Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Bring our guy, Vinti Bettaedetto, he's the Nuggets beet right
(00:02):
for Denver Gazette. Kloro Springs Gazette out there. I wanted
to talk a little Nuggets Vinny. How you do know?
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Toda? Okay, thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Yeah, absolutely, I will see the Nuggets struggle a little
bit without ankoliokch able to pull out the win against
the Memphis Grizzlies though, which of all finally put the
team on his back. As we look at this stretch
without Joke and of course that last game included, does
this give us confidence that this team is capable or
does he shake our confidence that this team is not
capable without Nikolaiok?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Yeah, I think it comes down to their ability to
get out and run it and make offense easy, because
you know, those those first two games without without Nicola
in New Orleans and the first one in Memphis, it
just felt like everything was was a slog. There wasn't
you know, much movement offense, and it was just kind of,
you know, felt like there were way too many possessions
where it was, uh, you know, get the ball to
(00:54):
Jamal Murray and expect him to create something out of nothing,
But then you looked at last night. I think it
comes down to the you know, the team's ability to
get up on the break and get easy offense.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
That way, what's going on with Dario Sarich and his minutes.
I really thought that we would see more of him,
especially because Michael Malone tends to like the play vets.
He's averaging four points per game, averaging sixteen minutes. He's
seen a little bit of an uptick without Joker out there.
But are you as surprised as I am that his
minutes have been so sparingly?
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Yeah? Yeah. If you would have asked me at the
start of the season, I thought he would have had
a you know, significantly longer leash than he ended up
having early in the season. And I think it comes
down to, you know, through through five games, they were
two and three, and he wasn't playing very well, and
you know, I just don't think the Nuggets had much
patience for for you know, kind of extending his runway
(01:51):
and letting him figure things out, you know, on the fly,
because it was it was pretty rough there those those
first set of games before he kind of got moved
out of the rotation. And as that happened.
Speaker 4 (02:03):
You know, the the Nuggets had a five game homestand
that they swept, so it wasn't uh, you.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Know, there wasn't really much reason for them to tweak anything.
And then, you know, I think that's that's probably been
the most encouraging thing about those two games in Memphis
is that, uh, you know, Dario has being more comfortable
and definitely more confident thinking about that that shot he
hit last night that put them up eight with with
thirty seconds to go. So yeah, if you're a Nuggets fan,
hopefully that's that's the sign of things to come, that
(02:29):
he's kind of he's finding his group.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Now, yeah, you really, you know, you look at what
he breaks to the table and you're hoping he's an
eight minute of a game guy when Nicole is in
there healthy. We've seen extended minutes from him.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
We saw I think over.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
The last couple of games. I mean, we've seen enough
out of him that you you hope that he can
be that guy in the rotation. The question is Michael
Malongu opened the rotation up enough since he you know,
he tends to like using seven eight guys, is he
gonna be one of the eight?
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Yeah? I think most tights he probably will. You look
at the first game against Memphis when Zach Edy was healthy,
you know, you look at games like that. Teams have,
you know, backup centers with that kind of size. I
think those nights will probably be those minutes will go
to DeAndre Jordan for the most part, obviously without Joker
and Aaron Gordon they both got to play that night.
(03:17):
But but moving forward, I would expect Dario Uh to
be the guy most Knights, and and when teams have
a bunch of size in their second unit, maybe maybe
DeAndre Jordan gets the call on those nights.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
How would you grade Russell Westbrook's addition to the Nuggets
so far?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
H what are we talking from one to ten? A
through F however?
Speaker 3 (03:37):
You want to do a bad?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Okay, well I'll go with be minus. You know, it
feels like for the most part, the Uh, the the
effort and the intensity have been there, and it feels
like those are going to be constance with which feels
you know, like a like a big positive for that
second unit, who you know is kind of gonna need
to get out and run at times. You know, there
(04:01):
there have certainly been low points that that dragged that
grade down a bit, But for the most part, I
think his head has been in the right spot. He hasn't.
It doesn't seem like he's you know, been displeased with
his role or let anything else kind of affect him there.
