Blog | off-the-glass

Dec 4, 2019
4 min

OTG's All-Decade Team: Denver Nuggets Edition

Denver Nuggets With the past decade coming to a close, what better way to ring in the new decade by reflecting on the past. Off The Glass is taking a look at each NBA team and selecting their All-Decade squad, which is defined by one guard, one forward, one center, a role player (someone not selected as an All-Star, or to an All-NBA team), and one wildcard. Today we are highlighting the Denver Nuggets. Forward of the Decade: Danilo Gallinari Gallo in many ways was a microcosm

Jeremy Freed

Nov 30, 2019
3 min

Cleveland Cavaliers: 4 Thoughts, Week 5

Cleveland.com Another...not great week in Cleveland. But at least I’m good at this! Remember when I told you their perimeter defense was struggling? That very same night Duncan Robinson (who?) set a Miami Heat record for most threes in a quarter -- seven! And that they were getting beat up on the offensive glass? The Cavs went 1-3 last week, and their only win was the one where they had more offensive rebounds than their opponent did; ‘4 Thoughts’ -- I’m not making things up!

Jeremy Freed

Nov 29, 2019
3 min

Denver Nuggets: 4 Thoughts, Week 5

USA Today A man thinks the Nuggets are hitting their stride. Denver just aced an early-season test! They went 4-0 on a nice little mid-November homestand against a decidedly rugged line-up of teams. Falling by the wayside, in order, were the Southwest-leading Rockets, the Atlantic-leading Celtics, the overachieving Suns, and the surprisingly high-powered Wizards. Moreover, they did it convincingly, with three of the four wins coming by double digits. Coming into this week, I

OTG's All-Decade Team: Cleveland Cavaliers Edition

Jeremy Freed

Nov 27, 2019
5 min

OTG's All-Decade Team: Cleveland Cavaliers Edition

USA Today With the past decade coming to a close, what better way to ring in the new decade by reflecting on the past. Off The Glass is taking a look at each NBA team and selecting their All-Decade squad, which is defined by one guard, one forward, one center, a role player (someone not selected as an All-Star, or to an All-NBA team), and one wildcard. Forward of the Decade: LeBron James Who else could it be? It may surprise you to discover that the King spent only four of th

Jeremy Freed

Nov 21, 2019
3 min

Denver Nuggets: 4 Thoughts, Week 4

A Sea of Blue Oh Denver! What a difference a week and a punctuation mark make! After looking like a hot, fresh manure in the first half of their home game against the Nets, the Nuggets finally heeded my call to get them some Juancho Hernangomez, overcame one of the most putrid shooting nights of Jamal Murray’s career, and turned a 12- point halftime deficit into an eight-point win. Then, instead of reverting to the mean, they throttled the Grizzlies in Memphis for a tidy 2-0

Jeremy Freed

Nov 21, 2019
3 min

Cleveland Cavaliers: 4 Thoughts, Week 4

Fear the Sword Color me glad I hedged my bets with ‘might’ be decent. ‘Cause good lord this was a bad week for the Cavaliers. An 11-point loss to the Heat wasn’t that close, neither was a nineteen point loss to the 76ers, nor an eighteen point loss to the Knicks. In each the Cavs trailed by 20 or more points going into the fourth quarter, and only climbed back into the teens in garbage time. Not their best week. Let’s find out why. 1. The perimeter defense is struggling. In t

Jeremy Freed

Nov 14, 2019
4 min

Denver Nuggets: 4 Thoughts, Week 3

USA Today Oh Denver. Just when you think you’ve turned the corner with an EPIC comeback against Philly (toldja that should’ve been on national TV) and a rugged OT win in Minnesota, you come home and get the doors blown off by the Hawks. The Hawks! With no John Collins, and Kevin Huerter leaving early due to an injury. Am I too hard on a 7-3 team? Maybe -- it just feels like they’re a content team right now, when they should be a hungry team. What makes me feel this way? 1. On

