David Adelman calls out Denver Nuggets for repeating mistake he warned Michael Malone about many times

David Adelman told Michael Malone to avoid attacking centers like Rudy Gobert

David Adelman spoke to reporters after the Denver Nuggets’ loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Despite some flashes of brilliance, Adelman was frustrated with his team’s play on the court.

In particular, Adelman didn’t like seeing his players pass up on open looks beyond the arc, and trying to attack the paint while Rudy Gobert, a four-time Defensive Player of the Year, was in position.

In fact, Adelman even revealed that he was frustrated with this habit from his players while he was an assistant coach behind Michael Malone.

“You can see how fluid the offense is when we get it clicking. We cause some kind of rotation, and the ball is going to pop.

“I do think it’s important. We have to keep telling these guys they have to shoot the ball when they’re open. There’s no reason to drive the ball back into the big.

“I’ve said that since I took over. And when I wasn’t the head coach. We have to be ready to catch and shoot in the NBA. Especially with an All-Defensive guy like Gobert back there.”

Denver Nuggets reverted back to poor defensive habits

It wasn’t just their poor habits reappearing on the offensive end that was a problem for Adelman. He also criticized the players for being defensively weak, allowing a lot of blow-bys during the game.

“It was a lot of individual, one-on-one, just blow-bys. I didn’t think the coverage had anything to do with our inability to stay in front of guys. Sitting down and guarding, keeping people in front, is a huge issue and it was tonight.”

The Nuggets are lucky that these problems re-emerged in preseason rather than halfway through the regular season. So they have some time to fix things.

But it’s clear Adelman and the Nuggets coaching staff have their work cut out for them. Expect some changes to the lineup and rotation during their remaining pre-season fixtures.