Jokic has to be the modern leader in “Just be glad he caught it” passes.

[Kblaze8855]

Magic is my lifetimes leader in “Can’t blame him for missing. He didn’t expect you to teleport the ball there to begin with” passes with Jason Williams a honorable mention. It’s not really a best passer thing. It’s arguable guys like Mark Jackson and even wizards like Jason Kidd didn’t have as many as prime Jwill maybe since fewer of theirs were in the half court. People expect the ball when they trail such guys on the break. But Magic and Jwill would just pull some madness out of their ******* and catch you sleeping….















https://thumbs.gfycat.com/InbornIncompleteHectorsdolphin-size_restricted.gif






and some wouldn’t get converted because guys wouldn’t expect it.



Jokic has a lot of that because he too is a half court guy(not that he can’t do it on the move).


The modern “Head on a swivel” guy being Greg Osterteg size might not be appreciated enough.




https://thumbs.gfycat.com/DefiantTameChipmunk-size_restricted.gif

[FultzNationRISE]

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/DefiantTameChipmunk-size_restricted.gif


:biggums:

Jesus Cripes.

[Kblaze8855]

Yea he’s pretty insane. I’m not sure it’s a gift or a curse at times with guys like that. When you don’t know who you’re ****ing with its:



https://thumbs.gfycat.com/ImportantSnarlingIbex-size_restricted.gif






But after a while…..


https://thumbs.gfycat.com/AmbitiousEvilHeterodontosaurus-size_restricted.gif




https://thumbs.gfycat.com/PastelBlandAngelfish-size_restricted.gif









I remember a story about Magic telling some new teammate who he bounced a ball off of that he was gonna hit him in the face with it every time till he learned to look for it.

[FultzNationRISE]

In some ways you cant even blame guys for getting caught up spectating crazy stuff like that.

But like you said, guys gotta learn to stay focused one way or another :lol

[Kblaze8855]

How many all time assists have never made it into career highlight reels because the guy on the receiving end didn’t even know what was happening and threw up some bullshit like:





https://thumbs.gfycat.com/HairySpectacularJumpingbean-size_restricted.gif





?

[tpols]

:biggums:

Jesus Cripes.

:roll:

That's some serious "glitch in the matrix" level anticipation.

[Phoenix]

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/DefiantTameChipmunk-size_restricted.gif

:biggums:

[tpols]

How many all time assists have never made it into career highlight reels because the guy on the receiving end didn’t even know what was happening and threw up some bullshit like:





https://thumbs.gfycat.com/HairySpectacularJumpingbean-size_restricted.gif





?

The genius and timing to throw so accurately in such a small window of time and space isn't going to be comprehendable to the average recipient. Its no wonder they are taken by shock the ball is suddenly in their hands out of nowhere. And thus slightly hesitate on the shot as they momentarily ponder what just happened.

[FultzNationRISE]

Crazy thing is he can do that stuff while running the fast break too. This is from just last night:


https://youtu.be/H4ukeSocki8

Someone else - I think iamgine? - brought this up recently that it’s quite reasonable to suggest Joker is the best basketball player ever at this point. Not that he’s had the best NBA CAREER - but that he’s the best overall talent to ever play (when you include size as a factor in talent).

Now obviously it’s a slight exaggeration bc Lebron exists. But otherwise, it’s more and more believable by the day.

[Phoenix]

Just from a passing POV I'd love to see Magic in today's league. He was threading the needle 35 years ago when everyone was packed in the paint. Now the court is spaced out and everyone heads to the 3point line? Shiiiit.....

Alot of people have been using the Luka/Bird comparison but to me Joker is more along the lines of what Larry Legend would look like in 2022.

[FultzNationRISE]

Just from a passing POV I'd love to see Magic in today's league. He was threading the needle 35 years ago when everyone was packed in the paint. Now the court is spaced out and everyone heads to the 3point line? Shiiiit.....

Alot of people have been using the Luka/Bird comparison but to me Joker is more along the lines of what Larry Legend would look like in 2022.


