Mike Malone harshly criticizes the condition of his players

The buzz continues around the Denver Nuggets who are not recovering in the preseason the sensations lost in the summer. Those from Colorado are 0-4 in preparatory games for the new season. Last night they lost by 30 points to one of their main rivals in the Western conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder. The group of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and company surpassed them physically, and Mike Malone did not keep his opinion to himself. «The league has become lazy. It seems like everyone has become allergic to conditioning and running. Well, we have to do it,” pointed out the Nuggets coach after the correction suffered.

Last year already ended with serious doubts in the physical section for Denver. Led by Jamal Murray, but also by that second half of the seventh game against the Minnesota Timberwolves in which they seem to run out of gas. The top of the West is extremely tough in the athletic department, which is obviously a concern for Malone. For this reason, although in the preseason the starters usually record few minutes of play, the coach had the starting five play (with the exception of Murray) throughout the third quarter. To show them how important physical condition is to him even before starting the real competition.

Losing Bruce Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in two years emphasizes the alleged problem. Two of the players who set the physical tone of the matches along with Aaron Gordon. This message is surely directed at the three alleged stars of the project. Especially the aforementioned Murray and Michael Porter Jr. Who started the playoffs well but ended up deflating in the second round. Without them at their peak of condition and performance, it is difficult to believe in Nuggets once again aspiring to everything.

(Cover photo by David Berding/Getty Images)