Sounding alarm for abysmal play
Malone disturbed by players’ lack of fire
As Nuggets coach Michael Malone sees it, his team’s problems in the just-completed road trip, in which they finished 2-4, stem from one thing: a lack of competitiveness.
Where the erosion of competitiveness started is debatable. The result of it, however, conjured a word that is clear to understand. Alarming. “The disconcerting thing about the road trip … is the fact that we got down 29 points to Brooklyn before cutting it to three; the fact that we got down 25 or 26 to Dallas,” Malone said Wednesday. “To me, it’s alarming because that is a warning sign or an ominous sign of a lack of competitive nature and fire.”
The Nuggets are in a dangerous place. At 9-16, they are closer to the bottom team in the Western conference — 6-18 Dallas — than to the eighth playoff spot, currently held by their next opponent: Portland (13-14). There are tangible issues to solve: turnovers, poor shooting, etc. None of that, however, has a chance of changing unless everyone gets emotionally back in check and returns to the focus the Nuggets had in training camp, the preseason and through the first three to four weeks of the regular season.
“I know what the NBA is like,” forward Danilo Gallinari said. “It’s a marathon. You can’t get too high, too low. You’ve got to play it game by game. We’re just in December. You’ve still got January, February, March, April. I don’t want these guys to feel like it’s February right now. It’s a long season.”
And yet Gallinari acknowledges
PORTLAND AT DENVER Spotlight on Maurice Harkless:
the Nuggets’ confidence is “not where it should be.”
“But hopefully, if we can get some more wins, the confidence will go back up,” he said.
Chemistry has been an issue. Playing time has been doled out in fits and starts, which is frustrating to the athletes. Malone has had to tinker with the lineup much more than he ever wanted because of injury and inconsistency, which is frustrating to him.
In 25 games, the Nuggets already have had 10 different starting lineups.
Malone hinted that more changes are afoot. Gary Harris, who has missed 20 of the 25 games with injuries, is expected to return to the lineup Thursday against Portland. A bigger role for center Nikola Jokic is on the horizon.
Veteran Kenneth Faried has received the brunt of the lineup changes of late. These were his minute totals on the road trip: 28, 12, 0, 11, 23 and 7. Malone said he explained the situation to Faried, who said it was “hard to say” if that explanation was satisfactory to him.
“It’s just basketball,” Faried said. “I just focus on what I can do. All I can do is just stay in the gym and try to get better.”
That said, everyone reported having a spirited practice Wednesday.
“It was a great practice,” Faried said. “Guys got after it. Guys stepped up, and we all just embraced it. We needed a hard practice. We know what we need to do coming into (Thursday’s) game, so that’s what we’re trying to do.” 7 p.m. Thursday, ALT, 950 AM,
Damian LIllard and C.J. McCollum are known quantities for Portland, but who is the team’s third-leading scorer? That would be Harkless, the fifthyear forward who is turning in a solid season after signing a four-year, $40 million contract last summer to stay in Portland. His 12.5 points per game are a career high and six more per game than he averaged last season. Harkless is also averaging career highs in rebounds (5.3) and shooting percentage (49.2).