Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on why the Denver Nuggets struggled in the playoffs: “We had no gas. We felt like the Lakers should have beat us. We was down every game”
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on why the Denver Nuggets struggled in the playoffs: “We had no gas. We felt like the Lakers should have beat us. We was down every game”
Jamal Murray will be my least favorite player for a while
lopea182
Add it to the pile: *Another moral victory*
CIark
can’t tell if this is supposed to give props to the Lakers or say they were so mentally fucked they never believed they could win
LongTimesGoodTimes
I felt the same way
Jealous_Foot8613
Nuggets didn’t get enough heat for blowing a 20 pt lead at home in a game 7
alphalobster200
that was the overwhelming feeling watching the games as a Nugget fan.
above all, Malone needs to be smarter with his priorities. Nuggets were rested headed into the 23 playoffs and the results were clear. this year, Malone chased seeding until the last regular season game, ended up losing to the combined superpower of Devonte Graham and Sandro Mamukelashvili and enjoyed the worst of all worlds.
FeedbackSmart2162
Nuggets and Jokic don’t get enough criticism for completely choking a massive lead in a game 7 at home
It’s even funnier considering that series was being penciled in as the “real finals” and then the wolves got gentleman’s swept in the WCF
WinterCareful8525
He’s right tbh. They looked in trouble almost every game
chungus_wungus
That nuggets team had so many defensive lapses last playoffs it was so odd to see. Just simple things like ball watching and not boxing out really cost them games against the timberwolves.
CongratulationJism12
It’ll be easier now with a downgrade in the starting lineup and a worse overall bench now though I’m sure.
Frustrating. Westbrook going to get huge minutes for those 25 games a year Murray is out because there is no one to be a proven NBA ball handler, too…. : /
CarBallAlex
People really underestimate how much basketball 82 games really is. Nuggets had to sprint to the finish line to try and keep ahead of the Wolves and Thunder, and then the Lakers played them tough.
This is why teams take parts of the regular season off, or coast to end the season if they can afford it. Celtics did it last year with a huge lead over the East, Nuggets did it the year before where no one was close to catching them except Memphis, Warriors did it in 2022 where they basically conceded the 2 seed to Memphis, LeBron has done it for a while now, the Heat regularly flip the switch in the playoffs after taking the regular season off, the 2016 Warriors chased a record and it cost them.
Don’t be surprised when some team goes all out or is in a tight race and really pushing to stay ahead and then fizzles out at some point in the playoffs because they too ran out of gas. Winning a championship is hard.
WhitestGuyHere
Jamal Murray was so so so ass in the playoffs this last year. He’ll be remembered for those game winners but he was pretty much the sole reason the Lakers were ahead in the first place (and why the Wolves won the series too).
Denver’s bench is booty too.
SnooPets752
Malone apologists in shambles
LukaDoncicfuturegoat
This is the butterfly effect of Wemby path and ascension to his GOAT material status, he stole that one game that would help them secure the 1st seed.
Yeah, tbf this came down to Booth/Malone. As someone who like Jokic, I followed the team closely.
Imo, in the 2022/2023 year after the ASB, the 2cnd best Nugget player was MPJ but Malone had a hardon with MPJ while he kept blaming for things that he didn’t do and he gave him a short leash.
I have the feeling, they didn’t run enough plays for MPJ this year when he was the biggest reason they had a great year. Murray tend to be cold, revert into tunnel vision and play hero ball for times to times while MPJ is sitting in the corner.
Booth is the biggest reason why they are in this mess, his comment during his interview with KOC really paint him as someone who was heavily invested in the rookies/picks/choice he made and it’s fine.
The thing is, he had shortsighted evaluation because it’s obvious that Jokic never had a good backup except DMC in 2022.
Now, they lost Bruce and it’s was impossible to retain but with comments like these, you know guy he didn’t went from him at the deadline. The new CBA is hitting, you got all these players that can’t do nothing the roster why don’t you just make a small trade for a backup PG better than Reggie or a backup center/forward better than DJ ?
Now, you add the fact KCP wife already denied the reports saying they’re offered a contract like the one he got in Orlando.
They’re a still a great team but the amount thinking they didn’t need Bruce and Brown/Watson would be able to help repeat was funny.
Lol69HaHaHa
I say thw goal now should be at worst the 6th seed and no need to compete for the 1st seed. Time to give the young guys time to play and let the starters rest more.
Thats the only way they are gonna develope. And throw them with Jokic more often and let the MPJ, AG and Jamal get more used to playing without him.
BackendSpecialist
Us lakers fans feel the same way KCP lol
theseustheminotaur
Lakers had too much Ham
Hot_Injury7719
Nick Wright is gonna masturbate to this clip.
Air_Enthusiast
Ham will pay for the crimes he has committed
dropsoup
The Lakers were also playing for seeding up until the last game, so it’s not like they had a rest advantage.
chmcgrath1988
Honestly, I feel like the Nuggets are more to be commended for pushing that series with Minnesota to 7 games when it was clear that they were gassed than shamed for going out in the conference semis.
The ’90s-2010s might have made it look easier than it is but it’s damn, damn hard to repeat as champions.
*gritting teeth and looking at my own user flair*
inspector_gadget24
Even though they lost the series the games the Nuggets won against the Wolves were way more convincing than their wins agains LA
Darkillumina
He’s right. Jokic’s brilliance is what kept them hanging around so long. The Lakers very well should have beat them but Hamas didn’t know what he was doing and the players themselves couldn’t put together an entire 48 minutes. MPJ played one of the best series of his career as well.
