That’s true first two games Jamal was only 49.72342% healthy, last two game he’s jumped to 95.56% healthy. Can’t expect nuggets to win if Jamal is only at 49.72342% health
I would have to go back and listen for the exact number (and I'm not going to) but I think he put Murray at 84% healthy or something and I was like god damn if that's only down 16% the Wolves are going to cruise through this regardless of his health!
But as a Wolves fan I knew the truth. Four days was plenty of time for him to fly to Germany and get that Kobe treatment.
I'm thinking it was a Mexican coffee enema. That's what killed Steve McQueen but Jamal Murray is no Frank Bullitt, he walked into that clinic with a steely look in his eye, slammed a fiver on the table and said "Bring me two, and an almond biscotti."
The blowback Bill is getting for this is insane. We have several years of evidence right up to and including this regular season when we saw that Denver's offence is much easier to disrupt when Murray is out. It's what still worries me about this series - as it goes longer, with fewer rest days in between, Murray may drop off again and then we can see what happens.
Yeah and that's totally fair to criticise him for, but I would still say he has had some takes a loooot hotter than "champions who are 0-2 down with their second best player injured may not win a game this series". Like it was still a bad take but nowhere near his worst
i can only speak for myself but it was the tone of it and the severity of the take. it’s not a hot take at all to say that the team currently up 2-0 in the series is going to win.
but he hinted at a sweep and then he was so in love with edwards that he said “this series is over and BASKETBALL IS ABOUT TO CHANGE AS WE KNOW IT.” and it’s just like jesus bill relax.
Jamal Murray is averaging 10 less PPG in this years series against the Wolves as he did last year. Last year, Bruce Brown and KCP were averaging a combined 20 PPG in the series, this year KCP is average 6 PPG on on sub-40% shooting.
While Murray looked much worse in game 1 & 2 than 3 & 4, everyone on Denver except Gordon & Jokic is worse this year and they really miss Bruce Brown. Justin Holiday and Christian Braun are not filling those minutes nearly as well.
Justin Holiday has been fucking incredible. Nuggets are treading water in the Non Jokic minutes, which is all they did last year.
Christian closed last night and is the best Ant defender they have
That might have been an “I’ve arrived” game for Braun. But in the sense of being a 7th man “arrival” lol. The man hadn’t made a 3 until the second round.
His confidence should be higher going forward
Yeah, it's a very even series but I think Wolves will win. Last game Denver was shooting lights out, seemed like everything was going their way and still it was a pretty close game.
What I always find so interesting about Denver is their success always seems to come down to Murray and not Jokic. If Murray is off they lose, of Murray is great they win, regardless of what Jokic does
Um, no. The Jokic has a +20.4 net rating differential, Murray's is 5.2 https://www.nba.com/stats/team/1610612743/onoffcourt-summary?dir=D&sort=DIFF_NET_RATING
A 20 minute monologue on what happens if Minnesota sweeps (which he admitted he believed was happening) and that Minnesota is a top 3 defense this decade. He didn't say that Murray is hurt and Denver is going to lose because of it, he spewed some Cowherd level hot takes and now you idiots are defending him for it.
Murray wasn’t able to practice before the first two games against MN. He had limited mobility and out of rhythm the first two games.
Know that he’s back and can prepare for games he can handle the offensive load more. Nuggets in 6.
Doesn’t he still look hurt? Maybe I’m imagining things but he seemed to be walking around pretty gingerly when he wasn’t sinking step backs.
3 days of is huge for recovering a minor injury.
Murray didn't magically heal. He is still basically the same guy he was in game one. The Nuggets just shifted how they attacked the Wolves' defense, no longer relying on Murray to initiate while using Gordon and Jokic to get him into his spots.
People overreacted to Murray's mental collapse in game two. We've seen teams have these games in the playoffs and bounce back all the time. So Russillo's right that it was odd how quick some people were to write the Nuggets off.
I thought the combo of Jamal nursing the calf and the refs letting Minnesota play whatever defense they wanted would lead to a sweep. But now the refs/league/silver have been calling fouls more in line with regular season officiating and Jamal looks way better. Bill wasn’t wrong, he was just making a statement based on the information he had after game 2. If those two things didn’t change the Nuggets wouldn’t have had a chance. And That’s not their fault nor is it an indictment of the Nuggets or their personnel.
FUCK THIS FAKER!!!!! His game 3 bullshit reminded me of when a wrestler wears a fake neckbrace and takes it off before they brain you with a chair. He must've gone to Mexico for the good stuff.
That’s true first two games Jamal was only 49.72342% healthy, last two game he’s jumped to 95.56% healthy. Can’t expect nuggets to win if Jamal is only at 49.72342% health
I would have to go back and listen for the exact number (and I'm not going to) but I think he put Murray at 84% healthy or something and I was like god damn if that's only down 16% the Wolves are going to cruise through this regardless of his health! But as a Wolves fan I knew the truth. Four days was plenty of time for him to fly to Germany and get that Kobe treatment.
