Kick ball merchant Nikola Jokic is allowing 70 percent at the rim. Worst amongst Centers. Man ain't defending shyt

[The_Dread_Dormammu]

Muthafukka deadass a horrific rim protector, you not even denying, but you concerned about worst and 2nd-worst

You Jokic glazers are disgusting

Are you saying both are horrific rim protectors or just Jokic?

 

[Bar Razor]

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.

These aren’t points without merit but nevertheless guys like Hakeem, Duncan, KG, Olajuwon, Kareem even lesser bigs like Zo and Dikembe and Ewing all have the lateral ability to do a much better job of it than Jokic. Even Embiid can. We see what Wemby is doing. It’s a noticeable weakness regardless of era and deserves to be considered when analyzing him as a player.

 

[Torrential]

He would get destroyed in an era where there wasn't an over-reliance on threes. You put AD on his championship team its the same result and AD probably winning dpoy as well.

Makes me sad that lebron is a geriatric fakkit and Rob Pelinka is a trash GM. It's an abomination to the game that a pudgy fakkit like Jokic is gassed up in the modern era

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

These aren’t points without merit but nevertheless guys like Hakeem, Duncan, KG, Olajuwon, Kareem even lesser bigs like Zo and Dikembe and Ewing all have the lateral ability to do a much better job of it than Jokic.

Out of that group, KG and Zo were the only two who could routinely defend the perimeter, and would have any real effectiveness defending outside of the paint in today's game.

Duncan and Hakeem would be passable on the perimeter, but not difference makers; Mutumbo wasn't noted for his lateral movement.

If your argument is purely they'd do a better job at moving laterally, I think that's rather inconsequential given the difference would be marginal. Someone like Kareem isn't staying with guards today, or defending all the actions above the arc, especially since he didn't treat defense with much intensity during the regular season even during his day (good luck trying to get him to defend PnR on every trip) and he's considered by many to be the best big man to ever play the game, so you've got to ask yourself how much importance should really put placed on that?

Even Embiid can.

Embiid's lateral movement has declined with each season. He can barely move North-to-South now, let alone laterally. He still has incredible instincts blocking shots in the paint, but his defense is subpar outside of that.

We see what Wemby is doing. It’s a noticeable weakness regardless of era and deserves to be considered when analyzing him as a player.

Wemby is a once-in-many-lifetimes defender.

It's unfair to hold Jokic to that standard, when nobody else really compares to him. If Jokic was a bad defender, then pointing out his poor rim protection would make sense, but because he offers value/impact in other areas on the defensive end, it doesn't make sense to zero in on where his shortcomings are on that end of the floor. As the homie @ECA just pointed out - Denver had the 3rd best defense in the playoffs during their championship run, so despite whatever flaws folks perceive he has on that end, he was still able to be at the center of one of the best defenses during the year they won a title.

Being able to contribute to either end of the floor in a meaningful manner is what matters at the end of the day, and not some checklist of how good a rim protector you are or how well you move, laterally. I mentioned earlier that Marc Gasol was one of the best defenders in the league and won a DPOY, and he wasn't a great rim protector and didn't move laterally particularly well either, but it's what he did outside of that which made him an effective defender.

 

[NYC Rebel]

Out of that group, KG and Zo were the only two who could routinely defend the perimeter, and would have any real effectiveness defending outside of the paint in today's game.

Duncan and Hakeem would be passable on the perimeter, but not difference makers; Mutumbo wasn't noted for his lateral movement.

If your argument is purely they'd do a better job at moving laterally, I think that's rather inconsequential given the difference would be marginal. Someone like Kareem isn't staying with guards today, or defending all the actions above the arc, especially since he didn't treat defense with much intensity during the regular season even during his day (good luck trying to get him to defend PnR on every trip) and he's considered by many to be the best big man to ever play the game, so you've got to ask yourself how much importance should really put placed on that?

Embiid's lateral movement has declined with each season. He can barely move North-to-South now, let alone laterally. He still has incredible instincts blocking shots in the paint, but his defense is subpar outside of that.

Wemby is a once-in-many-lifetimes defender.

