Denver Nuggets Postgame Press Conference vs. OKC 🎙

Denver Nuggets Postgame Press Conference vs. OKC 🎙

Oh, I thought it was a great preseason. Uh, and a lot of guys had their night, which I hopefully that’s we’re going to be during the season. Uh, really good to see the second unit get a chance to play longer stints. Uh, I think there’s going to be nights where Cam is the guy with the second unit and I thought he was really good. Uh, he created ball movement throughout with the way he can shoot the ball and just driving and kicking to people. And I saw a concerted effort tonight for guys to make the next pass that helped their teammate out. uh which was the whole goal of this whole thing. Um so if we can continue to do that uh you know we have a great chance to be tough to beat. Uh really happy for Jaylen Picket, Julian Strawther to take this opportunity and play well in their 20 you know 20 minutes 25 minutes. So um that’s who you’re looking for. You’re just looking for growth and uh sometimes it’s hard to find your confidence when there’s so many guys that play ahead of you. So when you get your chance you you kind of show out um that’s a great thing. There’s some really defense particularly in that second quarter when it’s going well. What’s happening on that end? Activity, hand activity, closing down, you know, driving lanes, uh living with the fact that, you know, a late contest of a shot we want to give up is a better thing than being selfish and attached to your guy. Uh just making the extra effort. So, uh that’s been something we’ve worked on throughout. We hope it continues into the season, but yeah, if we can continue with that kind of effort, you know, it gives us a great chance to be successful. They only had eight offensive rebounds and for them that’s it’s a good number just because they crash, you know, three or four people every possession. Saw a lot of zone tonight. What do you like about that against this specific team? Uh it’s not this team. We just are going to work on the zone. You know, even the fourth quarter with the young guys. Um you know, we’re going to implement some of that stuff with the G-League team. Uh I also think it’s a really good way to teach rot rotational basketball defensively even with your man defense because some of those principles remain the same. Uh your big is basically in zone coverage, drop coverage, deep drop coverage and trying to take away the corners. So uh some good things. They went to the high low thing. You know, it was good for them and I thought we actually reacted pretty well to it and we cracked back on the big that was kind of hiding there in the dunker. So no, bunch of positives and sometimes, man, just you need things on tape to teach. You know, saying something doesn’t mean anything to these guys. Like if you show them the tape, uh it goes a long way. Do you like the shots that he’s still trying to find out there? Yeah, it’s the shots he doesn’t take that I don’t like. Uh I think uh he’s trying to, you know, be part of the group, which is good. Um but I hope we get to the point where if he shoots 10 threes one night, we’ll all go. Those are that’s good. Those are good shots. I thought I like Tim tonight, too. You know, both guys were aggressive. If they had space, they shot it. And it’s it’s a give and take though because Cam is, as you saw tonight, he can playmake. Uh when he gets in the paint, he calms down. He makes very simplistic plays, which is such a key in the NBA. And I thought our guys did a really good job tonight relocating to open spots. We just couldn’t make a shot the last felt like 14 minutes. I think it’s just you are part of the core. You’re here. that’s why we got you. Um, you know, but I do think human instinct says this core has been around and they’ve won all these games and I want to kind of fit in and that’s that’s okay, too. And the guys have, you know, they’ve embraced him and he’s had a couple practice days where because we scrimmaged a lot the last couple weeks where he was incredible. So, it’s it’s coming and obviously today was good for him because the other four guys weren’t playing and I got to put the ball in his hand a little bit more. let him uh create especially to his right hand. Uh so I expect big things from Cam and I think we’re going to get him. On that note with the other new guys, how do you feel like they’ve evolved through the preseason and matching your guys’ culture? Yeah. No, I I mean Tim played so hard. He fit right in. Um you know, Bruce knows us. Uh Jonas is still working his way into shape. Uh I thought he was really good tonight at at changing ends. That’s what we need from him. And I think he’ll as we get into the season and things become easier for him in the sense of, you know, Nicole’s going to play a lot and they’ll play a little bit together. Uh, but he has to understand that his minutes he’s got to go hard as hell because he’s got a short stint and to get out there, run the floor, hit the glass, uh, be the physical player we know he can be, and then I have to do the best job I can to make sure that we utilize him on the post. We know he can go down there against backup bigs and dominate. So, it’s uh, it’s a balancing act a little bit. Uh, one person I that that is new or whatever, Bruce, that thought he handled the pressure tonight really well. He brought the ball up against some really high level defenders, got us into our offense, you know, only six turnovers at the half with them playing their guys. I thought was pretty impressive. What have you seen from Julian? Uh, tonight was really good. Yeah. Uh, he’s just got to be who he is. You know, he’s a scorer. Uh, but I thought a couple times in this preseason the best plays Julian has made is when he, you know, two on the ball and get off it. That’s his that’s his next progression is being a playmaker. Uh, we get him to his right hand cuz he’s so successful going that way. We know he’s a streaky shooter like tonight. When he gets hot, he can make some tough shots, contested shots. That’s a special gift that he has. But I think that’s the next the next step for him is if this team as a whole is going to be one that always makes the right pass, the right play, um you know, he’ll get there. And a lot of that too is just the fundamental of learning that yes, I turned the corner, but here comes Chad Homegrren. I’ve got to get off the ball. Uh so the young guys, you know, it takes experience and time. And uh you know, Julian little by little, I thought throughout camp got better and better.

Hear what Coach Adelman had to say after the Denver Nuggets loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Preseason finale.

#denvernuggets #nuggets #nba #basketball #coachadelman #okc #oklahomacitythunder

Find Denver Nuggets news, gear, tickets and more right here: https://linktr.ee/denvernuggets

Denver Nuggets Postgame Press Conference vs. OKC 🎙