With the Nuggets final preseason game on Thursday (Oct. 22nd), opening night rosters set Oct. 26th and the season opener just eight days away, coach Michael Malone and his staff are putting the finishing touches on a productive and encouraging training camp and preseason.
Denver has been more than impressive through their first six exhibition games. The Nuggets rank sixth league-wide in defensive rating, surrendering just 93.9 points per 100 possessions, and eighth in total rebound percentage, according to NBA.com/stats. Those are the two key areas Malone has stressed that the Nuggets need to drastically improve on the most from last season to this season.
One domain where Malone and his staff still have work to do this preseason, is figuring out the rotation and specifically what to do with the plethora of front court players on Denver’s roster. That decision is a little easier with second-year big man Jusuf Nurkic still out, rehabbing from a partially-torn patella tendon.
Today at practice, Malone offered up an update on the Bosnian big man.
“I hope to have him back as soon as possible. From all reports I get from my training staff, he’s ahead of schedule,” Malone said. “Every time I see him working with our strength coaches and our player development coaches he looks great – but I’m going to say right now maybe sometime in November, but that’s not my expertise. I just take the reports they give me and I know he’s progressing well, he’s working very very hard, and he’s ahead of schedule.”
At practice, Nurkic was seen off to the side working with team trainers in an effort to strengthen the lower half of his body. I asked Malone if that was the extent of what he’s been able to do at practice?
“If we’re teaching something or putting something in he will be up there,” Malone said. “I want him to learn and listen as much as possible, but once we get into practice, he gets with Steve Hess and [team physical therapist] Steve Short. [He] works on his body, works on his conditioning, his explosion, strengthening that leg and knee. And then he will get some player development work in with the coaches where he’s somewhat limited in what he’s able to do, but he is working hard in the weight room, court, in all aspects.”
With Nurkic out until “sometime in November” or possibly later, it leaves Kenneth Faried, Joffrey Lauvergne, Nikola Jokic, Darrell Arthur and J.J. Hickson to battle it out for rotation minutes, with Danilo Gallinari also getting minutes at power forward in the preseason. Faried and Lauvergne are likely candidates to start the opener, simply because they both have played well and started three out of the six preseason games together so far.
“I have a fairly good idea [of who I’m going to start] and no I’m not going to say who it is,” Malone said. “We have one more game left.”
Faried has played with renewed energy – a change from last season under Brian Shaw, Lauvergne and Jokic have been equally impressive and Arthur is regarded by many as the team’s best front court defender. Hickson has seen his minutes gradually cut game-by-game and registered a DNP-CD in Oklahoma City.
Jokic, 20, may be the most impressive of the bunch early on. At one point earlier this summer it looked as if he would be the odd man out in Denver’s front court rotation and would take this year as a time to sit back and learn the NBA ropes. However, with the preseason nearly complete and Jokic’s per 36 minute numbers translating to 21.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game on 78.4 percent shooting, he’s likely forced Malone’s hand into giving him minutes.
Jokic and Lauvergne’s play this preseason along with the impending return of Nurkic give Denver a three-headed European monster, that will demand playing time for all. It’s something Malone’s excited about and seems open too and accepting of.
“Nikola Jokic, he’s the kind of kid that I want to bring back to my house and let him babysit my kids. He’s that kind of a kid, just a sweetheart,” Malone said. “Joffrey Lauvergne’s toughness, his intensity, the preseason he’s had. Watching Nurkic work out everyday, I cant wait for him to get back. That guy is a beast who’s got skill, agility [and] toughness. The foreign guys… I’ve been around the league 15 years, I’ve coached a lot of international players, and all those guys are a joy to be around.”
Malone is such a fan of Jokic he even wants to communicate with the rookie in his native tongue.
“On my drive home to Highlands Ranch, I put on the Rosetta Stone and I’m learning how to speak Serbian.” Malone said.
When asked how the language lessons are going, Malone responded: “Dobro, that means good.”
*This story was updated to note that France is not in fact in Eastern Europe. Apparently, I am in dire need a geography lesson.
