What did we learn about the Nuggets while Nikola Jokic was out?
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What did the Nuggets learn during Jokic's absence?
The Nuggets now 10-6. Let's talk about them without Jokic here. Incredible stretch. It was a soft part of the schedule, but you know what? We'll take whatever we can get. Denver did a great job of surviving this, and I feel like more than anything, the Nuggets grew in ways that now it gets so exciting to see what happens when Jokic's back, how some of these guys get to spread their wings. But if you were to summarize the stint without Jokic, how would you summarize it?
spectacular i really do because in a lot of those games you could say it's the soft stretch the soft part of the schedule they were underdogs in in a lot of those games most of those games and other teams are healthy um going at them and giving them a a real feel and they found a way to win those games um and for years it's been the idea that this team is only about yokich and they will be a
How did the Nuggets perform without their star player?
you know, a lottery team if they didn't have them. They've shown that they're not that. They also came up with one of the biggest, it came up with the biggest win of the season without him. That was a spectacular run, and I'm glad that they were able to figure it out, but dig deep, and now you have a coach who got to figure it out that now is getting his weapon back. How would you describe it?
Yeah, like reassuring. Like that the Nuggets bench additions were as impactful as we hoped that they would be. Like obviously they got so much more attention, so much more shine, so many more minutes. And Adelman learning a lot more about his bench, and so did we. It's like, who are the guys now that when you have your top horses that you can still count on to get good minutes? Again, we just had a month of non-Jokic minutes, and they went pretty good. We had a positive plus-minus in the non-Jokic minutes, which is insane.
Who emerged as key players for the Nuggets in Jokic's absence?
Negative plus-minus, as they pointed out, but a plus record. Because when they lost, they got blown out.
I didn't know we were tracking actual plus-minus.
We're not really.
It's 10-6. 10-6. Great numbers coming out of it. So, yeah, man. It does in many ways feel like everything that's happened up to this point didn't matter at all. And this is actually the start of the season. This is when we are now coming back. The people are coming back. I feel like the Broncos malaise has dripped off of us. That's true. And we're ready to be reborn in his image.
The crazy thing about all of this is that when Jokic went down, the Nuggets were the three seed in the Western Conference. Five games in the last column behind Oklahoma City. He returns tonight. The Nuggets are the three seed in the Western Conference. Five games behind Oklahoma City. Nothing has changed except for one thing. They've actually got separation from five, six, and seven, which is crazy. Dude. Those teams have fallen. Denver has a little cushion. I mean, knock on wood. Two and a half game cushion over the fifth seeded Timberwolves. That's actually kind of nice.
There's a little separation. It's insane that that happened.
What insights did the Nuggets gain about their bench players?
Well, it's also saying a lot about that team, that the team got stronger in that stretch. They took care of business with missing guys. So, I mean, that's a big change. And now you get a hungry Jokic coming back and wanting to help his team out because he saw how they were battling. That's a dangerous spot to be in.
My hunch is we're going to see Cam Johnson and Christian Brown very soon, like eventually in the coming week or two, right before the All-Star break. David Alleman said he's hopeful that they're all going to play before the All-Star break. And part of me hopes that they come back one at a time. And the reason for that, look, I'd love them just to come back. Everybody be healthy. I'm excited tonight that Peyton Watson is firmly the third option in the Denver Nuggets lineup. He's the third option. He gets to be aggressive tonight in the way that we have seen him excel as the number two option overall. Now he's the number three option in the starting lineup. And I think we're going to get to see some of what I've been waiting to see.
Now that he has a longer leash, what does it look like with Jokic?
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What did the Nuggets learn during Jokic's absence?
0:00–0:51
2
How did the Nuggets perform without their star player?
0:51–1:50
3
Who emerged as key players for the Nuggets in Jokic's absence?
1:50–2:57
4
What insights did the Nuggets gain about their bench players?
2:57–6:36
5
How has Jokic's return impacted team dynamics?
6:36–7:38
Speakers
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