Nuggets reserve guard Ish Smith only recently made his debut for an NBA-record 13th team, and has already emerged as a key role player for the club, writes Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports as part of an interview with the 34-year-old journeyman. Smith has made an impact on both ends of the floor already, as head coach Michael Malone detailed.
“He finds guys, he makes plays, he gets off the ball,” Malone said. “Him and [backup center DeAndre Jordan] in pick-and-rolls, having a big on the rim, that dynamic roller… And for a guy with his stature, he does a great job of contesting shots. Let’s go back to the Clipper game when he blocked Norman Powell’s shot, which led to a transition dunk. Ish does all the right things, all the little things on defense. And you trust him out there. It’s been great having him back.”
Across nine games with Denver, Smith is averaging just 3.2 PPG and 2.4 APG in 11.4 MPG, but making his presence felt in all manner of other ways on the floor. Speaking to Wind, he registered optimism about the Nuggets’ ceiling this season.
“There’s obviously another gear (the team can reach),” Smith said. “You don’t want to be peaking early in the season. So for us, we’ve got to gradually get to that level. But for us, coach Malone’s not lying, especially when we’re trying to win as big as we’re trying to win. We’ve got to bring our defense for four quarters. We can score the basketball, I think you’ve seen that. If we can travel our defense on the road and then at home, you know, make that commitment for four quarters, we’re going to be really, really good.”
There’s more out of Denver:
- The 2022/23 version of the Nuggets could be the best club in the franchise’s history, with the ability to potential win Denver its first NBA title, writes Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post. Kiszla notes that the Nuggets may actually be better than their 14-7 record suggests, as the team has played an inordinate number of road contests already (13). Kiszla adds that Malone continues to experiment with his rotations as he figures out the best fits for starters Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. this season after injuries kept them out for most or all of 2021/22. Reigning two-time MVP center Nikola Jokic seems capable of leading Denver, if healthy, to its first-ever NBA Finals appearance.
- Shooting guard Murray is still working out the kinks in his first on-court action since tearing his ACL during the 2021 playoffs, writes Law Murray of The Athletic. “You’ve just got to keep a level head and know that the work that I put in the weight room and rehabbing, I know that it’s going to show when it needs to show,” Jamal Murray said. “I just got to take my time and be ready for April. And that’s when I’ll hopefully see the best version of myself.”
- Nuggets GM Calvin Booth recently raved about the fit of under-the-radar free agency signing Bruce Brown, a versatile reserve capable of playing and defending multiple positions, per Mike Singer of The Denver Post.“I thought the fit with Jokic, his versatility, his defense,” Booth said. “I thought he was going to be the perfect fit for our team. It’s played out like that.”
The NBA isn’t won pre December and I think most teams have worked that out now.
Looking in the west the suns currently lead the way at 15-7 but only 4 games back is Portland who sit 11-11 in 11th spot. Very tightly contested.
In the east you have Boston off to a strong start but there’s good teams like the Heat, Raptors and Sixers all around that 50% mark sitting 7, 8 and 9th. I think for them it’s about working on the right line ups, right combinations, building chemistry and not overloading certain players. Come February they will build up some form and then look at the playoff table and try land in a spot they believe is favourable.
It’s the younger teams really pushing to prove people they belong here. Trae Young’s Hawks 4th, the young Cavs team 3rd, the inexperienced Pelicans 3rd and Grizzlies 4th.
Yes it’s good to be winning games but it’s even better to be winning games come the end of the season. Lose now so what, lose then bye bye.
Think that’s why teams like the Lakers, Nets etc haven’t already jumped at a trade just yet. They sit in decent positions and it’s not to late just yet. The exception to that is the Bulls who are 12th they are in win now mode and look so inconsistent think that’s why the trade noise is becoming louder for them
Or just win throughout the season…consistency pays the bills
Yeah but looking back over history, you can see teams that go to hard during the season and get passes over easy in the playoffs. Mainly cause they spent so much energy in the season winning games and not preparing for the playoffs. For example past Indy and Raptors teams, more recently the Jazz and Nuggets.
Calling Brown an athletic 4 would be a bit of a stretch.
Murray is a point guard
The Nuggets played way too small last night against the Hawks. It’s practically impossible to have a good defense while playing undersized at pg/sg/and sf. Last night, fans got to see a lineup with Jamal Murray at small forward…with Ish and Bones at guard. And the coach blames effort? Sop setting your players up for failure.
There’s no reason for the Nuggets to “play small” with Nikola Jokic…except injuries to the roster. The Nuggets should be playing 2 bigs and 2 smalls with Jokic. Against smaller teams the Nuggets could probably play 1 bid and 3 smalls with Jokic as long as 2 of those 3 smalls have a size advantage over the opponent they’re guarding…and the team commits to team rebounding. However why do it? There’s no advantage to the Nuggets playing small. They don’t have the roster. The Nuggets bench when Jokic sits should also be playing 3 bigs, 2 smalls. If the Nuggets play 48 minutes of 3 bigs and 2 smalls, they’ll win 60 games.
The Nuggets don’t really have enough minutes for all their guards. A lot of good/great teams only play 3 guards for major minutes (except injury). Right now, the Nuggets really only need Murray/KCP/Brown. However, Brown isn’t signed long term. And Bones is a great young talent that might be just as good or better than the 3 after a year of playing time. And a few years from now, Braun could definitely be filling the KCP role. During the regular season, we really should be able to find minutes for all 5 of these guards. But what about Ish Smith? If I’m coach, I’m only playing Ish if there’s injuries or Bones and Braun begin failing epically. I wouldn’t try to fix this minutes problem by turning Brown into a small forward. Davon Reed should only be seeing garbage time minutes.
People are saying the Nuggets should be better defensively…and their ranking is bad. However, they brought in new guys. This team really hasn’t played together. Pick a starting 5 and let them play 20 games together and gel. Same thing with the bench. Pick a bench unit and let them see some major minutes together. That will improve their offense and defense.
Nuggets need to play 3 bigs at all times to improve their defense and rebounding. Otherwise teams will run a few switches until they’ve got one of the Nuggets smalls isolated under the rim against one of their bigs. Result: KCP can’t guard Capela one on one under the rim. Result either poster dunk or double leading to open corner 3. These small lineups may work better against other teams like GS that play small. However, the Nuggets offense hasn’t been great when they play small because the other teams defense can focus more on Jokic, packing the paint…when teams pack the paint, the Nuggets aren’t taking many 3’s. I think Jamal is still getting his legs back. Anyhow, the Nuggets take nearly the fewest 3 point attempts of anyone in the league…they’re 25th out of 31 teams. which is odd since they make them at such a high rate. Anyhow generating more good looks at the 3 is another thing the Nuggets small ball lineup needs to work on.