training camp

Eric Spyropoulos

The Denver Nuggets opened training camp Tuesday at the U.S. Olympic &amp; Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. After a Media Day full of discussions on continuity, championship aspirations and a continued focus on defense, the players were able to go through their first official practice of the season.

Although the majority of the team returned from last season, there are several new faces going through their first camp with the Nuggets. From established players such as Jerami Grant to young newcomers such as Bol Bol and Tyler Cook, there is still some integration that is needed.

With that being said, let’s take a look at some key takeaways from the first day of camp as the Nuggets work towards being a true championship contender.

1)	“Now, we’re going to be a team that’s hunted”

After winning 54 games and advancing to the Western Conference semifinals, the narrative surrounding the Nuggets has changed heading into the 2019-20 season. With increased success comes higher expectations, which head coach Michael Malone is certainly aware of as he prepares his team for the upcoming season.

“Because of the season that we had, we have to know that we’re going to be a team that’s hunted, unlike being the hunter last season,” Malone said following Tuesday’s practice. “We can't just relax. Things can change quickly in the NBA, so we can’t just show up and think we’ll go from point A to B.”

Veteran forward Paul Millsap acknowledged the change in status for the Nuggets but was also quick to remind that the team still has goals to accomplish. “You know, we want to be hunted, but we haven't accomplished anything yet to be hunted, so we’re still hunters. We’re still hungry and we still want to build things that will take us to the next level.”

2)	Altered preseason preparation for Jokić, Hernangomez, Millsap

Nikola Jokić and Juancho Hernangomez were active this summer on the court. Both players participated in the FIBA World Cup tournament, with Hernangomez capturing the gold medal with Spain. As a result, the two players haven’t enjoyed as much down time as players typically do in August and September, which is in Malone’s mind as the team prepares for a grueling NBA regular season.

When asked about potential rest for Jokić, Malone said he has been talking with the Serbian big man to ensure that he is able to rest when he needs to. Malone also said Jokić will likely sit out one or two preseason games in order to balance playing time with rest ahead of the regular season opener.

The same plan will be applied to Hernangomez and Millsap, who is preparing for his 14th season in the league.

3)	Jerami Grant enjoys first practice with the Nuggets

Denver’s marquee addition of the offseason came in the form of Jerami Grant, a versatile defender at the forward position. Grant joined Denver after playing several seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder, a team that ran an offensive system predicated on isolation plays, which is a stark contrast to the Nuggets’ sets centered on ball-movement.

Although he admitted the altitude has affected him early on in his workouts, Grant expressed his excitement for joining this Nuggets squad. “Everybody's been accommodating,” Grant said following practice. “Guys have been teaching me the plays and about the organization in general.”

Grant’s ability to defend multiple positions on defense and hit 3-pointers on offense should provide a big boost for Denver’s bench unit in the upcoming campaign.

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Denver Nuggets Training Camp: Takeaways from Day 1

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Altitude Nuggets reporters and insiders Katy Winge and Chris Dempsey give their takeaways from Training Camp in San Diego and the first two preseason games and sit down with Mason Plumlee to talk about his offseason (including some Kanye hot takes).

Tune in to "Nuggets 24K," the official podcast of the Denver Nuggets.

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Episode 2: Nuggets 24k

Los Angeles – For the second time in three days the Denver Nuggets will face a preseason test against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Nuggets won the first matchup in San Diego in front of a sellout crowd behind 18 points from Jamal Murray and 19 points off the bench for Juancho Hernangomez.

Tuesday’s game will be played in the Lakers’ regular home arena, the Staples Center, where their marquee offseason acquisition, LeBron James, will make his debut in front of the home fans. The Nuggets held James to a reasonable nine points, three rebounds and three assists over the course of 15 minutes in the preseason opener.

Playing time: With the Nuggets playing their second game in three days it will be interesting to see how many minutes Head Coach Michael Malone gives to his starting unit. Prior to Sunday’s game Malone said that he would keep Paul Millsap around 15 minutes with the expectation that the rest of the starters would play around 20 minutes. Malone played Millsap a tad more as he logged 22 minutes while Will Barton saw the most court time of any starter at just 23 minutes.

