Bringing back David Adelman is a big mistake.
The Denver Nuggets’ still-new braintrust of Jon Wallace and Ben Tenzer did some very good things a year ago, after the Nuggets were ousted from the NBA Playoffs when they made a series of difficult-to-accomplish player moves that fortified a shallow bench.
Now, they appear to have made their first big mistake by opting to retain their head coach, who displayed in living color during these playoffs that he was in over his head in his first full season in the lead chair.
That sound you heard last Friday was the curtain coming down on the championship era of the Denver Nuggets. In the words of radio voice Jason Kosmicki, “It’s ov-ahh.” The postseason collapse has Nuggets Nation scratching its collective head.
Yet when you sit back and look at the big picture, you realize that despite the slick front office maneuvering last summer, this remained a flawed basketball team, including a front court where depth remained an issue. And while “blowing it up” is an extreme overreaction to postseason failure at this point, it’s now been proven that there needs to be more significant change to this basketball team if they want another shot while we’re still in Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray’s prime “window.”
In this case, the Kroenke Sports folks needed to swallow hard, accept some financial strain and sign off on significant changes in how their NBA team is run. Specifically, they needed a new, more veteran and savvy head coach.
Adelman, who is expected to be retained, simply isn’t the right person for this job. While few are privy to what’s going on inside the locker room, the results scream for something different, and Adelman was either unwilling or unable to vary from his plan. His inexperience was glaring against Minnesota, when he wouldn’t make any sort of meaningful in-game adjustments. That includes his mind-boggling refusal to try to match the T-Wolves’ interior size and strength by leaving his most physical player, Jonas Valančiūnas, on the bench in favor of an overmatched “small ball” unit for two full and critically important games. While Minnesota sent out three bigs, Denver tried to play an injured Aaron Gordon at center when Jokić was off the floor before it became apparent that AG shouldn’t even be playing at all, and then added Spencer Jones and even guard Julian Strawther to the front court rotation. It was no shock that the Nuggets got destroyed on the boards and in second-chance points while the T-Wolves dominated and did as they pleased in the paint.
The first-year head coach appeared glued to his stats and his analytics. As a result, the Denver offense remained stale and predictable (other teams have mountains of video on Denver’s two-man game and know what’s coming), which in turn helps lead to a bunch of needless turnovers and poor shots. Adelman is quick to point to the stats to defend his decision to continue with the two-man game because the Nuggets continue to lead the league in scoring… during the regular season.
Not so much in the playoffs, though, huh?
Not only is Adelman in over his head, but the Nuggets lack veteran voices as assistant coaches as well. Where is Denver’s version of Jeff Van Gundy, sitting next to the novice head coach? The entire staff is too green. Some sort of mixture of veteran voices and new, fresh ideas is badly needed. Perhaps someone with more international experience could come in and shake things up?
Since the Nuggets appear bound and determined to keep Adelman in the lead chair, they need to surround him with assistants who have been there and done that far more than he has.
And whatever happens with any coaching decisions – including potentially adding some veteran assistants – make sure Jokić is involved in the decisions, because he’s clearly not happy with the current setup. Make sure any new coach isn’t married to the old ways and to the rusty style this team plays. The players can adapt to something different, and they should realize the need to do so. Maybe someone can convince Adelman to adapt, too.
