LOS ANGELES — At halftime, David Adelman showed the pupils a video clip.
Julian Strawther, the rising star of the Nuggets’ preseason, drained a 3-pointer then drifted off for a fraction of a second. So did his teammates. Russell Westbrook, still a Tasmanian devil of a basketball player at 34, raced up the floor and found Kawhi Leonard for a three.
“That’s inexcusable, even playing 2K your whole life,” Adelman said after a 116-102 loss, pointing out that most of the young Nuggets who played Tuesday grew up on the NBA video game — and that Strawther and company have probably even played against a computer version of Russ.
“Westbrook’s in his 17th year. Get back,” Adelman said. “These are things that they have to go through live, and see it.”
Denver’s penultimate preseason game might have been the most valuable one yet in terms of the eye-opening reps the Nuggets assistant coach feels are necessary for inexperienced players. The Clippers played their starters. The Nuggets did not. Rookies Strawther, Jalen Pickett and Hunter Tyson were christened by the former MVP Westbrook, plus Leonard and Paul George, all of whom have been premier players for a decade or more.
It was a beneficial, if sometimes arduous, up-close view of established NBA star power.
“Good learning experience,” said Adelman, who’s filling in as interim coach while Michael Malone is away. “Lot of first-year and second-year players guarding a couple Hall of Famers out there. Three great players.”
“You guard these guys, and they just get to their spots,” rookie point guard Jalen Pickett told The Denver Post. “On TV, they make it look so easy. Making tough shots, that’s what makes them some of the best players in the world.”
It was an especially timely challenge after the previous preseason game. Adelman was disgruntled with the number of blow-by drives the Bulls managed Sunday night at Ball Arena, leading to a Monday morning film session focused on defensive techniques in one-on-one situations.
The Nuggets responded by defending Leonard honorably by committee, with Peyton Watson and Strawther locking up the two-time Finals MVP during his first-quarter minutes. Leonard scored just six points in 16 minutes, including that transition three off a Denver made basket.
George was another story. In the half-court, Adelman was happy with how the Nuggets stayed in front of him and limited his blow-by capabilities. But when George had Hunter Tyson matched up on him, his eyes lit up. He shimmied and stepped back for open jumpers against Tyson, and even against a more veteran defender, Justin Holiday, who played man-to-man against George often. To an extent, it was just an elite scorer being an elite scorer. But the big lesson in Denver’s locker room was not to let great scorers like him get into a shooting rhythm.
It can snowball in transition. On multiple occasions, George targeted Strawther while pushing tempo, and the rookie had trouble defending on his heels as George got around him for layups. The No. 1 area where Malone thought Denver needed to improve at training camp was transition defense, and it was the weakness that thwarted the bench unit Tuesday.
“We told them that going in, this was an opportunity, win or lose the game,” Adelman said. “When you’re fighting for (lineup) spots, this is the best stage to be on, playing against first-line guys and us getting to watch the film and see what guys kind of stood out. … When this thing starts on the 24th, it’s going to be what we saw in the first half.”
Going into the game, Strawther was the rookie best positioned to earn a spot in the Nuggets’ NBA lineup early this season, thanks largely to his shooting tear. “He’s put himself in the conversation, and that’s all you can do when you’re a young player,” Adelman said 90 minutes before tip in Los Angeles. “Sometimes numbers can lie. These numbers don’t.”
Still, the Clippers gave Strawther a productive dose of professional scouting report reality. They were ready for Denver to draw up plays for the Gonzaga grad. Strawther scored seven of his team’s first 13, but guarded at times by George, Leonard and Nicolas Batum, he got his first taste of the clamps. Los Angeles denied him clean looks, and he shot 3 for 11 on the night.
Experienced bench players like Reggie Jackson stepped up to handle the offense while Strawther and Peyton Watson rightly tried to challenge themselves. Watson, a second-year player, made a point to attack off the bounce. At one point he got around George, absorbed weak-side help contact from Leonard and finished off the glass. His athleticism held up against elite defenders, but most of his shots weren’t that clean. “I thought he did a good job catching it in the slot and driving it,” Adelman said. “I think that next step is … becoming a professional finisher.”
Malone set to return
Malone will rejoin the team for Thursday’s game against the Clippers, Adelman said. The preseason finale will be Malone’s first on the sideline. He has been out the last week after the death of his father, former NBA coach Brendan Malone.
Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.