You can.





https://c.tenor.com/0FJXHNr44f4AAAAC/lebron-james-wink.gif

[Kblaze8855]

He’s on a fairly short list of most skilled all around but there are too many others on that level who also had game breaking athletic ability….especially when defense is considered. The guys who are GOAT tier on both ends and have generational athletic ability(Jordan, Wilt, and Hakeem types) are hard to ignore on all around talent lists.

[FultzNationRISE]

Just from a passing POV I'd love to see Magic in today's league. He was threading the needle 35 years ago when everyone was packed in the paint. Now the court is spaced out and everyone heads to the 3point line? Shiiiit.....

Alot of people have been using the Luka/Bird comparison but to me Joker is more along the lines of what Larry Legend would look like in 2022.

He's like Bird in Moses Malone's body.

[FultzNationRISE]

He’s on a fairly short list of most skilled all around but there are too many others on that level who also had game breaking athletic ability….especially when defense is considered. The guys who are GOAT tier on both ends and have generational athletic ability(Jordan, Wilt, and Hakeem types) are hard to ignore on all around talent lists.

Yeah but those guys weren't stepping out and hitting threes. They weren't tossing supernatural cross-court passes regularly. (And obviously MJ wasn't anywhere near 7 feet).

Obviously it's not unreasonable to pick any of them if you're just choosing one. But I think it's also perfectly reasonable to pick Joker. To my mind he's as much on the short list as anyone. And I actually think Shaq also belongs on any short list as well. His brute force and notoriously dubious work ethic sometimes seems to overshadow how godly his combination of natural talents were. I think somehow he still gets underrated.

[CelticBaller]

keep your eyes on the ball

[tpols]

Yeah but those guys weren't stepping out and hitting threes. They weren't tossing supernatural cross-court passes regularly. (And obviously MJ wasn't anywhere near 7 feet).

Obviously it's not unreasonable to pick any of them if you're just choosing one. But I think it's also perfectly reasonable to pick Joker. To my mind he's as much on the short list as anyone. And I actually think Shaq also belongs on any short list as well. His brute force and notoriously dubious work ethic sometimes seems to overshadow how godly his combination of natural talents were. I think somehow he still gets underrated.

Hakeem also had... nowhere near Jokic or Bird level passing IQ. He was super skilled by himself. He didn't have Yoda level team awareness. Honestly, Jordan didn't either. He was smart and ferocious and skilled but he didn't have that meta awareness. Its almost impossible for a super athlete to have that as much as guys who had to build their whole games off it because they couldn't just rely on speed and leaping ability to dominate.

[Kblaze8855]

Of course they didn’t have modern 3 point game skill sets and were worse passers but he also isn’t one of the best defenders ever nor is his shooting allowing him to actually score more than they were.

He has a modern game and they played the game of their era. But defense is still half the game even if we don’t like acknowledging it.

The difference between ok defensive impact and being a top 5-10 all time defender is more significant than having more range.

Like I said he’s an all timer on offense but all timers on both ends have to go ahead I’d say from a straight up basketball standpoint.

[FireDavidKahn]

Yea he’s pretty insane. I’m not sure it’s a gift or a curse at times with guys like that. When you don’t know who you’re ****ing with its:



https://thumbs.gfycat.com/ImportantSnarlingIbex-size_restricted.gif






But after a while…..


https://thumbs.gfycat.com/AmbitiousEvilHeterodontosaurus-size_restricted.gif




https://thumbs.gfycat.com/PastelBlandAngelfish-size_restricted.gif









I remember a story about Magic telling some new teammate who he bounced a ball off of that he was gonna hit him in the face with it every time till he learned to look for it.

That first video was just whoring for an assist. He was going up for an OPEN lay up and decided to pull that shit:roll:

[imdaman99]

I actually had a discussion about Jokic with my rec team guys. Dudes in NY... talking about Jokic, can you imagine that? :lol He's far and away my MVP, and it's because he makes everyone around him better. He doesn't pound the ball, he sets up his teammates like no one else currently. If I was sure he would be a Nugget for life, I would get his jersey.

[Kblaze8855]

That first video was just whoring for an assist. He was going up for an OPEN lay up and decided to pull that shit:roll:


I don’t disagree he should have shot but I’m not sure guys like that saw it as assist whoring as much as just loving to pass and seeing the chance to do so. Just their nature more than a specific desire for the stat.