So I think, you know, you know, things haven't haven't
been perfect or I don't. I wouldn't say he's you know,
necessarily exceeded expectations, but I think he's been serviceable.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Dove tailing off that question real quickly. Aw On this show,
we used the Joel and beat to the cool Jokic scale,
him Yokics being the best Jolan beat being the absolute
worst thing on earth. The League came out there and
and rescinded Westbrook's technical techno Foulin the other night. Did
they give a reasoning why?
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Uh? He probably because he didn't say anything. I don't
know if uh blairs or glances or stairs or however
we want to define that look, Uh, it can be
uh penalized that way. So yeah, you never know what
what happened leading up to that point, or if there
or if there were warnings. But uh, you know, watching
from home, your endeavor that that seemed pretty ridiculous, and
(05:02):
it seemed kind of like a no brainer that that
one would be rescinded.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
I've been really impressed with Christian Brown and the starting lineup.
I do feel like, long term, though, as we get
close to the playoffs, you're gonna miss him coming off
the bench, do you agree.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Yeah, in a sense, I think, you know, they're gonna
need somebody in that second unit to kind of become
what Christian was the last couple of years. And you know,
I think Peyton Watson's play has been really encouraging left,
you know, since he's kind of gotten to a rhythm
after missing all of the preseason. Julian Strauter is gonna
be a guy who's gonna need to consistently hit shots, yeah,
(05:42):
to make that second unit work. But you know, Christian
I think has just been such a good fit in
the starting lineup. I don't know how much you can
really tweak rotation wise, because I think the only thing
that you could maybe do would be start Peyton Watson
there so you could still have that that perimeter defender. Yeah.
I just feel like, uh, you know, Christian is going
(06:05):
to be a lot in that starting lineup for as
long as he's playing the way he is right now.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Yeah, that was one I was. I was definitely wrong
on I love I loved him coming off the bench.
Didn't think he was starter material, really think a six man.
But he really asked. You see, he's really made me
look like an idiot there. Talk about Viny Benedetto had
been not very hard on Twitter. He works for the
Nuggets beat for the Gazette. Yeah, it's really not Difficult's
low barta clear, and yet somehow I limbo under it
every single time as we as we look forward to
join it. That's just flexible. Tell me the you know,
(06:31):
Bell Corolla wanted to train me for how flexible I was.
I don't know that may he rested peace. I think
it was as we look.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
At this team.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
I mean, the Nuggets have been so shorthanded right now.
Are Gordon out, You've had Jamal Murray, he's been a
little bang up any ice back. You had Nicole out
for the personal reasons, obviously, and it's good to see
that this team, even if they haven't won as many
games you won in that stretch, it can be competitive
that deep into the rotation. Does that give you confidence
going to the back half of the season that they're
going to pick things up.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Yeah, and you know, the you know, the injuries have
kind of all come at different times, so it does
feel like there's been a very small sample size of
what this team can be when it's fully healthy. I guess,
you know, the back half of that five him home
stand I mentioned earlier was probably the closest look we
got it what this team might look like. But yeah,
(07:18):
I think you know, these things where you kind of
have to try different things is something that can be
really helpful. You know, like you never know what a
playoff matchup is going to look like. So if there's
a situation where you want to go super small and
you want to throw Russell Westbrook on a Jared Jackson
junior like they did the last couple of nights, like,
I think those are those are really positive experiences to
(07:40):
have this early in the season. You know, obviously, with
a little more help than UGGCAU, they're probably looking at
us a better record than eight and five. But yeah,
I think the key for this season is to Yeah,
I wouldn't put too much emphasis on seating. I would
put more emphasis on being rested and feeling like you
have a whole bunch of answers to a whole bunch
(08:01):
of different questions when the playoffs roll around, And the last.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Question I have where you appreciate the time man, I
wanted to kind of sort of toss back to the
remote Shellbourne article as well as even the one that
came out last year with the Ringer and sort of
the I guess the very public disconnect between the front
office and the coaching staff. Does that, in your mind
impact the way we should view the Nuggets as a
(08:26):
championship contender.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
No, I don't. I don't think so. I mean, I
think as long as Nikola Jokic is happy here, I
think it should be pretty easy to put a team
around him that that you have a chance. You know,
obviously the dynasty talk has died down a little bit,
but looking at this team right now, I've seen enough
to think that you know, they're still in that group
(08:51):
of contenders. And I think, you know, Michael Malone and
Calvin Booth have different job titles and different responsibilities, so
they kind inherently see things different ways, but I think
they're they're on the same page in that understanding that
that this is a unique opportunity for this franchise and
it's it's you know, their jobs to make the most
(09:12):
of that in their given role. So I think, you know,
I think they could easily, you know, be on the
same page heading into the trade deadline this year, which
could be a good one because you know it. Atmediately
Calvin mentioned that just the team shooting ability is something
you're gonna need to monitor and that you know, if
they needed to make a move, they they would do it.
