{"id":62696,"date":"2025-05-29T00:23:08","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T00:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/62696\/"},"modified":"2025-05-29T00:23:08","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T00:23:08","slug":"david-adelman-must-slow-offense-move-on-from-russell-westbrook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/62696\/","title":{"rendered":"David Adelman must slow offense, move on from Russell Westbrook"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the first day of the rest of his life, David Adelman dressed like David Duchovny and took questions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The dark coat, white dress shirt and black tie did not seem like a coincidence. Before he thanked all the important people in his life, from family to former high school coaches, Adelman navigated six weeks as the interim, his sanity preserved during the playoffs by watching the X-Files with his young son and daughter.<\/a><\/p>\n

It made Wednesday make sense. The suit. The confidence. Adelman is taking over the Nuggets as Agent Fox Mulder, a believer in the truth and the passionate pursuit of answers.<\/a><\/p>\n

For this experiment to work \u2014 a first-time head coach leading a team with championship expectations \u2014 it will not be because of the paranormal statistics of Nikola Jokic, but rather Adelman\u2019s ability to make the Nuggets an anomaly.<\/p>\n

This is a franchise that seems determined to produce another No. 1 single by keeping the band together even as all signs scream for change: age, injuries, a top-heavy payroll.<\/p>\n

But within the introductory news conference, a few nuggets emerged from Adelman about how the Nuggets could return to prominence.<\/p>\n

Adelman\u2019s fast track to Denver success involves tapping the brakes. And that requires, based on the fit, saying goodbye to Russell Westbrook. More on that in a moment.<\/p>\n

Seated next to Adelman, boss Josh Kroenke\u2019s echoed many of his thoughts last week \u2014 challenging players to improve over the summer with no \u201ccultural reset\u201d needed, meaning in-house candidate Ben Tenzer is the favorite to become the general manager.<\/p>\n

During this PowerPoint-like alphabet soup, Adelman offered a new wrinkle about the offense.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were top five in the league. But it showed in the OKC series that our execution has to get better. Our transition game was very impactful throughout the season, but some of that doesn\u2019t translate to the playoffs,\u201d Adelman said. \u201cThat is a major goal for us. We have to get back to being an execution-based team. If that takes away from our pace or whatever the analytics say, I think that\u2019s OK if that wins you a game in May.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here is why this matters and proof that Westbrook needs to go. Slowing the tempo is invaluable in the non-Jokic minutes. The reason the Nuggets are not still playing goes straight to their bench.<\/p>\n

A quip TNT\u2019s Kenny Smith made about the Knicks\u2019 Tom Thibodeau applied to Michael Malone: He wouldn\u2019t play nine guys if he were the manager of a baseball team.<\/p>\n

Adelman must employ nine, maybe 10, in the regular season and trust eight in the playoffs, or OKC and Minnesota will crush their dreams again.<\/p>\n

How does Adelman assimilate more players while trying to win?<\/p>\n

The first move is the Nuggets need Westbrook to move on, declining his player option. It is not unthinkable with needy teams like Brooklyn needing a jolt from a big name. This is not personal. Watching Westbrook requires a seatbelt. He is unpredictable and reckless, yet he practically won the Clippers series with his clutch performances at Ball Arena.<\/p>\n

But Adelman cannot be charged with doing right by Jokic and holding Jamal Murray accountable<\/a> (it was a good sign Murray attended the presser) while treating Westbrook with the respect worthy of a former MVP. Westbrook takes up too much oxygen in the room. He has value. But not on this team, not the way Adelman wants to tweak the style of play and make things fresh for long-tenured Nuggets.<\/p>\n

Adelman aims to decaffeinate the offense. Westbrook is a human Red Bull. And when asked about the team\u2019s biggest need, he said, without hesitation, \u201cconsistent shooting.\u201d These are not Westbrook\u2019s strengths. He filled a role, sometimes in fantastic fashion, but Denver needs to go forward without him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a premium on shot-making,\u201d Adelman said.<\/p>\n

So, here is a suggestion. While the Nuggets insist most solutions lie inside their walls, they could use an external option. Tyus Jones, a backup point guard, works as a mid-level exemption. They need a rim-protecting center, too. But one thing at a time.<\/p>\n

Before you say it, Jones is not Jalen Pickett. He is a better 3-point shooter ( 41.4 %) and brings experience. The Nuggets\u2019 plans will stress quality over quantity. And someone like Jones protects the ball and frees Murray to play off screens with the second unit.<\/p>\n

If Kroenke really wants to give Adelman a fair shake, they have to get a player like this and give Westbrook his parting gifts.<\/p>\n

Use the reserves as a way to toy with opponents, drain the clock and log fewer possessions with Jokic off the floor. This creates an avenue to provide Julian Strawther, Peyton Watson and DaRon Holmes II more run without consistently sacrificing outcomes.<\/p>\n

When Adelman discussed the reserves, it represented a contradiction. He stressed the importance of a fast start to allow for roster maintenance leading into the playoffs, while emphasizing the need to use more players.<\/p>\n

Not sure the Red Panda halftime acrobat can pull off this balancing act.<\/p>\n

Regardless, Adelman is back, even if he never really went anywhere.<\/p>\n

He has a template that could work. The challenge is not to expose cover-ups. But to cover up weaknesses. And forget about Area 51, just make sure those around Area 15 are dramatically improved.<\/p>\n

Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On the first day of the rest of his life, David Adelman dressed like David Duchovny and took…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62697,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3781],"tags":[2276,7,2288,250,301,187,3943,1361,762,3787,763,165,4231,252,6,11,253,302,1146,254,66,198,3788],"class_list":{"0":"post-62696","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-denver-nuggets","8":"tag-ball-arena","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-daron-holmes","11":"tag-david-adelman","12":"tag-denver","13":"tag-denver-nuggets","14":"tag-denvernuggets","15":"tag-jalen-pickett","16":"tag-jamal-murray","17":"tag-josh-kroenke","18":"tag-julian-strawther","19":"tag-latest-headlines","20":"tag-michael-malone","21":"tag-more-nuggets-news","22":"tag-nba","23":"tag-nba-playoffs","24":"tag-nikola-jokic","25":"tag-nuggets","26":"tag-peyton-watson","27":"tag-russell-westbrook","28":"tag-sports","29":"tag-sports-columnists","30":"tag-troy-renck"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114588274070870054","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}