OT: The 2023 NBA season is off to a weird start.

[Spaghetti Legs]

Originally Posted by pdmtong

Nikola Jokic: "The job is done, we can go home now"

Yeah that was great. Good game last night. Butler looked gassed to me. Lowery was like a bull in a china shop daring the refs to call fouls. Refs mostly let the guys play except for that egregious 3 point foul review at the end. I guess it kept the game interesting though. Congrats to the Nuggets, well deserved, best team all season.

[pdmtong]

Originally Posted by donevwil

His reaction to finding out the parade is on Thursday was classic.

Originally Posted by Spaghetti Legs

Yeah that was great. Good game last night. Butler looked gassed to me. Lowery was like a bull in a china shop daring the refs to call fouls. Refs mostly let the guys play except for that egregious 3 point foul review at the end. I guess it kept the game interesting though. Congrats to the Nuggets, well deserved, best team all season.

There's a great read on ESPN.com about his arrival in the USA and subsequent transformation. He could not hold a plank for 20 seconds, drank 3 litres of coke a day. A now he was #1 in playoff points, rebounds, assists. Chapeau to him and congrats to the Nuggets.

[XXtwindad]

Originally Posted by jlwdm

Jokic is not a good defender. He can’t jump. He does not block shots and players like Bam can shoot jump shots over him all day long. Players aren’t afraid to drive to the basket either.

Jeff

A counter opinion: https://www.theringer.com/nba-finals...023-nba-finals

“Casuals rarely get past the eye test. Critics try to label it as his one flaw. But ask anyone around the NBA, and they will tell you: Jokic is much better than people realize. “We’re just trying to change the narrative that he doesn’t play defense,” says Jamal Murray.”

[XXtwindad]

Chemistry. Can’t buy it. (See: Lakers, Nets, Suns, etc.)

Jokic showed much more reaction for the Bruce Brown shot in game four than he ever has for his own shots. This is a team that likes and respects each other. I’m all in.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mnHXFPInF1Q

[jlwdm]

Originally Posted by XXtwindad

A counter opinion: https://www.theringer.com/nba-finals...023-nba-finals

“Casuals rarely get past the eye test. Critics try to label it as his one flaw. But ask anyone around the NBA, and they will tell you: Jokic is much better than people realize. “We’re just trying to change the narrative that he doesn’t play defense,” says Jamal Murray.”

I recorded and watched all of every game the last two series. He is not a great defender. Of course Jamal is trying to change the narrative.

I love Jokic he is such a good passer and has an amazing touch.

Jeff

[klasse]

Yeah, congrats to DENVER. Not a Nuggets fan, but they are a good group of guys and deserve the title. Murray has a good story as well.

[Jaybee]

No one plays defense in a vacuum, so if all your noticing is that Jokic is too slow to keep up with guards on the perimeter and doesn't meet people at this highest point above the rim, you're missing 75% of the picture. The real answer is that Jokic is a tremendous defender in the context of Denver's team defense, which is what really matters. He's constantly calling out switches and schemes, directing the other 4 players from the back line. Teams usually try to put him in PNR to force a switch so he has to move his feet on the perimeter, but he's comfortable in drop coverage and in trusting his guards to not get hung up for very long on screens. This means the 13-15 footer is open, and someone like Bam can feast there, but as we just saw, you don't win games on a steady diet of midrange jumpers. Bam got those shots because that's what Jokic and Denver wanted him to have. When Adebayo tried to go to the rim off the dribble, you saw that he, like AD before in the series before him usually found that Jokic is pretty hard to move off his spot and has quick hands.
That's just the basic stuff. There's mountains of data showing that Jokic is a net positive defender.

[XXtwindad]

My buddies and I disagree. As a Dubs fan I like it!

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...e?platform=amp

[fourflys]

Originally Posted by XXtwindad

My buddies and I disagree. As a Dubs fan I like it!

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...e?platform=amp

yep, I like it as well.. JP was a bit too much of a prima donna to me this year and his playoff performance certainly wasn't there.. I wish they would have given Kuminga a bit more time to so himself.. when he was in, he seemed to play as least as well as Poole..

[Spaghetti Legs]

I think the Wizards have made some really good moves and see them as the top finisher in this trade roundabout. Tyus Jones will be a top point guard in the league IMO. I see him in the Mike Conley mold (also started career in Memphis). My son told me Memphis also gave up some draft picks as well and I was worried they overpaid for Smart but I don’t see anything about that in the reports. Probably a good move for them because, as a fan, I would have liked him to stay in Memphis but he needs to be a full time starter. Golden State makes a lot of sense for CP3.

[jlwdm]

CP, Steph & Klay all on a downhill slide. GS needs some young talent.

CP has played poorly in the playoffs the last couple of years.

Jeff