Jamal Murray isn’t fazed by criticism. The Nuggets guard signed a four-year, maximum-salary contract extension in September and feels it comes with the territory, he told Bennett Durando of the Denver Post.
“I’m totally ready for it,” Murray said. “That’s why I literally signed up for it.”
Murray understands that with the big contract numbers comes increased scrutiny. He’s endured a roller coaster season thus far and admits he hasn’t played up to par.
“I think I deserve it, to a certain extent,” he said. “So I’m not gonna complain about it. And that’s what people do. They’re gonna talk about what they see. And if they don’t see me performing the way they want me to perform as a fan, they’re gonna let me hear it, or tweet about it or whatever they’re doing. … I mean, I admit I haven’t been playing well. So it’s not like it’s a surprise to me to hear it from everybody else if I’m saying it as well.”
We have more from the Western Conference:
- In his fourth NBA season, the Warriors’ Moses Moody may have found his niche as an undersized power forward, The Athletic’s Anthony Slater writes. The 6’5″ Moody has played 54 minutes the past two games, mostly at power forward, and could see a lot more time there in the near future, as Draymond Green is expected to miss multiple games with a calf strain. “Moses seems to really thrive at the (power forward),” coach Steve Kerr said. “That’s his spot. He’s comfortable using his strength and the ability to stretch the floor.”
- Norman Powell is a candidate to make the All-Star reserves in his 10th season and the Clippers swingman is gratified how this season has played out thus far, he told Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. He’s averaging a career-high 23.7 points per game. “It was always an individual goal,” Powell said. “It was, ‘I want to be an All-Star. I want to be on that stage. I want to be in the same position that I saw my favorite players being in growing up. And honestly it’s surreal. … It’s been 10 years and I kind of take it as a little shot or a little chip on my shoulder when everybody is talking about, ‘Oh, this is his 10th year in the league and this and that.’ It just adds to the beauty of being mentioned now as an All-Star, this being my 10th year.”
- The Pelicans could be without two frontcourt starters against Utah on Monday, both due to non-COVID illnesses. Rookie Yves Missi, who did not play Friday against the Jazz, and Zion Williamson are both listed as questionable, according to a team press release. Williamson has averaged 20.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists in four games since returning from a hamstring strain.
Looking forward to the officail analysis of Moody’s move to PF.
Power forward is the only position, well besides center, that Moody is able to put points on the board against because 4’s are slower, bigger players than someone 6-5, even though he’s a lug himself.
He’s probably quicker than a lot of 4’s and they are hesitant to plant themselves defensively on the perimeter with Moody sitting at the three-point line.
He’ll get his 12 points and go 3-7 from distance (yay!!)
I don’t know how they’re gonna swing it on defense, but I guess it works the same way. That’s about the only position Moody can keep up with speed wise lol. He’s too slow for the off guard and small forward spots on defense.
“Ok, I guess we’ll try him the 4. We’ll see how he does there because we’ve tried everything else !!”
Warriors are about to be obsolete for another couple generations ruff
Yooo, how can you see that far into the future and know that? Another couple generations? I think you’re just blowing smoke.
Who is your team by the way and are you able to see that far in the future for them as well?
A flawless analysis.
But, one important omission: playing Moody at the 4 means more possible starting lineup combinations!
At the halfway point, GSW has used a league-leading 25 different starting lineups. In fact, the Warriors are on pace to set the all-time NBA season record for most different starting lineups!
“THE KERR STANDARD*” states that a coach must use more different starting lineups than win games. At the halfway mark, the Warriors stand at 25 starting lineups and 21 wins. Standard achieved!
By making a backup SG (Moody) the starting PF, Kerr assures the Warriors can continue to use more starting lineups than they’ll win games in the second half of the season. Standard achieved!
Not that flawless. Definitely all personal opinion and one not everyone agrees with. But since you asked, I threw it out there.
I like your poke at Steve Kerr regarding all the different starting lineups this year. It really does seem like he’s going for the record lol.
When players are struggling, or injured, you have to shake things up. If you keep putting struggling young players out there, it can be detrimental.
Fact is, they haven’t had 5 guys healthy enough, and productive enough, to justify a consistent starting lineup. That’s not necessarily a coaching issue – it’s a health and talent issue.
Cam- respectfully, that’s not right. 16 of the 25 lineup changes have come in consecutive games where the same starters were available. He’s been doing it since the 3rd game of the season.
At this extreme, it’s absolutely a coaching issue. Just as the 12-13 man rotation was.
Kerr has stated multiple times this season, most recently in late January that he’s looking for “combinations”, and that he’s aware of the cost of the instability, and that he’s aware of how unconventional this is.
Kuminga was in the starting lineup at the beginning of the season. But, he was shooting terribly. That is why Melton got the nod. Then he got injured. Nobody has been a reliable 2nd shooter to pair with Curry. Until somebody steps up, Kerr is going to be searching for that combination.
> Nobody has been a reliable 2nd shooter to pair with
> Curry. Until somebody steps up, Kerr is going to be
> searching for that combination.
Enquiring Warriors minds want to know! How does changing the starting lineup every game lead to a reliable second shooter stepping up?
By Kerr’s admission, the approach has failed in 25 attempts. Why would it work in the future?
How did the warriors win 4 titles? Kerr is a terrible coach
Stephen Curry is that good
Kerr is a worse person than he is a coach which is rough
What? That’s two winning comments in one post.
@gary lol obviously they won because they were stacked I just don’t get what Kerr is doing these days
Yes, exactly. There’s no guy who coaches to all the needs of every team. You can only be an expert in so many fields.
Take Phil Jackson for example. He’s not someone to build a team from the ground up, but he is a guy you bring in when a team is ready to get over the top.
They’re built right they have the right combination of players young old, small big shooting and grunts. Then Phil Jackson comes in and refines everything and they get over the top.
That could be Steve Kerr as well? Maybe he’s not great at building something. I think Mark Jackson should get a lot of credit for that. On the coaching end, he instilled confidence and it showed up in the win loss common. There’s plenty of examples of what I’m writing about here.
So if the Warriors are going young and rebuilding, perhaps Kerr is not the guy. Perhaps Kerr goes to a team that needs to get over the top. Maybe Milwaukee? They have the pieces, or they did a year or two ago lol
One of the biggest errors of Kerr’s coaching is having Green at the 5 spot. He is not a center and its taking a big toll on his body playing defense against a much bigger player. It might work against a few match ups but most match ups it doesn’t.
Arc, if young don’t Ike Draymond at the 5, then I bet you love Moody at the 4?
Gary , that is a really good insight on coaching. Different coaches fit different situations, and no coach fits all situations.
Kerr is a lame duck coach. It’s that simple. He says he’s retiring after next season, no matter what. He actually referred to Phil Jackson when talking about this, mentioning that Phil says a coach knows when his time is up. Kerr said turning sixty means it’s time for the next chapter in his life.
Many say that Kerr already has one foot out the door. This season he has readily the personnel inadequate and himself a failure. He’s too inclined to stick with the old, and reluctant to commit to young players. He looks tired and beat. I would allow him to leave a year early, which is what he seems to want.
Really hope Norman Powell makes it, he definitely deserves it over someone like Devin Booker
I see western notes and Murray I think Keegan
It looks like someone enjoyed their day watching football games.
This is just getting silly now