Nuggets Rolling, Jokic Ascendant

We break down a 9–2 start, a seven-game sprint, and why Jokic’s form looks better than any past MVP run. We also dig into new additions that stabilize the bench, the Thunder’s rise, a wobbly East, and a grounded 5–1 forecast.

• seven-game recap with key swings
• Jokic’s historic efficiency and control
• depth upgrades and second-unit identity
• Murray and Gordon pacing for spring
• Thunder as looming West test
• East parity and inconsistency
• revised prediction and accountability
• tips to watch smarter and learn more

If you know anyone else that loves basketball in your life, I would really appreciate it if you could tell them about this podcast and have them give a give a listen

Chapters

• 0:04 Hot Start And Episode Roadmap
• 0:44 Seven-Game Recap And Key Wins
• 2:08 Jokic’s Historic Form And Impact
• 5:15 Star Loyalty, Small Markets, And Hope
• 6:31 New Additions Shaping The Bench
• 10:07 Around The League: Thunder Rise, East Wobbles
• 13:41 Predictions For Next Stretch
• 14:28 What I Got Wrong
• 15:32 How To Be A Better Fan
• 16:38 Thank You And Share The Show

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:04

Alright everyone. Welcome back to Fandom from Afar. The Nuggets are on fire, and it is going to be so fun to kind of review the past couple weeks with you and just talk about how awesome the Nuggets are. What a fun time. So today we got a quick review of the games that have happened since we last recorded. We'll talk about some trends not only with the Nuggets, but a little bit around the league. I'll attempt another prediction, and then that leads right into everybody's favorite section of what I got wrong, and we'll finish up with how to be a better fan. So I'm excited about this show, and let's jump right into it. So the Nuggets had seven games since we last recorded. First one against the Blazers was unfortunately a loss. It was a weird game that ended in a bear hug, which apparently now is a jump ball. The next game against the Kings, the Nuggets Cruise, really all you need to say is the Kings are not good at basketball. Heat, Bam, Bam Ataba went out right away, and I don't think the Heat had a chance otherwise, but with Bam out, they really it was like a JV team against a varsity, and Nuggets win again. Next game against the Warriors, Steph is out. Nuggets have got pretty lucky just as far as the other team's injury luck, and we've taken advantage and won almost every game. So Steph was out and Jokic dominated. Next game, Pacers. Everyone was out for the Pacers, and Jokic dominated. And the Kings again. It was deja vu. They're still not good at basketball. And the last game, Clippers. The Clippers' plan was to let Jokic score, and so he did. He scored 55. The Nuggets cruised to an easy victory. So the Nuggets are now 9-2 overall, second place in the Western Conference, and they they look like a championship team. Hopefully they can keep this going. The Nuggets did get a few little injuries in the last game. We'll have to see how Cam Johnson and Christian Brown are long term. Hopefully they can just sit out maybe a game or two and be back to it. But the beautiful part about the Nuggets is here, they have some depth, so they are not going to fall apart, even if they are down two starters. Let's look at some trends. So obviously, the biggest trend is Jokic. We we have to talk about him. I know he has been so great for so long, it's hard not to almost just kind of take him for granted. But this start to the season that he's having is historic. And it's been kind of fun on all the bat basketball podcasts I listen to. They are talking about him. They're not just talking about him when it comes to a silly MVP race and how to compare two guys and tear one down and build up the other, but they're just talking about his greatness. And every year we wonder how it could possibly get better. But Jokic has done it. He is better than any of his MVP seasons. He's better even maybe than he was during the playoffs when he won the championship and the finals MVP. He's on a historic level right now of just how he dominates the game. He obviously is not doing it through pure athleticism or his efficiency. It's really just amazing. He does not miss shots anymore. Now, in basketball, you are trying to make shots, and he does that very well. Now, I won't bore you with all the numbers, but just every game he seems to miss maybe one or two shots, and that's it. Which is ridiculous because he's always getting double, triple teamed. He's not just dunking, he is shooting from everywhere and making everything. The efficiency is crazy, and he's already considered one of the best passers of all time. His basketball IQ is off the charts. His scoring, he seems like he can score whenever he wants, no matter who is guarding him. In the Clippers game, the most recent game, Zubach is is known around the league as one of the best post-defenders. And last year, he gave Jokic trouble. Like in the playoff series, he guarded Jokic really well. And in the Clippers game, uh most recently, he looked like he was not even there. Jokic is just at a whole nother level right now. And did I mention he's leading the league in rebounding and assists? It's it's just wild. Like I really try and catch myself and just make sure that I'm appreciating what is going on because a team like the Nuggets, we we dream of having players like this, and they're never going to be come via free agency. Free agents go to the big market cities just like they always do. We have to appreciate just that we have an all-time great player on our team, and we get to watch him every night, and he's unlike anyone who's ever played before. He