OP crashing out in his own thread.
Kick ball merchant Nikola Jokic is allowing 70 percent at the rim. Worst amongst Centers. Man ain't defending shyt
- Thread starter holidayinn21
- Start date
Joker really does bring the claws out, literally and figuratively
Long Live The Kane
Tyrant Titan
I mean, no player is perfect…if he was an elite rim protector on top of everything else he does the Nuggets would be a dynasty on some Duncan’s Spurs type shyt 
I was big on harping that weakness of his game too…but winning a chip gives you some grace
Gonna be wild when “voter fatigue” is somehow not a thing anymore this year and he wins MVP on a play-in adjacent squad over Shai basically having a prime Jordan season while leading OKC to 70ish wins though
I was big on harping that weakness of his game too…but winning a chip gives you some grace
Gonna be wild when “voter fatigue” is somehow not a thing anymore this year and he wins MVP on a play-in adjacent squad over Shai basically having a prime Jordan season while leading OKC to 70ish wins though
Yes, he is.
Okay let me put it like this so you don't get caught up on the wording.
I rarely see unathletic centers under 7ft be good rim protectors. Does that work better?
Yes, because they mean completely different things...
Is that kind of like the "voter fatigue" in 2023 that killed his chances of winning MVP?I mean, no player is perfect…if he was an elite rim protector on top of everything else he does the Nuggets would be a dynasty on some Duncan’s Spurs type shyt
I was big on harping that weakness of his game too…but winning a chip gives you some grace
Gonna be wild when “voter fatigue” is somehow not a thing anymore this year and he wins MVP on a play-in adjacent squad over Shai basically having a prime Jordan season while leading OKC to 70ish wins though
p.s. the Nuggets are currently the no.4 seed, so you're not exactly helping your argument by exaggerating the truth about them being a play-in squad.
Cool. The videos I posted are a demonstration of his lack of lateral quickness and defensive effort.
Bigblackted4
Superstar
Love how you skipped over Bam
I like Jokic a lot. I find his game to be entertaining in the unique way he gets it done. He deserves to be and will be considered one of the all time greats. However the knob slobbing gets to be a bit much. Rim protection for an all time great big man is important and a lot of people pretend as if he has no weaknesses and should be handed the MVP every year. That he is on a mountain looking down at everyone. Its the hyperbole in lieu of this glaring flaw for an elite big man that’s the issue
Yes, it does demonstrate his lack of lateral quickness, but nobody has ever tried claiming Jokic to be some super agile, AD-type of lateral mover on defense. Making that point doesn't mean that he can't have defensive value, just like this thread is falsely trying to claim. AD lacks strength in situations like the post (where he gets completely overpowered by any player who's bigger than him), but I wouldn't use that as a demonstration of him being a bad defender. He's just limited in that area, just like Jokic is limited in certain areas on defense too.
In that video you posted, there's really not the demonstration of a lack of defensive effort like you're trying to insinuate. There's a whole bunch of plays where he's trying to contain the ball-handler (either stopping them from getting an open shot or driving), too slow on closeouts, too slow to stay with quicker guards, miscommunication from the players, other players being at fault and just generally every other type of possession where players aren't giving maximum effort.
What you might consider him being lazy is really him being selective with what he does because he can't get into foul trouble. If you watch the Nuggets in the clutch, you'd see him locked in and being a lot more aggressive on defense because he doesn't have the hinderance of fouls taking him out of the game. It's why despite him not blocking many shots, in general, you'll find that he's had more game-winning blocks than the majority of the league over the last few years.
Blocking shots and playing good defense in the clutch has been one of his more overlooked feats. He pretty much played well defensively all throughout the 2023 postseason, especially when he could rely on Murray more to be consistent on offense.
As I've reiterated all throughout this thread, you don't have his offensive workload and yet still lead all big men in steals and deflections whilst grabbing the 2nd most contested rebounds if you're a lazy defender. Jokic lacks a handful of traits to ever be considered an elite defender, but not showing enough effort certainly isn't one of them.
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It's only as important as what impact it has on the game.
In today's era, big men have to cover more space than in the past, so it's not like Jokic can just loiter around the paint and just be a rim protector. He's up defending PnR on every other possession, covering multiple actions all outside of the paint. That affects how much energy and how much time he has to defend the rim. As a big man, rim protection doesn't have the same relative importance as it once did, when once upon a time defending the rim for a big was essentially one of a few things that mattered.
You drop the Lakers version of Shaq in this era and there'd be the same discussion around his rim protection (or lack thereof).
The other side to that coin is, Gobert has been one of the best rim protectors of the past decade, yet because he struggles to defend in space his impact is limited and can often be exposed by a team that's willing to drag him out to the perimeter.
The_Dread_Dormammu
All Star
holidayinn21
:SmugMoneyMike:
Muthafukka deadass a horrific rim protector, you not even denying, but you concerned about worst and 2nd-worst
You Jokic glazers are disgusting
feelosofer
#ninergang
This has always been a flaw in his his game but Jokic while not a great rim defender is a good help defender and he has pretty soft hands as he gets a lot of steals for a big man.
Jokic isn’t a rim protector but he is good at disrupting passing lanes, he’s gotten better at moving his feet, and he does what you want as a drop big.
Every year around this time the usual suspects come in here to push the terrible defender agenda. It’s just not true.
Every year around this time the usual suspects come in here to push the terrible defender agenda. It’s just not true.
3rd best defensive rating in the playoffs during that championship run too btw
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