Welcome to the first post-game grades of the 16-17 season! So basically I will do this for every game that I watch at least 87.5% of this season. I don’t know how many games I will get to, and I can’t guarantee that I will be uploading the day of or even the day after the game. I hope you enjoy!

Danilo Gallinari: B

38 MP, 15 PTS (5/11 FG, 2/4 FT, 3/6 3P), ORtg 118, DRtg 90

The Good: Wow was it good to have Gallo back. He played heavy minutes agains the Pels and shot very well from distance. The spacing that he brings is so huge for this team. Super glad to have him back. He didn’t have many isolation possessions that ended in turnovers/bad shots in this game, which is absolutely wonderful.

The Bad: Danilo seemed to be a bit more timid than he normally is driving to the basket. This observation is substantiated by his low FTA (4). Although I do love his perimeter game, the thing that makes the Rooster ungaurdable is his ability to get to the line. I’m sure he will be more agressive in the near future, but I am a bit worried about the spacing with the “Jurkic” lineup. It seemed as if the paint was very clogged at times and Danilo couldn’t find driving lanes.

Will Barton: A-

35 MP, 22 PTS (7/12 FG, 6/6 FT, 2/3 3P), ORtg 142, DRtg 100

The Good: I’m kinda mad at myself for perpetually underrating Will the Thrill. He slotted into the starting lineup perfectly and has the numbers to show for it. He made great decisions (his only weak spot in his game), rebounded well, and made his usual crazy runners/floaters. Can’t help but love the way he plays his minutes, and tonight it really paid off and helped the team get the opening night W. Definitely the best performance out of any wing/guard on the team in this one.

Wilson Chandler: C+

30 MP, 12 PTS (5/15 FG, 1/1 FT, 1/6 3P), ORtg 78, DRtg 98

The Good: Welcome back Ill Will!!! Seriously, I was very happy to see him on the floor again. Will rebounded well (7 REB) and played some decent perimeter defense. Despite his inefficiency on offense, he stepped into his shots with confidence and forced the defense to respect is jumper. Managed to contribute 12 big points to the offense. Didn’t do anything to hurt the team, and his shot selection was fine. Pretty average outing for Ill Will.

The Bad: Very inefficient game for Will. Didn’t shoot well, but he did look confident. Like everyone else on the team (almost), Chandler REALLY struggled with Anthony Davis on defense. I was very excited to see Will play the 4, which he did for most of his minutes, but this was not a good matchup for Wilson at the 4 because Anthony Davis is just way too good.

Kenneth Faried: A

28 MP, 9 PTS, 14 REB (8 OREB), ORtg 86, DRtg 91

The Good: I cannot believe I’m writing this, but Kenneth Faried played impeccable defense on Anthony Davis in the last 5 minutes of the game. Throughout all of his minutes, the Manimal was really effective on the boards, and his energy was a huge boost an at times lethargic Denver team. I’m so happy that Faried responded in this way to losing his starting job. He came off the bench and played his game. He rebounded hard and somewhat uncharacteristically didn’t hurt the team with bad plays. Without his defense down the stretch the Nuggets 100% lose this game. Congrats Kenneth.

The Bad: Not much to say here. Faried didn’t do much on offense and was pretty inefficient (3 TOs). That being said, his offensive rebounding revived plenty of bad Nuggets possessions, so he was a net positive on offense despite his low ORtg.

Emmanuel Mudiay: D-

28 MP, 11 PTS (2/8 FG, 7/8 FT) 6 TO, 3 AST, ORtg 75, DRtg 94

The Good: Had a good night from the line. Hopefully that means he is actually an improved free throw shooter. Also wasn’t bad on defense, much better than Jameer.

The Bad: Man oh man. What has this guy been doing all summer?! I’m kinda tired of thinking about this so I’ll make this quick: Mudiay was extremely careless with the ball (especially in the clutch), did not show any signs of improvement in jump shooting or finishing at the rim, made ill advised passes, and didn’t lead the offense in any positive way.

Jusuf Nurkic: A-

26 MP, 23 PTS (9/13 FG), 9 REB, ORtg 149, DRtg 95

The Good: Nurk was an absolute beast in the paint tonight. His back to basket post game agains everyone who matched up agains him was absolutely lethal. I really liked that the Nuggets kept dumping it down to him (highest USG on team). He was our best and only source of offense for many of his minutes. His post game does seem to be improved from last season. He showed a plethora of moves down low, including drop step hooks, floaters, power back down position plays, and others. He made one really nice pass to a cutting Barton.

The Bad: Nurk, like everyone else except for Faried was overmatched by Davis. He also looked a little bit slow out there. He rushed a few plays that resulted in bad shots/turnovers, but he was overall extremely good tonight, and I’m excited to see what he does the rest of this season.

Nikola Jokic: C-

21 MP, 5 PTS (2/5 FG), 7 REB, ORtg 68, DRtg 97

The Good: Jokic made a nice 3 pointer and had a few good rebounds.

The Bad: The Joker was absolutely atrocious on defense against the Pels. He could not guard Anthony Davis one bit, and it showed. He also struggled agains other 4s around the perimeter. This is not a promising fact for the “Jurkic” lineup going forward. Offensively, Jokic seemed to really struggle with his new role with Nurkic on the floor. Of course it’s a very small sample size, but if this performance was indicative of the future of “Jurkic”, Malone may need to consider staggering their minutes.

Jameer Nelson: B-

20 MP, 9 PTS (4/8 FG, 1/4 3P), 4 TO, ORtg 83, DRtg 95

The Good: Jameer got hot in the second quarter. He carried the offense for a few possessions. During this run, he made a nice contested 3 and a few pull up midrange buckets.

The Bad: Outside of his hot stretch, Jameer was very quiet and actually pretty bad. He was very bad defensively throughout the game. This was a good opportunity for Nelson to have a good game (Mudiay was terrible) and end up finishing the game (like Malone did last year). Because of Jameer’s bad D, Malone decided to go with Mudiay down the stretch. Missed opportunity for Nelson.

Jamal Murray: C-

13 MP, 1 PTS (0/2 FG), 4 REB, ORtg 43, DRtg 97

The Good: It was very cool that he made is NBA debut tonight. Congrats! Murray also rebounded well during his minutes, which led to some transition opportunities.

The Bad: Murray did not look confident at all on offense. His performance was very forgettable on both ends of the court. That being said, he only played a few minutes, and I suspect he will become more comfortable once (if) his workload increases.

Juancho Hernangomez: N/A

Juancho came in for the last 39 seconds of the first half. I’m really glad he got to play and also was happy to see him enter the game before Jarnell Stokes.

– Michael 🙂

Twitter: @09anthonycarter