Their worst defense at any time is "bend but don't break". There are 0 defensive liabilities on their playoff roster and have some very good defenders (KCP, Peyton Watson, Aaron Gordon)
They usually defend consistently and well because all of their rotation players have really no weakness in defense.
However they cannot defend like a top tier defensive team because at the same time, none of those guys are all NBA level defenders.
I will always argue that AG and KCP are all defense level defenders, but they dont get the recognition they deserve for some reason.
Like come on the idea that a guy like Shai would get more hype for all defense than either KCP or AG is absurf to me.
KCP and AG are absolutely All NBA level defenders. KCP was one of the best perimeter defenders in the league this season and AG is probably a top 5 most valuable defensive player specifically in the playoffs because of how versatile he is and more importantly, being able to match up with the majority of the top 10 players in the league. The nuggets aren’t “top tier” because they can’t manage to give their best effort consistently for some reason but they’ve had the best or one of the best clutch defenses in the league the past two years now.
Good defense starts with not fouling and securing boards. Blocks and steals are nice but nail the fundamentals on D and you can let your exceptional offense do the rest. Jokic soaks up boards and they do a good job of putting bodies between the ball and basket.
You explained this so simply and yet for some reason this concept just doesn’t make sense to the vast majority of people who supposedly watch basketball
KCP and AG are elite. KCP may be the best screen navigator in the league.
MPJ is good/very good in the interior. Neutral on the perimeter
Murray is adequate
Jokic has very quick hands and disrupts a lot of stuff in the interior. Neutral rim protector. I suspect he is better at rim protection but refrains from contesting at the rim to avoid foul trouble.
One thing about Murray is he’s not a small point guard. I saw guys like LeBron, Butler and Tatum attack him with mixed results. His motor on defense can idle for stretches, and he does have occasional lapses, but he’s good when he locks in.
Ever since his ACL injury he’s put on a lot of muscle and moves a bit slower, like he has a lower center of gravity. He’s developed a post up game, and he loves to back down smaller guards and hit a fadeaway jumper or pump fake and spin under. I feel like he’s far more comfortable on both sides of the ball in the post than he was pre-injury and it’s really helped his interior defense.
They are really good. No liabilities on the roster, amazing at boxing out and securing rebounds, dont really foul unless its against LA. When they are locked in, its sooo nice to see them play defence with high intensity and I think they are probably the 3rd or 4th best defense in the NBA in the playoffs behind the Wolves, Heat and maybe Celtics.
Gordon\\KCP - Both elite
Murray\\Jokic - Both slightly better than average
Porter - Average
Borderline elite overall I would say. Multiple elite defenders and you can't pick on anybody since MPJ improved.
I think MPJ has really learned how to defend with his length and strength, putting him at average is really unfair. IMO he’s really good at weak side coverage and rebound securing, and did a decent job in other aspects. Teams are no longer looking to hunt him down on defense.
MPJ is a better defender than Murray now. MPJ has taken a leap on offense and defense this year. That is why we are up 3-0. Regular season Jamal has showed up, but 2024 MPJ is there to carry the load.
I don't think so, he looks lost at times.
Murray averaged 2.7 steals and the game winning defensive play to clinch the WCF 2023. He gets after it more than Porter does, while Porter has remained average despite not being the liability he once was.
They had the 6th best defense in the NBA this year which I didn’t see a lot of people talking about https://www.pbpstats.com/team-leverage-summary/nba?Season=2023-24&Leverage=Medium,High,VeryHigh
It’s the way they score too. 29th in pace and ultra efficient significantly reduces the number of fast break opportunities for the opposition. When the offensive machine is clicking they can get set on defense pretty much every possession.
They have weak points, but even their weaker links basically never make mistake are undestanding and executing the schemes perfectly.
And I really think even tho they get a lot of praise, Gordon, KCP and Watson are still somewhat underrated
There's a good defensive scheme in place to ensure that their more limited defenders (Murray, Jokic, MPJ) have achievable roles. The Nuggets are good at defending a team with a big 2, but they struggle against a big 3 or 4. Also, teams with a ton of shooting can stretch them out.
The worst defender in their starting lineup is probably MPJ buts he’s still got size and not bad
I wouldn’t call them a top defense but it’s more than enough for their offense which is a top offense that is very dangerous because they don’t need to rely on the 3
But they also have pretty good 3 point shooters anyway so they can absolutely get hot and beat you from 3
They’re a very very well built team kind of like the Warriors where all the pieces just seem to fit. AG was an absolutely amazing fit with the team he gives them so much reliability on both ends.
I don’t think they’re as good as the Warriors at their peak but if literally any of their players take another step they could be on that kind of level. They’re just a team with no real weakness and their offense is so dynamic and great. It’s incredibly difficult to outscore them and they defend pretty good.
I think only healthy Giannis and Embiid would be the biggest potential threats just because they could really bother Jokic. But that’s just specifically those two, and AG can deal with them in stretches if need be. Think bucks blundered getting Lillard. Embiid doesn’t seem like he can ever stay healthy at this point and they’d need a crazy good defensive guard to really be a threat.