“I think our guys are a little fatigued, mentally and physically, so if we can get something out of tonight’s game, improve, not get anybody hurt and go back to our own beds I think that will be a great accomplishment,” Malone said.

The Nuggets’ bench saw similar action and the stellar play from the reserves helped the Nuggets pull away Sunday night. Mason Plumlee, Juancho Hernangomez, Trey Lyles, Malik Beasley and Monte Morris all played between 18 and 25 minutes.

Stopping the Lakers in transition and in the paint: The Nuggets gave up 22 fast break points on Sunday many of those came off turnovers.

“Even after made baskets, misses, they were running the ball down our necks,” Malone said.

The Lakers also came away with 52 points in the paint, something that Malone looks to improve upon Tuesday night.

“They scored 50 plus in our paint, and again, the start of the third quarter was a big part of that. They opened up on a 15-to-2 run and 14 of those 15 were in our paint.”

Free Throw Shooting: The Nuggets shot 31-of-35 from the charity stripe on Sunday night for a team percentage of 88.5 percent. As a team last season the Nuggets shot 77% from the line. Mason Plumlee, who shot just 45% from the line last season was a perfect 5-for-5. Following Sunday’s Malone noted that getting Plumlee the ball more as part of the offense could help his free throw shooting.

“I think if Mason has the ball in his hands, if we’re playing through Mason a little bit more where he has the ball, has a rhythm I think that’s going to allow him to be a better free throw shooter,” Malone said following Sunday’s game.

Tonight’s game will be at 8:30 MT. The game will be shown on TNT and broadcast from Altitude Sports 92.5 FM.

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Game Preview: Nuggets Look for Second Straight Preseason Win Over Lakers

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Training Camp: Day 5

SAN DIEGO – On the eve of the Nuggets’ first game of the preseason, the team’s star, Nikola Jokic, took a look back at the weeklong training camp, which wrapped up on Saturday at San Diego State.

“I think we did a really good job,” Jokic said. “First of all, coach is satisfied. He’s really hard to satisfy. But he was happy, so we’re going to be happy, too. We are still learning to play with each other, so we’re going to be better and better. This is just the first five days.”

The days, by all accounts, were productive. A lot of that had to do with the fact that the Nuggets are bringing back players with experience in the system and playing alongside each other. That allowed the Nuggets to be able to start camp in a more advanced place.

“This might be the first training camp – definitely since I’ve been a head coach but maybe even as an assistant – that we ran 5-on-5 scrimmage at the end of practice on day one,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “Obviously, day one you try to put stuff in and introduce stuff and philosophy and terminology.

“I think the advantage that we have is continuity – year four, we know each other. That’s already in. … We’re ahead of the curve. So, we have hit the ground running. We are, I think, ahead of a lot of teams because of the continuity that we have.”

Jokic agreed. When asked about the chemistry the Nuggets already have, he pointed to the experience he has with his teammates.

“You know how they move, the spots they like to take a shot, everything – the movement, the passing,” Jokic said. “You just know what they’re going to do, so it’s pretty easy. It helps us a lot.”

The five-man lineup of Jamal Murray, Gary Harris Will Barton, Paul Millsap and Jokic played in 16 games together last season, and a total of 65 minutes. It was the ninth most-used lineup last season and will be the Nuggets starting lineup this season.

The four-man group of Murray, Harris, Barton and Jokic played in 52 games and logged 593 minutes together – the second-most used four-man lineup last season. So, there is significant on-court experience returning, and the Nuggets are benefiting from that.

The first chance for the Nuggets to put some of the stuff they’ve been working on into an actual game is on Sunday against the new-look Lakers, featuring super star LeBron James. The media attention around the contest is expected to be at regular season levels with the anticipation that James will make his Lakers debut.

Harris is questionable for the game with a left hamstring strain.

Jokic talked about what he thought the first game had in store for the Nuggets.

"Probably a lot of mistakes, a lot of running…and a lot of people,” Jokic said. “I mean, it is (LeBron) James is with the Lakers, so a lot of people.”

Jokic went through his second full practice on Saturday. He returned to full participant status on Friday after being limited the first three days with a finger injury.

