Jokic's Year So Far

[NuggetsWY]

I was feeling like Jokic's not having as good a year as last year - not sure why, just my perception. So I went to look at his statistics. From what I can see, his stats seem to be almost as good as last year's stats, even a little better than last year's stats in most areas. Now I am far from an expert in advanced metrics, but they seem to show that for both offense & defense, Jokic's on court time seems to show he is less significant this year than last year - maybe that just means they depend on him less because others have stepped up a little more.

Then again, maybe I just expected a bigger improvement - forgetting that teams are more prepared to play against Jokic this year than they were last year. And/or perhaps Malone's offensive & defensive schemes have affected Jokic's play.

Regardless of why I think he's not having as good a year as last year - statistics seem to say my perception is wrong.

[Mickey8]

He was legit 19,20 points scorer per game ,from the moment he was promoted to the starting C , he also averaged 5,6 assists per game , had six triple doubles . Its shame that he's relegated to the fifth, sixth option on the team, even though he's the most talented offensive player on this team, he should have green light every game , in order to gain respects from the refs he must be featured on the offense, draw the fouls etc. That's how all the big stars in the league are operating . He's having much weaker currents season, even though he's double double player, and its mostly because of the coaching decision, running away from Jokic offense from the last season, moving him to PF position etc. I think his talent is being wasted big time so far this season.

[skywalker33]

Fifth or sixth option....yeah, right, Doesn't have a green light to shoot ???

I think we're all expecting to see more triple doubles from Joker, at least I have been. Also, his game has been viewed as lessened by the noticeable development of Harris's, Lyle's and Murray's games. I am certainly not worried because I see him as a true team player who cares less about personal stats and more about team success. Would I like to see him be more aggressive with his own game and start out the gate faster ??? You betcha but I think he's fine.

[NuggetsWY]

Under Malone's current system, I think his system is basically everyone run in half circles over the top of the key passing the ball without using picks very well. The result leaves a tie for 1st option: anyone on the court. The 2nd option appears to be anyone that's not on the court and the 3rd option is to hope the other team accidentally puts the ball through our hoop.

And yes, I realize there is no "green" for 1st option.

[skywalker33]

I have a hard time believing most any Nuggets are restricted on shooting (Lord knows I've see Barton bomb away when his shot is off w/o being yanked). I feel our starters are given the green light to shoot any shot, although many are to just beat the clock. I feel most are looking to pass to get that better shot but some, like Joker see to pass too much sometimes, looking to pass rather than take that open shot hoping for a better shot that doesn't always come to fruition.

As I've stated before, I'd love to see Joker be more aggressive, especially in the post as well as see Harris get his 20+ shots as well. Murray is still developing his consistency but he is averaging nearly 16ppg (I still think he'll get his 17+ppg by years end) so he's easily shown he's not restricted either.

[NuggetsWY]

I have a hard time believing most any Nuggets are restricted on shooting (Lord knows I've see Barton bomb away when his shot is off w/o being yanked). I feel our starters are given the green light to shoot any shot, although many are to just beat the clock. I feel most are looking to pass to get that better shot but some, like Joker see to pass too much sometimes, looking to pass rather than take that open shot hoping for a better shot that doesn't always come to fruition.

As I've stated before, I'd love to see Joker be more aggressive, especially in the post as well as see Harris get his 20+ shots as well. Murray is still developing his consistency but he is averaging nearly 16ppg (I still think he'll get his 17+ppg by years end) so he's easily shown he's not restricted either.

I'm huge on Murray but he still needs time. I'd love to see Jokic & Harris both taking close to or over 20 shots per game also.

It's frustrating to watch everyone trying to pass and ignoring shots (even Barton sometimes). If you are open and it's a shot you can make, take it! (Not if you think you can make it, but if statistics show you are consistent from that range/spot).

Being less aggressive doesn't help the team much. This is displayed not only on over-passing/not taking shots, but on too many rebounds we can watch Nuggets near the ball not move and the other team gets the ball. We need some junk-yard dogs that go after the ball every time and take every open shot. Did you watch Gerald Green last night? What was that, his 5th game with Houston and he launched 3-after-3-after-3. He played defense as if he was going to rip the jersey off his opponent and he crashed the paint like a wild man. That's the attitude some of the Nuggets need. Very few superstars are "nice guys" on the court. We need less polite and more attitude.

[TooBad]

I have a hard time believing most any Nuggets are restricted on shooting (Lord knows I've see Barton bomb away when his shot is off w/o being yanked). I feel our starters are given the green light to shoot any shot, although many are to just beat the clock. I feel most are looking to pass to get that better shot but some, like Joker see to pass too much sometimes, looking to pass rather than take that open shot hoping for a better shot that doesn't always come to fruition.

