Nuggets Collapse in Game 7

As the dust settles on the Denver Nuggets' tumultuous season, I take a heartfelt look back at the highs and lows, the thrills of victory, and the sting of a Game 7 defeat. You won't just hear a recap; together, we'll dissect the patterns that led to our downfall, from squandered leads to overworked starters. It's more than just a post-mortem—it's an acknowledgement of the unforgettable moments, like witnessing Jokic's MVP magic and celebrating our championship triumph. And while we may be licking our wounds, I'll share why this era of Nuggets basketball, with all its lessons and joys, is one to cherish deeply.

Turning our gaze to the horizon, we puzzle over the pieces of the Denver Nuggets' off-season chessboard. Will Zeke Nagy's underwhelming season spell the end of his time in Denver? How will Jamal Murray bounce back from his injury-plagued year? We'll analyze the dissonance between Coach Malone's playbook and the front office's master plan, and speculate on strategic acquisitions that could shake up the roster. I'm laying out the blueprint for what could be the Nuggets' salvation or their stumbling block as we approach a pivotal juncture in maximising Jokic's prime years. Join me for this in-depth exploration, filled with a blend of candid critique and steadfast optimism for the future.

Chapters

• 0:06 Nuggets Season Reflection Game 7
• 13:30 Nuggets Offseason Analysis and Solutions
• 22:18 Denver Nuggets Future Decisions

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:06

All right, everyone, welcome back to Fandom From Afar Nuggets fans. The season is over. What happened? We thought we were dead after game two. We came back and won three in a row and it was looking fantastic, but then we got one of the worst beatdowns ever in game six and then somehow collapsed in game seven. Ugh, but we will get into all those details. First.

Speaker 1: 0:43

I kind of wanted to start out with some gratitude just for this season as a whole. It's obviously hard right now because of the disappointment of Game 7, but this season really was amazing in a couple different ways. First, for the first time ever, the Nuggets were the defending champions, and that was cool. It came with a little bit of extra pressure just because obviously every team wanted to take us down and maybe put in a little bit of effort during the regular season that they wouldn't have otherwise just to take down the champs, and it was just fun hearing denver nuggets defending champions, uh, every every night, and so I am extremely grateful for that. We had so many special moments, uh, starting with the opening night with raising a banner in Ball Arena and the Nuggets getting their championship rings. I've mentioned it so many times before, but I just loved the looks on the guys' faces how much it meant to them, especially Jokic, with him kind of playing with his ring with tears in his eyes as the banner was being raised. I love that we put in so much time and effort watching the games and I complain about the Knights when it looks like they don't care. But Banner Knight, you could tell that they really did care.

Speaker 1: 2:19

Speaking of Jokic, he won another MVP so three in the last four years and you could argue that he should have won in the other year as well. But we get to watch the best player in the world play for the Denver Nuggets and he's a superstar that is actually fun to watch. He makes his teammates better and he's just so dominant in a unique and unusual way that if you're a Denver Nuggets fan listening to this, we should be extremely grateful that we get to watch him. I was joking with one of my buddies last week. It's always hard to tell when you're in the good old days and in this case it's pretty easy. We know we are in the good old days. We may never see a player play for the Denver Nuggets that is this good and we have to appreciate it. We didn't win this year, but it is special to get to watch him and it'll be special to get to watch him again next year.

Speaker 1: 3:28

So, kind of looking back on the season, the Game 7 collapse was a fitting ending to this season. It was frustrating in so many ways. The guys they blew multiple big leads all throughout the season. The two that stick out obviously are towards the end of the season. When we played San Antonio, all we had to do was beat them. They weren't even trying to win. They had rested so many of their starters because they were trying to get a better draft pick. And we had a 20-point lead in that game as well and we blew that and ended up getting the two seed, which you never know. What could have happened if we were the one seed and on the other side of the bracket. We could have avoided the Timberwolves for maybe one more round, or maybe the Timberwolves would have run into a team that took them out and we could have not had to face them at all. But the San Antonio game, the game seven, it was just the most recent examples of all season. The team just stopped playing when they got big leads. It was super frustrating.