(09:32):
So yeah, you know, obviously those those stories, and I
respect the people who wrote them quite a bit. It
garnered a lot of attention and opened some eyes. But
you know, I think for the most part, uh, you know,
tell them Booth and Michael Malone see things similarly enough
to make the most of this run.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Takou Vini bendedetto the gazette Vinie last question for me,
and do we have a timeline for Nicola getting back here?
Speaker 2 (10:00):
We don't.
Speaker 4 (10:01):
You know, Malone's been asked about it and has kind
of stayed with the the company line that you know,
they're they're given joker privacy during this time and you know,
just are are kind of waiting.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
I wouldn't be surprised at all. He plays on uh Friday,
given that it's a home game, and if something, uh
you know, does require his attention immediately, he can uh
you know, be wherever he needs to be and you know,
ten or fifteen minutes as opposed to a couple of
hours when you're you know, in in New Orleans or Memphis.
I think there's a real shot he plays Friday. But yeah,
(10:38):
there's been no real uh stated timeline.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
No Vinny.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
We appreciated Vinny Benedetto and Vi Benedetto on the Twitter machine.
Appreciate your time tonight and thank that
Bring our guy, Vinti Bettaedetto, he's the Nuggets beet right
(00:02):
for Denver Gazette. Kloro Springs Gazette out there. I wanted
to talk a little Nuggets Vinny. How you do know?
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Toda? Okay, thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Yeah, absolutely, I will see the Nuggets struggle a little
bit without ankoliokch able to pull out the win against
the Memphis Grizzlies though, which of all finally put the
team on his back. As we look at this stretch
without Joke and of course that last game included, does
this give us confidence that this team is capable or
does he shake our confidence that this team is not
capable without Nikolaiok?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Yeah, I think it comes down to their ability to
get out and run it and make offense easy, because
you know, those those first two games without without Nicola
in New Orleans and the first one in Memphis, it
just felt like everything was was a slog. There wasn't
you know, much movement offense, and it was just kind of,
you know, felt like there were way too many possessions
where it was, uh, you know, get the ball to
(00:54):
Jamal Murray and expect him to create something out of nothing,
But then you looked at last night. I think it
comes down to the you know, the team's ability to
get up on the break and get easy offense.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
That way, what's going on with Dario Sarich and his minutes.
I really thought that we would see more of him,
especially because Michael Malone tends to like the play vets.
He's averaging four points per game, averaging sixteen minutes. He's
seen a little bit of an uptick without Joker out there.
But are you as surprised as I am that his
minutes have been so sparingly?
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Yeah? Yeah. If you would have asked me at the
start of the season, I thought he would have had
a you know, significantly longer leash than he ended up
having early in the season. And I think it comes
down to, you know, through through five games, they were
two and three, and he wasn't playing very well, and
you know, I just don't think the Nuggets had much
patience for for you know, kind of extending his runway
(01:51):
and letting him figure things out, you know, on the fly,
because it was it was pretty rough there those those
first set of games before he kind of got moved
out of the rotation. And as that happened.
Speaker 4 (02:03):
You know, the the Nuggets had a five game homestand
that they swept, so it wasn't uh, you.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Know, there wasn't really much reason for them to tweak anything.