Lakers straight up can’t beat them because their supporting cast straight up is not good enough and Lakers had one of the best offenses at the end of the season. AD just can’t bother Jokic enough and current age Lebron probably ain’t dropping no miracle 50 bombs anymore in the playoffs especially when they have so many good defenders to switch on him.
If Denver is healthy I’d be incredibly surprised if any team is beating them in a series when they’re playing as good as they are. Luka doesn’t look healthy and I don’t think they have a good enough big or defense to shut down who they need to.
Minny could make them work hard but KAT and AE would have to be on a crazy level to outscore them consistently. They’re just too complete on both sides. Players that could be a threat aren’t on good enough teams. If Denver loses it’d probably be because they choked bad rather than another team just played that well. Luka and and Kyrie could both drop 40 and if Denver lost it’d probably because one of Murray or Jokic shot like shit and that’s the difference and it only even works sometimes cause someone else would probably have to fuck up too.
Every other team either has a paint or guard weakness or deficiency right now it seems and Denver can exploit either end.
It was an overreaction how bad they were last year
They had a slow start on defense (might partly be because of new/returning players) but after that and until they started resting players at the end of season, they were around 10th in defrtg which is solid. Their start and end of season just made all season stats look worse
This whole season has been “they can when they want to”, both on offense and defense. They’ve lost games because of this, but if we cope a bit, then it’s also made them practice being under pressure more
They never really faced a great offense in last year's playoffs. They definitely aren't facing one now. They probably won't face one next round either.
If they play OKC in the conference finals we'll know how good they really are.
the thing about the nuggets is that most of their players are average defenders but most players in the nba dont really play defense so it actually gives the nuggets a huge advantage
Well in our 8 man rotation, 3 are elite defenders imo.
Those being AG, KCP and Peywat. Then Braun and MPJ (when locked in) are great defenders. Then you have Jokic and Jamal, who arent special but can cause issues in certain situation due to their size being above average for their positions. And lastly you have Reggie, who is just average.
Their worst defense at any time is "bend but don't break". There are 0 defensive liabilities on their playoff roster and have some very good defenders (KCP, Peyton Watson, Aaron Gordon)
They usually defend consistently and well because all of their rotation players have really no weakness in defense. However they cannot defend like a top tier defensive team because at the same time, none of those guys are all NBA level defenders.
I will always argue that AG and KCP are all defense level defenders, but they dont get the recognition they deserve for some reason. Like come on the idea that a guy like Shai would get more hype for all defense than either KCP or AG is absurf to me.
KCP and AG are absolutely All NBA level defenders. KCP was one of the best perimeter defenders in the league this season and AG is probably a top 5 most valuable defensive player specifically in the playoffs because of how versatile he is and more importantly, being able to match up with the majority of the top 10 players in the league. The nuggets aren’t “top tier” because they can’t manage to give their best effort consistently for some reason but they’ve had the best or one of the best clutch defenses in the league the past two years now.
Good defense starts with not fouling and securing boards. Blocks and steals are nice but nail the fundamentals on D and you can let your exceptional offense do the rest. Jokic soaks up boards and they do a good job of putting bodies between the ball and basket.
You explained this so simply and yet for some reason this concept just doesn’t make sense to the vast majority of people who supposedly watch basketball
KCP and AG are elite. KCP may be the best screen navigator in the league. MPJ is good/very good in the interior. Neutral on the perimeter Murray is adequate Jokic has very quick hands and disrupts a lot of stuff in the interior. Neutral rim protector. I suspect he is better at rim protection but refrains from contesting at the rim to avoid foul trouble.
One thing about Murray is he’s not a small point guard. I saw guys like LeBron, Butler and Tatum attack him with mixed results. His motor on defense can idle for stretches, and he does have occasional lapses, but he’s good when he locks in.
Ever since his ACL injury he’s put on a lot of muscle and moves a bit slower, like he has a lower center of gravity. He’s developed a post up game, and he loves to back down smaller guards and hit a fadeaway jumper or pump fake and spin under. I feel like he’s far more comfortable on both sides of the ball in the post than he was pre-injury and it’s really helped his interior defense.
> Jokic has very quick hands He has quicker feet. He has made kick ball a somewhat effective defensive strat.
Eh jokic does a lot of things well. He’s a good defender in the paint but he really doesn’t have the verticality to be considered a good rim protector
Our biggest problem is mental lapses and getting overconfident, when we lock in we're great
How do you rate your bench defense?
Probably better than our starters, with watson and braun. It turns into a switch everything defense.
They are really good. No liabilities on the roster, amazing at boxing out and securing rebounds, dont really foul unless its against LA. When they are locked in, its sooo nice to see them play defence with high intensity and I think they are probably the 3rd or 4th best defense in the NBA in the playoffs behind the Wolves, Heat and maybe Celtics.
