Adam Mares
Appearances
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
I did see it coming, just not now. I think this was something that I fully expected in the offseason should the Nuggets not make a deep playoff run, which the indications over the last month or so that they were not going to make a deep playoff run. They had been struggling. So I expected this to come at the end of the season was the team would shift directions.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
You said Calvin Booth was not going to be extended. He was let go. So this is not a thing of like, I mean, he's out the building. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes, but just only point that out because it is almost semantics in one way of this was a we're pulling the bandaid off now. And I think you could argue, are they trying to regalvanize the team to not waste the season and maybe give them a spark?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
It doesn't make sense that you wouldn't just play this out and then make this move a month from now. So I can only anticipate that that means the team thought that this would maybe be in a shot in the arm to not waste one of the greatest individual seasons we've ever seen from a player and give themselves even the tiniest chance to rally.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
I've heard almost the opposite, that I think there's a chance we might see him in the next three games. I don't think we'll see him tomorrow. I don't know if he's officially ruled out. I think he got elevated to doubtful. But I don't think this is a thing that the Nuggets are saying Jamal Murray will not be healthy the rest of the year. I don't think it's that. Okay.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
I also don't know that that played into it. Obviously, if he was healthy, they probably have an extra win or two. Right. And maybe that's enough to just hold the door, so to speak, till after the playoffs. But I don't think it had anything to do with that. I think this was moving in slow motion over the course of the last year and a half. They win a championship in 2023 and that became the bar.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
This is a championship open window is open team and you have to maximize every second. And I think you saw, I mean, look, this is not, I think Mike Mullen's a great coach and did a great job here. He's the winningest coach in nuggets history. Uh, But 10 years, there's a reason you don't see coaches around for 10 years. That's hard to do.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
And I do think that there was a bit of, you know, maybe his voice was expiring a little bit. Again, nothing urgent, no singular event. But I think it was something that the organization felt, the fan base probably felt to some extent. And then there was a huge conflict between him and Calvin Booth. And it was well publicized. People have talked about this.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
And I think that that strain behind closed doors seeped out emotionally into the fabric of the organization in a way that it just came to a head. And both of them went home. So one of those things where the alignment never arrived and both guys now find themselves on the couch.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
There's no question. And I think that you look at this and say, Jokic covers a lot of sins. He's a great player and he can make up for a lot of shortcomings. And so it is hard to say last year they were among the favorites to win the title. Jamal Murray gets hurt late. It falls apart on him and they come up short. But you can't look at that season and say it was a failure from top to bottom.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
You look at it and say, OK, a thing breaks the other direction and maybe they go on to the finals. So I think it was easy to assess that in the last year. But this year, you look at it and say, what's going to show up? The potential of last year, the good parts of it, or the concerns?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
And I think this year was just triple the level of concerns, the exact same ones, only more so, and none of the excitement of the previous two years. So it just became obvious that the leadership of both of those guys mixed together in a thing that became toxic and I think ran its course in Denver. Yeah.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
I can't make that case for you because this doesn't happen. This is the latest firing in NBA history tied for the latest firing. Going back to Hubie Brown 50 years ago, that was the last time a player was a coach was fired with three games remaining in the season. So this is not something that I think is a genius move. I think it's a last ditch move.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
This is a well, we might as well do it now because we're definitely going to do it. The only other case because I can't make the case that the Nuggets are going to do this. They have Jokic. That's the case. Right. The ceiling is high. That's what we've been saying. Right. And you can shorten your rotation in a playoffs. So depth is obviously a problem for Denver.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
Can you shorten that enough to that? There's just six and a half guys and you win with that. I mean, probably not, but that's the case. But the other thing I kept thinking was Jokic is also great enough to carry you to a conference finals when you don't deserve it. And I do wonder if part of the calculus here was we know what we need to do.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
Let's not give ourselves a chance to lock up and make it to the conference finals. And all of a sudden now we can't fire the coach. It's working, everybody. We're so close.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
So part of me wonders, I can't make sense of why now, other than they think the team will be galvanized and you can save the season, or you worry that any measure of success would make it harder to make the move you know you wanted to make in the offseason.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
