May 13, 2024 • 19 mins
Discover the secret sauce behind the Denver Nuggets' thrilling comeback and how Nikola Jokic's extraordinary journey to his third MVP win has turned the tides in the playoffs. As the series stands at a knife-edge, we take you through the emotional rollercoaster from the depths of despair to the peaks of triumph, all led by Jokic's masterful plays that seem to have been calculated by a basketball supercomputer. We also tip our hats to legend Moses Malone, whose legacy casts a long shadow and offers us poignant lessons in sportsmanship and excellence. And for those moments where my crystal ball predictions missed their mark, I'm laying it all out on the line, ready to eat humble pie.
Feel the electricity in the air as we gear up for game five of the Nuggets vs. Timberwolves series, where the drama unfolds not just on the court but in the sizzling back-and-forth between Jamal Murray and Anthony Edwards. Aaron Gordon's unexpected surge, Reggie Jackson's resilience, and Justin Holiday's clutch plays have us rethinking the depth of this Nuggets roster. Our crystal ball gazes into the future once again, teasing out the possibilities for the Nuggets' playoff journey, drawing on past glories, and speculating how this team's unique chemistry might just be the winning formula. Strap in for this episode; it's not just a play-by-play, it's the playbook for how champions are made.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
All right, everyone Well, welcome back to Fandom
From Afar.
What a difference a couple dayscan make.
If you listened to our lastepisode, we were down bad after
the Nuggets got dominated in thefirst two games, but here we
are, a couple days later and theseries is tied 2-2 now, and not
(00:31):
only that, mr Jokic picked uphis third MVP officially.
We figured it was going tohappen, but it was cool to
actually see it happen, and thepresentation on TV was a little
interesting, with Shaq making itall about himself and how he
should have won more MVPs andhow he thinks that Shea Gildas,
(00:53):
alexander should have won it,and it was super awkward and
weird.
So thanks, shaq, but Jokic didwin it three out of the last
four years.
He came in second last year.
That is just.
That's an historic run for aplayer, and the best part is
he's only 29 years old.
There is a very good chancethat he could be right up there
(01:18):
with the best players in thegame for the next five years,
and especially the way he playsand just how good the team is
around him and the fact that theNBA has that new rule where you
have to play 65 games, that'sautomatically going to eliminate
a lot of the best players eachyear, while Jokic just kind of
(01:38):
plugs along and puts up historicnumbers and he's going to keep
getting those MVP votes.
So it's exciting.
It'll be fun to see where heends up.
But for what he's done now,winning the third puts him in
exclusive company.
You've probably seen this by now, but he's now one of nine
players to win at least threeMVPs and that's just obviously a
(02:01):
special, special group.
You can't deny that he's one ofthe greats.
Now, obviously, you haveMichael Jordan, lebron Kareem
and Bill Russell, magic and BirdWilt Chamberlain, and then
there was Moses Malone and Jokic.
So A it made me realize I needto go back and really look into
(02:22):
Moses Malone, a Jokic, and so Ia it made me realize I need to
go back and really look intoMoses Malone a little bit more.
I re.
I really just never thought ofhim as one of the all-time
greats.
But if you want three MVPs, youwere doing something right.
So I'm definitely going to tryand look up some YouTube
highlights and dive into hisstats a little bit more, just
because there's only nine guysever that have done that, and so
(02:44):
it's pretty special what Jokichas done.
Again, I think I say it almostevery episode, but we are just
so lucky to get it, to watch himevery single night and
hopefully we're only abouthalfway through his career.
And it's just this.
This kind of stuff neverhappens to the Denver Nuggets.
And so the fact that we gotthis wonderful, wonderful
(03:07):
Serbian man to play for our teamand just to dominate it's just
so fun and we're going to gointo it a little bit more.
But he stepped up like he's oneof the best players in the
league and that is the reasonwhy we are tied two to two
against Minnesota and that isthe reason why we are tied 2-2
against Minnesota.
(03:27):
And so I thought, instead ofjust talking about the game,
we'll kind of tie.