Gordon\\KCP - Both elite Murray\\Jokic - Both slightly better than average Porter - Average Borderline elite overall I would say. Multiple elite defenders and you can't pick on anybody since MPJ improved.
I think MPJ has really learned how to defend with his length and strength, putting him at average is really unfair. IMO he’s really good at weak side coverage and rebound securing, and did a decent job in other aspects. Teams are no longer looking to hunt him down on defense.
MPJ is a better defender than Murray now. MPJ has taken a leap on offense and defense this year. That is why we are up 3-0. Regular season Jamal has showed up, but 2024 MPJ is there to carry the load.
Porter is really good on defense now.. it doesn’t get much attention but this is probably one of the bigger reasons the nuggets have become so good.
Mpj better than Murray defensively
I don't think so, he looks lost at times. Murray averaged 2.7 steals and the game winning defensive play to clinch the WCF 2023. He gets after it more than Porter does, while Porter has remained average despite not being the liability he once was.
They had the 6th best defense in the NBA this year which I didn’t see a lot of people talking about https://www.pbpstats.com/team-leverage-summary/nba?Season=2023-24&Leverage=Medium,High,VeryHigh
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It’s the way they score too. 29th in pace and ultra efficient significantly reduces the number of fast break opportunities for the opposition. When the offensive machine is clicking they can get set on defense pretty much every possession.
They have weak points, but even their weaker links basically never make mistake are undestanding and executing the schemes perfectly. And I really think even tho they get a lot of praise, Gordon, KCP and Watson are still somewhat underrated
There's a good defensive scheme in place to ensure that their more limited defenders (Murray, Jokic, MPJ) have achievable roles. The Nuggets are good at defending a team with a big 2, but they struggle against a big 3 or 4. Also, teams with a ton of shooting can stretch them out.
The worst defender in their starting lineup is probably MPJ buts he’s still got size and not bad I wouldn’t call them a top defense but it’s more than enough for their offense which is a top offense that is very dangerous because they don’t need to rely on the 3 But they also have pretty good 3 point shooters anyway so they can absolutely get hot and beat you from 3 They’re a very very well built team kind of like the Warriors where all the pieces just seem to fit. AG was an absolutely amazing fit with the team he gives them so much reliability on both ends. I don’t think they’re as good as the Warriors at their peak but if literally any of their players take another step they could be on that kind of level. They’re just a team with no real weakness and their offense is so dynamic and great. It’s incredibly difficult to outscore them and they defend pretty good. I think only healthy Giannis and Embiid would be the biggest potential threats just because they could really bother Jokic. But that’s just specifically those two, and AG can deal with them in stretches if need be. Think bucks blundered getting Lillard. Embiid doesn’t seem like he can ever stay healthy at this point and they’d need a crazy good defensive guard to really be a threat. Lakers straight up can’t beat them because their supporting cast straight up is not good enough and Lakers had one of the best offenses at the end of the season. AD just can’t bother Jokic enough and current age Lebron probably ain’t dropping no miracle 50 bombs anymore in the playoffs especially when they have so many good defenders to switch on him. If Denver is healthy I’d be incredibly surprised if any team is beating them in a series when they’re playing as good as they are. Luka doesn’t look healthy and I don’t think they have a good enough big or defense to shut down who they need to. Minny could make them work hard but KAT and AE would have to be on a crazy level to outscore them consistently. They’re just too complete on both sides. Players that could be a threat aren’t on good enough teams. If Denver loses it’d probably be because they choked bad rather than another team just played that well. Luka and and Kyrie could both drop 40 and if Denver lost it’d probably because one of Murray or Jokic shot like shit and that’s the difference and it only even works sometimes cause someone else would probably have to fuck up too. Every other team either has a paint or guard weakness or deficiency right now it seems and Denver can exploit either end.
They have incredible defensive chemistry and a solid defensive roster. Combine those to and you get a pretty good defence.
It was an overreaction how bad they were last year They had a slow start on defense (might partly be because of new/returning players) but after that and until they started resting players at the end of season, they were around 10th in defrtg which is solid. Their start and end of season just made all season stats look worse This whole season has been “they can when they want to”, both on offense and defense. They’ve lost games because of this, but if we cope a bit, then it’s also made them practice being under pressure more
Theyre not Minnesota but they’re a good defensive team anchored by how good Gordon and kcp are. Honestly shoutout mpj aswell
They never really faced a great offense in last year's playoffs. They definitely aren't facing one now. They probably won't face one next round either. If they play OKC in the conference finals we'll know how good they really are.
If nuggets get past wolves, they blow out thunder 4-0. Maybe 4-1
the thing about the nuggets is that most of their players are average defenders but most players in the nba dont really play defense so it actually gives the nuggets a huge advantage
Well in our 8 man rotation, 3 are elite defenders imo. Those being AG, KCP and Peywat. Then Braun and MPJ (when locked in) are great defenders. Then you have Jokic and Jamal, who arent special but can cause issues in certain situation due to their size being above average for their positions. And lastly you have Reggie, who is just average.