At King Super's, an annual Boost Membership just got even better. Now you can choose from Disney+ with ads, Hulu with ads, or ESPN+ on us when you sign up. Plus, enjoy unlimited free delivery, double fuel points, exclusive offers, and free items. Sign up for a Boost Membership today. It's an easier way to save, including new streaming options to relax with while we deliver your groceries. King Super's, Fresh for Everyone, Restrictions Apply, Seaside for Details. Every team, every topic, everywhere. This is Believe. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] What is up, everybody? Think about joining me on the latest forecast for the CC Network. I'm, of course, your host, Jeff Morton. If you're hearing a little bit of hoarseness in my voice, it's because I sort of blew out my voice yesterday, and I originally intended to do this more cast yesterday, but I couldn't do it because long story short, I had to yell at someone, and it just torched my voice. I was hoarse, so I couldn't do a half-hour episode, so I am remedying that right now. We're going to talk about the nuggets' fast pace and their channeling of George Carl's nuggets in the first half and the second half. I'm going to be talking about Charles Barkley, what he said last night, and how the NBA is losing casuals, and they need to find a better way to communicate to them. But first, I'm going to talk to you about our sponsors at BetOnline. BetOnline continues to be the world's most trusted betting platform, and your number one source for online betting. From the earliest odds to in-game live betting, BetOnline provides you with all the action and the ability to watch the games as they happen. You can bet on UFC football, obviously, NBA, obviously. College football, I think there's a few games, playoff games left. You've got college basketball, obviously, NHL, anything that you can think of. They've got it right there at your fingertips at BetOnline. Plus, they've got sauce games there on the site. If you want to kill some time, try those out. Head to BetOnline today, and don't forget to use your promo code BLEAV for your welcome bonus on your first deposit. That is promo code BLEAV for your welcome bonus in your first deposit. BetOnline, the game starts here. The nuggets have been going... Anyone who's listening to this podcast, I say this a lot on this show, don't I? Anyone who's listening to the CSG? If you're listening to this, you already know all this stuff. But if you listen to CSG, you'll know that I have often talked about how pace is kind of a misleading metric. It doesn't describe how you get your points. It just kind of says how fast you are relative to the shot clock, and there are other ways to gauge how fast you go. There's above the break threes. There's all this stuff. And above the break threes, this sort of influenced how pace happens. You could be going on a slow break, but if you shoot with 16 seconds left on the clock, it's still considered to be a fast pace, all this stuff. But in general, it is an OK metric to kind of display what display a general fastness is put it to that way. And believe it or not, the nuggets are 101.3, and they're 5th in the NBA. It's incredible that they're only 5th. I mean, I would think that they're higher based on how they've gone, but they've really accelerated the last, well, I don't know, two weeks or so. And this increase in pace actually is the highest pace they've been since. Paul Weston's first year in 1991, 1991, when they were 113.7, I think, which was insane. They hit 112 pace, I think, in 1982 or right around there with the BOMO era. But then nuggets were generally around 107, 108 at that point in time, which tells you how fast the 80s and what Weston nuggets were, and actually no one ever wants to replicate what Weston did. It is very interesting. The nuggets have been very specifically in the Malone era, nuggets have never even approached being this fast. This is next level for that. And one of the things I noticed in the last game against Atlanta Hawks was the nuggets are sort of channeling George Carl's era. Now, the Carl era nuggets never actually got this fast. I think the highest pace those nuggets got was 99, I think, and that was 2012. Maybe, or maybe it was at 07. I thought it was 2007. And a lot of times, fast pace is linked with no defense. And this is the problem with the perception there is that, as Doug Mo used to say, when you add possessions, it seems like worse defense than it is. Because of your speed, you're adding possessions within the constructed time. And that sort of thing makes it the appearance of defense be worse, as you put it to you that way. The NBA officers in the first part of last year were like this. They didn't have yokech, obviously, and that is the ingredient that the nuggets have. But the the Pacers kind of have this similar feel to that at least early last year. And then they obviously, as the year went on, they came back to earth. This nuggets team is doing this for a very specific reason. And it's because they lack the shooting that other teams do. So what you need to do to mitigate that issue is you have to find ways for easy offense. And as I said in the early part of the season, when the nuggets were starting to increase their pace is that you have to and a lot of this has to do with Russell Westbrook, I would put you that way. But in order for this to be work with the what the nuggets have, you have to get early offense. Because if you get stuck in bogged down into a half court thing on the say like this, the 2023 nuggets, the nuggets were able to have a very slow half court offense and be able to come, you know, teams weren't shooting as much threes, even a year and a half ago. So the discrepancy wasn't there. And