Renck vs. Keeler: Nuggets’ Michael Malone or Avs’ Jared Bednar? Who you trust most to win a Game 7?
Denver Post
Sean Keeler: Just like they drew it up, right? OK, so maybe the Nuggets took the long way — about 1,820 miles up and back from the Twin Cities — to grab home court again. But Lady Mo(mentum) is Lady Mo, and we’ve got a best-of-three on the hoops side. Plus the Avs are locked in a back-and-forth battle with Dallas on the NHL front. Nobody said the Stars or Timberwolves were going to be easy marks, and based on the past six days, we’ve probably got a twist or two yet to come over the next 96 hours. Based on recent form, there’s a decent chance both the Nuggets and Avs are setting themselves up for a pair of pivotal Game 7s in their second-round tussles. So in a winner-take-all contest, if you had a choice between Michael Malone or Jared Bednar on your bench, which one would you trust the most when it’s “backs against the wall” time?
Troy Renck: Recency bias screams Michael Malone. The Nuggets looked cooked in their series, then made adjustments to match the Timberwolves’ physicality and deftly began using Aaron Gordon to bring the ball up the floor. It freed Jamal Murray to focus more on his scoring and left Minnesota searching for answers and whining at the officials. Malone also pushed the right buttons in the bubble, last June during the title run and pulled it off again when he asked his players “Do you believe?” before they boarded a plane to Minnesota. Jared Bednar has shown a deft touch periodically, but his playoff record wavers between unreal to unsettling.
Keeler: If it’s the fate of the free world or the fate of a series riding on Game 7, that’s an easy one for me — I’m taking Malone. And there’s a pretty simple reason why: Precedent. Malone’s steered the Nuggets to four Game 7s since taking the job, and he’s won three of them — including two at the COVID-19 bubble during back-to-back series against the Jazz and Clippers in 2020. Bonus: The Nuggets, who’ve got a home-court edge against every team in the Western bracket save for Oklahoma City, would be at Ball Arena for a potential Game 7 vs. Minnesota. And that’s supposed to be a good thing. Right? Right?
Renck: Home ice, home court, home dirt, you name it, it has meant little this postseason. Winning on the road defines champions. I am not ready to dismiss Bednar, though it requires more of a micro than macro view. The Avs were melting before our eyes at the end of the regular season, playing defense like the Broncos vs. the Dolphins, and Bednar steered them back on track. Just because Bednar hasn’t won a Game 7 does not mean he can’t. And the Stars’ barn is not exactly intimidating. Reaching the brink implies Bednar will have plenty of time to solve the Stars’ Rubik’s Cube defense and depth, turning the frustration of the Avs’ stars into production.
Keeler: Recent history also leaves me more wary about Bednar, even though his Avs have proven, and pretty demonstrably, that they can win anywhere, anytime. The Avs boss has coached in three Game 7s since 2017 — vs. San Jose in 2019, vs. Dallas in 2020 and vs. Seattle in 2023 — and dropped them all. The back of the baseball card says if it’s Bednar vs. Stars coach Pete DeBoer in a winner-take-all series finale in Texas, you ride with the latter. Even if the DeBoer’s playoff formula — get a lead, park the bus — puts you to sleep along the way.
Renck: Well, it is impossible to take your eyes off the Nuggets vs. Timberwolves with Nikola Jokic and Anthony Edwards turning possessions into a series of Wows! Which brings us back to the question: Malone or Bednar? Malone’s resume in big spots is the type of stuff you put on Indeed and wait for the offers to pour in. One game. One win. It’s him.
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