[Luciano Pagliarini]

So, when asked by Vic about Jokic in this game, Malone said it isn’t fair to play him 48 minutes...

Earth to Malone: He played only 26 minutes tonight.

What is wrong with Malone?!

So how much improvement has there been this year really?

Last year we we had a 110 offensive rating and a 110.5 defensive rating good for 5th and 29th
We had a rebounding rate good for 2nd

This year we have a 109.2 offensive rating and a 108.6 defensive rating good for 6th and 26th
We had a rebounding rate good for 3rd.

Yes there is improvement, but I am not sure the progression is where it should be. The offense is fine, really good in fact. The rebounding is damn good (not lately). The issue is the defense and more importantly the failed schemes, game plans and execution.

With 3 plus defenders now on the court (Harris, Milsap and Chandler) the defense shouldn’t be as dreadful. Malone hasn’t figured it out in 2 years. Actually the year before that we were 25th with a 106.4 rating. Malone coached the Kings to the 23rd ranked defense his full coaching year there.
Also in 2011-2012 with the Warriors, where Malone was the defensive "guru", they ranked 26th. The next year they did improve to 13th but the following year without Malone, they improved to 3rd.