of course you had KCP who could get over screens and all that stuff. So it was different team. The Snuggus team is not like that. They need to find easy offense because of the lack of shooting. And with that lack of shooting comes the responsibility to find ways to score. And this is I will give Michael Malone credit here. This is probably the anathema to I know it is anathema anathema to him. He hates this. He hates having to do this. And this is one of the reasons that I think very specifically the George Carl era is applicable here is because even if you go back to the 2012-13 season, what the nuggets would do, particularly when they went in the stretch of home games in January that year, is they put pedal to the metal, got really fast and fast, fast, going up to halftime games would usually be close. And in the third quarter, those nuggets teams would basically put pedal to the metal in the first five minutes of the third quarter. And it was truly using Denver as a home court advantage. So what in an essence would happen is the teams would get gassed out by midway through the third quarter. And that's exactly what happened with Atlanta and Detroit. Now unfortunately for the nuggets in the Detroit game, the nuggets let their reserves come back on them and you know it ended up with an angry Malone. But the nuggets at this point are trying to channel that era of George Carl and get this nuggets team to a point where they gas teams out using the home court advantage, which is something that Malone has been extremely reluctant to do because he is not a high-paced coach no matter what he said in his introductory press conference back in 2015, he is just not that guy. He has a certain feel and concept of what it means to be a successful NBA team. And they won a title in 2023 doing it that way. He has every reason to think his approach is right. And I'm not going to dispute that. But he has got he's a very rigid philosophical view. And what is happening right now in my view is a reflection of the realities of the roster plus general survival. And coaches don't like having to put their livelihood on the line when you have a guy like Nicole Yoge, right? And I'm not saying that Malone was and that's not what I'm introducing here. What I'm saying is that's never a factor. So they always want to win and they they're always thinking about how to win. And this is going to come at the expense of some certain things. You know, Peyton Watson is a guy that a lot of nuggets fans have a lot of faith in. I have less faith on the offensive end. I have less less faith. I don't think he's ever going to be more than a okay guy on offense. But he really needs to work on his defense. He needs to be a guy who works on that sort of thing. Well, when you play at this pace, it's hard to harder to do the things that you want Peyton Watson to do. The sacrifice comes due to what you need him to do. And as far as continuing with the team pushing pace. Because everyone's defense quote unquote looks different when you're going fast. And it's not going to develop the same at such a high speed. It's just not. So what you end up doing is like saying, okay, for now, Peyton, because I don't think this is a permanent thing for the nuggets. For now, Peyton, we're just going to need you to help with this team with we're going as fast as we can on these breaks. And this is what we're going to do. This is the plan right now. And your development on the defensive end is going to be different. So essentially, that is that is the scope. And that is the that is the kind of the where the nuggets are at right now, due to the roster. And you know who's thriving right now, because of the nuggets increasing their pace like this is Christian Brown, who loves nothing more than getting in transition, leaking out and getting getting dunks. So that has actually helped him on the offensive end, not necessarily defensive, but on the offensive end, it's really helped him out. There's trade offs. Now that after I said the nuggets, the the pace thing is deceptive as far as defense goes, then nuggets really haven't been great defensively. And they had an okay third quarter, which was enough to get them over the hump against the Hawks. If they're going to go this way for a bit, they're going to have to pick and choose when they do that sort of thing, because it is it is a trade off with speed and defense. And sometimes you got to pick and choose when you do it when you when you put the hammer down. And they were able to do it enough in the third quarter in the Hawks game to get them advanced to beyond this training baskets thing they were doing in the first half. So it's an interesting approach. I mean, it is certainly something that they're doing out of necessity. And I am very curious to see how the rest of the season adapts, because obviously there's still roster deficiencies and the nuggets kind of are who they are as far as this goes. But I'm curious to see how things evolve, because the nuggets are winning games right now with going this fast. They play the Spurs tonight with women Yama. I don't think he is a big fan of going fast. There is a chance the nuggets could to do the same thing they've done to other teams as far as going that fast. But we'll see. I'm curious to see how the pace sustains itself. I am as someone who is an old school nuggets fan. I'm very happy to see them finally using the home court advantage. I'll be honest with you. I think that is something that has been sorely missed for for a long time and kind of brought a tear to my eye seeing a nuggets team run a team out of a gym for the first time in a long time. But you know, obviously this nuggets team, if they're going to be sustainable needs to just have better