Michael Malone Blames Loss on Himself & Loved Nuggets Effort vs Suns

Michael Malone Blames Loss on Himself & Loved Nuggets Effort vs Suns

Michael offensive rebounding or three-point defense what was more Troublesome to you or anything else uh both I mean it’s the offensive rebounding has been uh by far our Achilles heel since the All-Star break I think we’re 29th in uh Second Chance points allowed and against that team

They don’t miss very often so when they do miss you have to secure the rebound to give yourself a chance on the other end um then obviously the three-point shooting as you mentioned you know they make 16 we go 10 to 40 I thought had a

Ton of Great Looks That just didn’t go down for us uh but I thought the defense was much better in the second half I think they shot 42 in the second half fourth quarter I thought it was outstanding they shot 38% only 21 points in that quarter

Um but yeah I mean uh to your point you get a rebound by 13 so they dominate The Glass they have scores by 18 from the three-point line but then little things like transition opportunity we were one one for eight in transition opportunities tonight

We got to convert we got to score we got to generate free throws we got to do something you can’t leave seven possessions in transition unaccounted for uh we were five of 10 in offensive rebounds you know I mean so there were points to be had uh that could have

Helped us while we were struggling to make shots but it’s I know I’m not answering the question but I think both of those Matt the rebounding and uh obviously the inability to guard the three this was sort of second game in a row against the Suns where they really

Try to pack the pain against you guys in force you guys to shoot a lot of Threes just are there any major takeaways from that strategy from them is that something that you’ll expect to see later yeah make shots and we it’s not like it’s something we haven’t seen

Before I mean they double the coal in the post and then when they double the Co in the post you got to make them pay for putting two on the ball and if you don’t make them pay like we didn’t do tonight uh you stop putting them in the post you

Try to get him in the middle of the floor where it’s much harder to double team him at the nail and the uh middle um but yeah I I think once again you if we look at the stats tomorrow the number of quality threes that we generated that

We just didn’t knock down um so um you know I know sometimes it’s an oversimplification but maker missed league and tonight they made and and we missed a whole lot and uh you know he just come up short against a very talented team Jamal obviously not necessarily

Having him to put pressure in the middle of the defense just what you see from the point guards tonight Reggie and and College yeah I thought they were I mean we struggled I mean you know obviously uh you Reggie was five of 14 one of seven from three got some really good looks

You know not the K on the first half was solid and you know second half you know I think um he definitely could have played better but you know this win or loss is not on Reggie Jackson and Colin Gillespie this is on me and the entirety

Of the team you know give the Phoenix Suns credit for coming in here and beating us again and taking the head-to-head Series 2 to one um but we had our chances at as a collective group and uh we just uh didn’t get the job done is that uh pton at the five lineup

Something that you you’ve wanted to check out like right felt like good time to go to it or no it wasn’t something I wanted to go to but with no nurkic we knew their second unit would be really small and uh you know I’m just you know with Aaron and his injuries and

Everything he’s dealing with I just don’t want to for like the last 10 games say we can go to Aaron as a backup five and run Aaron into the ground um so you know we went through it this morning Harrison just Hey listen if they’re small we may go really small and

Uh you know use use pton at to five obviously you love his versatility the athleticism and I actually thought you I think it was a 10 to two start for them in that second quarter um but it didn’t feel like a 10 to2 run I don’t know if that makes sense I

Thought they were playing well couldn’t make a shot got some really good looks um gave up a couple of offensive rebounds that you know allowed them the score um but you know I thought that group you know gave us some solid minutes and obviously just had a hard

Time scoring the basketball so we you know second half we went back to Aaron as a backup five but um yeah you got to love Payton’s versatility I think he can play three four and five for us what were the things that led to few were

Cuts and attacks of the rim is it Jal missing or something the way that suns were defending what was kind of the well I I think anytime you’re you know U taking the ball out of the net I felt like you know they shot at a high clip

Um when they did Miss obviously they got the offensive rebound at at really important times of the game um so we’ve been a very good running team since the allstar B because our defense has been great and tonight if you don’t defend and you don’t rebound those

Opportunities to get out and run and attack and cut uh are not there but when they are there to your point um you know I just felt there were times we were getting the ball to Nicole and everybody was just standing and watching and that that’s where you know like now you’re

Making yourself very easy to guard so I think we have to give ourselves up more cut create the defense to you know collapse on you maybe that creates an open shot for your teammate but um yeah so we could definitely have done a better job and I think our defense would

Have helped it suns were characterized as a desperate team kind of coming in off a bad loss deing with that seating issue did you feel like you match their intensity or was it just like you said just simply just not making Shots tonight oh I thought our guys played

Hard I not one that I think these guys are playing harder than us um you know right now for most teams every game is an important game you know we’re trying to you know keep the number one seat you know so uh you don’t have to come off of

A bad loss to San Antonio for a beat a A desperate game um so I think our guys definitely played hard but could we have played better of course and uh could we have made more shots that definitely would have helped the uh the outcome but again we’ll watch the film we’ll learn

From it it’s not going to get any easier you know we got a hell of a team coming in here Friday night um and we have to be ready to learn from tonight and get ready for that game against T wolves thank you coach thanks everybody

Michael Malone Press Conference after Denver Nuggets 104-97 LOSS against Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and the Phoenix Suns. In the post-game press conference following the Denver Nuggets’ 104-97 loss to the Phoenix Suns, Coach Michael Malone took responsibility for the defeat, emphasizing the team’s struggles with offensive rebounding and three-point defense. He pointed out the Nuggets’ poor ranking in second-chance points allowed and their inability to convert opportunities, particularly in transition and from beyond the arc, where they shot 10 of 40. Despite these issues, Malone praised the improved defensive effort in the second half and stressed the importance of making shots, acknowledging the Suns’ strategic focus on limiting Denver’s inside game and forcing them to shoot threes. He concluded by reflecting on the team’s effort and the need to learn from the loss in preparation for their next game.

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