AAron Ontiveroz. Getty Images.

According to reports, the Denver Nuggets were completely crappy against the Knicks last night. An ass racket the likes of which have not been seen at home in over 30 years

which dropped them to 9-7 on the season and the 8th seed out of West. With just 6-4 in the last 10 games and a +0.9 point advantage this season, it’s been an up and down start for the former champions. Injuries have played a role, Jokic having a child and missing a few games played a role, Jamal Murray, who doesn’t look particularly good, played a role, the damn defense played a role, and on a night like this, pretty much everyone is to blame.

When Jamal Murray was asked about this performance after the game, he had an interesting opinion about what the problem was

Let me explain how crazy it is for Jamal Murray to say something like that. It’s not so much about the message, but about the messenger. It’s your latest case of an NBA player having no confidence at all. He may be right about their focus, but you have to remember what just happened 9 days ago.

On November 15th The Nuggets lost on the road to the Pelicans, with Murray not playing particularly well. He finished with just 16 points on 37/25% splits. From then on, they had an off day before an away game against the Grizzlies. You’d think one of the team’s leaders would stay focused after a bad loss, right? Stick with the team, watch the film and figure out how to fix anything that might be broken. It’s not exactly the right time to do your own thing, is it?

Well, guess where Murray went the next night?

Leaving your team to make a quick pit stop at UFC309? Interesting move.

The very next night against the Grizzlies, the Nuggets suffered another brutal defeat. This time, Murray finished with 13 points on 40/16%. So much for concentration!

To recap: Murray plays like crap against the Pelicans and the Nuggets lose. Then he flees to the UFC and immediately lays another egg in defeat. Nine days later he berates his own teammates for not being focused by staying in LA? That maybe they were too focused on their private lives? I wonder where this lack of concentration might have originated???

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Giphy images.

As the leader of a team, everything starts at the top. The team culture, the team focus, everything rests on the shoulders of the best players. They set the standard. So if the best player thinks it’s okay for him to sneak out in the middle of a road trip after a crappy game, only to play a crappy game again the next time, then that’s not exactly the guy his teammates are looking for calls should not be concentrated.

Even his attempt to redirect his comments didn’t really make sense

Jamal, this season is about more than just beating the Lakers! He says he’s not excluding himself, but I sure as hell don’t remember him talking about himself in that press conference when it came to lack of concentration.

A big part of an NBA season is the atmosphere within a team. You can have all the talent in the world, but if the vibe or chemistry isn’t right, nothing else really matters. It’s one of those peripheral things that can take you from being a pretty good team to being a real contender. The players play for each other, they fight together, there is no blame when things go wrong, etc. You can look around the league and see which teams this applies to, chances are they are at the top of the rankings ( BOS). /CLE/OKC/ORL/HOU etc.).

I wouldn’t say the Nuggets are one of those teams right now. That doesn’t mean they can’t do it, but something has been wrong with them since the start of the season. They needed Jokic to go all out every night just to have a chance, and maybe that’s on the roster construction front, but it’s also on players like Murray to set the standard. If you want to get paid like a Max and Franchise player, you have to act like one. If you don’t, you’ll create resentment that way and before you know it, you’ll have lost Jokic’s best season.