In the Denver Nuggets hard-fought 120-109 loss to the defending champ Milwaukee Bucks on Friday, one player displayed his toughness in a cringe-worthy way for all to see. Especially if you’re squeamish.
After deflecting a pass out of bounds, the Nuggets forward Vlatko Cancar walked to the bench holding his hand. He didn’t want to leave the game, though. First, Cancar asked the refs to stop play. They didn’t immediately.
So he quickly searched for a trainer on the Nuggets sideline or anyone who would pull his finger back into place. He turned his head and winced. His dislocated finger was now back in place.
He was thankful, he’d say after the game, that his finger just popped straight out instead of sideways. He stayed in the game when the whistle resumed play. That’s strength under pressure.
Cancar, a native of Slovenia, is in his third year with the Nuggets. The 6-8, 24-year-old is a small forward who is a versatile, long player who can shoot the trey and pass.
On Friday against the Bucks, he dropped in 10 points, hitting both of his 3-point attempts and free-throws, to go with 4 assists in 15 minutes of action.
In addition to the toughness he displayed with his finger injury, he set several sturdy screens. Importantly, he didn’t drift or slide or nudge when setting the screens. This problem has plagued big men for the Nuggets, particularly JaMychal Green.
Cancar was taken by the Nuggets in the late second round (No. 49) of the 2017 draft. He started playing for Slovenia’s youth national team at 15 years old.
Alongside Luka Doncic, he was in the starting lineup that propelled Slovenia to the bronze medal game of the 2021 Olympics this summer. They came up short against Patty Mills and Australia.
Cancar has never poured in extreme numbers like Dončič. However, he’s a fundamentally sound player who contributes in a variety of ways. He also doesn’t turn the ball over much.
Like so many Nuggets, Cancar missed time this season because of a hip strain. Before taking the floor with the Nuggets in the past week, Cancar played a game for the G League Rapids City Gold. In a win, he played 23 minutes and scored 18 points on 7-15 shooting with 12 rebounds and 4 assists.
Cancar said he expected to stay with the G League for several games to work his way into game shape. Yet the injuries to the Nuggets just kept coming.
Fortunately, he has played meaningful minutes for the Nuggets before this season. In the 2020-2021 regular season, Cancar played his best game in a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the last week.
In just 18 minutes, he scored 14 points with 3-4 three-pointers and 3 rebounds and 2 assists. The following night he scored 11 points with 4 rebounds and 2 steals in a win against Detroit. Cancar saw spare minutes in the playoffs.
With Bol Bol saddled to the bench until garbage time, it seems Coach Michael Malone is going to trust Cancar more often in the regular rotation. The young player didn’t want to give up his spot to mere a busted finger.
Cancar said the refs in the Bucks game might not have understood he wanted him to stop the game. He joked that he needs to improve his English.
In this post-game interview after the Nuggets vs. Bucks, though, you can see he knows several important words in English quite well. One of those is trust.
As a young player, Cancar said on defense he used to only worry about stopping his player from scoring. He recognizes that many of the Nuggets are inexperienced, young players and need to learn to play together.
“Basketball is played 5-on-5,” he said. “We need to do a better job of trusting each other.”