three points shooting in defenders, this is the modern NBA. And speaking of the modern NBA in the second half of the podcast, I'm going to be talking about Charles L. Parkley's rant. I'm not really to be focusing on his rant about JJ Redick, but kind of go through the catalyst of it and why people are struggling with that particular thing. And I'm going to ask everyone to visualize something when I get back from the great break. And that will be happening in the second half. So go with me here, visualize the, the, you are a casual basketball fan. So you're someone who primarily watches football or other sports. But on a Thursday night in January, January 1st or second, excuse me, you are tuning in because there's no Thursday night football game on Amazon. So you are like, okay, well, there's NBA on the night. Let's check that out. First game they have is the wolves versus the Boston Celtics. And if you watch that first quarter, you think what happened to basketball? I think there was a total of 30, well, 34 35 shots. And all but seven or eight were, were three point shots. And in fact, there wasn't a single two point shot done in the first five minutes of the game. That is when if you were coming in as a casual fan, you're looking in that thinking, Whoa, what the fuck is this? And that is literally probably what you'd be saying. You're someone who is just watching football. You don't really pay attention to the NBA until Christmas slash January. So you are coming into us and you have missed out on the first part of the season and the discourse about threes and all this stuff. And you're just coming in just to watch a TNT game, a national TV game against two, two good teams. And you see what you saw with the teams combining for almost 103s. And, you know, last week there, you would have missed out on the 108 threes that to get to team shot. And you would be like, What the fuck is this? So when when we talk about the discourse, and very specifically, Charles Barkley's rant about JJ Redick, while highlights were going on about the previous game, it was the it was the inside the NBA between the games. If you look at that and you look at the context, it was it was the context was about them complaining about them shooting 103s, essentially. And then that started Chuck in on JJ Redick and his comments about about basically inside the NBA and Stephen A Smith, the bitching about the league, right. So when I talked to people about this, and when I talked to casual people, I mean, I had a dust up with Matt Moore on Twitter about this, but this is one of everyone I talked to, he says, like, this is why are they shooting so many threes? And every single one of us, they're like, why are they shooting so many threes? So if you're a guy or girl, or anyone who comes in and watches the NBA for your for basically your first time, because you've been watching football and you see the wolves Celtics games, how do you talk about that? What's transpired in that game with all those threes? How do you talk about that and make that exciting? Because there's a disconnect here that I think we are really, really a very hardcore NBA fans have such a hard time to do with the introspection. How do you sell that? How do you sell 103s in one game to people who do not pay attention to the NBA all the time? Because there's this, there's this weird binary that we all have that we all possess. And I admit that I'm sometimes part guilty of this, is that there's this binary that excurs because we assume that everyone watches the game with same way we do, which is not true. As I said over and over and over and over and over and over again, the NBA depends on casual fans more than any other league, which is why this goes with ebbs and flows based on which marketable star is out there. Okay, this is just the nature of NBA and it has been for the last 40 years. So, since Bird Magic, so think about that and think about people who are coming in who aren't dedicated fans of the NBA and they watch very specifically the wool Celtics games. People are complaining about inside the NBA complaining about the nature of the game anymore. Okay, well, whatever. How do you as the guy who is on Twitter or has a podcast or all of that, how are you going to explain that to your casual fan that the NBA needs? And your casual fans probably looking at that game and thinking, there are so many threes taken. What's going on here? That's exactly what they're thinking because I watched the game with a casual fan last night. Okay. And the first thing I heard was, oh my god, this is like a three point shooting contest. That was the first thing I heard. How do you, the person who is a dedicated NBA fan, and I'm serious about this, how are you going to describe that to them in a way that makes the NBA exciting? Don't look, don't do it. And you're going to have to not say efficiency. You're going to have to not say anything of any of the buzz words that have come through describing the NBA. You are, you are going to have to get down on their level. How are you going to make that exciting? Because then the NBA's, and I hate, I hate this, but this is 100% true. The NBA needs a bell weather. The NBA needs someone out there who's the guy who they can market, the guy, and it's always one. Okay, with bird magic, it was two. But man, that was more of a rivalry between the coasts and all that stuff. And there was other obviously racial stuff that went in with the bird magic stuff. That's something that's not, I don't think replicable, nor should you want it to be. But there is a dynamic with Jordan that came in, where Jordan was able to be the guy, and no athlete has ever matched him, as far as that sort of magnetic ability to draw in your average meathead football