It's unfair to hold Jokic to that standard, when nobody else really compares to him. If Jokic was a bad defender, then pointing out his poor rim protection would make sense, but because he offers value/impact in other areas on the defensive end, it doesn't make sense to zero in on where his shortcomings are on that end of the floor. As the homie @ECA just pointed out - Denver had the 3rd best defense in the playoffs during their championship run, so despite whatever flaws folks perceive he has on that end, he was still able to be at the center of one of the best defenses during the year they won a title.

Being able to contribute to either end of the floor in a meaningful manner is what matters at the end of the day, and not some checklist of how good a rim protector you are or how well you move, laterally. I mentioned earlier that Marc Gasol was one of the best defenders in the league and won a DPOY, and he wasn't a great rim protector and didn't move laterally particularly well either, but it's what he did outside of that which made him an effective defender.

Olajuwon defended on the perimeter very well

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

Olajuwon defended on the perimeter very well

That's a common misconception.

He was good at defending static movements (set jumpshots or at the high post), but anything involving smaller players on the perimeter, he wasn't particularly good at. He was good at moving his feet within a confined space, but when he had to move laterally, he wasn't as good as someone like KG for example. A lot of that had to do with picking up basketball late in life, where he lacked the discipline and knowledge until he reached his peak.

That's not a knock on him because many bigs during that day would've had their struggles defending above the arc today.

 

[NormanConnors]

Hakeem would be passable on the perimeter

 

[Remote]

There's two parts to this -

First of which, he is surrounded by arguably the worst collective of perimeter defenders in the league (Murray, Westbrook and MPJ), and the likes of Gordon have only played half a season, so it only stands to reason because they can't stop anything on the perimeter, that there's going to be a whole lot of traffic in the paint for him to defend.

Notice how OP fails to mention that Bam Adebayo allows a worse percentage at the rim, and he's regarded as one of the best big man defenders in the league, and that's largely down to the Heat's poor perimeter defense.

DFG% is a measurement of the closest defender, not the player who is responsible for giving up the bucket. If you're not using the appropriate context using a stat like this, you shouldn't be using it.

The second part to this is, Jokic can't get into foul trouble because it'll kill the team (they have the #1 offense with him on the floor, but without him, they'd be last), so if an offensive player already has the advantage of being in a spot where they're going to score, it doesn't make much sense for Jokic to contest in fears that it would put him into foul trouble.

I love to see context around a metric.
This was good to read.

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

There’s nothing remotely funny about that.

99.9% of 7fters wouldn’t be difference makers on the perimeter in today’s game. That’s why guards/wings call for switches on them above the arc, and this is the era with the most versatile defensive bigs. Dream would struggle to defend someone like Luka on an island. He used to have difficulties with less skillful guards/wings, and he didn’t even regularly defend above the arc like that.

Go figure.

 

[ISO]

I think this is just our age difference. You gen z fans are used to a bunch of 6'10 6'11 centers starting for every team now and think that is the traditional size.
In my day people that size were power forwards. and most bigs were 7ft +

Dude he’s 7 feet

He’s 6’11 in barefoot measurements, with sneakers he’s over 7 feet, 7’3 wingspan, he plays at 285-300 lb

How tf is he undersized you’re gassing bigs back then too

 

[ISO]

His QRREWQTWQ, LGBTQ123, and his TEYWJRBA are all the highest in the League

Stop hating!!!

I’m crying because there’s an advanced stat called LEBRON

 

[BucciMane]

Shameful posting.

 

[holidayinn21]

Spurs got whatever they wanted against him

Wemby guarded him down the stretch

Fat boy switching on to Chris Paul

Embarassing

 

[Nero Christ]

Spurs got whatever they wanted against him

Wemby guarded him down the stretch

Fat boy switching on to Chris Paul

Embarassing

And Wemby had 5 fouls too...didn't run from that shyt

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

Spurs got whatever they wanted against him

Wemby guarded him down the stretch

Fat boy switching on to Chris Paul

Embarassing

Ain't nothing to say tonight, you bytch ass nxgga?