Why is there silence after another Jokic embarrassing defeat?

[LockoutSeason]

His lack of rim protection kills his team. He should play with another 7 footer in a twin towers lineup.

[levon]

Didn't read the last 14 pages but honestly he didn't play like the best in the world and was largely deferential. He also looks too heavy again. I really don't think it's a coincidence that his 2023 run was immaculate but that he's seeing substantial efficiency drops in the playoffs since. He needs to slim down again in his 30s if he wants to maintain two-way stamina.

And specifically in the Finland game, they cooked him play after play in space. It seemed like 8/10 times Finland went at him in the 4th, they scored.

[ImmortalD24]

Prime Tim Duncan/KG/Dirk/Webber and even Sheed would cook him. I’d love to see what his brothers would do with Sheed.

[LockoutSeason]

Prime Tim Duncan/KG/Dirk/Webber and even Sheed would cook him. I’d love to see what his brothers would do with Sheed.

And he would cook the hell out of all of them. Jokic bros ain’t losing sleep over no damn Rasheed Wallace.

[maverick_41]

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?

No, we are silent because we stand for Nikola today just as we did yesterday. In Slavic culture it's ok to stay loyal. Yesterday you won a championship, the day before yesterday you came back from 3-1 deficit twice, today you did the best you could but it was different outcome - it's ok, we still proud. Have you ever seen fans in Belgrade? The teams don't win a lot these days internationally, but Zvezda and Partizan fans are always supportive.

Kirilenko is a good example of such approach. We are grateful for 2007 Eurobasket and a handful of remarkable seasons for Utah and CSKA. 99% of people don't talk about lost Euroleague finals or NBA injuries and early playoff exits. We all have bad days at work. Andrei represented the country, cared about winning, even won accolades - very good memories, thank you.

If Nikola is no longer allowed to play NBA because he lost to Finland in August, he is welcome in Moscow.

[Optms]

Prime Tim Duncan/KG/Dirk/Webber and even Sheed would cook him. I’d love to see what his brothers would do with Sheed.

And he would cook the hell out of all of them. Jokic bros ain’t losing sleep over no damn Rasheed Wallace.

If he can get punked by a 6'4 Caruso, Sheed, Duncan and especially KG would cook him. Nice try.

[MavsDirk41]

Prime Tim Duncan/KG/Dirk/Webber and even Sheed would cook him. I’d love to see what his brothers would do with Sheed.

And he would cook the hell out of all of them. Jokic bros ain’t losing sleep over no damn Rasheed Wallace.

If he can get punked by a 6'4 Caruso, Sheed, Duncan and especially KG would cook him. Nice try.

You might be too young but Dirk cooked Garnett and the Timberwolves in the 02 playoffs. I think Jokic would get his against Garnett. Wallace as well. Duncan would be the best defender of those three against Jokic.

[SpurNani]

His lack of rim protection kills his team. He should play with another 7 footer in a twin towers lineup.

A spacing rim protecting big guy like Porzingis would’ve been interesting

Jokics rim protection is a massive issue but he also cant defend in space, as we saw against Finland.

As Jok gets older and fatter, it will become even worse. And he tends to preserve energy for only offense during the regular season.

[SpurNani]

Didn't read the last 14 pages but honestly he didn't play like the best in the world and was largely deferential. He also looks too heavy again. I really don't think it's a coincidence that his 2023 run was immaculate but that he's seeing substantial efficiency drops in the playoffs since. He needs to slim down again in his 30s if he wants to maintain two-way stamina.

And specifically in the Finland game, they cooked him play after play in space. It seemed like 8/10 times Finland went at him in the 4th, they scored.

Great post and i share your concerns about his weight in his 30s as he ages .

Its well known Jokic loves himself a drink or 5. Needs to change his habits as he ages

[Raps in 4]

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.

By several, do you mean two? 33 year-old Bogdan Bogdanovic and end-of-bench superstar Nikola Topic.

[Ruma85]

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.

