Bol and the Nuggets wrap up scrimmage play on Monday as they face Aaron Gordon, Nikola Vucevic and the Magic in their final game.
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Bol Bol and the Denver Nuggets wrap up scrimmage play on Monday as they face Aaron Gordon, Nikola Vucevic and the Orlando Magic in their final game before the season restart this week.
Bol is averaging 15.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and three blocks in two scrimmage games with the Nuggets. He has also shot 36.3% (12-of-33) from the field and 26.7% (4-of-15) from 3-point range while logging over 30 minutes of playing time in each game.
The two games by Bol are his first two unofficial appearances with the Nuggets after not playing with the team during the regular season. Bol has dazzled through his first two games given his size at 7-foot-2 and ability to knock down shots from beyond the arc.
The Nuggets will face a Magic team that received some good news regarding two key players. Markelle Fultz will play his first scrimmage game after joining the team late at the Walt Disney World Resort while Jonathan Isaac will see his first action since suffering a knee injury on Jan. 1.
The matchup between the Nuggets and Magic will tip-off at 7 p.m. ET and can be streamed live on Altitude Sports and FOX Sports Florida.
Redick was completely surprised the 7-foot-2 Bol blocked his shot from just inside the 3-point line.
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The New Orleans Pelicans and Denver Nuggets faced off in a scrimmage game on Saturday at the Walt Disney World Resort ahead of the season restart this month and featured yet another impressive performance by rookie Bol Bol.
Bol scored 16 points, 10 rebounds and six blocked shots in his unofficial debut with the Nuggets on Wednesday. He followed that up by recording 15 points, three rebounds, three assists, two blocks and one steal in a team-high 35 minutes of work in the 119-104 loss.
One of his two blocked shots came against J.J. Redick early in the first quarter. On the play, Redick pump-faked from the corner, took a step in and attempted to take a shot. However, Bol was there to contest the shot, a shot Redick was completely surprised he got to.
The blocked shot by Bol was captured on video, of course, and included in his first-half highlight reel by Bleacher Report. The block on Redick happens toward the end of the clip but it is seemingly a shot that most players would have no shot at getting but the long wingspan of Bol got Redick.
Redick scored nine points in the scrimmage, shooting 3-of-5 from 3-point range, as the Pelicans played without No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson after recently rejoining the team. Williamson is undergoing a mandatory four-day quarantine and should be cleared in time to play on Thursday as the Pelicans kick off the season restart.
Bol Bol and the Nuggets return to action on Saturday night in their second scrimmage game ahead of the season restart against the Pelicans.
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Bol Bol and the Denver Nuggets return to action on Saturday night in their second scrimmage game ahead of the season restart this month against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Bol made his unofficial Nuggets debut on Wednesday, recording 16 points, 10 rebounds and six blocked shots in an 89-82 win over the Washington Wizards. Bol logged 32 minutes in the contest and showed little rust in the Nuggets’ first scrimmage game.
The Nuggets will face the Pelicans without No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson. The team announced on Friday that Williamson rejoined the team at the Walt Disney World Resort after leaving to attend to an urgent family matter.
Williamson will have to undergo a mandatory four-day quarantine period, as determined by the NBA, upon rejoining the Pelicans at Disney. He will miss Saturday night’s scrimmage but will likely be cleared in time to play when the Pelicans kick off the season restart on Thursday.
The scrimmage game between the Nuggets and Pelicans will tip-off at 8:30 p.m. ET and can be streamed on Pelicans.com and on Altitude Sports.
The New Orleans Pelicans opened play in the bubble with a convincing and impressive victory on Wednesday against the Brooklyn Nets. However, after facing one of the easiest teams in the NBA’s bubble, the team will get a much stiffer and unique challenge on Saturday.
The Denver Nuggets are one of the more intriguing teams in the NBA’s bubble. Absences, both reported and not, led to the team trotting out a starting lineup on Wednesday against Washington of Nikola Jokic, Jerami Grant, Paul Millsap, Bol Bol and Mason Plumlee. Bol’s debut caught the eyes of fans and will certainly be one of the most interesting match-ups to watch on Saturday.
The Nuggets had just one guard, Troy Daniels, available for the game. Jamal Murray and Will Barton should provide the Nuggets with more backcourt options on Saturday as both are expected to be available.
With Zion Williamson back in the bubble but still not available for the Pelicans, the team will move forward without their star rookie for at least one more exhibition.
On Wednesday’s opening day of scrimmages at the NBA “bubble” complex in Florida, the Denver Nuggets presented an alternative with what might could be referred to as “tall ball.”
With most of Denver’s usual guards such as Jamal Murray, Torrey Craig, Gary Harris, and Will Barton all sitting out for various reasons, the Nuggets started the scrimmage with a lineup of 7-foot-0 Nikola Jokic at point guard, 7-foot-2 Bol Bol at forward, and 6-foot-11 Mason Plumlee at center. The smallest member of Denver’s starting five was usual power forward Paul Millsap, who still stands at 6-foot-7!