As I've stated before, I'd love to see Joker be more aggressive, especially in the post as well as see Harris get his 20+ shots as well. Murray is still developing his consistency but he is averaging nearly 16ppg (I still think he'll get his 17+ppg by years end) so he's easily shown he's not restricted either.

I'm huge on Murray but he still needs time. I'd love to see Jokic & Harris both taking close to or over 20 shots per game also.

It's frustrating to watch everyone trying to pass and ignoring shots (even Barton sometimes). If you are open and it's a shot you can make, take it! (Not if you think you can make it, but if statistics show you are consistent from that range/spot).

Being less aggressive doesn't help the team much. This is displayed not only on over-passing/not taking shots, but on too many rebounds we can watch Nuggets near the ball not move and the other team gets the ball. We need some junk-yard dogs that go after the ball every time and take every open shot. Did you watch Gerald Green last night? What was that, his 5th game with Houston and he launched 3-after-3-after-3. He played defense as if he was going to rip the jersey off his opponent and he crashed the paint like a wild man. That's the attitude some of the Nuggets need. Very few superstars are "nice guys" on the court. We need less polite and more attitude.

I think his consistency issues are from trying to get his teammates involved too much. Him and the Nuggets are much better when he looks for his shot first. When he's aggressive it opens up everything.

[kololoco]

I haven't seen his last two games, but what I missed so far this season were the flashy passes. I felt like he enjoyed the game less, and was playing a more basic, still effective though, brand of basketball. But in the highlights of last two games almost all assists are beuties, and not just regular handoffs so I was wondering do you guys see the change in attitude or is it just a small sample size. I got addicted to Jokic passes and was really missing my daily dose most of this season so it was very nice to get that last season feeling again:)

[NuggetsWY]

I haven't seen his last two games, but what I missed so far this season were the flashy passes. I felt like he enjoyed the game less, and was playing a more basic, still effective though, brand of basketball. But in the highlights of last two games almost all assists are beuties, and not just regular handoffs so I was wondering do you guys see the change in attitude or is it just a small sample size. I got addicted to Jokic passes and was really missing my daily dose most of this season so it was very nice to get that last season feeling again:)

Perhaps part of the problem is the defenses are playing him, assuming he's going to pass and that removes some of his flashy passes. But I would submit that the biggest change is Malone has changed the offense from Jokic-centric to something closer to a weave involving more players. So Jokic still gets a reasonable number of opportunities, just not as many as last year. Pass-wise, I think he's adjusted well; scoring-wise, I think he needs to be more aggressive.

[The Rebel]

Teams are sagging off Plumlee leaving an extra guy around the paint. Last year with Faried he would occasionally hit that little 15 footer and a 6-8 foot hook shot so they could not drop off of him to much, with Plumlee those are not even options. It is killing the passes to the cutters and Jokic's low post game.

The other thing that you notice is that teams all sag off their guys more heavily when Barton gets the ball, Barton could get 15 assists a night with the way teams leave guys wide open the minute it is in his hands, which tells you they don't think he is going to pass the ball.

Add those both up and it is going to affect Jokic, it will limit his nice interior passes and his interior game, and lack of touches is going to limit his ability to create for others. Jokic is smart enough to know to quit shooting when his shot is off so he will shoot less, but then he has limited opportunity to score and gather assists.

[The Rebel]

https://m.gazette.com/paul-klee-time-for-nikola-jokics-denver-nuggets-to-make-run-vs.-favorable-schedule/article/1618715

A Klee article on Jokic, sounds like he and Malone still have a pretty good relationship despite some people's speculation.

[MidMountain]

https://m.gazette.com/paul-klee-time-for-nikola-jokics-denver-nuggets-to-make-run-vs.-favorable-schedule/article/1618715

A Klee article on Jokic, sounds like he and Malone still have a pretty good relationship despite some people's speculation.

Adam Mares mentioned on his podcast (https://www.denverstiffs.com/2018/1/9/16867356/the-joker-strikes-back) that Malone and Jokic had a meeting in Malone's hotel room before the GSW game in which Malone checked in with Jokic as both a player and as a person. Jokic spoke very highly of Malone and the meeting when asked about it. Their relationship sounds very positive to me too!

[NuggetsWY]

https://m.gazette.com/paul-klee-time-for-nikola-jokics-denver-nuggets-to-make-run-vs.-favorable-schedule/article/1618715

A Klee article on Jokic, sounds like he and Malone still have a pretty good relationship despite some people's speculation.