Speaker 1: 4:38

I think it starts with Jokic and Jamal. They like to feel the pressure of big games and big moments and you can see, whenever they get a big lead, they play differently. You hate to say it's a lack of effort, but it's definitely different. They kind of start messing around a little bit, a little bit less aggressive, and it's just a common issue for this team to blow big leads. Uh, bigger picture they they really developed a few big or bad habits over the year, starting last year. Um, in the championship run this team discovered that they are good enough to turn the switch on and off, meaning they are a completely different team when they're focused and playing hard and when they're not. And in the championship year they kind of learned a bad lesson that they could turn the switch off, rest, relax. And then they found out they were good enough just to turn it back on when the playoffs came around and obviously it worked. They won the championship.

Speaker 1: 5:51

But this year they kind of played with an overconfidence or arrogance where they knew they had that kind of in their back pocket and they almost pushed it just seeing how far they could take it without having to try for the whole game. I think a big example was the Lakers series, where they would fall down every single game by double digits and then be like, all right, let's do this, and then they would come back and win. It works, it's great, yay. But when you come out and try and do that in games one and two against Minnesota, who is a whole nother level of a team, you discover that, hey, maybe, maybe that doesn't always work. Um, they got the reputation as being one of the best clutch teams in the league, which is great. They they have the Jokic and Murray two-man game that they can always go to and get open shots for the other guys.

Speaker 1: 6:51

But perhaps they started relying on that a little too much. And when Jamal was hurt and didn't quite have the explosiveness that he normally had, then that just it wasn't there anymore. I think another bad habit it was they played the starters too much, and it's obviously a positive because the starters do so well together, but it was apparent that they were all just so tired and so beat up towards the end of the season that it it just in hindsight was too much. And a negative with playing the starters too much is that means that you weren't playing the young guys as much and that hurt us as well, with the young guys not developing and being ready for the playoffs, which led to us having to play the starters even more, which led to them being even more tired, which means we're now doing a podcast talking about the season being over. So sad.

Speaker 1: 7:58

But let's talk about game seven specifically and just kind of talk about some of the stuff there. And obviously it was a great first half. I was so excited in the first half they looked like they were playing nuggets basketball, got that big lead, but unfortunately it all changed and the collapse happened in the second half. Uh, that second half was just so weird. They looked dead tired, even coming out of halftime. Um, I think they just kind of hit a wall. It. It all caught up to them.

Speaker 1: 8:35

All the, all the issues that we just spoke about for the the entire season kind of all came to a point right during that second half, because Jokic and Jamal looked like they looked like they were at the end of a triple overtime game, coming out of halftime when you should be a little bit rested and ready to go, and you could just see it happening in slow motion. The Nuggets were fouling every single time down the court, so Minnesota got in the bonus so early and then the Nuggets didn't have any energy, so they were just shooting contested three-pointers every single time down and obviously we were missing them all. And so the Timberwolves were getting free throws so easy points every time, were getting free throws so easy points every time, and the Nuggets were not getting good shots every time and the lead just disappeared so quickly and we couldn't rebound, which again I think is energy, and it just kind of snowballed and Minnesota kept gaining confidence and the Nuggets kept losing it and there was nothing they could do. Yeah, for players.

Speaker 1: 9:49

Specifically, jamal had a great first half. This podcast I've been talking about how he's been hurt and he doesn't quite have it, but he played awesome in the first half, but the second half he had nothing left to give. I don't think he made a shot in the second half when we lost our 20-point lead Defense, he just looked slow, it just, it just hit Jamal. He had nothing left to give and it it's. It's again frustrating. We talked about it last episode. The injuries are always there with Jamal. Um, I really hope he can stay healthy next year and show the player that he actually can be, uh, because it's it's getting. It's getting frustrating, with Jamal always being hurt.

Speaker 1: 10:41

Mpj, he just looked overmatched. It looked like the game was going too fast for him. He would be wide open and kind of hesitate and not shoot when he was wide open and then take a dribble and then chuck up a shot when he was covered. Um, he w, he was getting destroyed on defense. They were targeting again because again, he just looked like he couldn't process the information fast enough. Um, it's so tough, like I mentioned, he has so many things going on off the court with his family. Uh, I can't even imagine dealing with all that. But this series he just looked totally outmatched and overwhelmed. So hopefully he can get everything figured out in the off season and come back and be the player that he was in the Lakers series, because he was amazing in the Lakers series.

