There's a lot of hope for the Nuggets' bench this season. They've got a whole new look from last year. But unfortunately, when one of the combinations in the new look takes the court together, the Nuggets look really bad. And the data backs it up. That's why head coach David Adelman needs to figure out what to do with Tyus Jones and DeMar DeRozan. They can't keep sharing the floor together.
There were moments in the Nuggets' 127-120 win over the Phoenix Suns where you could tell the defense looked much worse, and the Suns were able to capitalize on the mistakes by burying 12 threes in the first half. It wasn't the first time this combo looked rough, and in fact, we have a whole 50 minutes' worth of data to show how rough it is. Yes, small sample, but it backs up the eye test.
In 50 minutes together, the DDR / Jones combo, with any combination of the other three, is net -20.8 points per 100 possessions, per Databallr. The defensive rating isn't great, but 113.1 isn't awful. The problem is, their offense is awful, at 92.3. The defensive numbers would be even worse if they hadn't been playing so many minutes with rookie second-round pick Trevon Brazile, who's been a defensive monster....