Denver was extremely gassed. Repeats are hard.
TechnicalOpposite672
Its crazy the Bulls three peated twice. Absolutely mental.
aginglifter
Kcp also said that the Nuggets would have beaten the Lakers in 2019 if AD didn’t hit that three.
25 Comments
Jamal Murray will be my least favorite player for a while
Add it to the pile: *Another moral victory*
can’t tell if this is supposed to give props to the Lakers or say they were so mentally fucked they never believed they could win
I felt the same way
Nuggets didn’t get enough heat for blowing a 20 pt lead at home in a game 7
that was the overwhelming feeling watching the games as a Nugget fan.
above all, Malone needs to be smarter with his priorities. Nuggets were rested headed into the 23 playoffs and the results were clear. this year, Malone chased seeding until the last regular season game, ended up losing to the combined superpower of Devonte Graham and Sandro Mamukelashvili and enjoyed the worst of all worlds.
Nuggets and Jokic don’t get enough criticism for completely choking a massive lead in a game 7 at home
It’s even funnier considering that series was being penciled in as the “real finals” and then the wolves got gentleman’s swept in the WCF
He’s right tbh. They looked in trouble almost every game
That nuggets team had so many defensive lapses last playoffs it was so odd to see. Just simple things like ball watching and not boxing out really cost them games against the timberwolves.
It’ll be easier now with a downgrade in the starting lineup and a worse overall bench now though I’m sure.
Frustrating. Westbrook going to get huge minutes for those 25 games a year Murray is out because there is no one to be a proven NBA ball handler, too…. : /
People really underestimate how much basketball 82 games really is. Nuggets had to sprint to the finish line to try and keep ahead of the Wolves and Thunder, and then the Lakers played them tough.
This is why teams take parts of the regular season off, or coast to end the season if they can afford it. Celtics did it last year with a huge lead over the East, Nuggets did it the year before where no one was close to catching them except Memphis, Warriors did it in 2022 where they basically conceded the 2 seed to Memphis, LeBron has done it for a while now, the Heat regularly flip the switch in the playoffs after taking the regular season off, the 2016 Warriors chased a record and it cost them.
Don’t be surprised when some team goes all out or is in a tight race and really pushing to stay ahead and then fizzles out at some point in the playoffs because they too ran out of gas. Winning a championship is hard.
Jamal Murray was so so so ass in the playoffs this last year. He’ll be remembered for those game winners but he was pretty much the sole reason the Lakers were ahead in the first place (and why the Wolves won the series too).
Denver’s bench is booty too.
Malone apologists in shambles
This is the butterfly effect of Wemby path and ascension to his GOAT material status, he stole that one game that would help them secure the 1st seed.
Yeah, tbf this came down to Booth/Malone. As someone who like Jokic, I followed the team closely.
Imo, in the 2022/2023 year after the ASB, the 2cnd best Nugget player was MPJ but Malone had a hardon with MPJ while he kept blaming for things that he didn’t do and he gave him a short leash.
I have the feeling, they didn’t run enough plays for MPJ this year when he was the biggest reason they had a great year. Murray tend to be cold, revert into tunnel vision and play hero ball for times to times while MPJ is sitting in the corner.
Booth is the biggest reason why they are in this mess, his comment during his interview with KOC really paint him as someone who was heavily invested in the rookies/picks/choice he made and it’s fine.
The thing is, he had shortsighted evaluation because it’s obvious that Jokic never had a good backup except DMC in 2022.
Now, they lost Bruce and it’s was impossible to retain but with comments like these, you know guy he didn’t went from him at the deadline. The new CBA is hitting, you got all these players that can’t do nothing the roster why don’t you just make a small trade for a backup PG better than Reggie or a backup center/forward better than DJ ?
Now, you add the fact KCP wife already denied the reports saying they’re offered a contract like the one he got in Orlando.
They’re a still a great team but the amount thinking they didn’t need Bruce and Brown/Watson would be able to help repeat was funny.
I say thw goal now should be at worst the 6th seed and no need to compete for the 1st seed. Time to give the young guys time to play and let the starters rest more.
Thats the only way they are gonna develope. And throw them with Jokic more often and let the MPJ, AG and Jamal get more used to playing without him.
Us lakers fans feel the same way KCP lol
Lakers had too much Ham
Nick Wright is gonna masturbate to this clip.
Ham will pay for the crimes he has committed
The Lakers were also playing for seeding up until the last game, so it’s not like they had a rest advantage.
Honestly, I feel like the Nuggets are more to be commended for pushing that series with Minnesota to 7 games when it was clear that they were gassed than shamed for going out in the conference semis.
The ’90s-2010s might have made it look easier than it is but it’s damn, damn hard to repeat as champions.
*gritting teeth and looking at my own user flair*
Even though they lost the series the games the Nuggets won against the Wolves were way more convincing than their wins agains LA
He’s right. Jokic’s brilliance is what kept them hanging around so long. The Lakers very well should have beat them but Hamas didn’t know what he was doing and the players themselves couldn’t put together an entire 48 minutes. MPJ played one of the best series of his career as well.
Denver was extremely gassed. Repeats are hard.
Its crazy the Bulls three peated twice. Absolutely mental.
Kcp also said that the Nuggets would have beaten the Lakers in 2019 if AD didn’t hit that three.