Nuggets coach Michael Malone hopes his team can bounce back against the Lakers. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
LOS ANGELES — Nuggets coach Michael Malone’s comments prior to Tuesday night’s game against the Lakers.
On how the Nuggets will play, given all of the injuries: “Same expectation. No matter whose number is called, go out there and play with effort, have game plan discipline and do your job. Obviously, (Jusuf) Nurkic is still out, Wilson (Chandler) is out, Joffrey (Lauvergne), Nikola (Jokic). But that’s life in the NBA. Nobody feels bad for you. So, we have more than enough healthy bodies that can go out there and get the job done, and that’s my expectation.”
On Lakers taking the most 3-pointers in the league: “Them taking threes isn’t a concern, them making threes is a concern. The quality of threes that they are able to generate, so we have to be aware of that. We have to make sure we’re guarding the 3-point line. Just as important is we have to make sure we rebound; long shots equal long rebounds.
“Kind of like game one, in Houston, where we knew there were going to be a lot of threes taken, and we needed our guards to clean up those long misses. We have to KYP — know your personnel — know who you’re guarding. They have guys that come off the bench that can all get it going in a hurry, Lou Williams and Nick Young especially, who are not shy about putting the ball up.”
On Danilo Gallinari guarding Kobe Bryant: “Hopefully his length will help him. Kobe and the Lakers haven’t gotten off to the start that they hoped for. But Kobe coming off a day where he was trying to get his mind right, you never know what you’re going to get tonight. He can come out and have flashes of greatness, and hopefully Gallo’s length, his strength, may make it hard for him. The good thing is on the other end, Kobe’s got to guard Gallo. What we saw early in the OKC game, Gallo when he’s locked in, when he’s focused and playing in attack mode, he got Kevin Durant in quick foul trouble. So it’s not just Gallo having to guard Kobe, there’s also the other end of the floor and we have to make Kobe work.”
On getting Gallo back on track offensively: “I think it’s not just Gallo. In our last two games we’re shooting in the 30s, very poor from the field. Gallo, like everybody else, we have to try to get some easy baskets, get to the basket, get to the free throw line, see that ball go through the net and we shouldn’t have to work so hard. Right now, everyone is trying to take it upon themselves to generate looks. Just trust the offense, trust your teammates, and when we move the ball we know we’re getting high percentage shots. Now we have to step in and knock them down.”
On where the Nuggets slippage defensively has been: “Transition — 23 fast break points in OKC is always a concern. That’s where your defense starts, in transition. And then, just our ability to guard the basketball. Take the challenge to guard your man one-on-one. There is help built in behind you, but don’t rely on it, guard you position. Another area that we really got hurt in last game, allowing 50-plus points in our paint. So we have to defend the paint, get back in transition and then make teams work for a contested jump shot.”
On Emmanuel Mudiay’s learning curve: “Keeping it real simple. Nineteen years old, starting point guard in the Western Conference. That’s a lot to handle. So we’re not trying to overburden him with too much information, overburden him with too many play sets and play calls. Unlike some others, we feel that he is a point that can make good decisions. And we feel that he’s going to showcase that through the season. But like all rookies, unless you’re a truly great player like the LeBrons, that come around once every 10 years, there’s going to be ups and downs.
“I don’t care what rookie you are, everybody is going to go through that. Wednesday night, in the season opener, we played very well in light of the 11 turnovers. He had 19 points, five boards, nine assists. The last couple of games we took maybe a step backwards, if you will. But there is no cause for concern. As long as he is learning, getting better, buying in and working hard, good things will happen for Emmanuel.”
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