Mike Malone on 'special' season Fred VanVleet is having

Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone talks Fred VanVleet, Toronto's unique playing style and why Nick Nurse is a great coach.

Video Transcript

MICHAEL MALONE: Just so you know the way it works. So I don't vote for guys in the east, Mike. I only--

- Oh, OK.

MICHAEL MALONE: --vote the guys in the west.

- I didn't realize that.

MICHAEL MALONE: But if Fred is listening, if-- I voted for him. I voted for him. I wink, wink. But he's deserving. Pretty neat stat.

I think he's the last-- the first all-star since Ben Wallace, who was undrafted. So that speaks to a belief and commitment by the Raptors, but also, a tremendous work ethic by Fred to get to this point. And obviously, the number he-- the numbers and career highs he's putting up across the board is pretty special.

- Last one, [? guys. ?]

- Michael, when you look at this match-up with the Raptors, a lot of people talk about usually the opponent having that size advantage, specifically at the five, but what types of problems do their length and quickness create?

MICHAEL MALONE: Yeah, it's-- you know, teams like Toronto, like Boston last night, like Memphis, some of these teams that just have-- Minnesota is another team. They just seem to have, like, an army of 6 foot, 7", 6 foot, 8" athletic, versatile, Swiss army knives, and they're just everywhere, you know?

And they force turnovers. They get steals. They get deflections. They block shots. They make you work for everything.

So yeah, it's-- not every team is built the same way. That's what's great about the NBA. Some are built in different ways and means, but tonight will be similar to last night and the teams that I mentioned.

Can we somehow compete against all that defensive versatility and their size and length? You know, we have a relatively smaller team, you know? And so you have to combat that in other ways, but it'll be a hell of a challenge for us, no doubt.

- [INAUDIBLE] match-up, you know, Nick Nurse is someone who isn't afraid to try different things. Is that something you look forward to when you're going up against a guy like that?

MICHAEL MALONE: Yeah, yeah, I never look at it as me against anybody, to be honest. I think it's always, you know-- and it's never just one player versus like, oh, tonight's match-up, Pascal Siakam, Nikola Jokic. There's gonna be eight other guys on the floor. It's a team game.

Nick's done a hell of a job, obviously. You know, he's one of those guys that will try a box in one, a triangle in two, a zone, a full court press, and their team is built, you know, to allow him to do a lot of those types of things. But again, you know, I think he does a tremendous job with this group, very creative, and most importantly, you know, his team plays very, very hard, which I think is a direct reflection on Nick.