It's really hard to say, and I think that you look at that and say the interim GM, although it has not been named as such, but the next man up on the totem pole is Tommy Balchettis, who's been around for 10 years. He came in with Tim Conley. Actually, it's been 12 years, so he's been around the building for a very long time. Do they elevate him? That's been their M.O.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
In fact, I think there's a quote of Josh Kroenke years back talking about building in a system that's like shark's teeth, revolving shark's teeth. The next guy can fill the shoes of the one that came before him. You have Jokic in his prime. He is a three-time MVP. He had the best season of his career this year, at least offensively.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
I think that there's a sense of urgency of you can't, there's no ramp up to this job. Whoever comes in has to hit the ground running. If they do look outside and they try to find someone to come in,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
I have to imagine whoever they bring in looks around and says, Jokic is one of the greatest players to ever play, and he has gone 10 years without playing with another all-star, all-NBA player or all-defensive team. More than any other player in NBA history, he has played more games without a teammate that qualified for one of those awards.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
I have to imagine they would say that's not happening again. So Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, I think everybody would be on the table this summer for Denver to say, we don't have time to figure this out slowly or develop a long-term plan. We are in win now mode and whatever it takes year after year after year for the next several to get this thing done.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Michael Malone out in Denver + Thunder get revenge on Lakers
I'm doing good, man. It was a long day and a long and unexpected day.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
It's going good. I think when people think Denver Nuggets, they think Nikola Jokic, but I'll accept that it's me.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
I mean, in terms of panic, it's very low because panic, I think, implies a surprise of sorts or, you know, a fear. If you're just asking me, like, where's my optimism on the Nuggets right now? It's pretty low. So panic meter, based on how you're asking it, probably like a seven or eight. I think the Nuggets can still win a title this year. I think they can still be a great team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
And that's obviously the bar they're going to be judged by for the next hour, however long they have Jokic. It's title or bust from here on out. And they're fighting an uphill battle. But what I'd say is when we talk about they haven't won back-to-back games in over a month, they've been without Jokic, they've been without Jamal, without Aaron Gordon, and in spots two of those guys.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
So it's been a little bit of a clunky sort of setup for the Denver Nuggets. That's a bit of a cop-out. They have lost games, as you mentioned, to the Wizards, who they should never lose to. But I think that the Nuggets haven't really had an opportunity to gain the type of traction I expect they will over this upcoming month.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
So I think they're better than what they look like, but I still think they're below what it's likely going to require to win a championship this year.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Peyton Watson, pretty high confidence. I think he's a phenomenal defender. I think he's the best defender on the Nuggets roster. At least, you know, put him on the Kyrie Irving. He's had a phenomenal game. Put him on LeBron James. Phenomenal. He's had a lot of tough matchups and he's done a great job. I think he'll be there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
He still plays like a young player who I think needs to get it, you know, in terms of where what's your shot? Where do you fit into the offense? Not making mistakes on defense, but I think he'll get there and he makes such a high impact. Julian Strother, I'm a lot more bearish on.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
He's a shooter who hasn't really shot the ball at an elite level just yet for the Nuggets, and he's the worst defensive player on a roster that already is probably over the line of number of bad defenders that you can take into a playoff rotation. I don't have confidence. I have a lot of confidence that Julian Strother will work out as a prospect and be a good player relative to his draft position.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
I just think he's tracking as a type of player that's going to get there Around April of twenty twenty six, you know, a year away from that. And Denver doesn't have that runway. So right now, Jamal Murray, a below average defender that teams attack. Michael Porter Jr. Below average defender teams attack. Jokic has some compromises defensively that the team has to make up for.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
I just don't think you can add Julian Strother to a playoff rotation around those other guys who are more important. So for him, zero percent for Peyton Watson, probably ninety five percent.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
So physically, he looks a lot better than he did two months ago. He just looks a little thinner, has a little bit more popping. He's been out for a little bit, so we haven't seen him. But right before he went out, I just thought physically he looked better. But his performance still is probably in between what he was for Team Canada and what he was at this point last season in the regular season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