In the last episode, when I wasso sad, just so sad, and I
(03:47):
thought we would talk about thegames 3 and 4 by framing it
around the top five things I waswrong about in my last podcast
episode.
Now I will say, listening backto the episode, I'm glad I did
not do it immediately after gametwo, because then my takes
would have been just absolutelyridiculous.
But I feel like in the lastepisode I was sad, I was down,
(04:08):
but I had that sliver of faith.
I kept saying it's really bad.
Now it's very unlikely, but Ihope the Nuggets do this.
And so there was one littlesection where I talked about
this team, the core of this team, jokic Murray, mpj.
(04:29):
They have a toughness to themand it's just so fun to see that
they showed it in these lastcouple of games.
It just would have been so sadto see this group go out with a
sweep or even only win in onegame, and they may or may not
(04:49):
win two more games in advance.
Timberwolves are still reallygood and they may win two out of
the next three and we'll lose,but at least we put up a fight,
and that's what was going to be.
So sad is, if the gamescontinued to go as they did in
games one and two, that theNuggets just didn't put up a
fight.
But that was not the case.
(05:10):
These last two games have beenawesome and let's dive into it.
So top five things that I waswrong about or that have just
completely changed.
So number one got to start withthe three-time MVP.
He has been so much moreaggressive in control.
He was getting flustered in thefirst two games and games three
(05:34):
and four.
That was not the case.
It's pretty funny.
The term that keeps being thrownaround on the podcast I listen
to is saying that Jokic is justa supercomputer, meaning games
one and two.
He was just kind of standingback gathering information so
(05:54):
that he could take advantage ofcertain situations or matchups
in games three and four, and itreally I can't argue against it.
He, he seems to have figuredsomething out and obviously the
guys that he's going against aremore athletic.
They're in the case of uh CarlAnthony towns and uh Rudy Gobert
(06:18):
, they're.
They're longer than him.
Like he, he doesn't havephysical advantages except for
his skill in his mind, and heseems to have figured something
out where these last couple ofgames he's getting them in the
right position, he's finding histeammates, he is scoring pretty
much at will.
I think some of the moves thathe put on those guys last night
(06:39):
were just back breakers and so,uh, I think, yeah, we'll just
say it, he is a supercomputer.
So hopefully that continues andhe just keeps gathering all
that information and leads us totwo more victories.
The number two thing I wascompletely wrong about, or has
(07:01):
completely changed Jamal Murray.
We were down on Jamal.
He was having his mentalbreakdown.
In game two he looked totallyoutmatched by the athleticism
and something happened in thosecouple of days between games
three and four he got a littlebit healthier.
He flipped the switch toplayoff Jamal, I don't know what
(07:24):
it was, but he has looked somuch better in these last couple
of games and I think part of itnot all of it, I think the
biggest part is probably himgetting a little healthier so he
can move around a little bitquicker, have that burst again.
But the Minnesota crowd wasbooing him every time he touched
the ball, starting in warmupsin game three, and if you know
(07:49):
Jamal Murray, you know he lovesthat kind of stuff.
I think he kind of enjoys beingthe villain that the other fans
hate.
Like he'll hit a big shot,he'll put on an amazing move and
have a great pass and he's thetype of guy that he loves
staring out into the crowd andjust kind of enjoying the moment
(08:14):
.
As he knows, he's just made astadium full of people unhappy
and so Minnesota fans, I thinkwe're booing him because he
probably should have gottensuspended for a game for
throwing the things at thereferees in game two.
Like I said, I'm shocked thathe didn't.
But I think the fans are booingbecause of the fact that he was
(08:35):
simply at the game and theywanted to try and get in his
head.
Little did they know.
I think it feeds him and heloved it.
He had a great game and theydidn't do it as much in game
four.
I think they kind of learnedtheir lesson game and they
didn't do it as much in gamefour.
I think they kind of learnedtheir lesson.
But what I'm keeping my eye onis the cameras kind of caught
Anthony Edwards talking trash toJamal right after the game.
