By losing Bruce Brown and Jeff Green last summer, the Nuggets not only lost talent but also experience on their bench. Christian Braun, Peyton Watson and Julian Strawther were all born between April 2001 and September 2002, and are therefore neither 22 nor more than a season old.
Therefore, Michael Malone must be lenient with the performances of his youngsters.
“I have to step back and remember that Julian was still in college last season, Peyton didn't play last season and Christian is only in his sophomore year,” lists the coach for the Denver Post. “Zeke Nnaji has four seasons under his belt, but due to injuries, he has played very little. I have to constantly remind myself of that, that I have to help them through all of this. »
Christian Braun, young veteran
Although, as defending champions, the Nuggets can't afford to be too complacent.
“What I like about all my face-to-face conversations with guys is that they look in the mirror.”continues the coach. “They know they have to do better, they owe it to us. There is no “yes, but…” This work ethic, this way of being easy to coach, bodes well for their future. »
Christian Braun, Peyton Watson and Julian Strawther had been in difficulty during the Nuggets' complicated “road trip”. Which pushed Michael Malone to put pressure on them.
“There have been a lot of very high highs and very low lows. We're trying to find our way. We are young and, at the same time, there are a lot of expectations”confirms Julian Strawther.
Christian Braun experienced this last season, and now, despite his youth, he is in the role of mentor. “We are in the same boat, we are fighting to have minutes. But it's not about that. Last season, I had a lot of players to help me, to tell me what I needed to do on the pitch. My job is to do the same with them. If we want to become a big team now and later, they will have to be good too. »
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Nikola Jokic | 20 | 34.0 | 56.8 | 30.1 | 78.1 | 3.3 | 9.5 | 12.8 | 9.8 | 2.9 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 2.6 | 29.0 |
| Michael Porter, Jr. | 21 | 31.5 | 47.6 | 38.1 | 74.2 | 1.7 | 6.4 | 8.0 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 17.4 |
| Jamal Murray | 8 | 29.8 | 41.4 | 42.5 | 87.5 | 0.4 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 7.3 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 16.3 |
| Reggie Jackson | 21 | 26.9 | 50.9 | 40.7 | 64.3 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 4.5 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 2.0 | 13.6 |
| Aaron Gordon | 17 | 33.8 | 49.5 | 23.1 | 52.0 | 2.7 | 4.5 | 7.2 | 3.8 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 1.9 | 13.4 |
| Kentavious Caldwell-pope | 21 | 34.3 | 45.1 | 40.7 | 92.7 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 2.7 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 0.4 | 2.1 | 11.2 |
| Christian Braun | 21 | 20.8 | 47.4 | 41.2 | 73.0 | 0.9 | 3.3 | 4.2 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 8.9 |
| Deandre Jordan | 6 | 14.5 | 68.2 | 0.0 | 28.6 | 1.3 | 3.2 | 4.5 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 6.0 |
| Julian Strawther | 18 | 12.6 | 38.2 | 32.2 | 70.0 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 5.2 |
| Justin Holiday | 12 | 14.5 | 57.9 | 51.9 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 4.8 |
| Peyton Watson | 19 | 15.0 | 50.7 | 21.1 | 50.0 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 4.5 |
| Zeke Nnaji | 19 | 10.5 | 49.0 | 42.9 | 60.7 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 2.3 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 3.7 |
| Jalen Pickett | 11 | 6.8 | 45.0 | 35.7 | 100.0 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 2.3 |
| Colin Gillespie | 10 | 8.1 | 42.1 | 25.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 2.0 |
| James Huff | 2 | 0.8 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| Braxton Key | 6 | 2.5 | 20.0 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Hunter Tyson | 7 | 2.6 | 25.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.3 |