fan, and get them to come in and like the NBA too. And maybe LeBron a little, and somewhat stuff, but it wasn't near to the extent Jordan was able to. That's what people miss about Michael Jordan. Jordan's ability to do that sort of thing is unparalleled. So how do you as a, as a fan, as a diehard fan, sit and explain to a casual who you need to drive ratings in the NBA? How do you describe what you saw last night? What if unfortunately some of the bulls, if there was enough bulls hornets game for whatever reason that wouldn't happen? But if there was that bull's hornets game, and it was the only national TV game, how are you going to explain the 108 threes? Without saying, well, that's the most efficient shot. And this is exactly why we'd, we've eliminated long twos and all this stuff. But aesthetically, and it's hard to translate aesthetics. And the point of making here is, when people tell you something like that, don't try to convince them what they're lying eyes are telling them, and just kind of get on their level and try to understand the way they think. You know, I thought that when we're talking about the Denver Nuggets on this podcast, I talked to you about how the Nuggets need more shooters and they need to shoot more threes. I hate it personally. I don't like that overabundance of threes. But I'll be honest with you, it's the reality of the needing to win in the NBA. So I can have two thoughts at once. Your casual fan is looking at it merely aesthetically. You know, this person probably liked Steph because Steph was doing something the rest of the league didn't. And this is what people miss about the Steph Curry thing. The Steph was doing something that other people couldn't do, and he was considered to be a singular thing. In the 10 years since the Golden State Warriors started their run, there have been multiple people who've come into the league who've tried to replicate what they have done. And to the extent, past that, you've had the Maury Rockets, who were all threes and layups, and then Steph passed that, you have the championship winning Boston Celtics, who are essentially all threes, then layups. It's a progression. It's all of this stuff. But how do you explain that to people who have been tuning out of the NBA and who are just now tuning into the NBA? How do you explain that to them and make it exciting? Because really, truly, the NBA is about marketing and selling. Now you're saying Chuck and Shaq and Kenny, they don't sell the product. If you went into the NBA and to inside the NBA and suddenly Shaq and Kenny were singing the praises of Trey Young or something like that, would that change your opinion on them? Or if they said that validated your pre-existing notion that the Celtics and the Cavaliers and these heavy shooting, heavy three-point shooting teams are good aesthetically, would that be authentic to you? Probably not. These guys have established that's exactly what they're going to be. What I'm making is not necessarily about inside the NBA, because yes, it's the most popular pre- and post-game thing, but that is relative to the NBA sphere. The NBA's issue is that people who come in outside from who are watching football, and as always football, people are watching football and they don't have a game to watch, on Thursday, because there's no Thursday night football going on, they see a game where there was close at the end, but that was so alien to what they have watched before, because once again, they have not been paying attention, folks. And how do you explain that? And if they don't like it, how do you get them to like it? Because this is the problem the NBA is having right now. People don't like too much of one thing. It happened in the late '90s and early 2000s, this is why the NBA went full bore into changing rules, and I don't anticipate that happening. I could be surprised, but I do not anticipate that happening. So, and people just don't like too much of one thing. And we are getting into the funhouse, what I've been calling the funhouse mirror aspect of it. It is one thing. That's what people see is one thing. You could point to charts that say the efficiency of certain things are equal and all this stuff. That's, you know, obviously, as a die-hard NBA fans, we all know that's exclusively because of so many five-out offenses, and you could drive a truck through the lane. But if you're coming in and you're saying, and someone is casual and it doesn't see what we see, and they're saying like, "All these people are doing is shooting threes." How do you explain that to them and make it exciting to them? Because the NBA needs casuals. How do you make the casuals care? My point on this is that it's a thing. It is, it's a thing that we need to acknowledge and internalize as NBA die-hards. On the flip side of that, I will agree, the NBA has lost the, had needs of someone to mark it. And I do think that that has been an issue since the, the brawn and stuff started getting old. So, that is part and parcel to this, and the ratings conversation is weird, but I'm talking specifically about casuals. You need to be able to appeal to casuals, and I don't think the NBA has done that. And it's going to be something that catches up with a benchmark. All right, thank you all for joining me. I'm the latest broadcast. You're going to be back probably in a couple days with another episode. Goodbye. [Music] [Music] [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]
On the latest Mortcast Jeff talks about the Nuggets blazing pace we haven't seen in over 30 years and if that is something that is sustainable. In the second half Jeff talks about the Charles Barkley/JJ Redick comments on Inside the NBA and goes over the NBA's aesthetic issues with casual fans