And then, you know, I think that's that's probably been
the most encouraging thing about those two games in Memphis
is that, uh, you know, Dario has being more comfortable
and definitely more confident thinking about that that shot he
hit last night that put them up eight with with
thirty seconds to go. So yeah, if you're a Nuggets fan,
hopefully that's that's the sign of things to come, that
(02:29):
he's kind of he's finding his group.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Now, yeah, you really, you know, you look at what
he breaks to the table and you're hoping he's an
eight minute of a game guy when Nicole is in
there healthy. We've seen extended minutes from him.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
We saw I think over.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
The last couple of games. I mean, we've seen enough
out of him that you you hope that he can
be that guy in the rotation. The question is Michael
Malongu opened the rotation up enough since he you know,
he tends to like using seven eight guys, is he
gonna be one of the eight?
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Yeah? I think most tights he probably will. You look
at the first game against Memphis when Zach Edy was healthy,
you know, you look at games like that. Teams have,
you know, backup centers with that kind of size. I
think those nights will probably be those minutes will go
to DeAndre Jordan for the most part, obviously without Joker
and Aaron Gordon they both got to play that night.
(03:17):
But but moving forward, I would expect Dario Uh to
be the guy most Knights, and and when teams have
a bunch of size in their second unit, maybe maybe
DeAndre Jordan gets the call on those nights.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
How would you grade Russell Westbrook's addition to the Nuggets
so far?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
H what are we talking from one to ten? A
through F however?
Speaker 3 (03:37):
You want to do a bad?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Okay, well I'll go with be minus. You know, it
feels like for the most part, the Uh, the the
effort and the intensity have been there, and it feels
like those are going to be constance with which feels
you know, like a like a big positive for that
second unit, who you know is kind of gonna need
to get out and run at times. You know, there
(04:01):
there have certainly been low points that that dragged that
grade down a bit, But for the most part, I
think his head has been in the right spot. He hasn't.
It doesn't seem like he's you know, been displeased with
his role or let anything else kind of affect him there.
So I think, you know, you know, things haven't haven't
been perfect or I don't. I wouldn't say he's you know,
necessarily exceeded expectations, but I think he's been serviceable.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Dove tailing off that question real quickly. Aw On this show,
we used the Joel and beat to the cool Jokic scale,
him Yokics being the best Jolan beat being the absolute
worst thing on earth. The League came out there and
and rescinded Westbrook's technical techno Foulin the other night. Did
they give a reasoning why?
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Uh? He probably because he didn't say anything. I don't
know if uh blairs or glances or stairs or however
we want to define that look, Uh, it can be
uh penalized that way. So yeah, you never know what
what happened leading up to that point, or if there
or if there were warnings. But uh, you know, watching
from home, your endeavor that that seemed pretty ridiculous, and
(05:02):
it seemed kind of like a no brainer that that
one would be rescinded.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
I've been really impressed with Christian Brown and the starting lineup.
I do feel like, long term, though, as we get
close to the playoffs, you're gonna miss him coming off
the bench, do you agree.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Yeah, in a sense, I think, you know, they're gonna
need somebody in that second unit to kind of become
what Christian was the last couple of years. And you know,
I think Peyton Watson's play has been really encouraging left,
you know, since he's kind of gotten to a rhythm
after missing all of the preseason. Julian Strauter is gonna
be a guy who's gonna need to consistently hit shots, yeah,
(05:42):
to make that second unit work. But you know, Christian
I think has just been such a good fit in
the starting lineup. I don't know how much you can
really tweak rotation wise, because I think the only thing
that you could maybe do would be start Peyton Watson
there so you could still have that that perimeter defender. Yeah.
I just feel like, uh, you know, Christian is going
(06:05):
to be a lot in that starting lineup for as
long as he's playing the way he is right now.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Yeah, that was one I was. I was definitely wrong
on I love I loved him coming off the bench.
Didn't think he was starter material, really think a six man.