So it's definitely a concern. It's the number one concern, in my opinion, around the Denver Nuggets is... They won a championship because Jamal Murray was one of the 20 best players in the NBA for a two month stretch during the playoffs. And we've seen it a handful of times in these high profile situations. He's risen his game to this level where you go, wow, that's that's who he is.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
OK, they're a contender. He's nowhere near that at the moment. I think the team has sort of lost confidence in him, to be honest with you, for the first time. I think they've dealt with his early season malaise all of his career. He's come into October, November, December, and ramped up and then become good in January, February, March. That's kind of been his MO.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
But I think the team is finally sick of that. And probably because of how poorly he was in the playoffs last year. Now you can question, will he actually be there in the playoffs? Whereas before he always rose throughout the year. The one time you don't do that. I think your teammates look around, the fan base looks around, your coach looks around and goes, maybe this is just who he is.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
What's funny about Russell Westbrook is he has been exactly who he's been over the last three seasons when playing without Nikoli Okic, a guy who takes the most absurd shots, misses at the rim. It's just pure chaos. And then when he plays with Nikola Jokic, he turns into prime Magic Johnson. And we always joke here in Denver about backup point guards.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
They have the easiest job ever when they stagger with Jokic. You don't have to run a nuanced offense. Just find Jokic. Run a little pick and roll. And the first moment you have to get it to him, just get it to him. Russ has taken that to heart. He presses the pass to Jokic button every single dime down court.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
And when you look at Jokic right there in the mix for the scoring title this year, I think Russell Westbrook is as big a reason as any in that when he's on the court, Jokic is just getting the ball in the paint consistently. So he's been phenomenal when playing with Jokic, and he's been about what you would expect when not playing with Jokic.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Oh, man, I have to rank those in order of how they happen, because I actually think it's possible that they the last three all happen. I think Denver is at a point where almost certainly the roster they will enter the playoffs with is not the roster they have now.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Now, whether that is they find a small trade to clear a roster spot and add a Justin Holiday, who's still in Denver, you know, was with the team last year. And you just add him to the roster, an extra shooter, veteran player. I think that one's almost a lock at a bare minimum. I think they're going to do that. And then there's a chance that they do take a swing at a bigger player.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
You know, you look at a Jamal Murray and Jamal Murray is ineligible to be traded in the season. But you look at a Michael Porter Jr. I think there is a world out there where I could see them moving on from him. They need shooting. So they need what he provides. But more than anything, they need depth.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
And as we mentioned earlier with Julian Strother, I just think in today's NBA, you can go into a playoff series with one negative defender on the court at any given time. And as the roster shakes out right now, Denver almost always has at least two on the floor. And in the playoffs, that projects to happen forward. So...
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
If you're not going to lose Murray, Michael Porter is a piece that I think you could look at and say he's a max contract. He could probably bring in a pretty good player. So I wouldn't be surprised. And then lastly, you know, I think this is Michael Malone's last season with Denver unless they win a championship. So unless they win the championship, I think that one hits as well.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
You know, I think the one you think about, and I think half of this is just because he's Serbian, but Atlanta, Trey Young and Michael Porter Jr. were obviously AAU teammates, best friends. They play together. So Michael Porter going there and bringing back Bogdan Bogdanovich and maybe DeAndre Hunter, maybe Larry Nance, something of that nature. You'd have to make the contracts work.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
That's always tricky, but there are some options out there that it is a workable trade. And I think about that one. I mean, you would get... Some of Michael Porter's shooting out of Bogdan Bogdanovich, you would get more ball handling. You obviously get a pick-and-roll partner. Whoever watched the Olympics, Bogdanovich and Jokic had a phenomenal chemistry running pick-and-roll with each other.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
So you would add that to your team, and then DeAndre Hunter has been playing great. I mean, the Hawks might not be interested in this. They're playing so well right now with those guys. But DeAndre Hunter maybe gives you another rotation piece that you can trust in your playoff rotation that's not a negative on defense.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
I got to win this one. You have to understand. I'm going to get killed. You guys could single-handedly ruin my entire reputation right now if I lose this. I think I know more about Jokic than any person not related to him. So if I lose this, I'm going to be absolutely humiliated.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
All right, let me see if I can think this out. So he has four this year, five in his top year. And then I can go through in my head a handful of games otherwise. So let me think here. This includes playoffs or just regular season? This includes playoffs. I'm going to go. I'm going to go with 16.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
What if I try another Andre? Andre Miller?
