Denver Nuggets vs. Brooklyn Nets: 5 Takeaways from the Loss
Dec 7, 2016; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Emmanuel Mudiay (0) drives against Brooklyn Nets guard Isaiah Whitehead (15) during the first quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
The Denver Nuggets dropped their 4th game of their past 5 which is beginning to make Nuggets Nation restless.
The Denver Nuggets suffered the loss last night to the lowly Brooklyn Nets by a final score of 116-111.
Understandably, Nuggets fans are now hitting the panic button despite a late comeback attempt in the 4th quarter after being down as many as 20 points. With last night’s loss, there were many concerning factors that are worth noting.
From Coach Michael Malone getting ejected, all the way to Emmanuel Mudiay’s consistent struggles, the team has a lot of soul searching to do while on this road trip after this adversity. The Nuggets have now dropped to a record of 8-14 on the year.
Granted, there were a couple of positive factors.
Wilson Chandler and Jamal Murray continue to be the team’s best contributors and they could have more of an impact going forward. Sadly, there productive play was not enough to overcome key miscues and mistakes in last night’s loss.
It is no secret that there are more negative takeaways than positive ones from the game.
Mar 12, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Emmanuel Mudiay (0) guards Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2) in the second quarter at the Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
The Denver Nuggets need to do something about Mudiay’s troubling performances.
Emmanuel Mudiay is beginning to lose trust from the Nuggets’ fan base.
Mudiay has had more poor performances this season than good ones. He has now strung together consecutive terrible games where he had little impact. Last night’s game may have been a direct result of him only getting 18 minutes of play as well.
To put last night’s performance into perspective, Mudiay’s differential was -24. Jamal Murray, the up and coming rookie, had a player differential of +26.
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This goes to show that Murray may snatch Mudiay’s starting role from him soon if things continue to go south. A measly one assist and 20% shooting is not acceptable for a starting point guard.
Distributing the ball effectively has been a persistent issue all year for Mudiay and it may be time to wonder if a change is in order.
Nov 16, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried (35) reacts during the first half against the Phoenix Suns at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
For whatever reason, Denver’s front-court didn’t see the court as much as one would think in last night’s loss.
Coach Malone seems to be losing trust in the big men.
While a small ball lineup can be effective, the limited playing time for the power forwards and centers makes one scratch their head.
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Kenneth Faried may be undersized for his position, but it would make sense to utilize his energy more often to spark a run. For the 2nd game in a row, the Manimal only logged 12 minutes of playing time.
Jusuf Nurkic could’ve potentially slowed Brook Lopez down if he was given more than 17 minutes of playing time. Let’s also not forget Darrell Arthur’s 11 minutes which gave him virtually no opportunities to play a big role in the game.
While Malone did get ejected in last night’s loss, this may indicate something is going on behind the scenes that is making him lose faith in these players.
Dec 5, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27) celebrates with guard Malik Beasley (L) after his three pointer against the Philadelphia 76ers during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The Denver Nuggets won 106-98. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Jamal Murray and Wilson Chandler continue to provide firepower off the bench.
One of the few, great elements from the game last night was the effectiveness of Jamal Murray and Wilson Chandler.
The duo was able to spread the floor nicely with their ability to hit from long range. Both players were on fire from the arc last night doing their best Splash Brothers impersonation.
Murray hit a pair of 3’s while Chandler ignited the offense with 6 3’s of his own in last night’s game. Wilson Chandler’s 3 pointers aided him in pouring in 27 total points on the night thus adding to his argument for Sixth Man of the Year.
If one is wondering how effective Murray’s showing was then consider and analyze his +26 differential. New York Knicks superstar, Carmelo Anthony, recently had a 35 point game where his player differential was +25. That is correct, Murray’s effectiveness last night was better than one of the best scorer’s differential when scoring 35 points.
This game proved why some fans want to see Ill Will and Jamal Murray inserted into the starting lineup and to have Danilo Gallinari and Emmanuel Mudiay benched.
Regardless, the way Murray and Chandler stretched the defense showed that the Nuggets could really improve their spacing of the floor going forward when using this tandem.
Nov 27, 2016; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Emmanuel Mudiay (right) celebrates a play with Jameer Nelson (1) in the second quarter against the Phoenix Suns at Talking Stick Resort Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting the same result and Malone needs to alter things a bit.
As eluded to a couple times already, it may be time to shake up the starting lineup.
The point guard position isn’t getting the necessary firepower from Mudiay right after tip-off and Danilo Gallinari has been too inconsistent. With so much firepower coming off the bench, it wouldn’t hurt Coach Malone to experiment with some different lineups while the team is going through a slump.
He could easily insert Jameer Nelson into the starting rotation to pair with Will Barton in the back-court which may cause opposing defenses problems.
An opportunity would be provided for Emmanuel Mudiay to learn while getting a different perspective coming off the bench, leading a very dynamic second unit. Consequently, this could assist him in his maturity and growth as a NBA point guard.
It may not hurt to see what a starting rotation with Wilson Chandler comes up with as a result for a couple of game either.
Nevertheless, a little bit of tinkering with the rotations couldn’t hurt the Nuggets right now considering they have now lost 4 out of their last 5 games.
Nov 22, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets forward Wilson Chandler (R) and forward Kenneth Faried (L) before the game against the Chicago Bulls at the Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Not only is Wilson Chandler the Nugget’s sixth man off the bench, he just may be their most important piece to their puzzle.
To end these takeaways on a positive note, the 5th takeaway from tonight’s game is that Wilson Chandler deserves to be the front-runner for Sixth Man of the Year.
Indicated earlier in the article, the man put up an outstanding 27 point performance, but what is being overshadowed is his 15 rebounds.
When you consider his monster double-double to go along with a string of consistently well played games, it is hard to imagine another sixth man being more vital to their team right now.
Whenever the Nuggets are down big to start games, Chandler always seems to lead the second unit and makes a surge to cut the deficit or take the lead. He is the clear leader of the bench and is showing just how much Denver missed his versatility last season. What’s impressive about his year so far is how well he has bounced back from season ending surgery last year.
Considering he had to have his hip operated on, the consistency he is showing while elevating his play is remarkable.
At this point in the NBA season, Wilson Chandler would be the Sixth Man of the Year and it would not even be close.
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