But he really asked. You see, he's really made me
look like an idiot there. Talk about Viny Benedetto had
been not very hard on Twitter. He works for the
Nuggets beat for the Gazette. Yeah, it's really not Difficult's
low barta clear, and yet somehow I limbo under it
every single time as we as we look forward to
join it. That's just flexible. Tell me the you know,
(06:31):
Bell Corolla wanted to train me for how flexible I was.
I don't know that may he rested peace. I think
it was as we look.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
At this team.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
I mean, the Nuggets have been so shorthanded right now.
Are Gordon out, You've had Jamal Murray, he's been a
little bang up any ice back. You had Nicole out
for the personal reasons, obviously, and it's good to see
that this team, even if they haven't won as many
games you won in that stretch, it can be competitive
that deep into the rotation. Does that give you confidence
going to the back half of the season that they're
going to pick things up.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Yeah, and you know, the you know, the injuries have
kind of all come at different times, so it does
feel like there's been a very small sample size of
what this team can be when it's fully healthy. I guess,
you know, the back half of that five him home
stand I mentioned earlier was probably the closest look we
got it what this team might look like. But yeah,
(07:18):
I think you know, these things where you kind of
have to try different things is something that can be
really helpful. You know, like you never know what a
playoff matchup is going to look like. So if there's
a situation where you want to go super small and
you want to throw Russell Westbrook on a Jared Jackson
junior like they did the last couple of nights, like,
I think those are those are really positive experiences to
(07:40):
have this early in the season. You know, obviously, with
a little more help than UGGCAU, they're probably looking at
us a better record than eight and five. But yeah,
I think the key for this season is to Yeah,
I wouldn't put too much emphasis on seating. I would
put more emphasis on being rested and feeling like you
have a whole bunch of answers to a whole bunch
(08:01):
of different questions when the playoffs roll around, And the last.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Question I have where you appreciate the time man, I
wanted to kind of sort of toss back to the
remote Shellbourne article as well as even the one that
came out last year with the Ringer and sort of
the I guess the very public disconnect between the front
office and the coaching staff. Does that, in your mind
impact the way we should view the Nuggets as a
(08:26):
championship contender.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
No, I don't. I don't think so. I mean, I
think as long as Nikola Jokic is happy here, I
think it should be pretty easy to put a team
around him that that you have a chance. You know,
obviously the dynasty talk has died down a little bit,
but looking at this team right now, I've seen enough
to think that you know, they're still in that group
(08:51):
of contenders. And I think, you know, Michael Malone and
Calvin Booth have different job titles and different responsibilities, so
they kind inherently see things different ways, but I think
they're they're on the same page in that understanding that
that this is a unique opportunity for this franchise and
it's it's you know, their jobs to make the most
(09:12):
of that in their given role. So I think, you know,
I think they could easily, you know, be on the
same page heading into the trade deadline this year, which
could be a good one because you know it. Atmediately
Calvin mentioned that just the team shooting ability is something
you're gonna need to monitor and that you know, if
they needed to make a move, they they would do it.
(09:32):
So yeah, you know, obviously those those stories, and I
respect the people who wrote them quite a bit. It
garnered a lot of attention and opened some eyes. But
you know, I think for the most part, uh, you know,
tell them Booth and Michael Malone see things similarly enough
to make the most of this run.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Takou Vini bendedetto the gazette Vinie last question for me,
and do we have a timeline for Nicola getting back here?
Speaker 2 (10:00):
We don't.
Speaker 4 (10:01):
You know, Malone's been asked about it and has kind
of stayed with the the company line that you know,
they're they're given joker privacy during this time and you know,
just are are kind of waiting.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
I wouldn't be surprised at all. He plays on uh Friday,
given that it's a home game, and if something, uh
you know, does require his attention immediately, he can uh
you know, be wherever he needs to be and you know,
ten or fifteen minutes as opposed to a couple of
hours when you're you know, in in New Orleans or Memphis.
I think there's a real shot he plays Friday. But yeah,
(10:38):
there's been no real uh stated timeline.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
No Vinny.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
We appreciated Vinny Benedetto and Vi Benedetto on the Twitter machine.
Appreciate your time tonight and thank that
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