(08:56):
The game was kind of over, uh,players were shaking hands, kind
of walking off the court, andAnthony Edwards is very much the
type that loves talking trashas well, and it hasn't worked
out well for guys that talktrash to Jamal Murray in the
past.
He again, he just he loves it.
He is motivated by that extralittle edge that just gets him
(09:24):
in the right mindset.
And so I'm really going to beinterested in game five if both
Edwards and Murray are kind ofgoing at each other and talking
more trash and seeing who cankind of come out on top, because
Anthony Edwards has beenabsolutely amazing as well, and
I think he's very similar toMurray in the fact that a little
trash talk kind of motivateshim to go to another level as
well.
So I can't wait to see gamefive.
(09:45):
It's going to be just epic.
The number three thing that Iwas wrong about I believe I
actually said the phrase thatthis just isn't a good matchup
for Aaron Gordon.
Yeah, pretty much couldn't bemore wrong.
He looked like a beast againlast night.
(10:08):
He somehow is shooting likeSteph Curry and is just he's.
He was a monster on defenselast night and he was getting
offensive boards and dunkingthem Like he was in the right
spot every single time.
Couldn't have been more happyto be wrong.
Aaron Gordon the numbers thathe put up.
(10:31):
Actually I think I saw thatthat was the first time in NBA
history someone had had thenumbers that he put up last
night and so he was trulyspecial and it was just awesome
to see Jokic Murray Gordon justall level up and just kind of
show.
(10:51):
Hey, they still got that fightin them.
Games one and two are long goneand hopefully they can all
continue that.
Um.
The number four thing I was so,so wrong about is I said the
bench has been non-existent.
Well, reggie rolled his ankleat the end of game two and all
(11:15):
he's done is come out.
He only plays about 10 minutesa game in the last couple of
games, but when he's in there hehas been playing smart, making
great passes and then hittingopen threes when, uh, when the
time comes, and if that's whatit takes for for Reggie, like if
, if that's all he has to givewith that ankle, it's amazing
(11:37):
he's.
He's doing so much more than Iwould have expected and his
shots just seem to be huge atthe exact right time.
Uh, speaking of hitting hugeshots, justin Holliday all of a
sudden emerges from our bench.
He doesn't play hardly at allthe entire regular season, and
now Coach Malone is going to himinstead of Peyton Watson, and
(12:00):
again, justin Holliday is justhitting all these three pointers
at huge times.
They seem to be backbreakerswhenever Minnesota is making a
run.
At huge times, they seem to bebackbreakers whenever Minnesota
is making a run.
Justin Holliday is just wideopen in the corner, nails it,
and he's actually playing prettygood defense as well.
He's a, I think, like a 6'6wing, but he has over a seven
foot wingspan and so he justseems to be bothering whoever
(12:22):
he's guarding, even though he'snot really known for his defense
.
And so, man, what a time forhim to step up.
And it's just nice having thoseveterans that they didn't play
all year and now all of a suddenin the playoffs they're shining
.
And then the last guy I got togive a shout-out to the bench is
Christian Brown.
He's always been a beast ondefense.
(12:47):
Anthony Edwards kind of had hisway with him in games one and
two, but in three and four Ithink he's done the best of
anyone on Anthony Edwards.
And now obviously Edwards isputting up stats but Christian
staying in front of him.
Edwards just happened to behitting some tough shots but uh,
christian's doing everythingthat you could hope for out of
(13:07):
him.
And then the fact that he had ahuge three-pointer I think it
was in the fourth quarter Justit was such big timing and I
love it when Christian getspumped up and just kind of
screams and flexes to the crowdand stuff.
So, justin Holliday, christianBrown, reggie Jackson, just
killing it to help me be sowrong about the last podcast and
(13:33):
number five, the fifth, most ornot important, but I guess
biggest thing that I was wrongabout is, I was convinced that
the Wolves were too physical andtoo athletic for the Nuggets.
They just looked overwhelmingin those first two games and,
like I said, the Nuggets seemedto have figured something out.
