The Denver Nuggets are Destroying ANOTHER GOAT Season by Nikola Jokic

Well, the Denver Nuggets are an unmitigated disaster. They just dropped their fourth consecutive home game last night, 131 to 121 to the lowly Dallas Mavericks. The loss for the Denver Nuggets drops them to 14-6. And that win against the Houston Rockets in the NBA Cup now seems like an eternity ago. Of course, that was the game that Aaron Gordon got hurt in the first three minutes of and he joined Christian Brown on the inactive list. Brown was already out and dealing with an extended absence. Now, Aaron Gordon is also out dealing with an extended absence. Both of those players are set to miss probably around 30 of the team’s 82 games this year. And that’s if the team is lucky. And of course, last night, Jamal Murray. And is it a day ending and why? Well, then I guess Jamal Murray is banged up, injured, and he is now projected to miss at least a couple games as well. He picked up some kind of a lower body injury. It’s being called an ankle sprain in the end of the first half of last night’s game. He did come out for the third quarter. He scored no points. He attempted one shot and then he benched himself. Uh played none of the fourth quarter. So, none of that sounds good. After the game, head coach David Adelman did not sound altogether optimistic about his outlook. I I don’t know how he’s doing. I know he tried because that’s Jamal and Jamal’s tough. Uh so, you know, if he sits himself uh because of the pain, you know, you know, it’s you know, it’s probably, you know, it hurts. So, if uh by chance you aren’t keeping tally, that would be Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, and Christian Brown all now with injuries of some sort, all set to miss. uh some length of time. Hopefully Jamal Murray’s isn’t that significant because as I said, Christian Brown and Aaron Gordon are down for at least the next month. Those are two of the Nuggets four best players. And if Jamal Murray joins them on the sideline, that would be their three best players not named Nicole Joic. All missing action now moving forward. Nicole Joic for his part last night, 29 points, 20 rebounds, and 13 assists. Again, not enough to get the win at home against the lowly Dallas Mavericks. They were 11 and a half point favorites. They lose by 10 despite again 29 20 and 13 by Nicola Joic. and the pathetic and inept Denver Nuggets who can’t really build a team around Nicola Yogic, a viable contending team, and their frontline players that they do have all seem to be hurt all the time. This is literally nothing new. All of these players have vast and substantial backgrounds with injuries. And now it is just more of the same. Though this is getting comical as all three of their best players other than Yic are sidelined now at this point. And the Nuggets continue to squander, waste, and throw away not just prime years by Nicola Joic, but some of the greatest seasons in NBA history. He is smack dab squarely and arguably his best season yet. Arguably, yes, the best season ever played individually. He’s averaging for the second year in a row, a near 30point triple double. the specific numbers this season, 29 points, even 12.8 rebounds, and 11.1 assists. He is leading the NBA in rebounds by nearly a full rebound per game. He is leading the NBA in assists by nearly two full assists per game. And again, getting you 29 points per game on 73% true shooting percentage. That is second best leaguewide. Meanwhile, he is leading the NBA by a country mile in BPM with which he is the all-time career leader in. However, this is his best season yet. He is setting to destroy his own individual record for all-time single season box plus minus record. He is sitting first leaguewide in player efficiency rating again this season. again pacing to shatter his own all-time NBA record for single season peer. He is now the all-time career leader in win share per 48 minutes. Yet he is tracking to set his own personal best in win share per 48. He is leading the league over Shay Gilis Alexander in win shares. That despite having six fewer wins than the Oklahoma City Thunder, there is literally nothing else this guy could be doing. arguably the best season in NBA history and yet just good enough for 14-6. basically tied in the 45 line right now with the San Antonio Spurs who have been without Victor Wmanyama and Stfan Castle for uh for the last week plus each and yet the Spurs are still hanging with them because that’s an organization that actually knows how to draft, actually knows how to acquire assets and talent and can build a real team, not just run out a historical unicorn and surround him with literal garbage scraps. And again, all of this team doesn’t stink, just most of it. There are good players on this squad, but they cannot get on the court. Christian Brown has missed nine of the team’s 20 games so far and is set to miss 20, 25, 30 more. Aaron Gordon has missed seven of the team’s 20 games so far, and he is set to miss, oh, 20, 25, 30 more games. Jamal Murray, well, he’s only missed one game other than basically the entire second half of last night’s game, but now he is set to miss extended time as well. And this is a team that despite its efforts in the off season to fill out that bench, doesn’t have a robust bench unit. They are sitting at just 27th best in points per game coming off of the bench to this point of the NBA season. They are now starting Spencer Jones and Payton Watson on a nightly basis. They will likely have to bring Tim Hardaway Jr. off of the bench now and insert him into the starting lineup in place of Jamal Murray for however many games Murray is going to miss. Now, I mean, what more do they have left feasibly on this already shallow bench? They’re likely going to have to start playing Zeke Nongi for extended minutes. And he is objectively one of the worst players in the entire NBA. is minus 39 right now in the time that he has played thus far this season is dead last on his own team the Denver Nuggets by a lot. He is doubling the next worst player in plus minus with that minus 39 and he is making $8 million a year this season. He’s basically unplayable entirely but they’re going to be forced