[Kblaze8855]

Not a pass but I’m gonna update this now and then with plays so I don’t have them build up in my collection till I know what to do with them…..








https://thumbs.gfycat.com/ClosedShallowArchaeocete-size_restricted.gif

[Kblaze8855]

I’m telling you…these guys miss a huge number of shots after these insane passes:

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/SillyKlutzyHoneycreeper-size_restricted.gif

[imdaman99]

I love how quickly he moves the ball and gets everyone involved. Doesn't dribble dribble dribble a lot or hold the ball for too long. I've played with the ball dominators and it sucks waiting for the ball and seeing if the ball dominator will finally pass you the ball or someone else.

[FultzNationRISE]

I’m telling you…these guys miss a huge number of shots after these insane passes:

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/SillyKlutzyHoneycreeper-size_restricted.gif


In that case I think it was more due to the difficult angle and contest on the shot rather than lack of expectation. But very creative feed nonetheless.

[Kblaze8855]

https://youtu.be/hdcRTsd58EA

[Kblaze8855]

For the life of me I don’t understand how everyone doesn’t appreciate how ****ing ridiculous that guy is. I saw a clip of Shaq showing him immense respect for his all-around game and fans were in the comments talking about great player, but so so boring. How?

when you actually play basketball, some of those plays he makes get the best reaction. At least from people actually involved in the game. Do these fans not remember how great it felt to have a moment of vision in the middle of a game and make plays like that and have everybody go crazy?

Do they not care anymore? Do 15-25 year olds only appreciate the iso situation?


I wasn’t like that at that age. I LOVED that Bird/Walton style of just tearing a team apart passing and Jokic and Bird do/did it in such a beautiful fashion. Not like it’s all timely bounce passes and “boring” fundamentals.

That guy plays like a Mark Jackson/Sabonis/Bird hybrid and I genuinely can’t understand not liking it. Is everything but a 40 inch vertical or carry hesi boring?

[BigShotBob]

I appreciate his passing ability but at some point in time people want to see more. The story of Jokic's career can't be "a great passing big with shooting touch but can never anchor a defense."

If it is then nobody is going to care.

Hakeem's blocks show more skill to them than Jokic's passes because Hakeem was a better defender than he was on offense (if anyone can actually believe that) and that's because Hakeem played handball/soccer and basketball wasn't even his first sport.

[jlip]

As I was watching this pass as it happened last night, I readily came to the conclusion that he is the best passer in the league right now and with all due respect to Walton and Sabonis, he is easily the best passing big man of all time.

It wasn't just a pass between the legs. It was the foresight, the fact that he had that figured out before he had even caught the ball. Those are true passing instincts that assist numbers can't adequately account for.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlxVS8pac2g

[Full Court]

I appreciate his passing ability but at some point in time people want to see more. The story of Jokic's career can't be "a great passing big with shooting touch but can never anchor a defense."

If it is then nobody is going to care.

Hakeem's blocks show more skill to them than Jokic's passes because Hakeem was a better defender than he was on offense (if anyone can actually believe that) and that's because Hakeem played handball/soccer and basketball wasn't even his first sport.

I have to agree. Jokic's mediocre defense is the only thing keeping him from Hakeem-level greatness.

[tontoz]

I've been on the Jokic bandwagon since the bubble. He used to be too passive but he started looking for his shot more in the playoffs and has continued to be more aggressive since then.

Freak player. Definitely reminds me of Bird with all the wtf plays he makes.

[Kblaze8855]

That guy plays like a Mark Jackson/Sabonis/Bird hybrid and I genuinely can’t understand not liking it. Is everything but a 40 inch vertical or carry hesi boring?


Now that he’s more prominent in public I can answer my own question……


Yes. Seems people do find everything but handles and dunks boring.

Even some of us here. People are genuinely bored watching Jokic. I don’t get it but I’ve always been weird I suppose. I didn’t get why people felt Duncan was boring. But Jokic on offense is like Duncan mixed with Nash and Dirk. I’m just not gonna see eye to eye with people on this issue I guess.