(13:55):
A big part of the game's one andtwo success for the Wolves were
putting pressure on whoever wasbringing the ball up the court
and we couldn't get into ouroffense.
Often it was Jamal, so he wasgetting frustrated and just
simple little changes.
The Nuggets keep switching whothey have bringing the ball up
the court.
They're setting picks to helpthe guy bring the ball up the
(14:17):
court or they're always justkind of keeping a guy right
around midcourt to help the ballcarrier just bring the ball up.
If they're getting a littlepressure, it's really made a big
difference where we're gettinginto our offense a lot faster.
It's kind of saving energy forthe guys that are having to
bring the ball to court andwe're kind of getting some um
(14:39):
spacing out of it where we endup either driving right to the
basket or having some guys openfor three because we're breaking
uh the pressure so quickly.
So that's been a huge help.
Uh the pressure so quickly, sothat's been a huge help.
I think Minnesota could possiblybe getting tired a little bit.
They don't look quite as quickand athletic as they did in the
(15:00):
first two games.
Uh, you may have heard memention that they were so
dominant in those first twogames it seemed like there was
six of them out on the court andit just hasn't felt that way in
these past two games.
So the Nuggets figured somestuff out.
I think.
Obviously the Minnesotansplayed extremely well in those
first two games.
So when you're playing thatwell, you're going to have a
(15:22):
little bit of extra energy andkind of fly around a little bit
more.
But the physicalness of thegames has not been to what it
was at game two.
That game's often beendescribed as kind of prison
rules.
They were just lettingMinnesota be super physical with
the Nuggets and the Nuggets didnot respond well.
(15:43):
But three and four have beencalled a little bit more just
like playoff basketball and notso much like the prison yard.
So I think that's been helpful.
And, yeah, the athleticism haslooked back for the Nuggets and
has come down a level for theWolves and that's been advantage
Denver.
Now, if you listened to the fullepisode last time, you may have
(16:07):
heard my conspiracy theories ofwhat was going on with the
nuggets and obviously some ofthem were maybe more realistic
than others, but I think it'ssafe to say we we probably know
which one was actually true atthis point.
And that was, of course, thefourth one where I said yokich
(16:29):
sent out the minions and theydid not get that giant laser
beam for him and that's why hewas upset and not playing well.
Well, I don't know this for afact, but I'm assuming the
minions must have made up for itand got another laser beam,
because Jokic is happy again,he's playing well, and I think
we solved the mystery so we canmove on from those conspiracy
(16:51):
theories Now looking forward tothe rest.
Solved the mystery, so we canmove on from those conspiracy
theories.
Now looking forward to the restof the series.
It is obviously now a best outof three.
The Nuggets get two out ofthose three games at home, which
is a huge advantage.
We obviously have won the pasttwo games, which I think if you
believe in momentum, then themomentum's on our side.
(17:13):
Believe in momentum, then themomentum's on our side.
And I think, as Nuggets fans,we have to have hope that we
should and probably will winthis series, and Minnesota is
just such a good team, I thinkthere is a chance that they
could win two out of these three.
But the way the Nuggets areplaying now, you just you got to
give it to the guys and thinkthat we have the advantage Now.
(17:34):
This does remind me a lot of thePhoenix series last year.
In that case, devin Booker wasjust playing out of his mind and
wasn't missing any shots.
So that's very similar toAnthony Edwards this year.
And in another similarity itseems like they're kind of a
one-man show where they areabsolutely playing phenomenal
(17:57):
but they just don't quite havethe teammates to help them out.
And the Nuggets have more of awell-rounded team and are
getting the victories.
So obviously I hope the nextsimilarity is that the Nuggets
win the next two games and wewin four to two, just like we
beat Phoenix last year.
Win the next two games and wewin four to two, just like we
beat Phoenix last year.
But I think with Minnesota'sdefense they have a much better
(18:20):
chance of winning a game inDenver or in Minnesota, and it
going seven.
That's probably what I predictwill happen.
