RealGM

So when Jokic can't get out of the second round in the NBA, his fans are quick to dissect and belittle/blame everybody around him for why a supposed top 10 player of all time can't win.

But what's the excuse for when Jokic and his heavily favored Serbian team can't even get out of the round of 16 in the EuroBasket?

Fiba is calling Serbias shocking loss to Finland the upset of the century. Finland has one active NBA player in Markkanen and he's empty stat tweener in the NBA.

Whats more disturbing about Serbia's loss was how it happened. Jokic was attacked relentlessly in the 4th qtr of the game, just as he was targeted in the Olympics against USA and in NBA playoffs. Nearly every big basket came at the expense of Jokic who some swear is above average NBA defender.

I am just wondering at what point do the excuses end and we start to question Jokic's impact on winning, not just putting up pretty stats. Former NBA player and Serbian national Darko Milicic stated that he knew the Serbian team was cooked as soon as Bogdan Bogdanović was injured. He states that the team can do without Jokic but not Bogdan Bogdanović. That's a pretty damming thing to say about a guy who is supposed to be the best player in the world and top 10 all time. https://www.basketballnetwork.net/international/darko-milicic-questions-nikola-jokics-impact-on-serbia-national-team

Meanwhile guys like Luka and Giannis who have way less talented teams have advanced further in the EuroBasket and they are carrying their teams. Even Luka is out there playing lock down defense in addition to scoring half of his teams points.

Can we finally call a spade a spade on what Jokic is and isn't?

Ok no problem

Sure. Let's call a spade a spade on what Jokic is...the current best player in the world.

Are we just trying to hate on something?

Another "Jon Voight Day" type thread I see. But seriously for some of you posters the Lebron/Jokic/Kobe obsession is not healthy. I can't imagine caring about any athletes (love or hate) that much.

Because no one cares about fiba as they should.

Who cares how well Luka did in fiba, he was awful last season.

He already was exposed by Caruso in game 7, when he was held scoreless in the second half of a game 7. As per these latest developments it seems Jokic is still recovering in shamble land.

Quattro wrote:Sure. Let's call a spade a spade on what Jokic is...the current best player in the world.

The current best player who can't get out the second round in NBA and can't lead his heavily favored national team past the round of 16 without Bogdan Bogdanovic

Woodsanity wrote:Because no one cares about fiba as they should.

Correct answer.

OP trying to get ahead of his skis and wants Wemby to best the best C in the league already.

Woodsanity wrote:Because no one cares about fiba as they should.

Who cares how well Luka did in fiba, he was awful last season.

Jokic actually cares more about playing for his country than he does playing for Denver. So yeah he was out there trying his hardest and it wasn't good enough.

By the logic in this thread I guess Lauri is the new best player in the world.

Does serbia have a 2nd nba player on their roster?

MrBigShot wrote:Does serbia have a 2nd nba player on their roster?

They have several

They literally were so stacked they cut lottery pick Nikola Topic from the team.

Sorry to burst your bubble but most people here don't care about international basketball. What happens in Eurobasket is irrelevant to the NBA

Optms wrote:He already was exposed by Caruso in game 7, when he was held scoreless in the second half of a game 7. As per these latest developments it seems Jokic is still recovering in shamble land.

I like Luka but how many times has Luka been “exposed” defensively lol?

There's already a thread about Eurobasket where this was discussed quite a bit by the posters who watch the tournament. Obviously people who don't care about FIBA games when USA doesn't play (the majority of the board) don't care about this either unless they are pathological haters of a specific player.

SpurNani wrote:Finland has one active NBA player in Markkanen and he's empty stat tweener in the NBA.

Not interested in the Jokic hate agenda, others can address that if they want. But Markkanen isn't empty stats, he's just stuck on a terrible team.

And no one cares about "tweener" anymore in the era of positionless basketball.

Woodsanity wrote:Because no one cares about fiba as they should.

Who cares how well Luka did in fiba, he was awful last season.

But, but, but...people told me FIBA is real basketball and it is 20x harder to score in FIBA than NBA?

Not sure if you can blame the guy eho put 33/8/3 in that game. Guduric pulled a Kobe vs the Pistons and shoot them out of them game in the last minutes with 3 or 4 missed threes in a row.

That probably doesn't happen, if Bogi stays healthy

One and done tournaments have wonky results sometimes. Best not to over extrapolate from them…but haters gotta hate somehow, someway.