To the surprise of no one, there’s a huge chasm in expectations surrounding this year’s Denver Nuggets.
National writers expect the Nuggets to be Western Conference cannon fodder. They see the team as a fun-but-inevitable disaster, citing last year’s garbage defense and mutiny against coach Brian Shaw. To nobody’s surprise, nobody sees the Nuggets as a playoff team, or worthy of rising out of the league’s bottom third.
Conversely, local writers (including our very own Michael Jaycox) use words like “optimism” and “exciting” when discussing the Nuggets. They champion first-round pick Emmanuel Mudiay as the favorite to win the Rookie of the Year and coach Michael Malone as the straight-talking solution to the team’s authority problem. The playoffs are a stretch this year — but maybe next year?
Of course you can’t blame the locals for maintaining hope, and the national guys are just doing their jobs by poking holes in the team. But why the discrepancy, and which camp should we trust?
The first question is simple. It’s easy to bestow both hate and hope onto this year’s Nuggets due to the team’s long list of X factors. Shall we count them?
– New coach
– New defense
– New paint job
– Gallo’s knee. And back. And knee.
– Unquestionably talented rookie who could be the second coming of (at best) John Wall, or (at worst) Reggie Jackson
– Departure of possible locker room hangnail
– Addition of monster-like Serbian who eats twice as many meals as a regular human being
As for the second question, I hate to punt but I’m going to give the 2015-16 Denver Nuggets a few weeks of play before giving thumbs up or thumbs down. Perhaps this Wednesday’s season opener against the Dwight Howard-less Houston Rockets will help us decide.
Until we get a better picture of the macro question (Good, Bad, So-so?), I have a handful of other items to watch for during these next few weeks:
Will Coach Malone Hold Their Respect?
Some fans are still trying to understand just how Coach Shaw lost control over last year’s team before his firing. Was he too hard? Too soft? Too bad at rhyming about fives and fours? Perhaps he never had control, and we should just let it go.
Either way, new coach Michael Malone has spent the preseason establishing himself as the non-nonsense communicator who shoots from the hip and tells players exactly what’s on his mind.
During a recent post-practice interview, Malone said he focuses on maintaining “open and honest dialogue” with players, coaches and especially GM Tim Connelly.
“They may not always like the message that I’m delivering, but at least they know where I stand,” said Malone, who said he has daily conversations with players, coaches and seemingly everyone else. “That way nothing creeps up on you, because you’ve had that daily conversation.”
I believe Malone. He forged a reportedly healthy relationship with one of the league’s most notoriously demanding players, after all. Whether Malone maintains this communication strategy is something to watch for. The team’s young roster and the departure of Ty Lawson could help Malone’s efforts.
Will Gallinari Stay on the Court?
What’s not to like about Danilo Gallinari? He’s now the cornerstone of the team’s offense, he can alternate between the three and the four, and his name is also fun to scream into a TV camera. Gallo is also quite a bit richer these days, after the Nuggets extended him for two years and $34 million.
But will poor Gallo’s knee hold up this year? He averaged 17.9 points per game during this summer’s Eurobasket tournament, but said that the play didn’t put too much wear and tear on his legs.
“I’m still 27 so I consider myself very young,” Gallinari said.
Will They Run the Visitors until they Barf?
Denver’s thin air has long been the scourge of tourists, Rockies pitchers and visiting NBA players, so hopefully Malone can find a way to once again run opponents ragged. It’s worked before — just two seasons ago that the Nuggets had one of the best home records in the NBA and the third-fastest pace of play.
Pace of play doesn’t always spell success, of course. The Nuggets were 19-22 at home last year while maintaining comparatively fast play.
Malone’s biggest objective is shoring up the porous defense, which was among the NBA’s worst last year. But he also wants to generate offense opportunities off of turnovers, and that means keeping the pace up.
“We want to be a team that runs, but a team that runs off of our defense and our rebounding,” Malone said. “You have to play with pace but be efficient — there’s a lot of teams that run and don’t make the playoffs.”
Well said, coach Malone. Still, I hope we see at least one visiting flatlander either lose his lunch or require the oxygen tank this year.
How Long Will Mudiay Need?
We have yet to discover a uniform timetable for molding young talent into greatness, so fans will simply have to be patient with Emmanuel Mudiay. Coach Malone will likely start Mudiay, but he’s said that he prefers to take a conservative approach with pressure and responsibility.
Mudiay certainly has the physical gifts. Will he make mistakes? Yes. Will he turn the ball over? Oh yeah. Will you throw your shoe at the TV during a Mudiay possession this season? Probably. But hey, that’s why we live in a place with state-legal relaxation products. Chill out and enjoy the ride. Five years from now, Mudiay could be the reason we will say, “Carmelo who?”
Will We See Creative Weed-themed Nuggets Wear?
Speaking of state-legal relaxation, Nuggets games provide great viewing of the latest and greatest marijuana-themed unofficial team T-shirts. I’m not sure why, but the state’s collection of stoned silkscreen owners have really latched onto the team. I’ve seen “Denver Nuggs,” “Danker Nuggets,” and “HeadyNuggets,” plus plenty of cheesy weed leaf designs. What gems will they give us this year?
Hopefully the Nuggets will live up to local writers’ optimism. Tipoff for Wednesday’s opener is at 6 p.m. MDT, and the game is on Altitude Sports. The Nuggets open at home on Friday against the Minnesota Timberwolves at 7 p.m. I have my checklist, now it’s time to watch.