I think the experience that theNuggets have matters quite a
bit.
They've been in so many ofthese big moments, and this is
kind of Minnesota's first bigplayoff run, and so I think the
Nuggets will pull it out inseven.
(18:41):
I hope that the next time weare podcasting together we will
be celebrating the Nuggetsmaking the comeback official and
moving on to the next round andwe can talk about how they
match up with either Dallas orOklahoma city.
So, nuggets fans, I hope youare as happy as I am, just for
the fact that the guys put up afight and now we have a chance
(19:04):
to move on and we just showedthat.
Uh yeah, we're the defendingchampions for a reason and I'm
excited.
Jokic MV3.
All right, everyone Well, welcome back to Fandom
From Afar.
What a difference a couple dayscan make.
If you listened to our lastepisode, we were down bad after
the Nuggets got dominated in thefirst two games, but here we
are, a couple days later and theseries is tied 2-2 now, and not
(00:31):
only that, mr Jokic picked uphis third MVP officially.
We figured it was going tohappen, but it was cool to
actually see it happen, and thepresentation on TV was a little
interesting, with Shaq making itall about himself and how he
should have won more MVPs andhow he thinks that Shea Gildas,
(00:53):
alexander should have won it,and it was super awkward and
weird.
So thanks, shaq, but Jokic didwin it three out of the last
four years.
He came in second last year.
That is just.
That's an historic run for aplayer, and the best part is
he's only 29 years old.
There is a very good chancethat he could be right up there
(01:18):
with the best players in thegame for the next five years,
and especially the way he playsand just how good the team is
around him and the fact that theNBA has that new rule where you
have to play 65 games, that'sautomatically going to eliminate
a lot of the best players eachyear, while Jokic just kind of
(01:38):
plugs along and puts up historicnumbers and he's going to keep
getting those MVP votes.
So it's exciting.
It'll be fun to see where heends up.
But for what he's done now,winning the third puts him in
exclusive company.
You've probably seen this by now, but he's now one of nine
players to win at least threeMVPs and that's just obviously a
(02:01):
special, special group.
You can't deny that he's one ofthe greats.
Now, obviously, you haveMichael Jordan, lebron Kareem
and Bill Russell, magic and BirdWilt Chamberlain, and then
there was Moses Malone and Jokic.
So A it made me realize I needto go back and really look into
(02:22):
Moses Malone, a Jokic, and so Ia it made me realize I need to
go back and really look intoMoses Malone a little bit more.
I re.
I really just never thought ofhim as one of the all-time
greats.
But if you want three MVPs, youwere doing something right.
So I'm definitely going to tryand look up some YouTube
highlights and dive into hisstats a little bit more, just
because there's only nine guysever that have done that, and so
(02:44):
it's pretty special what Jokichas done.
Again, I think I say it almostevery episode, but we are just
so lucky to get it, to watch himevery single night and
hopefully we're only abouthalfway through his career.
And it's just this.
This kind of stuff neverhappens to the Denver Nuggets.
And so the fact that we gotthis wonderful, wonderful
(03:07):
Serbian man to play for our teamand just to dominate it's just
so fun and we're going to gointo it a little bit more.
But he stepped up like he's oneof the best players in the
league and that is the reasonwhy we are tied two to two
against Minnesota and that isthe reason why we are tied 2-2
against Minnesota.
(03:27):
And so I thought, instead ofjust talking about the game,
we'll kind of tie.
In the last episode, when I wasso sad, just so sad, and I
(03:47):
thought we would talk about thegames 3 and 4 by framing it
around the top five things I waswrong about in my last podcast
episode.
Now I will say, listening backto the episode, I'm glad I did
not do it immediately after gametwo, because then my takes
would have been just absolutelyridiculous.
But I feel like in the lastepisode I was sad, I was down,
(04:08):
but I had that sliver of faith.
I kept saying it's really bad.
Now it's very unlikely, but Ihope the Nuggets do this.
And so there was one littlesection where I talked about
this team, the core of this team, jokic Murray, mpj.
