Yo!

Say Will Barton sits for a week or two during this last stretch. Who would you like see enter in his role?

I think the best options are Grant/MPJ especially for the playoffs. What are the pros/cons for either entering the starting five for Thrill?

Peace! Thanks for all the great analysis. Y’all crush it.

A couple questions

1) Be honest here fellas, how hard was it to recognize Will the Thrill in the GSW game with a mostly clean shaved face lol

2) When it comes to Malone and his player usage, is there a worry that he’s closer to a Thibodeau who liked to run his players into the ground as opposed to any other coach that employs load management?

(To be clear, I am aware he’s been quoted on how difficult it is to get his players who don’t want to sit, to actually sit lol but who holds the power?)

Hey guys, why does Torrey play so far up on lead guards, does it accomplish anything? Seems like he makes stupid fouls far from the hoop at a really high rate

At 5:09, are you saying “water under the fridge”? Is this a meme I’m unaware of, or do you just have a leak in your kitchen?

In all seriousness, 2 part question:

1) It seems that this Nuggets team identity suffers from several contradictions:
• They have a deep bench with no bums and will blow out 2nd units; actually, their bench is kind of weak and the starters play league high minutes.
• They are a free-flowing, ball-poppin’ offense with a lethal 2-man game surrounded by competent weapons; actually, the ball rarely pops, and their offense gets stagnant and predictable.
• They are a defensive-minded squad that bends but doesn’t break, and will surprise people; actually, they’re going to plummet from top-5 to dead last.

So what is this team’s identity? With all these contradictions to what I think we all assumed the identity narrative would be, what is Denver’s best case to find themselves for the playoffs?

2) After this season, if you could cut/trade/or waive 3 players, who would they be, and what kind of players would you bring in to replace them?

I apologize for this being long. Feel free to skip this question if it isn’t relevant to the rest of the podcast –

I recently watched the 30 for 30, “Once Brothers” about Vlade Divac and Drazen Petrovic’s basketball relationship during the fall of former Yugoslavia. It is a great documentary on politics in that region as well as basketball.

Adam recently had Bogdan Popa on the Locked-on Podcast and asked him where the best European basketball players were from. He responded with the former Yugoslavian countries. This led me to think what their international team would look like if they had never separated.

Here is a list of active NBA players that could potentially play for that team. It does not include other foreign stars.

Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Dzanan Musa – Brooklyn Nets
• Jusuf Nurkic – Portland Trail Blazers.
Croatia
• Bojan Bogdanović – Utah Jazz.
• Dario Šarić – Phoenix Suns.
• Ivica Zubac – Los Angeles Clippers.
• Mario Hezonja – Portland Trail Blazers.
• Dragan Bender – Milwaukee Bucks.
• Ante Žižić – Cleveland Cavaliers.
• Luka Šamanić – San Antonio Spurs.
Macedonia
• Cedi Osman – Cleveland Cavaliers
Montenegro
• Javonte Green – Boston Celtics
• Nikola Vucevic – Orlando Magic
Serbia
• Nemaja Bjelica – Sacramento Kings
• Nikola Jokic – DENVER NUGGETS!
• Boban Marjanovic – Dallas Maverics
• Bogdan Bogdanovic – Sacramento Kings
• Alen Smailagic – Golden State Warriors
• Marko Guduric – Memphis Grizzlies
Slovenia
• Vlatko Cancar – DENVER NUGGETS!
• Luka Doncic – Dallas Mavericks
• Goran Dragic – Miami Heat

We saw Serbia dominate through much of the tournament last year. What would be your top lineup picking from this list? Do you think they would be competitive? Was this a waste of time?

As always, thanks for all you do. Keep up the good work.

There is a growing sentiment around the fan base, that Coach Malone is mishandling MPJ. The frustration seems to be growing with each game MPJ either doesn’t play or plays very little. I think Coach Malone is at a fork in the road, and if continues down this path, do you foresee a scenario in which Management would part with either Malone or MPJ? What does that scenario look like? Is it MPJ not in the starting lineup next year?

Hate to be debbie downer and yes, Jamal hit a clutch shot against CHA to win. However:

– Jamal is 2/12 from 3 in last 2 games.

– Lonzo Ball 12/21 from 3 in last 2 games.

Now, I’m not saying Lonzo is at all better or we should get him instead but this has been a constant thing mention by the DNVR crew that Murray needs to take more 3’s and the fact that Lonzo is taking and hitting more is just jaw dropping. I just cannot comprehend this any more. Jamal is “supposed” to be the shooter and Lonzo is out shooting him and on more attempts. Jamal passed up some obvious ones against Charlotte and GSW which is what bothers me most. Mares mentioned his inability to recognize when he can get a 3 off. Even with the recent upswing after his injury, i’m afraid this is the same inconsistent Jamal, one who settles for long 2’s vs pretty open 3’s. I think its a major cause for concern too, and one that wont change. He wont ever reach all star level like this and I am not sure he even recogonizes this or if he does, he doenst seem to care. If this continues into 21-22, do we move on from Jamal?

That last live winners lounge pod was great!