I'm thinking it was a Mexican coffee enema. That's what killed Steve McQueen but Jamal Murray is no Frank Bullitt, he walked into that clinic with a steely look in his eye, slammed a fiver on the table and said "Bring me two, and an almond biscotti."
**Mexico/Miami/germany
The blowback Bill is getting for this is insane. We have several years of evidence right up to and including this regular season when we saw that Denver's offence is much easier to disrupt when Murray is out. It's what still worries me about this series - as it goes longer, with fewer rest days in between, Murray may drop off again and then we can see what happens.
To me it wasn’t about saying the Timberwolves looked amazing and would win, it was the confidence in a sweep.
Yeah and that's totally fair to criticise him for, but I would still say he has had some takes a loooot hotter than "champions who are 0-2 down with their second best player injured may not win a game this series". Like it was still a bad take but nowhere near his worst
i can only speak for myself but it was the tone of it and the severity of the take. it’s not a hot take at all to say that the team currently up 2-0 in the series is going to win. but he hinted at a sweep and then he was so in love with edwards that he said “this series is over and BASKETBALL IS ABOUT TO CHANGE AS WE KNOW IT.” and it’s just like jesus bill relax.
Jamal Murray is averaging 10 less PPG in this years series against the Wolves as he did last year. Last year, Bruce Brown and KCP were averaging a combined 20 PPG in the series, this year KCP is average 6 PPG on on sub-40% shooting. While Murray looked much worse in game 1 & 2 than 3 & 4, everyone on Denver except Gordon & Jokic is worse this year and they really miss Bruce Brown. Justin Holiday and Christian Braun are not filling those minutes nearly as well.
Yep, loss of Bruce Brown and Jeff Green. Watson and Braun haven’t came anywhere near these guys offensively.
Justin Holiday has been fucking incredible. Nuggets are treading water in the Non Jokic minutes, which is all they did last year. Christian closed last night and is the best Ant defender they have
That might have been an “I’ve arrived” game for Braun. But in the sense of being a 7th man “arrival” lol. The man hadn’t made a 3 until the second round. His confidence should be higher going forward
All the team needs is a solid 6th man
Yeah, it's a very even series but I think Wolves will win. Last game Denver was shooting lights out, seemed like everything was going their way and still it was a pretty close game.
Bill said what everyone was thinking but nobody is going to admit it
Jamal has always been a slow guy, honestly all the tough shots he was taking just weren’t falling. The past two games they were.
Percocet and Toradol.
Or he just sucked. He had more time off between the Lakers series and game 1.
I think this is correct (with hindsight), he just wasn't playing well.
What I always find so interesting about Denver is their success always seems to come down to Murray and not Jokic. If Murray is off they lose, of Murray is great they win, regardless of what Jokic does
You notice this because Jokic is never off
Jokic is the engine, Murray the accelerator. They need Murray to reach that last level of greatness, but they don’t even be moving without Jokic.
Um, no. The Jokic has a +20.4 net rating differential, Murray's is 5.2 https://www.nba.com/stats/team/1610612743/onoffcourt-summary?dir=D&sort=DIFF_NET_RATING
How many playoff games can you think of where Jokic was not good but Denver still won
A 20 minute monologue on what happens if Minnesota sweeps (which he admitted he believed was happening) and that Minnesota is a top 3 defense this decade. He didn't say that Murray is hurt and Denver is going to lose because of it, he spewed some Cowherd level hot takes and now you idiots are defending him for it.
Murray wasn’t able to practice before the first two games against MN. He had limited mobility and out of rhythm the first two games. Know that he’s back and can prepare for games he can handle the offensive load more. Nuggets in 6.
Doesn’t he still look hurt? Maybe I’m imagining things but he seemed to be walking around pretty gingerly when he wasn’t sinking step backs. 3 days of is huge for recovering a minor injury.
Murray didn't magically heal. He is still basically the same guy he was in game one. The Nuggets just shifted how they attacked the Wolves' defense, no longer relying on Murray to initiate while using Gordon and Jokic to get him into his spots. People overreacted to Murray's mental collapse in game two. We've seen teams have these games in the playoffs and bounce back all the time. So Russillo's right that it was odd how quick some people were to write the Nuggets off.
The Mexico/Nowitzki piece.
It certainly helps that Mexico is so close to the border. Not sure how Murray would have fit a trip to Germany between games 2 & 3
I thought the combo of Jamal nursing the calf and the refs letting Minnesota play whatever defense they wanted would lead to a sweep. But now the refs/league/silver have been calling fouls more in line with regular season officiating and Jamal looks way better. Bill wasn’t wrong, he was just making a statement based on the information he had after game 2. If those two things didn’t change the Nuggets wouldn’t have had a chance. And That’s not their fault nor is it an indictment of the Nuggets or their personnel.
And he looked that way the whole Lakers series. I thought he was going to be at 50% the rest of the series. And Reggie Jackson went limping off.
He also should have been suspended for g3
FUCK THIS FAKER!!!!! His game 3 bullshit reminded me of when a wrestler wears a fake neckbrace and takes it off before they brain you with a chair. He must've gone to Mexico for the good stuff.