Mike Malone accepts responsibility for wearing out his players before the playoffs began, saying, “I’m sure that’s absolutely part of it.”
Malone claimed that by the time the playoffs rolled around, the Nuggets had run out of gas because they were so intent on securing a comfortable place in the Western Conference rankings.
Head coach of the Denver Nuggets, Michael Malone, accepted responsibility for wearing out his players before the season in his farewell interview. Malone claims that the Nuggets failed to consider the potential consequences of their goal of securing a favorable placement in the Western Conference standings when the playoffs got underway.
According to The Denver Post, Malone stated, “On one hand, we got the second seed.”However, as I saw our players in Game 7 during the second half, they appeared quite worn out. You guys most likely observed the same thing, in my opinion. Did I really run our players to the ground then? That must be a contributing factor, I’m sure.”
An incorrect strategy
To be fair, the Nuggets spent the whole season comfortably inside the top three spots in the Western Conference. They were the top seed the year they won the championship, which worked brilliantly for them because they had home-court advantage as well as being on the more favorable side of the playoff bracket. It appears like Malone and company had similar goals in mind for this season.
To achieve that, however, the Nuggets needed to play every game with a competitive mindset all the way up to the final few games of the regular season in order to receive some respite before the postseason. In the end, it was ironic that Denver dropped a vital game on the road against the San Antonio Spurs (121-120), which put them in second place and on the tougher side of the playoff bracket, where they would play the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round.