(04:29):
They have a toughness to themand it's just so fun to see that
they showed it in these lastcouple of games.
It just would have been so sadto see this group go out with a
sweep or even only win in onegame, and they may or may not
(04:49):
win two more games in advance.
Timberwolves are still reallygood and they may win two out of
the next three and we'll lose,but at least we put up a fight,
and that's what was going to be.
So sad is, if the gamescontinued to go as they did in
games one and two, that theNuggets just didn't put up a
fight.
But that was not the case.
(05:10):
These last two games have beenawesome and let's dive into it.
So top five things that I waswrong about or that have just
completely changed.
So number one got to start withthe three-time MVP.
He has been so much moreaggressive in control.
He was getting flustered in thefirst two games and games three
(05:34):
and four.
That was not the case.
It's pretty funny.
The term that keeps being thrownaround on the podcast I listen
to is saying that Jokic is justa supercomputer, meaning games
one and two.
He was just kind of standingback gathering information so
(05:54):
that he could take advantage ofcertain situations or matchups
in games three and four, and itreally I can't argue against it.
He, he seems to have figuredsomething out and obviously the
guys that he's going against aremore athletic.
They're in the case of uh CarlAnthony towns and uh Rudy Gobert
(06:18):
, they're.
They're longer than him.
Like he, he doesn't havephysical advantages except for
his skill in his mind, and heseems to have figured something
out where these last couple ofgames he's getting them in the
right position, he's finding histeammates, he is scoring pretty
much at will.
I think some of the moves thathe put on those guys last night
(06:39):
were just back breakers and so,uh, I think, yeah, we'll just
say it, he is a supercomputer.
So hopefully that continues andhe just keeps gathering all
that information and leads us totwo more victories.
The number two thing I wascompletely wrong about, or has
(07:01):
completely changed Jamal Murray.
We were down on Jamal.
He was having his mentalbreakdown.
In game two he looked totallyoutmatched by the athleticism
and something happened in thosecouple of days between games
three and four he got a littlebit healthier.
He flipped the switch toplayoff Jamal, I don't know what
(07:24):
it was, but he has looked somuch better in these last couple
of games and I think part of itnot all of it, I think the
biggest part is probably himgetting a little healthier so he
can move around a little bitquicker, have that burst again.
But the Minnesota crowd wasbooing him every time he touched
the ball, starting in warmupsin game three, and if you know
(07:49):
Jamal Murray, you know he lovesthat kind of stuff.
I think he kind of enjoys beingthe villain that the other fans
hate.
Like he'll hit a big shot,he'll put on an amazing move and
have a great pass and he's thetype of guy that he loves
staring out into the crowd andjust kind of enjoying the moment
(08:14):
.
As he knows, he's just made astadium full of people unhappy
and so Minnesota fans, I thinkwe're booing him because he
probably should have gottensuspended for a game for
throwing the things at thereferees in game two.
Like I said, I'm shocked thathe didn't.
But I think the fans are booingbecause of the fact that he was
(08:35):
simply at the game and theywanted to try and get in his
head.
Little did they know.
I think it feeds him and heloved it.
He had a great game and theydidn't do it as much in game
four.
I think they kind of learnedtheir lesson game and they
didn't do it as much in gamefour.
I think they kind of learnedtheir lesson.
But what I'm keeping my eye onis the cameras kind of caught
Anthony Edwards talking trash toJamal right after the game.
(08:56):
The game was kind of over, uh,players were shaking hands, kind
of walking off the court, andAnthony Edwards is very much the
type that loves talking trashas well, and it hasn't worked
out well for guys that talktrash to Jamal Murray in the
past.
He again, he just he loves it.
He is motivated by that extralittle edge that just gets him
(09:24):
in the right mindset.
And so I'm really going to beinterested in game five if both
Edwards and Murray are kind ofgoing at each other and talking
more trash and seeing who cankind of come out on top, because
Anthony Edwards has beenabsolutely amazing as well, and
I think he's very similar toMurray in the fact that a little
trash talk kind of motivateshim to go to another level as
well.
