You and Cam Johnson are on the same page here. He wants this version of him to go the heck away, too.
“Obviously, we’ve got Jamal (Murray), Jok (Nikola Jokic), we’ve got guys across the roster that are pretty capable,” Johnson said Sunday after a painful, scoreless afternoon in a galling, 117-108 home loss to Minnesota. “So you’ve got to be able to do your own job. And my lack thereof really cost us (Sunday).”
Johnson sat crestfallen at his locker stall at Ball Arena an hour after arguably his worst game as a Nugget. One minute, his fingers danced on his smart phone. The next, they rested on his forehead.
He stared at his right ankle. He stared at his screen. He stared at the floor.
“I mean, it’s part of life, part of the game. Things happen,” Johnson, who was 0 for 6 from the floor and 0 for 4 on treys against the Timberwolves, said later. “Good and bad, whether you like it or not. And you’ve just got to … kind of learn to move past it and move forward and figure the rest out.”
Johnson is one of several roster knots coach David Adelman has about six weeks to try and straighten out. The veteran sharpshooter is battling a bad ankle, which is affecting both his movement and his lift.
And yet the bigger battle might be going on between Johnson’s ears right now. Playing on that wonky ankle this past Friday, Cam missed a wide-open three that would’ve buried the Thunder in OKC. At times Sunday, it looked as if he was still carrying the scars from that miss onto the floor with him at Ball. Other times, he looked scared.
A shooter who’s afraid to shoot is a tailback whose first thought is not fumbling. If that’s your mindset, the worst is inevitable.
Aaron Gordon should be coming back later this week, and Peyton Watson allegedly isn’t far behind. Bench your weakest link, right?
Johnson has whiffed on seven of his last eight treys. His ankle’s not in a great place. His confidence isn’t, either, now that you mention it. If you bench him, and everybody knows why, does he ever get that confidence back?
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Adelman’s got to get Johnson right if he’s to salvage anything from this season. He’s got to get center Jonas Valanciunas right, somehow.
A four-game run of Golden State, Boston, Oklahoma City and Minnesota told us a lot about the Nuggets. Some of it wasn’t exactly pleasant. It’s crystal clear not everybody on Denver’s roster is ready for playoff mode. Or for playoff teams.
Adelman’s second-quarter rotations remain, to put it kindly, puzzling. The stagger still doesn’t quite work against rosters with a pulse.
The second unit is giving off 2025 vibes, despite the new faces. Elite guards can’t guard Murray, but when it comes to blow-bys, he can’t guard them, either. Jokic’s shooting legs still seem to wobble late. Johnson’s been whiffing on the open stuff in a make-or-miss league.
Pick your poison. They’ll all kill you come May.
“But, you know, Cam’s our starting small forward. I trust him,” the Nuggets coach continued. “(Sunday), his body just wasn’t there. So, again, like I said … if Cam’s out, somebody else has to step up.”
Tim Hardaway Jr. (17 points, three 3-pointers) did. Jalen Pickett (four points, two assists in six minutes) did, too. Yet a good chunk of the roster Sunday were just passengers on the struggle bus — one that dropped the Nuggets off Sunday night as the 5 seed in the Western Conference.
“It’s just a lot of effort, a lot of attention to detail,” Johnson continued. “That’s what it comes down to.”
That and shooting. The Wolves made just nine shots on 20 attempts (45%) in the first quarter as the Nuggets cranked up the temperature defensively. Minnesota made nine of its first 15 to open the second stanza (60%) and 14 of 24 for the period (58.3%). Same as it ever was.
The Nuggets are now 1-9 over their last 10 games against teams with winning records. Denver’s been bum-slaying for more than a month now. And Cam, for one, is tired of being talked about as a bum.
“It’s on me,” Johnson said. “I’m the only one that got myself in it, so I’ve got to be the one to get myself out of it. It happens in life, happens in his league. It wouldn’t be the first time I’m dealing with something like this. (I’ve) got to keep working.”
Shooters gotta shoot. But when shooters miss open threes on national TV, it leaves a mark.
“What’s the most frustrating part for you after a game like this?” Johnson was asked.
“Where do I begin? You mean personally or team-wise?” Johnson said. “Knowing that it’s such a severe lack of contribution. (That) really shows up in the end.”
It’s looking as if the cavalry ain’t coming via a veteran buyout, either. Khris Middleton is reportedly electing to stay with Dallas. Kyle Anderson decided to reunite with Minnesota. That thins out the herd a bit when it comes to tides that can lift all boats — including postseason ones.
That Johnson guy? The one who drives you nuts?
He’s all they got.
“You sure you feel OK?” I asked Johnson as the media scrum broke up.
“Yeah,” Cam replied.
“The ankle?”
“It’ll be all right,” the Nuggets forward countered.
So will they. But Adelman’s got to get 23 figured out first. And fast.
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