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
I think I know the answer to this one. And I mean, I'd have to really think about this longer, but the first name that came to my head was Danilo Gallinari. Adam Gallinari.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
He's on the board.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
So I have three, maybe, I think I have three guesses on this. I have to whittle it down. It could be Aaron Gordon. It could be Paul Millsap. But I think it's actually Jamal Murray, just by virtue of the fact that he's been there for 10 years now. Played in eight of them, eight and a half. So I'm going to go Jamal. Would you believe that it is actually Will the Thrill Barton?
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
I almost went Will too. Really? He's just played with him so much. That's the longevity thing. That is wild. Man, I almost threw him into the mix.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
All right, let's go eight. These little numbers aren't doing it for me.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Yeah, that's embarrassing. I don't think I would have guessed that. I might have. I don't think I would have guessed it, though.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
That is incorrect. Wait, he takes... Aaron Gordon takes shots farther than Jokic on average? Did you ask that backwards?
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
I'm like, hold on. There's no way Aaron Gordon has... There's no way he takes farther shots. Maybe. I mean... I will give you the stats.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
How is Aaron Gordon taking an average of 11? That's wild. That's wild this year. He has taken the more threes, so maybe that's it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Vlatko Chanchar. That is correct.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
He's good at it. He's for real good at it. They put him in the game one time. I think it was against Dallas specifically to heave. They checked him into the game and he nails it. Wow. There you go.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Well, he is not active. Oh, you said active players? Yeah, I'm sorry. High volume inside the paint?
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Yeah. Makes sense.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Also makes sense.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
He's number one, Andrew. What a guess. Yay. I was really hoping he'd let me have that one.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Oh, number seven, Andrew. Nice pull. Wow. Now it's like the guys that just played a long time. They try just to think of bigs that played for a lot. And I don't even know if they kept stats with Dan Issel's blocks. Ray Flafront. Number eight.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
I have no names in my brain. What was your last name you had? I was going to guess Jokic, just because he's like the fourth most games played or something now.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Oh, that was part of the question? Oh, jeez. The other name... I think he would just go with Issel or English.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Bobby Jones played for like a year and a half. That's crazy.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
No, it would have been embarrassing if I lost the Jokic draft. I had to get this one. I had to. Well, you did it. Flying colors.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Well, today, we do it four times a week. Today, we previewed the NBA Cup, and we talked about the most disappointing players in the NBA.
The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
I think, you know what, this was a non-controversial list. I think the disappointing players are very loud. Tyrese Halliburton, 76ers. We all know the guys that are struggling this year.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
I'm doing fine today. I was doing a little bit better before last night's blowout.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
Well, I think the physicality part is meaningful because I think Oklahoma City will bring that physicality to every game. They have to, based on their front court size deficit. But the biggest strategic adjustment, at least on Denver's end of the floor, which I think in the early go, Denver was not scoring, and that's what opened up the game.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
And Oklahoma City, you get them in the half court, I think Denver's going to be okay. They got a lot of points in transition last night.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
What I saw was that they were leaving Christian Brown open, Russell Westbrook, Aaron Gordon, and I think they were, because they are so undersized in the frontcourt, because it takes so much, and because they're vulnerable on the defensive glass, they said, listen, that's the thing we're not going to lose.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
We're going to put everybody in there and stack it, and Christian Brown's going to get three open threes in the first quarter, and we'll live with it. And last night, he went 0-3.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
I think so, too. And I kind of like your point about them doing this in the regular season, kind of mixing it up, because one of my beliefs about success in the playoffs is you're going to need different rotations and different matchups and different things for different series. And it was almost like preparation. OK, what happens if we get into this series? They have a big front court.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
We're going to have to match up. So that's something I've just seen across the entire NBA is the teams that have sort of positioned themselves to play a couple different styles and being prepared for it. So I agree with you. The thing about leaving shooters open. You know, we saw this in Denver Clippers in the first series.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
Chris Dunn was below the threshold where Denver would live with his hot quarters. Makes three, four in a row, they'll live with it. Denver tried that in game one with Caruso and with Dort. Those guys, I think, are above the threshold, especially Lou Dort. They're above the threshold of how much you can just leave a guy open.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