to play him otherwise just go with like a six or sevenman rotation moving forward. Yes, this bench, while improved from last year, doesn’t say much. It still stinks. And their starters, again, while they get a lot of press and people talk them up, they’re not that high-end either. Still, Nicole Yogic in his 11th season now has yet to play with a single all-star in his entire career. And much has been made about Jamal Murray, posting a career season before hurting his ankle last night. and Jamal Murray potentially tracking to become an all-star. Of course, the only people talking about this narrative are the people seeking to belittle and diminish Nicole Joic more by giving his teammate an all-star selection that is thoroughly undeserving. Jamal Murray an all-star this season? I don’t think so. Keep up with me on this if you can. There are 12 all-star slots available in the Western Conference and I see eight absolute definitive locks at this time. That would be Steph Curry, Luca Donic, Kevin Durant, Anthony Edwards, Shay Gilis Alexander, Nicola Joic, Albridge Shenun, and Victor Webbyama. That is eight players that I think are decisive locks at this time. And I didn’t even mention Chad Holgrren, who is the undisputed anchor of the Oklahoma City Thunder defense, the greatest historical defense in NBA history to this point that are 20 and one and pacing to win 78 games at this time. So, look, if Draymond Green was making all-star appearances back in the day for the Golden State Warriors, I’m pretty sure Cadet Homegrren, who was averaging 18 points and eight rebounds a night in addition to his defensive capabilities, is going to get an absolute all-star nod this year for the Oklahoma City Thunder. That takes up nine slots. Next up, who I did not mention yet, is Austin Reeves, who Austin Reeves, in my estimation, should be a lock for this year’s All-Star game as well. This guy, after all, is averaging basically better numbers than Anthony Edwards. At the very least, identical numbers to Anthony Edwards. Edwards, who is of course thought of as a top 10 player and an allstar lock in his own right. Well, what if I were to tell you that AR right now is posting substantially more assists than Anthony Edwards. He is outrebounding Anthony Edwards. He is shooting at higher splits across the board than Anthony Edwards. And he is higher in both player efficiency rating and value over replacement than Anthony Edwards. Yes, Austin Reeves is also going to be an all-star this season. That is now 10 spots of the 12 available in the Western Conference for All-Star nods. So, with the two remaining spots, if it’s me personally voting, I’m going with Denny Odvia and Devin Booker. And I’m not going to bore you with reading off these statistics, but let me just go ahead and post those for you right now. This is Ovia Booker and Murray side by side by side. Uh, as you can see, Ovia and Booker in my estimation, both welldeserving of nods over Jamal Murray. And guys, look, that leaves out. I didn’t even mention Lori Markin, who is currently averaging 28 points per game. Yeah, he’s out. And James Harden, who is currently sitting at sixth leaguewide in assists. That’s 8.4 assists a night while averaging 27 points per game. Overall, James Harden 278 and six rebounds per game. And yet he’s on the outside looking in as well with Lori Markin who’s having a career year at 28 a night. So get out of here with Jamal Murray as an all-star. Yes, Jamal Murray is having a career year at 23 points per game and six and a half assists and four and a half rebounds. And even in the midst of this career season by him, he’s basically about the 30th ranked best player in the NBA. When you take the aggregate of his peer, Vorp and BPM and these other players are having just better seasons across the board, both from standard and advanced metric lines. And by the way, Ovia and Booker, who I mentioned earlier, they are overachieving right now, the Portland Trailblazers and the Phoenix Suns. And those two guys are the best players on those teams. So to me, you reward them. And Jamal Murray on the outside looking in again, as is Nicole Joic on the outside looking in for a single All-Star teammate ever, 11 years in and not one single all-star teammate. And now I know what you’re going to say. Look, Jamal Murray would be an all-star in the Eastern Conference. Yes, but Nicole Joic isn’t competing against Eastern Conference teams and Eastern Conference talent on a night in and nightout basis to get wins in the Western Conference. And Nicole Joic isn’t going to be playing against Eastern Conference teams and talent in the NBA playoffs. He’s going to be competing against Western Conference teams and talent to which he doesn’t have enough to compete with the upper echelon teams. He never has and he still doesn’t this season. But again, this situation is just getting more and more pronounced because it’s not simply wasting prime years of Nicole Joic where he has virtually no shot to get the MVP now because well, he’s got five fewer wins now than the Oklahoma City Thunder at the quarter point, which paces the Thunder to win roughly 20 more games than the Denver Nuggets. And hell, that makes a lot of sense to me because the Nuggets are about to be without their three best players other than Nicole Joic with an already thin middling bench. So, of course, the historical beast entity that is Oklahoma City is going to win about 20 more games than what the Nuggets put down this year. They won 18 more games than the Nuggets last year. Essentially negating an all-time historical season by Nicole Joic where he didn’t get the MVP. he’ll get snubbed again this season and then he’s got no shot to compete in the playoffs with these upper echelon teams. And it’s again just coming back to the sheer ineptitude of the Denver Nuggets as an organization, putting the wrong players, the wrong pieces around Nicole Joic, drafting the wrong pieces, signing the wrong guys off the free agent market, and then giving money to these guys that cannot stay healthy and are overrated even when they are. Yes, just more of the same in the life and times of Nicola Joic, the most unlucky and cursed superstar in the history of the NBA.