Speaker 1: 11:29

Kcp overmatched again, again just not big enough to guard anthony edwards. He's an amazing defender but anthony edwards is a whole nother beast and kcp couldn't couldn't quite keep up. Aaron gordon he was playing some great defense but he kind of disappeared on offense in game six and seven and uh, it was just not what we were hoping for out of AG and then Jokic. Like I mentioned, he looked dead tired. He's been carrying the team for years and years and now for the first time he just couldn't pull up enough energy just to make the right play and get the teammates the right pass. He just looked like he hit a wall and didn't have it in him. And I don't blame him, it's been a load for him to carry for quite a while. It was just unusual to see him. We always kind of look at him like Superman, like he can do anything, but I think this was just a little too much for the big fella. All right, so game seven's over. We're sad. Now what do we do about it?

Speaker 1: 12:41

I kind of want to look at the off season really quick. We'll have we'll have plenty of podcast time during the off season to talk specifics, but I kind of want to give a quick overview of kind of what I'm looking forward to this off season and maybe some potential solutions for things that went wrong. So let's start there. Let's talk about what went wrong this season. Well, it started out early, even before the season started. Vlatko he got hurt in international play and didn't get to play a single minute all year and we were kind of hoping he would be one of our main bench guys. He's a big man but he can give us a little bit of playmaking and I think it really hurt for us not to have Vlatko and obviously that did not get the season off to a great start.

Speaker 1: 13:30

Zeke Nagy we signed him to a new contract and was expecting him to be our backup center. I think part of the plan also might have been like let let zeke shine a little bit and then we can trade him for maybe someone that fits our team a little bit better. But unfortunately zeke had a terrible, terrible season and not only did he not play because he was terrible, but then obviously we couldn't trade him because he was terrible and that was not great. Jamal Murray we talked about him already. Just the fact that he had so many injuries this year couldn't get it going, couldn't get in shape, and it'll be interesting. We need Jamal healthy. We had three draft picks come in as rookies this year and none of them really made an impact.

Speaker 1: 14:23

Julian Strother I think has a chance to be a rotational player. He got hurt at the wrong time and when young guys get hurt, coach Malone kind of forgets about them and they don't get to play the rest of the year. So it was unfortunate timing for Strother uh, hunter Tyson and and Jalen Pickett. They just never really got in and so I don't know if that was just being young guys uh, having to wait their turn, or if they just weren't shown enough in practice and perhaps they're just just not good enough.

Speaker 1: 14:57

A big thing I've heard over the last couple days is that it really appears that coach malone and his staff and the front office were not on the same page when it came to this team. I think the front office was trying to build a roster with a bunch of young guys to develop and get playing time so that they can be players for this team come playoffs, not only this year but in the future. And, as we just talked about, coach Malone did not play any of the young guys, hardly at all. So that was definitely a disconnect and it'll be interesting to see if they kind of change course and bring in more veterans next year or if maybe Coach Malone sees that his starters were just dead tired and will be a little bit more likely to play the young guys next season. It may lead to maybe a few more losses because young guys make mistakes, but it's good learning opportunities for them and we'll have to see it could be a battle of wills, because Matt Moore brought up a great point on the Locked On Nuggets podcast and he said that Coach Malone was fired from Sacramento even though it was out of his control.

Speaker 1: 16:21

Basically, if you don't know the story, he got fired because their star player back then, demarcus Cousins, got sick and was out for an extended period of time, and when your star player goes out, obviously your team suffers. Well, coach Malone got fired during that time because the team was losing, and so I'm sure coach Malone kind of has it in the back of his head Like I can't trust a front office to give me the freedom to play these young guys if I'm losing games because there's a chance I could get fired. And so I thought that was just a really interesting angle to look at it as to why Coach Malone doesn't play the young guys because of that history that he had in Sacramento. And then I think the last thing that kind of went wrong for the Nuggets is the West just got a whole lot better. So many teams are kind of young and up and coming, and during our championship year we had a huge lead pretty much the whole season for the first seed, and that allowed us to rest at the end of the year and kind of be fresh for the playoffs. That was not the case this year. There was so many good teams. All the teams were in a close battle for pretty much every single seed, so we had to really fight till the end and obviously that wore us out a bit and it doesn't look like it's going to be any different next year. If anything, I think the West is going to be even better next year. So those are all the things that went wrong.