So I can't wait to see gamefive.
(09:45):
It's going to be just epic.
The number three thing that Iwas wrong about I believe I
actually said the phrase thatthis just isn't a good matchup
for Aaron Gordon.
Yeah, pretty much couldn't bemore wrong.
He looked like a beast againlast night.
(10:08):
He somehow is shooting likeSteph Curry and is just he's.
He was a monster on defenselast night and he was getting
offensive boards and dunkingthem Like he was in the right
spot every single time.
Couldn't have been more happyto be wrong.
Aaron Gordon the numbers thathe put up.
(10:31):
Actually I think I saw thatthat was the first time in NBA
history someone had had thenumbers that he put up last
night and so he was trulyspecial and it was just awesome
to see Jokic Murray Gordon justall level up and just kind of
show.
(10:51):
Hey, they still got that fightin them.
Games one and two are long goneand hopefully they can all
continue that.
Um.
The number four thing I was so,so wrong about is I said the
bench has been non-existent.
Well, reggie rolled his ankleat the end of game two and all
(11:15):
he's done is come out.
He only plays about 10 minutesa game in the last couple of
games, but when he's in there hehas been playing smart, making
great passes and then hittingopen threes when, uh, when the
time comes, and if that's whatit takes for for Reggie, like if
, if that's all he has to givewith that ankle, it's amazing
(11:37):
he's.
He's doing so much more than Iwould have expected and his
shots just seem to be huge atthe exact right time.
Uh, speaking of hitting hugeshots, justin Holliday all of a
sudden emerges from our bench.
He doesn't play hardly at allthe entire regular season, and
now Coach Malone is going to himinstead of Peyton Watson, and
(12:00):
again, justin Holliday is justhitting all these three pointers
at huge times.
They seem to be backbreakerswhenever Minnesota is making a
run.
At huge times, they seem to bebackbreakers whenever Minnesota
is making a run.
Justin Holliday is just wideopen in the corner, nails it,
and he's actually playing prettygood defense as well.
He's a, I think, like a 6'6wing, but he has over a seven
foot wingspan and so he justseems to be bothering whoever
(12:22):
he's guarding, even though he'snot really known for his defense
.
And so, man, what a time forhim to step up.
And it's just nice having thoseveterans that they didn't play
all year and now all of a suddenin the playoffs they're shining
.
And then the last guy I got togive a shout-out to the bench is
Christian Brown.
He's always been a beast ondefense.
(12:47):
Anthony Edwards kind of had hisway with him in games one and
two, but in three and four Ithink he's done the best of
anyone on Anthony Edwards.
And now obviously Edwards isputting up stats but Christian
staying in front of him.
Edwards just happened to behitting some tough shots but uh,
christian's doing everythingthat you could hope for out of
(13:07):
him.
And then the fact that he had ahuge three-pointer I think it
was in the fourth quarter Justit was such big timing and I
love it when Christian getspumped up and just kind of
screams and flexes to the crowdand stuff.
So, justin Holliday, christianBrown, reggie Jackson, just
killing it to help me be sowrong about the last podcast and
(13:33):
number five, the fifth, most ornot important, but I guess
biggest thing that I was wrongabout is, I was convinced that
the Wolves were too physical andtoo athletic for the Nuggets.
They just looked overwhelmingin those first two games and,
like I said, the Nuggets seemedto have figured something out.
(13:55):
A big part of the game's one andtwo success for the Wolves were
putting pressure on whoever wasbringing the ball up the court
and we couldn't get into ouroffense.
Often it was Jamal, so he wasgetting frustrated and just
simple little changes.
The Nuggets keep switching whothey have bringing the ball up
the court.
They're setting picks to helpthe guy bring the ball up the
(14:17):
court or they're always justkind of keeping a guy right
around midcourt to help the ballcarrier just bring the ball up.
If they're getting a littlepressure, it's really made a big
difference where we're gettinginto our offense a lot faster.
