Michael Malone after Nuggets’ biggest Home Loss since January of 2019

Michael Malone after Nuggets’ biggest Home Loss since January of 2019

Michael how much more challenging is it to keep Shay in check when you turn it over 17 times well yeah I mean that’s what they do I mean they lead the league and points off turnovers as we talked about uh pregame and you know to have 25 points so if our

Mistakes um makes it that much harder uh to guard them and to guard him they had 25 in transition um but you know we we just didn’t have the the proper energy um starters uh tonight you know and obviously as you mentioned the turnovers no one’s trying to turn it over but you

Know nicoa had seven and the game was really decided in that third quarter 34 to 20 and I think that quarter six turnovers for 12 points in that quarter alone so um give them credit they’re a good team obviously they come in here beating us twice won a really close game

And this one was uh an ass whooping was there anything in particular that they were doing on those turnovers was it un for was it something schematic that’s what they do I me once again I can’t say it many times they lead the league in point scored off turnovers after 30 some

OD game so obviously you got to be clean with the ball you can’t play in the crowd um you know that’s something they do to most teams but um you’re not going to give yourself a chance to win when you allow them to play to their strength

To your point Ryan so uh we have them one more time obviously in OKC really weird beting the the first time in OKC by by 30 points they beat us here in a really close game and then tonight was their blowout and the truth is somewhere

In between I guess but uh we just didn’t have it tonight you know and um you know that’s that’s going to happen at times I guess their uh their three-point shooting went way up in the second half you guys held on I think full for 17 the

First half was that sort of just an offset as some of the transition stuff some of those open looks yeah I’m sure it was a combination of you know getting threes in transition um getting threes in the half court obviously chat was four or four I believe and he was very

Hot to start the game um but then just you know when you you got to be able to fly around give multiple effort I just didn’t think you know we were nine to1 going into tonight’s game and we had the number three defense and that that team

That we you know we went out there and showed tonight that wasn’t a team that’s played the last 10 games and again whether it’s fatigue I’m not sure but you know uh it makes it really hard to play against a team that is very talented if you’re not giv just great great

Effort what’s the most important thing when talking to a guy like Jamal I know that L Dort has had success on him in the last matchup as well just how impressive is L Dort as a Defender and is there something schematic there yeah he’s very good Defender strong physical

Um obviously they match his minutes to Jamal’s every time Jamal came back in the game they brought aou in the game um but I think we we have not done a good enough job to help Jamal you know yeah he can help himself but when you got a

Guy draped all over you we have to set better screens try to free him up and then the other thing too is you know when they’re taking the ball when we’re taking the ball out of the net every time because we can’t get a stop they’re

Set they can get to their matchups they can get to their game plan and um you know the last six games we’ won six in a row we’re averaging over 19 fast break points in a game in that six game span and tonight we only had 13 so um yes

He’s a good Defender but we can do a lot better job of freeing Jamal up and getting him uh some some more quality looks but to his credit 11 assists two turnovers uh in 35 minutes um you know he took care of the ball at a high level

Spot start tonight again for pton Watson this time I get it’s a very good team just curious what you saw from him tonight yeah I mean it’s uh every night that he gets a chance to start and play minutes is a is a a learning and growing

Opportunity um you know he 14 points one of six I think as I told him at halftime you know even after the game last night just um don’t don’t play with the settle mentality I mean like I think yeah you’re opening the corner but they’re shrinking so much they’re helping on the

Drive cut behind it like he’s so damn athletic he got one from Jamal in the first half behind the defense so yes you can make make threes we all know that but don’t just settle for that put pressure on the rim dunk the basketball get to the free throw line and obviously

I think you know he can help us a lot more in the glass than he did tonight but I mean Payton is just you a work in progress who’s just getting better and better and um you know it’s while Aaron is out for however long Aaron is out you

Know this is just a great opportunity for Payton what do you tell uh Reggie and what do you want to see from him when he goes into a shooting rut the last five or six games especially since yeah I mean it was good to see him make

Some Shots tonight made a couple of Threes U but get guys involved you I mean like he’s attracting so much attention in the pick and roles whatever we’re doing offensively when he’s out there with that second unit uh you got got DJ on the rim you got Shooters

Behind him and you know try to run your team and and you know get Christian Brown off get Julian STW off help get Justin or Payton DJ Zeke whoever else is out there like get them some easy ones you got DJ in the one Lop tonight um and

Continue to attack you know if you can get to the rim see getting an easy basket get to the free throw line you know maybe that helps you three-point shot fall but regie will be bounce back he’s been terrific for us this year and you’re right he’s going through a little

Bit of a slump but you know I I was surprised he actually played in the second half you know he was uh questionable to return and uh that speaks to Reggie’s toughness you guys had Nia on Josh kidy a couple times in the second half I don’t know if that was

In transition or if that was like by Design but um it meant that there was a wing guarding chat is that something you can like put in your back pocket for future matchups or is that really just kind of flow the game and it happen like

That no we’ve done stuff that like that throughout the playoffs last year it’s just look to a cross match at times and uh um you know if a big is a pick and pop three-point shooter um maybe switch the matchups so now we can just switch that to take away that separation and

Limit to three-point shot by Chad so it’s something that we’ve done it’s something that we’ll continue to do depending upon the team and the opponent and uh just who’s on the floor at that particular time this might be a film thing but you mentioned ni’s seven turnovers do you

Have a feel for if that was him rarely making the wrong player for it was also on other guys not doing enough off the ball to give him better options oh I’m sure it’ll be a combination of all the above I think some will be uh maybe poor decisions by

Nia some will be poor spacing poor reaction to the double team um they they do such a great job of collapsing in the paint so you got to make sure when two come to the ball you have to have outlets and if you don’t have the proper

Outlets now he’s being forced to try to make a play and throw into triple coverage at times so um when you have 17 turnovers to 25 points or an individual like nicool has seven it’s not just on Nia it’s on you know once again everybody was guilty and that’s

Something that we’ll clean up and hopefully get some rest tomorrow get back to practice and get ready for uh for January thank you coach thanks everybody appreciate it

Denver Nuggets Head Coach Michael Malone after Denver Nuggets biggest blowout home loss since January of 2019 where they lost to the KD Warriors. The latest insights from Denver Nuggets’ head coach Michael Malone following a challenging game against the OKC Thunder. Malone discusses the team’s struggles with turnovers, defensive tactics, and individual player performances. Gain exclusive access to his perspective on the Nuggets’ current challenges and strategies for future games. Stay updated on all things Nuggets and don’t miss Malone’s detailed analysis of the team’s dynamics and game plan.

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