Speaker 1: 17:50

What are some quick possible solutions to fix the nuggets and get our championship back? So overall, I think the biggest needs are backup bigs. He doesn't really handle pressure that well and we need to be able to have guys on the court that can help bring the ball up, because he had some terrible turnovers in the Minnesota game and it just wears him down. He has to put in so much effort just to bring the ball across half court and get the offense started, and so we need need some other guys that can dribble the ball and kind of take that load off of Jamal and then a possible KCP replacement. He's a free agent who might leave because he's a great player, plays some great defense and he's probably going to get paid by one of these teams that has some cap space. So, unfortunately, we might be losing KCP. So, as we mentioned Vlatko, he should be healthy for next year, which I think will be a huge positive. Not only is he a big, but he's a European that plays the right way. He can not only handle the ball a little bit, he's a great passer, he can shoot and I think he'll just be a really positive addition to the bench unit.

Speaker 1: 19:19

Uh, we do have our draft pick this year. Everyone's making fun of the draft because there's no big stars this year, where you're not going to get a franchise guy that's going to turn your team around, but the nuggets are picking that 28 and there are good role players in this draft. So I think we'll be able to get someone that can help and, like I said, it's just a matter of if Coach Malone will play the young guy. I think it is likely we will trade Zeke Nagy and even if we don't get much for him, I think it's just time to move on for both sides. I think Zeke, hopefully, can find a team that can play him and maybe use him a little bit better than the Nuggets have. We also could possibly trade Reggie Jackson just to see if we want to get a different backup point guard.

Speaker 1: 20:10

As I mentioned earlier, it'll be interesting to see if we bring in more veterans or if we continue to build up the young guys on our bench just because they're so much cheaper. Guys like Justin Holliday he had great moments for the Nuggets in the playoffs. If we can find more guys like that that want to come in and maybe they won't play a ton during the regular season but they're not going to be scared of the big moments in the playoffs, it'll be really interesting to see what Christian Brown and Peyton Watson work on this offseason. I think both of them had great moments, watson more so during the regular season, and then Christian really stepped up in the playoffs, and so it's going to be their third year this upcoming season. So they're starting to become veterans themselves, and so it'll be interesting to see what they worked on in the off season and how big their roles will be next year. And then I'm I'm still holding out hope for the three draft picks, uh, from this past season. Hopefully, with a year under their belt, they'll come back better, improve, they'll kind of know what it's like to be a pro and I hope, I hope we can get at least one of them to step into the rotation next year most likely Strother, but you never know with Pickett or Hunter Tyson. Perhaps they can step up and be part of the team as well. It's also likely that maybe we have to throw them in a trade just to get Zeke Najee off the team. So it'll be interesting to see what we do with those three young guys.

Speaker 1: 21:40

Now a lot of people are kind of calling for the Nuggets to make big moves just because that game seven was so disappointing. I don't think it's time for big moves yet. Like I see people throwing out that we need to trade MPJ or we need to trade Jamal, and I don't think that's the right move right now. Um, we just won a championship with those guys and obviously this year did not work out how we had hoped. But I don't think it's time for this off season to make any of those big moves quite yet, this off season to make any of those big moves quite yet.

Speaker 1: 22:18

But if the nuggets do struggle again next year, I don't think our front office will be scared to make a big move like that, because they know how special Jokic is and they don't want to waste his prime with paying a guy like MPJ max money. I think he's going to make over $30 million next year and if you're only scoring eight points a game in a playoff series, we got to find better use for that money. And same for Jamal. He's going to make probably over $40 million and if he can't stay healthy, if he can't survive a seven game series, then it might be time to move on from Jamal as well.

Speaker 1: 23:04

But that's a year from now. That's for future Nuggets fans to worry about. This year we're going to lick our wounds, recover from that ugly collapse in game seven and look forward to the off season. So I I'll be podcasting in the off season. I got some fun ideas. Um, we'll do. We'll do some more fandom interviews for all the different sports and, uh, yeah, we'll have a good time and before we know it it'll be October and the Nuggets will be back. All right, thanks everyone.