Tim Legler on If Nuggets Are REAL Contenders, BIG Win Streak, Is Jokic The BEST in the World & More
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Got Tim Legler here talking a little Denver Nuggets, and what a time to do it. It's been a choppy, bumpy season for them, Legs. They just had that big win over the Spurs. So I'm going to ask you right off the bat, is this win streak, is that win, is it enough for you to buy this team as contenders still heading into the playoffs?
There's no question, yes. And I think... You know, I've kind of felt most of the year they represented the biggest challenge to Oklahoma City in the West. And that was before, of course, the emergence of San Antonio and what we saw them turn into and sort of accelerating um their relevance we no one really expected san antonio to be on this level so they clearly entered that mix now as well but if it's not oklahoma city or san antonio there is no other team to envision in the western conference i have a legitimate shot at than the denver nuggets and i think this winning streak at this time of the year and getting guys back and kind of seeing them whole
Are the Denver Nuggets real NBA championship contenders?
has continued to shine light on the fact that this team is not quite ready to think that their championship window is over. And that's what this winning streak for me has done. And, you know, what Jokic has done and the way he's played. And, you know, not that at any point you ever watch Jokic and you think he's losing anything. But, you know, there was a time earlier this year, it wasn't quite the same every night than what we were used to. And now he's playing his best basketball of the season at exactly the right time.
During that relatively funky February, early March, what were you seeing from him? I mean, the turnovers were up, but it just kind of seemed like mentally he was in a different place than we're used to seeing from a guy who's been, you know, best in the world or at least arguably so for some time.
Yeah, he looked to me like a guy that was just a little bit beat up physically and dragging a little bit, and he was having a little bit of a harder time mustering like that. Because a guy like Jokic, he's not going to overwhelm you athletically. So he has to be so dialed in mentally for the grind and the challenge, the way that he has to play, the physicality of his game and what he's got to endure because he's not getting easy ones with his athletic ability. Like, you have to be so dialed in mentally to prepare for that every night, to, like, be that consistent as he's been throughout his career. And it's almost incredible that he did it as long as he did. So to hit that, that's what it looked like to me.
It looked like a guy that hit a little bit of a wall mentally and physically. They had had guys injured in and out of the lineup all year, like key guys. That probably took a toll on them. And it just looked like, you know, he needs to, like, hit the reset button and find a recharge somewhere. And it looks obviously like he's found it.
Yeah, it looks like he's back to form. It looks like he's motivated as they head into the playoffs and maybe playing with a little more joy. And that's obviously a really good thing for this team. Do you think that, you know, Jokic is kind of back in that, that best in the world kind of caliber? I mean, not that he really ever left that territory, but that conversation was reopened for the first time since maybe 2022. And it seems to me like he's at least back in that it's him or it's SGA and they've separated themselves from everyone else.
No, he definitely is. And I don't think he ever left. But I do think it wasn't as resounding a position that he held as best player in the world. It wasn't as obvious and as overwhelmingly unanimous in the way that people viewed him. It's like some people were nibbling away at him. Obviously, SGA at the top of the list, winning an MVP last year and a title. And so he hits that funk at that time of the year. some people might have thought okay maybe that's the last time we ever see nicole yokich like you know win an mvp or like be in that conversation because you know sga is going to be there for the foreseeable future right and then there's other guys you kind of feel like are are in line that it's a matter of time when be at the top of the list like that's coming so you look at that and go okay
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Chapters
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