There were some positive and negative takeaways from the Nuggets’ third preseason game on Sunday night, a 108-104 loss to the Phoenix Suns. There were solid individual performances to point to, and plenty of reasons for optimism. But overall, the team lacked in key areas and despite the Suns resting their starters, the Nuggets fell for the third straight game.
The overall results don’t matter and preseason is about much more than winning games. However, it’s a bit concerning when the Nuggets are playing their starters much of the game, and still struggling to match the Suns’ backups.
I was a bit annoyed but didn’t think too much of it; Nuggets coach Michael Malone clearly felt a little differently. In his postgame press conference he started out pretty neutral, but when pushed, quickly opened up about the Nuggets’ struggles and he didn’t pull any punches.
Malone was asked about the team getting dominated from the three-point line again and he went off the rails on a tangent. He connected the opponents’ open looks to his own team’s defense.
Nuggets head coach rips team to shreds
Within a couple of minutes, he pointed out how the Nuggets “got our ass kicked”, that the Suns scoring 37 points in the third quarter: “Was embarrassing”, that the Nuggets “have a lot of work to do”, and added, “we can’t guard 1 on 1… a lot of blow-bys”.
He was asked if the defensive breakdowns were a matter of scheme, comfort, or effort and he almost broke out laughing. “Oh, it’s not scheme. And that’s not comfort”. I don’t want to put words in Malone’s mouth but the only other option was effort.
Malone is not happy at all with his team’s effort on the defensive end and he’s letting theme know that in a very public setting. Part of this is likely a motivation tact on his end; he may think his team is a little too comfortable and nonchalant. He wants to remind them that they need to show up and put in the effort.
Michael Malone postgame: 1 on 1 defense, conditioning a major concern after 3rd preseason loss pic.twitter.com/4qIprXdRlF
— DNVR Nuggets (@DNVR_Nuggets) October 14, 2024
The Nuggets aren’t the defending champs anymore. They have to go out and earn it. This is a new team in a lot of ways and they have to go through the entire journey. Nothing is going to be handed to them and they can’t skip any steps. Malone is making it very clear that the Nuggets need to pick it up on the defensive end immediately.
He went on to talk about the lack of conditioning and how he saw players getting tired. He pointed out how the league has gotten soft and coaches are afraid to run their players, stating the Nuggets “need to”.
It’s a lot of interesting rhetoric from a coach after his team has played just three preseason games, but it’s a good approach from Malone. The team should be coming into this season with a renewed hunger and vigor. They’ve been written off all offseason and they should be motivated to go remind people how good they are.
We need to see 100% buy-in for the long road to a (hopefully) championship and we need to see it from day one. If Malone doesn’t see it yet, he has to make sure that changes and hopefully bulletin board material from their own coach will help the players do what needs to be done.