NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: LAKERS VS. NUGGETS

September 19, 2020

Michael Malone

Denver Nuggets

Practice Day

Q. Michael Porter Jr. played 29 minutes last night, obviously 12 came in the fourth quarter. What strikes you and what is the most impressive aspect of his growth over the past two rounds to the point that you feel comfortable trusting him in crunch time?

MICHAEL MALONE: Well there wasn’t much crunch time last night. I don’t know if there is a crunch time answer there. But at the end of the Clippers series there definitely was. Even back into the Utah series, he was playing down the stretch of postseason elimination games. So, I think those games when he is on the floor, when so much is hanging in the balance, that’s invaluable for a young player. You can’t replicate that experience. And I think what has earned him those minutes is that he has really bought in, grown and committed to the defensive end of the floor. The offensive end comes easy for Michael. He’s so talented, so skilled and he can go on a scoring run all by himself and his rebounding has always been there. But for him to get those minutes to close games, he has to be able to defend. And I think from Game 1 against Utah, Round 1, all the way to the Western Conference Finals, his defensive improvement has been remarkable and I’m proud of him for that.

Q. Now that you guys have had a chance to watch some of the film, what needs to be the biggest difference going into game two?

MICHAEL MALONE: I think it’s obvious for anyone who watched the game and that’s getting back. They had 35 transition points. As I told our players this morning when we watched the filmed, I told you about this. We’ve talked about them being the number one running team in the league. We talked about the pace at which they play with. And that’s off makes, that’s off misses, that’s off turnovers. That’s off free throws. And we did a poor job of that. We could have taken away so many easy baskets. And give them credit. That’s how they play, to get the ball up the floor in a hurry and they attack. Caldwell-Pope had a great game. He had 18 points and 12 of those came in transition. He made three threes in transition so our urgency to get back has to be much, much higher and we have to try to force them to play a halfcourt game as much as possible.

I think that was the difference in us coming back against the Clippers, our defense in Games 5, 6 and 7 was just terrific. Last night, that was not the case, and for us to try to even a series up, it will have to start end and with that transition.

Q. Did you feel any better after watching it [film] than you did last night, that these things are really correctible and it really wasn't as bad as you thought it was last night?

MICHAEL MALONE: Yeah, it's still bad. You knew it was bad during the game, and that when you watch the film and you realize, you know, they got just way too many of those, but I guess a little bit of a silver lining to our team is if we just improve in that one area, that can be a huge difference. The difference from being in the game and not in the game. We closed the first quarter on a 16-8 run, we take a two-point lead, start the second quarter, they started the second quarter on a 17-1 run. During that stretch we had six turnovers and 7 points and we started getting caught up in the referees and fouls and lost our focus a little bit. But that run, 17-1, in the second quarter, then the third quarter, they went on another big run to push the lead from 9 points to 21 points and the game was over at that point.

Yeah, I think our guys understand, if anything else, Anthony Davis’ isolation post-up, the LeBron James pick-and-roll, if we just take care of the transition, we will be in the ballgame. I think that is a silver lining of all the problems that it gave us last night.

Q. There were four people on the floor last night from Flint, Michigan last night. What do you remember about Flint, Michigan and basketball history and trying to get guys from Flint to play wherever you were coaching?

MICHAEL MALONE: Yeah, Flintstones. They had so many great players that have come out of there. And just more recently for me, having the privilege to coach Monté Morris, who I think one day will run for Mayor of Flint and win. Monté Morris is so proud of where he comes from and he gives back so much.

When we played in Detroit, you know, a few times since we've had him, we've had team events in Flint, gone up there, gone to a mall, handed out clean water to the people up there.

But tough area. Tough city. I think the one thing about people in Flint is that they use that toughness as a source of pride and a chip on their shoulder, and guys that I've been able to be around from Flint have always had that chip on their shoulder.

But I was unaware of that. I did not know that JaVale McGee and Courtney were from Flint. Courtney doesn't seem like a guy from Flint to me.

I worked for Greg Kampe at Oakland University when I got out of college and Coach Kampe was ahead of his time, three-point shot. We were Division II at the point, but driving all over the State of Michigan from Saginaw, Flint, Grand Rapids recruiting and great for basketball. Flint's tradition of great basketball, high school basketball players, speaks for itself.

Q. So many teams want to get in transition, try to, and they can't. What specifically do they do that they can get into that transition mode so quickly?

MICHAEL MALONE: They run. A lot of teams said they want to run but they are not in shape to do so for 48 minutes. Every player you talk to says we have to run more. Well, get out and run. Splint the floor, and their ability to convert from defense to offense is remarkable and I think the second thing about it, because they have a player in LeBron James who can very well be the best passing forward ever to play the game, he's always looking up the floor. They have bigs that are athletic, put pressure on the rim. They have wings that are disciplined and dedicated getting out on the break, and the ball is thrown up the floor.

They are used to the advance pass, as opposed to always using the dribble. The ball obviously travels much faster in the air than it does on the ground, and they use all that to their advantage.

A lot of people talk about it. They do it, and it definitely was a concern coming into the series, and my only hope is that after feeling it -- you can talk about it, you can try to prepare people for it but once you're up against it and really feel it, that's when it takes hold. Hopefully going into Game 2, our guys understand that and we can be a lot more disciplined because there are times even when we were back, we just didn't point and talk, and communication will clear up a lot of confusion and take away some of the easy threes that we allowed them to walk into.

Q. You said last night you were going to watch the game and look at the calls. What's your assessment after watching the film?

MICHAEL MALONE: We just have to play better. We allowed that second quarter free throw discrepancy to really take root and let us lose our focus and we that can't happen. We are going to have enough of a hard time trying to beat the five guys on the floor, we can't worry about playing, you know, five against eight. The referees are a part of it.

That had nothing to do with the game. We have to focus on what we can control. That's getting back in transition. That's playing better pick-and-roll defense against LeBron James. That's rebounding the basketball better. That's taking much better care of the ball at a higher level and not worry about the officials out there because we don't have time to worry about that.

Q. Going back to Michael Porter junior, what can you say about the mental fortitude he's shown? Guys like Rondo and LeBron are going at him and it hasn't thrown him off. Does that impress you and what can you say about that?

MICHAEL MALONE: We've seen the same thing all three series now. Whenever Michael is in the game they are going to try to put him in some type of action to create an advantage. One thing Michael has realized, and we've shown the film and worked with him is that if he wants to be on the floor, he has to be a much better defender. Can't be a liability. From Game 1 to now as we get ready for game two of the Western Conference Finals, there's been tremendous growth and commitment because he understands, unless I show improvement here, I'm going to have a hard time being on the floor, especially in crunch time when the game is on the line. So give him credit. I think he's a young player that is competitive and wants to be out there. Takes pride.

And I always go back to when the playoffs started, asked him the question: Do you want to be a great scorer or do you want to be a great player? If you want to be a great player, you have to buy into the other end, and he's shown that he wants to and he's shown that commitment and will continue to help him as much as we can.