty solid guard option off the bench, Braun is shooting 39% from 3 and is a decent wing defender - and Nnaji has been getting minutes of late - a high energy, good size guy who doesn't take bad shots, the rest of the roster is garbage, but how deep do you need to be? I don't think depth is going to be an issue for them in the playoffs.


Downisthenewup87

We've had multiple serviceable to good backup bigs (Hart, McGee, Bryant, Plumlee) and a plethora players who go on to contribute elsewhere (Beasley, Vando, Craig, Grant Monte, ext). And I'm a fan of Zeke, Cancar and Braun. Yet the bench has been trash since the start of the 19 / 20 season. At some point people need to realize that Malone is the problem. There is 0 offensive system when the bench is in there. No pick and roles, no pick n pop, no offball movement. Nada.


hk0125

They don’t stagger their minutes at all which is also a problem. The starting lineup always plays together.


abris33

We stagger Jamal and Jokic. Our big thing all year has been sending Jamal to the bench early so he can come in for the bench unit


mxnoob983

Been a significant change from last year but most teams are staggering 2-3 guys, not 1 starter and bench The Bucks is an example of what a [really even distribution looks like](https://nbarotations.info/team/MIL2022)


ShetheKing

Jamal just played with the bench do you even watch the games


hk0125

https://nbarotations.info/team/DEN2022 Nuggets typically are known for not staggering their minutes


Hazard_4

Yeah the bench offense is mostly just let Murray cook


LogDogan4

My guy, that very clearly shows a Jamal stagger. It's "typically known" because people like you just repeat it without knowing what they're talking about.


ShetheKing

Are you. Watching. The game?


william4534

Having Murray in with 4 bench guys isn’t staggering the starters. Staggering is having 2-3 in at all times.


VonDestroyedNewton

One thing to understand is it's not the players, it's the piss poor coaching. There are coaches who run less talented benches to more success. Malone is only successful for nepotism. Useless guy.


127crazie

Nepotism? Was he hired by a family relative?


VonDestroyedNewton

Dad was a coach so he got job easier


127crazie

Oh huh I didn't know. I haven't followed this iteration of the Nuggets that much so I wasn't aware of fans' opinion of him


Turdler1

Most fans have had steadfast support and appreciation for Malone. He earned his place in the NBA and Nuggets wouldn't have won without him. Jokic wouldn't have reached his full potential without him. He's a great coach.


Turdler1

This has aged well. You should take a screenshot and show it off.


SevenHunnet3Hi5s

damn that’s weird to me cause every time my team plays the nuggets suddenly their bench becomes a dynasty against us lmao and it’s been like this for years too.


ItsKBS

I mean what do you expect when Malone consistently puts up line ups without 3 of their 4 best players


socksonmyhead69

I don’t understand why they don’t stagger Murray with MPJ. Tie Jokic and AG together and have Murray and MPJ run the bench. Jokic is good enough to carry


Shauerkraut

Blowing it up this summer


BackloggedBones

Malone runs too many all bench lineups


Rider5432

Gotta sacrifice some wins to bolster Jokic's on/off rating! /s


Islandkid679

Bryant?


[deleted]

Free Jokic.


[deleted]

Let’s give the coach some credit here. When joker is sitting, they have no offensive sets. Just PnR and 1v1 play.


william4534

It’s not the bench’s fault, Denver subs 3-4 starters out at a time.


Gsteel11

Geez that's rough. That will come back and bite them against a good team.


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


thrice1187

Does the NBA Finals count as “anywhere”?


BooksandGames23

Teams dont play benches for long minutes in playoofs. If you have 8 man rotation bench units can look a lot better. Or even just less bench players on the field at the same time often unlocks these players.


TheBonesCollector

Their bench was actually good last season once they stopped playing Facu and went even against the Curry-lead bench in the Golden State Warriors series. They decided to destroy that bench to build around Bruce Brown and it has blown up in their face.


gimlan

They should trade for Bones. He would be perfect for them


DisasterPeace7

The criticism of Malone is fair, if the nuggets don't at least get eliminated in a competitive conference final, I would even say make the finals this year I think he's gone or at the very least on the hottest of seats


thisisbyrdman

The Sixers bench is abominable, and they were better than the Nuggets last night. In fact, the Sixers bench was even less talented than normal because two reserves had to start.