Pelicans Versus Nuggets: A View From The Other Side
The New Orleans Pelicans will host the Denver Nuggets Sunday afternoon in the Smoothie King Center. This is a matchup that features both teams tied for second place in the Western Conference at 14-8. Brendan Vogt from DNVR_Sports spoke with Pelicans Scoop about the big matchup in the Blender and the season the Nuggets have had so far.
Pelicans Scoop: How nice has it been to have Jamal Murray not only back but being close to pre-injury form?
Brendan Vogt: Having a dynamic guard is essential to success in this NBA. Murray’s still working his way back to optimal game shape, so it’s been an up-and-down experience, but he’s trending up. What he provides more than anything is someone else for the defense to consider when defending Nikola Jokić. Murray demands attention, and it makes a world of difference.
Pelicans Scoop: There aren't many words to quantify the greatness of Nikola Jokic. With him signing the super max in the summer, give us a sense of the magnitude of an already historically great player in his prime making a commitment like that to the Nuggets franchise.
Brendan Vogt: What’s surreal about the Jokić experience is that there was never any doubt about the extension. He often cites Tim Duncan as an example of the kind of career he’d like to lead. He’s likely to stay here his entire career.
It’s not just loyalty — it’s an inherent disinterest in what else could be out there. Jokić is a small-town guy, and he’s made himself comfortable in Denver. What’s more, is his appreciation for the process of growth. Stick with the shared goal. Diagnose the problem, and improve. That alleviates so much pressure within an organization. As long as he’s in town, they can do something the team has never done before.
Pelicans Scoop: Which player/players have you been most impressed by early on this season?
Brendan Vogt: Aaron Gordon is striking an impressive balance between taking the necessary shots to stretch the defense while prioritizing damage at the rim. He’s become an extraordinarily efficient player alongside Jokić and presents matchup problems no one else on the roster does. When healthy, the starting lineup is a nightmare to guard, and he’s a big reason why.
Pelicans Scoop: Denver is an extremely deep team, with 7 players averaging double-figures on the season. What would you say is a needed area of improvement for this team to go far in the playoffs?
Brendan Vogt: It’s all about defense. New GM Calvin Booth loaded up on that side of the ball this offseason—Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Bruce Brown, Christian Braun—yet Denver looks even worse than usual on that end of the floor. They should boast an elite offense through the regular and postseason, but their title hopes rest on drastic improvement on the other side.
Pelicans Scoop: With his latest foot injury, is Michael Porter Jr's injury history starting to be a concern for the team?
Brendan Vogt: It’s been a concern since they drafted him. It’s actually the only reason they were able to draft him. Porter is one of the all-time elite shooting prospects we’ve seen, but three back surgeries later, there’s no doing away with skepticism. Even for his biggest believers, this concern will follow him for his entire career.
Pelicans Scoop: Give us one thing (matchup/lineup/stat etc...) we should be looking for in Sunday afternoon's game versus the Pelicans.
Brendan Vogt: Points in the paint. New Orleans crushes Denver in this area, and Denver is struggling to contain anyone right now. With Zion back in the fold, New Orleans should feast down low. Jokić does so many things at a hall-of-fame level, but rim protection is not one of them. This is viewed as a tough matchup in Denver.
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