It's kind of saving energy forthe guys that are having to
bring the ball to court andwe're kind of getting some um
(14:39):
spacing out of it where we endup either driving right to the
basket or having some guys openfor three because we're breaking
uh the pressure so quickly.
So that's been a huge help.
Uh the pressure so quickly, sothat's been a huge help.
I think Minnesota could possiblybe getting tired a little bit.
They don't look quite as quickand athletic as they did in the
(15:00):
first two games.
Uh, you may have heard memention that they were so
dominant in those first twogames it seemed like there was
six of them out on the court andit just hasn't felt that way in
these past two games.
So the Nuggets figured somestuff out.
I think.
Obviously the Minnesotansplayed extremely well in those
first two games.
So when you're playing thatwell, you're going to have a
(15:22):
little bit of extra energy andkind of fly around a little bit
more.
But the physicalness of thegames has not been to what it
was at game two.
That game's often beendescribed as kind of prison
rules.
They were just lettingMinnesota be super physical with
the Nuggets and the Nuggets didnot respond well.
(15:43):
But three and four have beencalled a little bit more just
like playoff basketball and notso much like the prison yard.
So I think that's been helpful.
And, yeah, the athleticism haslooked back for the Nuggets and
has come down a level for theWolves and that's been advantage
Denver.
Now, if you listened to the fullepisode last time, you may have
(16:07):
heard my conspiracy theories ofwhat was going on with the
nuggets and obviously some ofthem were maybe more realistic
than others, but I think it'ssafe to say we we probably know
which one was actually true atthis point.
And that was, of course, thefourth one where I said yokich
(16:29):
sent out the minions and theydid not get that giant laser
beam for him and that's why hewas upset and not playing well.
Well, I don't know this for afact, but I'm assuming the
minions must have made up for itand got another laser beam,
because Jokic is happy again,he's playing well, and I think
we solved the mystery so we canmove on from those conspiracy
(16:51):
theories Now looking forward tothe rest.
Solved the mystery, so we canmove on from those conspiracy
theories.
Now looking forward to the restof the series.
It is obviously now a best outof three.
The Nuggets get two out ofthose three games at home, which
is a huge advantage.
We obviously have won the pasttwo games, which I think if you
believe in momentum, then themomentum's on our side.
(17:13):
Believe in momentum, then themomentum's on our side.
And I think, as Nuggets fans,we have to have hope that we
should and probably will winthis series, and Minnesota is
just such a good team, I thinkthere is a chance that they
could win two out of these three.
But the way the Nuggets areplaying now, you just you got to
give it to the guys and thinkthat we have the advantage Now.
(17:34):
This does remind me a lot of thePhoenix series last year.
In that case, devin Booker wasjust playing out of his mind and
wasn't missing any shots.
So that's very similar toAnthony Edwards this year.
And in another similarity itseems like they're kind of a
one-man show where they areabsolutely playing phenomenal
(17:57):
but they just don't quite havethe teammates to help them out.
And the Nuggets have more of awell-rounded team and are
getting the victories.
So obviously I hope the nextsimilarity is that the Nuggets
win the next two games and wewin four to two, just like we
beat Phoenix last year.
Win the next two games and wewin four to two, just like we
beat Phoenix last year.
But I think with Minnesota'sdefense they have a much better
(18:20):
chance of winning a game inDenver or in Minnesota, and it
going seven.
That's probably what I predictwill happen.
I think the experience that theNuggets have matters quite a
bit.
They've been in so many ofthese big moments, and this is
kind of Minnesota's first bigplayoff run, and so I think the
Nuggets will pull it out inseven.
(18:41):
I hope that the next time weare podcasting together we will
be celebrating the Nuggetsmaking the comeback official and
moving on to the next round andwe can talk about how they
match up with either Dallas orOklahoma city.
So, nuggets fans, I hope youare as happy as I am, just for
the fact that the guys put up afight and now we have a chance
(19:04):
to move on and we just showedthat.
Uh yeah, we're the defendingchampions for a reason and I'm
excited.
Jokic MV3.
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