Jamal Murray was unable to finish last night’s game, a home loss to the lowly Dallas Mavericks. If he misses extended time, that would mean the Nuggets are without their top 3 non-Jokic players on a team with a shallow bench. Another historical, all-time season by Jokic going to complete waste due to this team’s inability to perform beside him.

49 comments

  3. But Skap you said Nuggets were winning the title? When he put that video out I told y'all he would be whining about Jokic's teammates weeks into the season. Its too funny.

  6. Ok, but are they supposed to do? They did a good job in the offseason. Yes, Gordon gets injured a lot, but with Braun it's a matter of being unlucky. Murray is better prepared than last season (ok, that wasn't hard to do), and a sprained ankle is a matter of being unlucky again

  9. I’ve rooted for the Nuggets since they were the Rockets. I’ve been a dedicated fan. The ownership of this team is so tight, they have a rookie coach and they split the gm position into two inexperienced guys.
    Stanley is worth $19 billion. His wife (Walmart heir) is worth about $10 billion. But, they refuse to part with cash! Booth had no business running a team. The two previous gm’s were easily lured away with cash. They’ll pay 3-4 premium contracts, then gather up the cheapest players available. Here’s the real deal. Stanley can run his team into the ground and be the worst in the nba, and he will still make BILLION$ in profit, when he sells.
    I hate the Lakers, but I’m gradually leaning to hoping Jokic goes there. Luka is already there, LB should just go away, and the Lakers will give Jokic WHATEVER he needs, and willingly pay for it. We will never see Jokic reach his full potential in a Nuggets uniform. I’d like to see him be able to freak out the world even more with his insane skills. I’m done with the nuggets, just as soon as Jokic moves on, for any reason. He should demand a trade, which kinda breaks my heart, but the Nuggets suck!🙃

