After the stunningly bad first-round playoff exit at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves last year, many fans were asking for a coaching change. Apparently, the Denver Nuggets were asking for a coaching change, too. There wasn't a change at the top, but the addition of former Memphis Grizzlies and Sacramento Kings head coach Dave Joerger as lead assistant coach sounds like it was a "mandated" decision for Nuggets head coach David Adelman to add experience to the bench. So, a glorified babysitter?
That's how it sounded to me when I heard NBA insider Marc Stein explain the addition of Joerger on the DNVR Sports video cast.
"The way that it was explained to me, the mandate came from management that they wanted David Adelman to add someone to the staff who had head coaching experience," Stein said.
"Mandate." A better word for order or command. The Nuggets made Adelman add Joerger. So they forced him to find a guardrail for himself.
Adelman clearly needed more help last season
It was apparent a few times during the first-round playoff series against the Timberwolves. Adelman was struggling to adjust to anything the Timberwolves changed that worked. The defense never adjusted its scheme to stop the constant drives to the rim. Drives by backups off the Wolves bench, no less.
Adleman also didn't adjust the offense enough. Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch and his squad were able to go man-to-man on Nikola Jokic and force the Nuggets to create shots for themselves, and without two of their best shot creators, Peyton Watson and Aaron Gordon, the Nuggets were mostly left out to dry. The offense stagnated, there were no open looks, and ultimately the Nuggets were bounced early.
One clear adjustment that could have been made was to swap out Christian Braun for Julian Strawther. Braun was playing on less than 100% health, and Adelman left a healthy Strawther on the bench. There was no reason not to put Strawther out there to see if it worked. Braun was mostly non-existent in the series.
It's not clear what Joerger's role will be yet
Stein could not confirm whether the Nuggets plan to use Joerger as a defensive coordinator. For now, Stein said that it was more about "the experience he's bringing as a former head coach." So, a glorified babysitter?
The hope is that this won't turn into a "next head coach in waiting" game and cause issues with the game planning and decision-making next season.
The added experience should definitely help. It just can't be the babysitter dynamic. Someone whispering in Adelman's ear is fine as long as the Nuggets front office makes the dynamic clear.
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