A Twitter user shared an image of that tall lineup with the caption “Daryl Morey bout to have an anxiety attack,” and Morey replied with this:
In contrast to Denver’s lineup, the Rockets start 6-foot-5 P.J. Tucker at center, and they often play 6-foot-3 Eric Gordon as a third guard next to an All-Star backcourt of Russell Westbrook and James Harden.
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At the moment, the No. 3 Nuggets (43-22) and No. 6 Rockets (40-24) are currently slotted to meet in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. (Both have already clinched their spots.)
While both teams could easily move up or down in the tightly packed West standings once the 2019-20 regular season resumes next week, it’s certainly well within the realm of possibility that they could face off in the playoffs. In fact, shortly after the NBA’s COVID-19 hiatus in March, Morey indicated that the Rockets were preparing to play Denver.
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Should that happen, the Nuggets would likely have Murray, Barton, Craig, and Harris back, so the height discrepancy with their normal roster probably wouldn’t look as extreme as Wednesday’s scrimmage lineup might suggest. Nonetheless, the possibility makes for high comedy, and Morey showed his signature sense of humor by playing along.
The “tall ball” Nuggets did win their scrimmage over the Washington Wizards, 89-82 (box score). Bol Bol, somehow a 7-foot-2 small forward, led the way with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 blocks.
The first scrimmage for the “small ball” Rockets is set for Friday night, when they play the defending NBA champion Toronto Raptors. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Central, with the game shown on NBA TV.
Bol’s double-double performance Wednesday apparently warranted a drug test afterward by the NBA.
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Fresh off of recording a double-double in the Denver Nuggets’ first scrimmage game on Wednesday, Bol Bol was subject to a random drug test afterward by the NBA.
According to Mike Singer of the Denver Post, the drug test was scheduled ahead of time to take place but the timing of it was pure comedy. Players have often said they will be “randomly” drug tested following impressive performances, which makes Bol’s test a funny coincidence.
Bol earned the start in the Nuggets’ first scrimmage game ahead of the season restart. He tallied 16 points, 10 rebounds and six blocked shots during the 89-82 victory over the Washington Wizards and finished by shooting 6-of-14 from the field, including 2-of-8 from 3-point range.
Bol Bol was scheduled for a random drug test after this game, per Nuggets PR.
Bol, who is signed to a two-way contract, has not yet played in an official game with the Nuggets this season but has been practicing with the team ahead of the season restart. He has looked sharp in practice and has shown no signs of any lingering injury issues with his foot.
Nuggets rookie Bol Bol earned the start on Wednesday, finishing with a double-double during the 89-82 win over the Wizards.
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Denver Nuggets rookie Bol Bol recorded a double-double with 16 points, 10 rebounds and six blocked shots Wednesday during an 89-82 victory over the Washington Wizards.
With just eight healthy players available to play, Bol earned the start in the Nuggets’ first scrimmage game ahead to the season restart. Bol logged 32 minutes in the exhibition game and showed little rust throughout his time on the floor.
Bol finished by shooting 6-of-14 from the field, including 2-of-8 from 3-point range. His first bucket came off of a pass from Nikola Jokic, who began the game as the team’s point guard. A few plays later, Bol blocked a shot, drove the ball up the floor and drained a 3-pointer.
Bol, who is signed to a two-way contract, has not yet played in an official game with the Nuggets this season but has been practicing with the team ahead of the season restart this month. He has looked sharp in practice and has shown no signs of any lingering injury issues with his foot.
The 7-foot-2 center could play a meaningful role with the team once the season resumes Aug. 1 against the Miami Heat. He flashed his two-way potential on both ends of the floor on Wednesday and could help form a scary frontcourt with the Nuggets in the playoffs.
The Nuggets play their second of three scrimmage games on Saturday.
Alright, so this isn’t an official NBA game or anything. And it probably won’t be counted toward anything. It probably won’t be a particularly memorable moment in NBA history.
But, uh, I’m pretty sure the Denver Nuggets just played one of the tallest lineups in NBA history, if not the tallest.
In their bubble opening scrimmage against the Wizards, the Nuggets were totally depleted at guard. Jamal Murray, Will Barton, Gary Harris and Torrey Craig all sat out the game for various reasons.
So what was the solution? Throw out ALL the big men. Every single one of them.
This has got to be one of the tallest lineups we’ve ever seen in NBA history. Honestly, it just doesn’t get taller.
Here’s the thing, though: It also worked! They were absolutely cooking the Wizards. Jokic was out here throwing no-look dimes, per usual. This time to Bol.
Oh, and speaking of Bol Bol, here he is just blocking a shot at the rim, waving off the NBA’s best center/point guard and DRAINING a pull up three. At 7-2. Y’all.
No idea if this works forever. We’ve never seen this before — we don’t even know if it’s really in the Nuggets plans. Also, the Wizards absolutely stink. Running this against a good team might have a different result.
Either way, though, this is extremely fun to watch. Please, Mike Malone. More Bol Bol minutes.