Jeremy Freed

Nov 14, 2019
4 min

Cleveland Cavaliers: 4 Thoughts, Week 3

Cleveland.com Don’t touch that dial! The Cavs might be...decent? ‘Good’ is a little strong, but until Kevin Love’s three hit the back of the rim last night and the final loose ball skittered away, the Cavs were dangerously close to Sweeping a 3-game road trip Beating presumptive East favorite Philadelphia in Philadelphia, and Being a .500 team Hell, if the playoffs started today, the Cavs would be involved! There’s a lot of season to go, but if you’re a Cavs fan, buckle in --

Jeremy Freed

Nov 8, 2019
3 min

Denver Nuggets: 4 Thoughts, Week 2

Denver Stiffs I am here to tell you that the Denver Nuggets are a compelling team. One minute they’re cruising along at 3-0, up five heading into the 4th quarter at home, where they’ve been pretty unbeatable the last two seasons. The next thing you know, they’ve been fondued by Slovenian Chocolate Luka Doncic to drop their first game, and sleepwalk through a god-awful loss to the Pelicans, who haven’t won any of their six other tries, to fall to 3-2. Mike Malone uses both han

Jeremy Freed

Nov 7, 2019
3 min

Cleveland Cavaliers: 4 Thoughts, Week 2

NBA.com Welp. I won’t go so far as to say ‘that was fun while it lasted,’ but I have a sneaking suspicion that ‘2-2’ will be the last time this season that the Cleveland Cavaliers can call themselves a .500 team. You do like to have Brad Stevens fawning over the Cavs’ progress after the month between their preseason and in-season games -- ‘I can't imagine a more improved team in a month. Excellent coaching. Excellent playing. All the good stuff. They're playing hard. They're

4 Thoughts After Week 1 of the 2019-20 Season For the Denver Nuggets

Jeremy Freed

Oct 31, 2019
2 min

4 Thoughts After Week 1 of the 2019-20 Season For the Denver Nuggets

Denver Stiffs One week down, twenty-four to go, and there’s lots to like a Mile High, despite crumbling down the stretch at home to Dallas last night. But first, something’s bothering me. 1. Where did all of the assists go? Last year’s team was a ball-moving ballet, and the team averaged 27.4 per game, good for second in the league. Through four games, that number has dropped to 22.0 per game, good for just 11th in the league, and a drop of nearly 20%. Everyone’s numbers are

4 Thoughts After Week 1 of the 2019-20 Season For the Cleveland Cavaliers

Jeremy Freed

Oct 31, 2019
3 min

4 Thoughts After Week 1 of the 2019-20 Season For the Cleveland Cavaliers

Cleveland.com After last season’s post-LeBron debacle, Cavs fans can rest easy knowing that Cleveland will not go winless in the 2019-20 campaign. Otherwise, it’s a lot of good news/bad news combos. For instance: 1.The Good News is the Cavs have jumped into the three-point revolution with both feet, and are shooting five additional threes per game. It’s noticeable. When I asked a good friend and noted Cavs aficionado what he thought of this year’s version, he said, and I quot

2019-20 Breakout Player Series: Larry Nance Jr.

Jeremy Freed

Oct 24, 2019
3 min

2019-20 Breakout Player Series: Larry Nance Jr.

Silver Screen and Roll What are we going to learn about Larry Nance Jr. that we haven’t already after four years in the Association? A fair question. If it weren’t for his name, he might be just another mid-second round pick who overperformed his draft slot, but he’s the namesake of an underrated, ‘cult classic’ player in Larry Nance, and the one-in-a-million who gets traded from the Lakers to the Cavaliers and is genuinely excited about the prospect! Moreover, he’s good and

2019-20 Breakout Player Series: Malik Beasley

Nick Fay

Oct 22, 2019
3 min

2019-20 Breakout Player Series: Malik Beasley

USA Today As the Denver Nuggets look to build on last season’s second-place finish in the West, their depth will be a huge asset as they strive to rise to the top of a vicious Western Conference. Teams like the Clippers (Kawhi Leonard & Paul George), Lakers (Lebron James and Anthony Davis), and Rockets (James Harden and Russell Westbrook) may have more dynamic duos leading their teams than Denver’s impressive Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray one-two punch, but the top-to-bottom