Adam Mares mentioned on his podcast (https://www.denverstiffs.com/2018/1/9/16867356/the-joker-strikes-back) that Malone and Jokic had a meeting in Malone's hotel room before the GSW game in which Malone checked in with Jokic as both a player and as a person. Jokic spoke very highly of Malone and the meeting when asked about it. Their relationship sounds very positive to me too!

None of this surprises me. I suspect Malone is great in dealing with most players. I just am not impressed with his offensive & defensive schemes and/or teaching ability. I'm just not sure if it's his schemes or his ability to teach them. Oops, I also am not impressed with his in-game decisions like rotations and out-of-bounds plays. Maybe he's make a great Player Personnel Coach.

[kololoco]

Jokic is in a major shooting slump last 8 games. With the last game he has shot 20.69% on threes, but even if we take out the 8-0 shooting day he is still just 28.57% in 7 games. And his fg% is not much better, he has had only 2 games above 50% in the last 8 (including 4 of 6 shooting against Phoenix), with 2 games at 40 and 45%, and 4 games below 40%. I think he is too solid of a shooter to continue being in this slump for too long, but the coaching staff should do something about his confidence.

[THE J0KER]

I will say this here, about a subject which many people mentioned lately on other threads about Jokic. It is fake dilemma should max Jokic or not. If Jokic does not receive a max offer from Denver, he will get it from many other teams for sure, even if his numbers suddenly drops to his rookie season stats! He played on the TOP20 level at 21 for months and the whole league notices it. Also, I think many here cannot distinguish supermax and max deal. Jokic is still not qualified to get supermax deal, $40M per season which we see this summer in cases of Westbrook, Curry, Wall, Harden... his max is $30M per season contract where Denver will have an advantage if matching every offer. So the max deal for Jokic doesn't mean supermax 5/200 but 4/120 or 5/150 type of deal. If Jokic signs for example 4/120 max deal, in 2022 he will be able to sign that bigger supermax deal. I guess there will be 10+ teams which would offer Jokic with max contract (x$30M), and two teams which I'm 99% sure is Brooklyn and Sacramento. This two teams rebuilding but still don't have a player around which to rebuild the team, and they so desperately need some at least TOP50 player that they offered max offer to Washington Otto Porter this summer. Also, Sacramento GM is former Serbian all-around center Vlade Divac which very like European all-around centers and he already tried in 2016 to trade Cousins for Jokic. So question is not give Jokic max or not, but keep Jokic or not (and x$30M max offer is the only price), otherwise, it is actually better to trade him if Denver FO can't see future with Jokic, and at least get some good players and future picks for player with TOP20 value on market right now.

[U hova]

Both the Nuggets and Misko know what Jokic is. He isn't getting anything less than the Max.

[thr3ep01nte4]

Teams have adjusted their defense to him and force him to attack. However, he has been somehow reluctant to do that and stick to facilitating. And that results to him throwing a lot of interceptions. Recently, 10 against the Wolves, 5 against the Kings. He's a smart player, no doubt that he will readjust and take what the defense gives him.

[eathb_au]

We're just not a good team for as long we keep insisting with playing most of his minutes with Plumlee or out of the position. He's legitimately just a roleplayer when he's not a center.

I know Millsap's injury sets us back but we can stay afloat and don't have to struggle all the time if we just start Faried or Lyles and use a backup center as a backup center (rather than pretending he is Rudy Gobert).

[THE J0KER]

Here are all 13 Jokic matches in past 4 weeks (since December 20) with pts-reb-ast stats vs 2017-18 playoff level teams:

@SA 23-9-7
MEM CENSORED
ATL CENSORED
@GS 22-12-11
@SAC CENSORED
UTA CENSORED
PHO CENSORED
PHI 19-13-6
@MIN 22-9-4
UTA CENSORED
@GS 18-9-4
@POR 27-9-6
MIN 22-6-4

So he averaging 22-10-6 in 7 matches vs playoff teams, but just 11ppg in 6 matches vs crap opponents!?

Sorry Nikola if you think I will praise your "I'm best vs best" immature attitudes which I can only understand when it comes from NBA rookies. But I think he will stop with this issue immediately now, because LA Clippers is back, so a playoff spot is not secured for Denver anymore like it looked just 10-15 days ago. Don't make me wrong, there is nothing bad when very motivated young player overperforming vs better opponents but in last 4 weeks Nikola is not overperforming vs best NBA (playoff level) teams, but he clearly underperforming vs worst teams. Of course, fact that coach Malone much more experimenting in matches vs bad teams also should be partly blamed for this.

[spree8]

Just out of curiosity, Jokic is an UFA in 2019 correct? I know you can offer the most because of Bird rights, but Denver doesn’t have the option to match (and keep him) if he were to sign with another team right?