I think Oklahoma City realizes they can make that bet with Denver shooters, and they might lose one of these next two games in Denver. Denver gets hot, but I think they all feel comfortable knowing we'll lose every time on the offensive glass if we try to play this straight up, and we'll lose every battle in the paint in the half court if we try to play this straight up.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
So that tradeoff is worth it, and you'll get games like last night where every time you get stops on Denver, you have a huge advantage in transition going the other way.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
He's been really good. I mean, I think one of the things you like about Aaron Gordon in Denver is that he seems to know where his touches are going to come in the rhythm of the offense. And he really hones in on those. So he takes the ones that are good for him. Transition is part of that. You know, getting to the corners has been part of that.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
But yeah, I mean, there's no question they mismanaged that one. And I like the way you phrased it, that maybe they overthought this because Oklahoma City, especially coming after game one, but I thought this about them all year. they're very strategically minded. They think a lot about how can we tilt things in our favor. And I think that's important.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
You want to build that, bake that into the DNA of your team. But oftentimes, that's only half the battle. The other part of it is just sort of the will and the physicality and the deliberateness to which you approach different things. And I thought game one became a little bit of a chess match, so to speak. And game two was just a street fight.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
They came out and said, okay, we have to do these things. We're going to overwhelm them athletically. And that's their real advantage. I mean, Denver has a great tactician on the floor at all times in Nikola Jokic. You're not going to win that chess match. That's not necessarily the angle you have to go, but they are the more talented and certainly the more athletic team.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
And the athleticism, I think, is one of the things that has popped in both games, but it really popped in game two.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
I mean, I think Oklahoma City is a lot better than Denver. And Denver, to me, this year reminds me more of the 2023 Miami Heat than anybody else in that I think they can beat you with execution. They can beat you with toughness. But there are teams that are more talented than them. And... There are teams, and you talked about DeAndre Jordan last night. Denver doesn't have any levers to pull.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
They have five, six guys, and one of them has one shoulder at the moment. You know, Michael Porter can't really lift his left hand above his head.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
Yeah, and it's not even the depth of it, which I think would be its own issue. You know, Peyton Watson maybe gives him minutes. I actually think he's been good lately. So you can say six and a half guys. But the problem is more the versatility. In the playoffs, you have to solve problems. You have to go to different lineups. And you saw last night, I mean, DeAndre Jordan,
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
It's tough to play him in any series because he can only really play that pick and roll drop coverage. He can't really do anything else. But against a team as versatile and as smart as Oklahoma City, you saw last night, he guards the pick and roll. They get a wide open three. They flip it. They put him on, I think, Case and Wallace saying, OK, well, we'll get ahead of the pick and roll.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
They just use Case and Wallace as the screener and ran pick. They know how to attack every type of coverage when you have a liability like that. Denver's going to have to play somebody to give Jokic some kind of breath. And I just don't know that Denver has any levers to pull there. So Denver is at this disadvantage, I think, from a talent and adept standpoint.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
And then on top of that, you see last night, they make some adjustments and met them physically. And this is why I think you asked me how I feel in the series. I buy Denver's toughness. I buy Jokic. I buy their connection, the way they've been playing connected over the last eight. Basically, this playoff run is very impressive, and that's a hallmark of what makes them great.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
But you're still going to have to make open shots from guys that I don't really trust to make them at a right volume. You're going to have to find guys to defend in positions I don't trust them to defend at volume. And that's why I was not very confident coming into the series.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
The thing about Denver, if you get into a half court battle, I think Denver feels good about these things because they're so efficient in the half court, you know, when you can slow that game down like that. But what you're talking about here with these guard to guard screens or putting Jokic on Dort, getting Dort an open shot is a good option.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
But it's an uncomfortable one when you're going up against Denver in the half court because you know Denver's going to get great looks every single time. And I think that's a gamble Denver's willing to play with. A team as good as Oklahoma.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
It's like your only path. And you saw this against the Clippers too, by the way, where Denver said... how comfortable are you giving the ball to Dunn's four possessions in a row, wide open? Because he might make them, and even statistically speaking, a wide open Chris Dunn corner three is not that bad in a half court. But teams don't want to do that.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
Oklahoma City can beat you a lot of ways, but they don't necessarily want to just keep feeding Caruso open threes. They'll do it. They're a tough team, but that's not their comfort zone. And I think Denver can make that gamble because of the pressure they put on you. But last night became a transition game, especially early on. And to your point, I think them...
