Jared Dudley had a lengthy NBA career. As an assistant coach with the Nuggets, Dudley now finds himself in charge of Denver’s defensive schemes. His main mission is a simple one.
“Coming up with a defense that protects (Nikola Jokic),” he told Bennett Durando of the Denver Post.
Dudley is doing so by having Denver’s guards and wings take on more responsibilities at that end of the floor, so that Jokic can conserve his energy for the offensive side.
“I can’t teach (him) anything offensively. You’re already this. You’ve got that,” Dudley said. “But defensively, I can teach you. I’ve played with different centers. I’ve played with Boban (Marjanovic), who’s bigger than you and slower than you. … I only want him to think about going back to the rim, Point A to Point B. I don’t want him having him to go guard these guards on the wings, in rotations.”
We have more on the Northwest Division:
- How are the Jazz‘s young players faring thus far? Andy Larsen of the Salt Lake Tribune takes a closer look, breaking down the team’s last three draft classes and evaluating each of those players’ performances.
- Austin Ainge is the Jazz‘s new president of basketball operations and Larsen spoke with the Celtics’ top executive, Brad Stevens, about the son of longtime Celtics and Utah executive Danny Ainge. Stevens is confident that Austin will step out of his father’s shadow and build a winner in Utah. “He’s always been a guy that I think has a good sense for putting a team together and what wins, both in the regular season and then certainly in the playoffs,” Stevens said.
- The undefeated Thunder will be playing without several rotation players in Portland tonight. Alex Caruso (rest), Luguentz Dort (right upper trapezius strain) and Chet Holmgren (lower back sprain) are all listed as out, Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman tweets.