We breathe easier in Denver after the Nuggets' four consecutive victories. After bringing down the Thunder, Nikola Jokic and his teammates (6-3) dominated the Heat. Something to delight Mike Maloneor almost…
“It's a victory, and winning in this league is difficult, so I'm obviously delighted that we won. But currently, we are winning in attack” explains the technician. “And at some point it will have to stop.” Our defense must improve. Allowing 122 points, 20 3-point shots. I don't like the current state of our defense. »
Mike Malone thus points out the “too many errors” or even “indiscipline” of his players on the defensive level. But above all “lack of communication”.
“Sometimes we don't communicate. Sometimes we communicate, but there's one thing we always talk about, and my wife tells me this all the time: a big part of communication is listening. »
Funny experiences
This is because with changes in the squad, the “head coach” must experiment. The passage of the substitutes at the start of the second quarter was thus catastrophic, with Zeke Nnaji forced to come out after just three minutes, the Heat having taken advantage of Nikola Jokic's short rest to quickly make up for the deficit.
So, to rest his triple MVP in the fourth quarter, Mike Malone opted for a strange five, with Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr, Peyton Watson, Julian Strawther and Russell Westbrook. And it was therefore the latter who was in charge of Bam Adebayo on the defensive level while waiting for the return of Nikola Jokic on the field!
In attack, it was Peyton Watson who played the role of pivot…
“It’s something we talked about, I thought about it all summer” concludes Mike Malone. “Peyton's versatility is something we always talked about when we mentioned his qualities. Both offensively and defensively, it can be used in lots of ways. He can set screens, roll to the rim. If I were Peyton Watson, I would say: 'Coach, I can play winger, power forward or center. Whatever you need'. »