2019-20 NBA Team Preview Series: Cleveland Cavaliers

Jeremy Freed

Sep 26, 2019
3 min

2019-20 NBA Team Preview Series: Cleveland Cavaliers

SLAM The 2019-2020 NBA season starts October 22nd and to get you ready for tip-off, Off the Glass is previewing all 30 teams. Today we look at the Cleveland Cavaliers. 2018-2019 Record: 19-63, 5th in the Central Division. Season Recap: It was a season to forget in Cleveland. After losing LeBron James to the Los Angeles Lakers in free agency, the Cavs claimed that they would still compete in the East, and eschew a complete teardown. But after losing All-Star Kevin Love to in

2019-20 NBA Team Preview Series: Denver Nuggets

Jeremy Freed

Sep 23, 2019
3 min

2019-20 NBA Team Preview Series: Denver Nuggets

ESPN The 2019-2020 NBA season starts October 22nd and to get you ready for tip-off, Off the Glass is previewing all 30 teams. Today we look at the Denver Nuggets. 2018-2019 Record: 54-28, 1st in the Northwest Division. Beat San Antonio 4-3 in the First Round. Lost to the Portland Trail Blazers 4-3 in Western Conference Semifinals. Season Recap: After losing a play-in game to Minnesota in 2018, the Nuggets continued their ascent under Mike Malone in 2019, charging to the top o

Hot Take Marathon: Kevin Love Returns to His All-Star Ways

Jeremy Freed

Aug 29, 2019
2 min

Hot Take Marathon: Kevin Love Returns to His All-Star Ways

Men's Health Move over Dr. Dre; the NBA forgot about Love. Not that you can blame them. When Kevin Love became a decided second-to-third wheel in Cleveland, it was easier to picture the Banana Republic model spotting up in the corner rather than the burly force in the Minnesota paint. He came to Cleveland to win a ring and now he has one, but like Chris Bosh before him, Love sacrificed to get there. Gone were the days of the 26-13; 17-9 became more common. But when LeBron Jam

Hot Take Marathon: The Utah Jazz Will Have 2 All-Stars, and Neither of Them Will Be Donovan Mitchell

Jeremy Freed

Aug 3, 2019
3 min

Hot Take Marathon: The Utah Jazz Will Have 2 All-Stars, and Neither of Them Will Be Donovan Mitchell

Utah Jazz Mafia Where exactly the new-look Utah Jazz will fit into the West hierarchy is to-be-determined, but their roster looks to be as talented as it has since the heyday of Stockton and Malone -- the last pair of Jazz to play together in the All-Star Game. Sure, the Jazz have had players since then: Andrei Kirilenko, Deron Williams, more recently Gordon Hayward (and would you believe, in between, Mehmet Okur and Carlos Boozer?!?) but all had to fly solo until this year,

Jeremy Freed

Jul 23, 2019
3 min

Are the Cavs Rebuilding the Right Way?

Getty Images A month ago the Cleveland Cavaliers took a big step towards replenishing a barren roster when they made three first round selections in the 2019 draft. The first, Darius Garland, was the result of the 5th overall pick that they ‘earned’ through mediocrity. The other two, Dylan Windler and Kevin Porter Jr., were the result of owner Dan Gilbert’s perpetually open pocketbook, which Cavs General Manager Koby Altman used to take on longer contracts, and the draft pick

Jeremy Freed

Jul 9, 2019
2 min

Jerami Grant Traded to Denver

USA Today What’s the deal? Oklahoma City sends Jerami Grant to Denver for protected 2020 first round draft pick What does Grant bring to the Nuggets? Grant is an ascendant player entering his prime. Proved that he could hold down a starting spot last year for the Thunder, though he’ll likely come off the bench in Denver. A consistently strong defender with a developing offensive game, Grant hit 39% of his threes last year while shooting nearly four a game -- not a small sampl