loves playing a team basketball that is just beautiful and fun to watch, and we are so lucky to have him. Just this week, there was the Mavericks news about them firing Nico Harrison because he traded away Luka Donchik. There was also to kind of cross sports a little bit, Paul Skeens is a phenomenal young pitcher for the Pirates, and he won the Cy Young this week. And the big story coming out of his winning that award was that his dream is to play for the Yankees. And if I was a Pirates fan, that would just break my heart. Because again, you dream of having players like this that are once every 10 years that just can dominate a game. And already in Skeen's second year, stories are coming out about how he wants to go play for the Yankees. Now, in basketball terms, Luca is very similar. It wasn't that he wanted to go, but the Lakers just happened to get him. And so Denver needs to be so happy that we have a generational superstar that loves being in Denver, that plays the game in such a beautiful way that it's actually fun to watch. He's not one of the superstars that just foul baits and tries to get to the free throw line 30 times. And I just hope that we can appreciate him while we have him because he is not going to be around forever. And that is it, that's the end of my rant. I love Jokic. Now the other trends for the the rest of the team is the new guys are just fitting in so well. And each in their own way, but they're they're really bringing to the table what we were hoping they were going to bring. Tim Hardaway Jr., I think he's been maybe the biggest surprise out of all the new guys, but he has been shooting really at an amazing level. And I don't know if it's going to keep up this way the whole time, but for right now, he's giving us exactly what we need with a couple of our other teammates, Cam Johnson, Christian Brown, really not shooting that well. Tim Hardaway Jr. comes in and makes up for all of that by shooting just phenomenally. So Tim Hardaway Jr. has been a pleasant surprise. I knew he was going to be a good veteran, kind of steady off the bench, but every time he shoots now, I think it's going in. So really loving what Tim Hardaway is providing. Jonas Foundchounis, he just brings a presence to the bench. It's not always the prettiest thing. Sometimes the bench can still look a little clunky, but he at least provides a scoring option in the post. He will play pick and roll with whatever point guard is in there. He's rebounding. He's he's playing some defense. And so it's just really nice having a presence like Jonas as our backup center. And that has a big impact on Jokic. I think Jokic is playing only 33 minutes a game, and you can see how relaxed he is on the bench. He'll just kind of sit there with his little Gatorade and his arm his legs crossed and just kind of joking around with his teammates. And he's not stressed because the bench is not immediately giving up any lead that he's helped build. And you can tell that when Jokic goes in, he's ready to dominate because he's just he's having fun and he's rested. So Jonas is making a huge impact. Brucey B, Bruce Brown, he is providing some defense. And I love his approach because one thing we discovered in the Oklahoma City series last year was if you have the reputation for being a physical defender, the referees are going to let you get away with a lot more. So immediately, Bruce has come out this season and he is being super physical out on the perimeter. And yeah, he's getting some fouls called on him, but he's kind of establishing that reputation as a perimeter defender that really gets up into guys. And I think that's going to pay dividends come playoff time because they will allow that physicality, and it's really going to help the team defense when Bruce is out there because we didn't have those guys last year. We we didn't have any perimeter defense really. And so I love what Bruce is doing. He's bringing energy, he's bringing his little hat tip celebration whenever he hits a big shot. And I just love love Bruce EB. And then Cam Johnson. So just like we said last episode, Cam is doing everything right except for hitting shots. And unfortunately, it's kind of heading down a path where he doesn't take that many shots. And so every shot feels even bigger, and he's not hitting those either. So hopefully, if he steps away for a few games because of whatever arm strain injury he he just got, hopefully he'll kind of be able to reset and just kind of settle in and just be more comfortable. I think he's putting so much pressure on himself to be the sharpshooter of the team. And otherwise, he's doing everything fantastic, like the passing, the cutting, defense, even. So he just needs to start hitting shots, and I think it'll be a huge relief for him. And really, once he starts doing that, the nuggets are going to be even more unstoppable. So all those guys are bringing kind of unique talents to the table, but the big overarching theme is they all fit so well with Jokic. Even Jonas, like like I said, he's fitting in with Jokic by allowing Jokic to sit and rest. They did one game where they played Jonas and Jokic together for a little bit. It didn't really accomplish much, but it's it's interesting to try. And we might need to pull that out again in the Rockets game coming up because they play two giant men as well. So everybody's fitting well with Jokic. Jokic is dominating. Murray, Gordon, they're kind of settling into just doing what's needed. I think both of them are just trying to get through the season healthy and ready for the playoffs. They kind of realize what a special team this is. And nine and two, you can't complain. They're they're they're playing at