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
Denver looked up and said, we're down 20 in the first quarter. How much energy do we want to expend trying to come back in this one?
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
Well, so far in this series is more interesting to me because that was another one of the takeaways. Like, how much can you read into last night's game? But one of the things was... Oklahoma City was very prepared for that zone. It was lazy last night, but they would overload the side that Jokic was on. It's not even a balance.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
I think Denver can make adjustments to this, but it wasn't even a balanced attack. It was just, we're going to send three guys over to the side, and Jokic is not going to run out on the perimeter for it. I don't know what the numbers said last night, but I would guess the Thunder were incredibly efficient in the zone possessions that Denver had. I mean, it had no chance...
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
And I thought that Oklahoma City clearly spent the last 48 hours kind of preparing for that exact defense.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
And overloading Jokic's side, either he's not going to run out or you're taking your best defensive rebounder out of position now. And I think that's the gamble they're willing to make is even best case scenario, we're going to miss a shot and we have a good chance here at the second chance points. Thunder scored...
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
I think it's a complete reset. Culturally, emotionally, psychologically, the team is different since the 80th game of the season. You almost have to throw out the first 79. I mean, I always tell this story that I knew something was off with this team, obviously the way it ended last year, but at the very first day, at media day, you could tell like, okay, things are not good here.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
And nobody showed up to pre-camp workouts. Nobody was in the gym this summer. It was like nobody wanted to be in Denver until the last possible second. And you saw and felt that as you watched this team the entire year was this is a team that get becomes connected through the course of the season. They work because they, they get five guys kind of working in sync and you just never had that.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
You had friction, you had tension, you had unhappiness and you had bad play when you knew that, that I knew that that move was coming. I did not know it was coming with three games left. That was a very bold move by Josh Cronky. And to, according to him, that firing was, we don't want to waste the season. This team is better than what we look. Let's just see if this gives some juice. And it did.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
I think Adelman is very different than Malone Malone.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
And I do think it was layered. I think that was the facing, but really true reason. But I'm sure there were other reasons as well. What happens if you get a nice little conference finals run, somebody gets injured, you make Now it's harder to make a firing in the offseason. So I think it was a layered decision.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
But I do believe that they looked at this and said, we can't waste a year of Jokic's prime. And even though things aren't looking like they're going to break our way, why not give ourselves a chance? And it worked because this team, I think David Edelman is a strategist. He's a very smart coach. And this is a veteran team. I don't know that they need a ton of emotional coaching and inspiration.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
I think they need a blueprint. And also there's been this vacancy. I think Michael Malone takes up a lot of space as a leader in the locker room. And I've actually thought this for a long time. He'd always say, I want Jokic to be a leader. I want him to be more. I'm telling him to speak up. And sometimes I think you can't order that. Sometimes you have to read what's happening.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
I think David Adelman is not that guy. He's not an emotional rah-rah speech guy. And it's almost like he's opened up space for Jokic to become more vocal, to really lead this team and direct them in certain ways. So there was a shot in the arm. I think it has a lasting effect for this team that they're playing differently. Denver is good. Even in their championship year, talent was pretty good.
The Zach Lowe Show
Playoff Comeback or Collapse?! NBA Breakdowns With Fred Katz and Adam Mares. Plus, a Draft Lottery Preview With J. Kyle Mann.
They were one of the more talented teams. But they won because they were connected. They became more than the sum of their parts with how they moved. And I think over the last 12 games, whatever it's been, they've moved in that direction quite a bit. But they're still at a talent deficit in the fact that they have about six and a half rotation players.