Michael Malone must get his team to post season
By Mathew Huff
Head coach, Michael Malone, must get the Nuggets to the playoffs if he wants to have a chance to keep his job.
Denver Nuggets head coach, Michael Malone, has come under a ton of scrutiny this season. Some of it has been undeserved, but a lot of it has been understandable as well. Denver is in a position as of right now where they may miss out on the post season by one game for the second straight year in a row.
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Much of this has to do with some mistakes Michael Malone has made. One key game was the Boston Celtics game where decided not to call a timeout when the Nuggets grabbed the rebound and were only down by a single point. Instead, he let them push the fast break and hoist up a shot which had no chance of going in to win the game over one of the hottest teams in the Eastern Conference.
Another crucial game was the most recent one against the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers were killing the Nuggets with the double high pick and roll in the fourth quarter and he refused to make adjustments or find a way to get Jokic out of a situation where he has always struggled.
In a way, he is in a somewhat similar situation as Mark Jackson. Coaching and developing a promising squad, but always seemingly failing to get them over to the next step of their process and growth.
If Malone cannot get this talented Nuggets team to the post season this year, then he does not deserve to be back next season. He does get a bad wrap at times, but with how talented this team is, there is no excuse for missing the playoffs even in a competitive Western Conference.
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He must find a way to get this team to the playoffs for the sake of his job.