“It’s getting better,” he said. “It’s not 100 percent. But it’s getting better. A little sore.”

Christopher Dempsey: christopher.dempsey@altitude.tv and @chrisadempsey on Twitter.

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Nikola Jokić on Training Camp: 'We Did a Really Good Job'

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Training Camp: Day 4

SAN DIEGO – Friday’s first piece of good news came when the Nuggets’ franchise center, Nikola Jokic, suited up and participated in his first full practice of training camp. He was back with the starters as the Nuggets scrimmaged for the majority of a two-and-a-half-hour practice at San Diego State University. He’d been limited the prior three days with a finger injury.

“It was great to have Nikola (Jokic) out on the floor, playing 5-on-5, extended minutes,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “Obviously, him and Paul (Millsap) together are a tough duo to guard.”

“I thought the energy and effort were where they needed to be in Day Four,” he said. “I thought we had great examples of offensive execution, being unselfish, moving the ball (and) playing with pace. I thought defensively, for three quarters, we definitely had some really good examples of our defense – starting in transition, flowing into the half court.

“It was great to just play, get some real referees in here. Played four, eight-minute quarters and got up-and-down. The best part about this is we can watch the film as a staff and clean up a lot of the things that need to be cleaned up (Saturday) before practice.”

Starters aside, the Nuggets got standout performances from Monte Morris, Trey Lyles, Torrey Craig and Juancho Hernangomez. Rookie Thomas Welsh had some very good moments as well.

“Trey Lyles has had a great camp,” Malone said. “Trey Lyles, four days in a row now he’s been one of the best players in the gym. Monte Morris has been terrific as well. So, nobody got hurt, which is always a good thing. Guys came out, competed hard and tried to play the right way.”

The Nuggets are two days away from opening the preseason against the Lakers on Sunday.

- Jamal Murray has been solid in a number of areas during training camp, but has struggled with his shot. Malone viewed it, however, through a different lens.

“Jamal has not shot the ball well in this camp,” Malone said. “And the best thing about that – which is a strange statement to say when a guy hasn’t shot the ball well – is that he’s rebounding at an extremely high level. And he has done a great job of valuing the ball. Going into today’s practice I think he had 14 assists and only four turnovers in all of the live sessions.

“He was…our third-leading rebounder as a point guard in camp, which is terrific. I’m not worried about Jamal’s shot. He’s rebounding, he’s valuing the ball, he’s making his teammates better. It’s great to see.”

Malone said as Murray rounds into better condition, he’ll be fine.

“I don’t think he’s in great shape right now,” Malone said. “And that’s really funny to say about Jamal because he’s one of our best-conditioned athletes still. But for him, he’s not in great shape for Jamal Murray. And I think once he gets that rhythm, that conditioning back, that’s going to allow him to make shots when he’s tired.”

- Second-year guard Monte Morris has been one of the Nuggets’ top performers early in camp.

“I think the best thing that Monte has going for him, is he has tremendous confidence,” Malone said. “He has tremendous grit and toughness, and he’s not going to just allow teams and players to do whatever they want to do. He’s made tremendous strides from last year being a two-way player, to this year. Monte has been one of our best players in camp on both ends of the floor.”

- Malik Beasley didn’t have a great shooting day on Friday, but he has been good nearly every other day in knocking down shots. Malone spoke to the work Beasley is doing so far.

“Malik was quietly, after three days, having a good camp,” Malone said. “He was shooting the ball extremely well – over 50 percent from three. Most impressive was his assist-to-turnovers. Malik was simplifying his game, making the simple play, the right play. He had 11 assists and only four turnovers going into (Friday).”

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Jokić Back in Full as Nuggets Push Through First Scrimmage of Camp

More than news, notes and numbers, Altitude Sports reporters Chris Dempsey and Katy Winge provide you with the one-of-a-kind, detailed insight, analysis and opinion that can only come with being with the team each and every day on "Nuggets 24K," the official podcast of the Denver Nuggets.

From the training table to the team plane, Chris and K-Dub give you an exclusive, inside glimpse into the life and times of one of the most exciting young teams in NBA. Check it out. It's pure gold.

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Podcast: Nuggets 24k

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