  17. Excuses excuses excuses. Where is this energy for LeBron’s first stint in Cleveland? Y’all want everyone to be loyal but you make exceptions for players you like. Hypocrisy at its finest

  19. they need to trade him or trade jamal while he still has value that is not fair that they can not find someone for him, also how did carmelo anthony get better teams? chauncey and allen iverson……

  27. I see why a nugget fan referred to him as "Jamal Injurray"
    So with Austin Reaves getting all-star this year, add him to the list of all-stars/all-nba that lebron has played with

  28. Dude Chet should definitely not be an all star. Lu Dort, AC, and even Cason Wallace are all better defenders than him. Also J dub is their number 2 so I don’t see how he gets into the all star convo.

  41. Actually NBA is destroying it self. They need to allow steroids like they did in the Jordan, Kobe era and before. There was no injuries, every one was peaking and all the players were bald lol. Now days is nothing but half the season missed, they are all soft as fuck and they all have better hair then women do.

  42. Murray being the number 2 and scoring 24 pts on 17 shots is the problem. Its really telling that a player like Austin Reaves has surpassed him so quickly as a player. Murray doesn't attack the basket, he doesn't make things happen. That can't be the number 2 guy in todays NBA. If Jokic is the facilitator then the number 2 guy needs to be someone who attacks when he gets the ball. He needs to force teams to commit fouls. He needs to be a threat to drive and kick and just generally do things to make defenses have to shift. Even if he shoots 50% from the field its really doesn't matter if he just takes jumpers that are defended 1v1. As long as Murray is the number 2 option, and he plays the way he always has, it will always be an uphill struggle for Denver.

  43. I can't believe that skap still fails to recognize that the nuggets losing is Jokic's fault. It's not because of his teammates. Spencer Jones has 28 points last game. 6 of his teammates are in double figures. Why do you keep saying that he doesn't have enough help?? Murray got injured last night, well ok but Jdub from the thunder has been injured but still SGA and the thunder have been blowing teams out left and right and it resulted to a 19-1 record. So it's not because of injuries or lack of help that Jokic can't win. It's because of his heliocentric type of basketball is ruining his teammate's chances of winning and doesn't allow Jamal Murray to flourish and shine. And also he doesn't play defense at all. The Mavs have been dominating inside the paint because Jokic doesn't protect the rim. Which is why they keep losing games they shouldn't be losing. I can't believe skap still doesn't see that despite the overwhelming evidences that are coming out in these games with Jokic.

  44. I think this is a very bad take on an unfortunate situation, let me explain myself. Yes, injuries suck, but having injuries doesn't make an organization bad. They have made a lot of good moves, I'd argue, starting with the front office and coaching — which is about the most that they could have done from an 'organizational' standpoint. They can't just offload the entire roster, and they wouldn't want to. Might be nice to try and sign a guy like Lauri ($$$), or Avdija, but this isn't NBA 2k, an organization can't just make impossible trades. Cam Johnson has been disappointing to start with but give him some time. He's in a difficult position as a Swiss army knife kinda player who will be instrumental alongside Joker once he fully learns his role and the shots start falling (please God let them start falling). He will develop, be patient. He's a high IQ guy and generally has been a pretty good shooter. Every other move has also resulted in a great role player, and every great team needs great role players (i.e. Hardaway Jr., Big Val). For some reason sports media forgets about developing players (veteran or not) within a system. You can't just drag and drop other good players onto a Jokic team and watch them go crazy. The Nuggets are a team that run a real offense — very different to many teams in the NBA. So, you can't just assume another player's previous success will translate to that different system. And it also means that losing starters has a bigger effect on a team like the Nuggets than it would a team like OKC or the Lakers. Let's just hope players get healthy soon and stay healthy.

  46. Jokic by far my favorite player but I do wish he would step up the effort slightly on defense. Feel like he was better last year. The Rockets he contested a ton of shots.

  49. We are entering Jokic’s 11th season like you said. That’s how long Jordan played for the Bulls if you take away the 85-86 injury season (18 games) and the 94-95 retirement season (17 games). The Nuggets have absolutely squandered an all-timer here. It’s like they think it’s still early on and they’ve got time to figure it out

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