an elite level right now, and really with our two losses, just one bounce of the ball either way goes differently, and we could easily be 11-0 right now. So you can not complain with how the Nuggets are doing right now. The little criticisms are very nitpicky, so I am thrilled with how the Nuggets are looking. Let's look at the rest of the league, just really quick. Oak OKC, what can you say? They are a machine. They are missing different guys every single game, but it just doesn't matter because they have all-stars in waiting that never play and then come off the bench and look amazing. So they are a scary team. They have built kind of a dream scenario where you have an extremely talented young team, loves playing together, and everything is based on their defense, which defense travels, it doesn't matter how they're shooting, they're gonna swarm you, overwhelm you with athleticism, and it's it's impressive. So I'm looking forward to when the Nuggets and Thunder match up. We'll see how seriously each team takes the regular season matchups because I think both teams know that they're kind of on a collision course, hopefully in the Western Conference Finals, to match up and decide who's gonna win the championship. Other takeaway from around the league is the East is just wide open. The Cavs and the Knicks were kind of supposed to be the class of the East, and both teams have done okay, not great. The other level teams like Orlando, even Philadelphia, was looking good for a bit, but they're just so inconsistent that I think anyone could come out of the East, and whoever does come out of the East is probably gonna get beat by whoever comes out of the West. I I would I would say that Oklahoma City, Denver, and Houston are all much better than anybody in the East. So East is wide open. So for my Magic fans that I have down here in Florida, I'm hoping they can put it together and put a run, but I don't know. It's it's just looking like the junior varsity conference over there. And then last, the big headline I mentioned it earlier was Nico Harrison getting fired. It just it just still baffles me the trade that he made. And the Lakers already get all the good free agents because everybody wants to live in LA. The fact that they were just given Luka Doncic for nothing, basically, just still blows my mind. And as a basketball fan, we are gonna have to deal with that for the next 15 years. So I am not surprised that Nico got fired, but it just still blows my mind how it all came to be. So good luck, Nico. Hopefully, I don't see you getting hired by the Lakers here in just a few weeks, because then the conspiracy theories would really be off the chart. Alright, so let's look ahead. The Nuggets have six games in the next couple weeks before we record again. And my prediction is the Nuggets are gonna go five and one. As much as I wanted to be brave and say they were gonna go six and oh, I just I feel like five and one is more realistic. I if I had to say which one they're gonna lose, I would guess it's gonna be some random game, not against like a great team like the Rocket, but probably against someone like the Bulls or even the Kings, just because it's just that's how the NBA works. You you just never know on a night-to-night basis. But who knows, maybe this team is different. But I think Nuggets will go five and one, and Jokic will have five triple doubles in that time period. So that leads right into what was I wrong about last episode, and we can go right to my prediction. My prediction was that the Nuggets were going to get a nine-game winning streak going, and then they were gonna lose to the Clippers in LA. Well, that is not what happened. The Nugg lost immediately after I recorded that episode in Portland. Like I said, they should have won that game. It was very unusual refereeing down the stretch, and the bear hug that ended up being a jump ball was just something I've never seen before, and it just kind of blows my mind what that call was. But it happened, the Nuggets lost, but they did win the rest of their game. So I was somewhat right with the record, but uh they did not lose in LA. LA Nightlife did not get them on a Tuesday night or Wednesday night, whenever that was. So while I was wrong, at least no one got arrested by the FBI, like my first prediction. Poor Chauncey Bills. So I'll consider that a small win. I always want to mention ways to be a better fan. If you haven't already, I recommend the All MBA podcast. It's hosted by Adam Mars, who's one of the DNBR guys. But the analysts he has on there are Tim Legler and Jason Timff has been added this season. And those are two of my favorite analysts kind of out there in the basketball media community. So the podcast, while it is a national podcast where they talk about all the teams, it does lean nuggets. They usually find some way to talk about the nuggets every episode. So it's kind of a nice balance. If you like basketball in general and don't want to just hear about the nuggets, I really recommend that podcast. It's it's it's it's amazing. One way that is not helping me be a better fan are these 11 p.m. tip-offs this year. That is rough. Thank goodness for NBA League Pass with their they take out all the fluff and just kind of do the review of the game with every scoring play. So that gives me a good feeling of the game. But 11 p.m., that that's that's tough. So hopefully you guys will use those to be a better fan. And if you've made it this far, I really appreciate you listening. If you know anyone else that loves basketball in your life, I would really appreciate it if you could tell them about this podcast and have them give a give a listen. So thanks for listening.