In the aftermath of the Nuggets’ blowout loss to the Thunder in Game 7 on Sunday, one of their core players made it clear he wants David Adelman to return as head coach.
“I love DA,” forward Aaron Gordon said, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN. “I hope he’s here next year. I hope he’s our next coach. I hope he gets an entire training camp and a whole offseason to figure out his philosophy. DA’s great. He was excellent for us, and I hope that he’s here next year.”
Adelman was elevated from his assistant coaching job with three games remaining in the season after Michael Malone was fired, along with GM Calvin Booth, by the team’s ownership. Malone and Booth had a strained relationship due to differences over the team’s personnel and Malone’s rotation decisions.
Adelman is considered a strong candidate to have the interim tag removed, MacMahon reports. However, team governor Josh Kroenke declined to directly address the head coaching job.
The team’s superstar, Nikola Jokic, indicated that Adelman did an admirable job under trying circumstances.
“You had three games to change something,” Jokic said. “I think he changed energy. I think the guys were woken up a little. Guys had more energy. He made us believe something, and we played good. We played a seven-game series against the best team in the NBA. We had opportunity, we had chances. I think he did a really good job.”
Guard Jamal Murray told the Denver Post’s Bennett Durando that “I think (Adelman) did a great job” noting “the different schemes that we came up with.”
Adelman, who was an assistant with Minnesota and Orlando prior to be hired by Denver in 2017, wouldn’t lobby for the job after team’s 125-93 loss.
“Decision-makers will make that decision,” he said. “Obviously blessed to have this opportunity to take the helm and lead this team. If I’m not back next year, I’ll obviously never forget this. It’s been an incredible experience. To have the buy-in from the guys was really special for me.”
What a class act. Can’t say the same for some other coaches in the league…iykyk
I am a bit suprised. My impression is that, whenever things went south for the Nuggets, Adelman did basically nothing. No adjustments at all. Even during most time-outs it seemed it was Jokic who was calling the tune.
Was he supposed to play the players that weren’t on the roster when their 7 guys ran out of gas? They’re screwed because they maxed Murray and Porter when they weren’t competing with anyone for their service.
Yet another reason it’s incredibly stupid to fire your head coach right before the playoffs. Now the Nuggets are forced to either potentially let Adelman go or sign him to a multi-year contract based on a small sample size of games far too early in his tenure to get a good feel for him one way or the other.
They wouldn’t have done any better with Malone. They might have done worse. Malone seems stubborn, kind, like a my way or the highway type of guy. He also had had lost some of the guys on locker room. Adleman comes from a great lineage and seemed open to suggestions as far as strategy goes. When you have player like Jokìc it seems like a good idea to open to open to suggestions.
I didn’t have a problem with his firing, just the timing of it. All-Star break should’ve been the absolute latest time to pull the trigger. Even then it would be less than half a season, but that’s still a lot better than a basically a week before the playoffs. And there’s no excuse for not acting sooner as the feud between Booth and Malone was already known prior to the season and only worsened from there. I’d have understood not making a change if the goal was to choose one or the other, but to ultimately fire both of them when they did is just stupid.
Doesn’t matter who the coach is. That roster needs a lot of work
Malone wasn’t the problem, just the scapegoat.
They need a couple of 3 and D guys and a rim protector that isn’t pushing 40.
They could use guys like KCP & Bruce Brown & Jeff Green
Bruce Brown is always injured, Jeff Green is old and barely plays and KCP was way overpriced last season. On top of that Watson is better than all three.
When’s Denver play next?
We’ll have to see what next season’s schedule is. The Nuggets did play more games this season then Brown’s, KCP’s or Jeff Green’ teams did.