Watching highlights in a gym surrounded only by teammates can be misleading. But the Denver Nuggets have reason to be excited about Bol Bol.
Watching highlights in a gym surrounded only by teammates can be misleading. But the Denver Nuggets have reason to be excited about Bol Bol.
The 19-year-old rookie made headlines on Tuesday for practice footage of him scoring after a pass from Denver star Nikola Jokic.
Bol, the third-highest ranked high school player in 2018, surprisingly slid to the second round of the draft last season. He then signed a two-way contract with the Nuggets and is currently practicing with the organization as the team prepares for the season to resume at Disney World.
Considering he may make his NBA debut when the team picks up play, it is worth looking at what he has done at a professional level thus far. According to Synergy Sports, Bol averaged 1.09 points per possession in the G League, which ranked in the 94th percentile among all players.
The most encouraging news is that he was 16-for-29 (55.2 percent) on his jump shot attempts. This is what gives him the “unicorn” label from scouts as well and also explains why he is often compared to Kristaps Porzingis.
For him to have legitimate success in the modern NBA, his jumper needs to hit. Based on the evidence we have seen thus far in the pros, however, that seems likely.
Jump shots for Bol Bol in the G League (via Synergy)
As you can see from the shot chart above, Bol nearly never missed on his mid-range attempts. He was 9-for-12 (75 percent) from midrange, per NBA.com, which ranked as the best among all G League players who had as many field goal opportunities from this zone.
More encouraging, he was 6-for-9 (66.7 percent) specifically on guarded attempts off the catch. As a shooter, Bol occasionally uses his absurd length to create a mismatch as a shooter against defenders.
Watch how he shoots over former No. 1 overall pick Anthony Bennett, who is 6-foot-8 and has a 7-foot-2 wingspan. Bol brags enough sheer length to more than compensate for Bennett collapsing onto him for the contest.
Bol was 22-for-33 (66.7 percent) within five feet of the basket. Despite the fact that he is 7-foot-2 with a 7-foot-7 wingspan, however, only four of those opportunities were on post-up attempts.
This is especially encouraging because it means that he is utilizing more than just his size advantage (far more egregious in the G League than it will be in the NBA against bigger defenders) to create scoring chances.
Occasionally, however, the big man just happened to score based on sheer proximity to the rim. It is not hard for Bol to get an easy two points just by hanging out near the dunker spot considering his standing reach, which was just half an inch off the record at the NBA Combine at 9-foot-7.
But the play type he used most often was in pick-and-roll sets. This is how he finished 34 possessions (41.5 percent) during his games for the Windy City Blue.
The big man was 11-for-16 (68.8 percent) on all high pick-and-roll sets, averaging 1.33 PPP (83rd percentile) in 2019-20. Given his unreal height, Bol is more easily able to see over his defenders and make the right read from the top of the key.
There have been instances of Bol setting screens beyond the three-point line for his ballhandling teammate, then only needing four steps to get a dunk on the roll. His ability to glide across the key is something that very few (outside of reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo) can do.
One way that Bol can take his game to the next level is showing that he can be the rare frontcourt player who is able to take the ball coast-to-coast as the ballhandler in transition.
Bol might not be particularly fast or agile but for his height, he is able to move north and south down the court fairly easily. Thanks to his large strides, he is able to potentially beat out defenders in the open court.
In the clip below, you can even see how he threw on a little flair to ensure he had enough space against his defender to secure the layup.
Bol, who averaged 2.7 blocks per game in his nine collegiate games for the Oregon Ducks, could be a one-man highlight reel capable of turning defense into offense with more of these plays.
Of course, all of this has been while playing against competition in the G League. When facing tougher teams, some of his flaws may be exposed more drastically.
The young prospect still needs quite a bit of improvement on pick-and-pop sets. Bol will also need to add even more weight and muscle to his frame to avoid getting bullied and thrown around by larger opponents.
But especially considering they only had to use a second-round pick to select him, Denver could have a legitimate steal in Bol.
Bol went viral on Monday after catching a pass from Nikola Jokic and nearly dunking over a teammate during practice.
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Denver Nuggets center Bol Bol went viral after the 7-foot-2 rookie nearly posterized a teammate during practice at the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida.
Bol, who is signed to a two-way contract, has been practicing with the Nuggets ahead of the season restart this month. The team has been cautious with his return to the court this season but his presence at Disney has been a welcomed addition for head coach Mike Malone.
On the play from Monday, Bol was captured on video by the Nuggets social media team catching a pass from Nikola Jokic. Bol quickly gathered himself and went up for the dunk attempt but, instead, had to settle for the throw-in over the defender.
Bol was included on the Nuggets’ official roster ahead of the season restart, though it is unclear if he will play much at Disney. Bol has yet to make his official NBA debut this season with the Nuggets and the team may opt to hold him out of action.
At the very least, though, the videos that have emerged from practice have shown that Bol looks to be fully healthy and ready to play should the team need him.
The Nuggets begin the season restart on Aug. 1 vs. the Miami Heat.