By several, do you mean two? 33 year-old Bogdan Bogdanovic and end-of-bench superstar Nikola Topic.

There's Jovic & Vukcevic

[SpurNani]

They have several

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

By several, do you mean two? 33 year-old Bogdan Bogdanovic and end-of-bench superstar Nikola Topic.

There's Jovic & Vukcevic

Lmao nice try Raps in 4

Btw I have u on my ignore but it was funny seeing you get debunked again.

[Ruma85]

By several, do you mean two? 33 year-old Bogdan Bogdanovic and end-of-bench superstar Nikola Topic.

There's Jovic & Vukcevic

Lmao nice try Raps in 4

Btw I have u on my ignore but it was funny seeing you get debunked again.

What, I'm I wrong?

[Johnny Firpo]

I’d love to see what his brothers would do with Sheed.

Since one of his brothers is/was an MMA fighter, I imagine he could kill him, if he wanted to, but why does this matter in a basketball discussion?

[Optms]

And he would cook the hell out of all of them. Jokic bros ain’t losing sleep over no damn Rasheed Wallace.

If he can get punked by a 6'4 Caruso, Sheed, Duncan and especially KG would cook him. Nice try.

You might be too young but Dirk cooked Garnett and the Timberwolves in the 02 playoffs. I think Jokic would get his against Garnett. Wallace as well. Duncan would be the best defender of those three against Jokic.

Dirk never got cooked by a 6'4 guard tho.

[DimesandKnicks]

And he would cook the hell out of all of them. Jokic bros ain’t losing sleep over no damn Rasheed Wallace.

If he can get punked by a 6'4 Caruso, Sheed, Duncan and especially KG would cook him. Nice try.

You might be too young but Dirk cooked Garnett and the Timberwolves in the 02 playoffs. I think Jokic would get his against Garnett. Wallace as well. Duncan would be the best defender of those three against Jokic.

Garnet was not the primary defender on Dirk

[UcanUwill]

Jokic is lazy on defense.

Today, NBA fans hypothesize about how many more titles Shaq would have won if he cared more about keeping himself in shape.

In the future, basketball fans will ask how much more successful Jokic could have been if he actually played defense.

I think the opposite end of the court will be debated as a reserve not fully used. How much better Jokic can be on defense with his physical profile, he does as best as he could, he is far from lazy, dude often leads the league in deflections, among leaders in steals as a big. On offense tho, even tho he is all time great offensive player, it feels that he could score far more points if he just wanted, but he just refuses to do that, cause he does not want to do that. And that is the backlog that might be debated with Jokic.

[SpurNani]

There's Jovic & Vukcevic

Lmao nice try Raps in 4

Btw I have u on my ignore but it was funny seeing you get debunked again.

What, I'm I wrong?

No, you're absolutely right. I was referring to the poster you quoted.

[maverick_41]

If he can get punked by a 6'4 Caruso, Sheed, Duncan and especially KG would cook him. Nice try.

You might be too young but Dirk cooked Garnett and the Timberwolves in the 02 playoffs. I think Jokic would get his against Garnett. Wallace as well. Duncan would be the best defender of those three against Jokic.

Dirk never got cooked by a 6'4 guard tho.

The smaller defenders did better against Dirk than prototypical power forwards of his generations. If a quick hands guard gives you problem away from the basket it's coach's job to rearrange the offense and put you in position to use your advantages.

As for the defense. Well, Dirk wasn't the best defender to put it mildly. But team defense solved a lot of issues back in the day. The best example of course involved brilliant Tyson Chandler but even with Dampier/Diop duo it was ok (plus a variery of strong forwards). Put Nikola in those juggernaut Mavericks teams instead of Dirk and he would look very nice.

[Raps in 4]

By several, do you mean two? 33 year-old Bogdan Bogdanovic and end-of-bench superstar Nikola Topic.

There's Jovic & Vukcevic

Lmao nice try Raps in 4

Btw I have u on my ignore but it was funny seeing you get debunked again.

Jovic and Vukcevic. NBA superstars.