How about Jokic's defense?

[dankok8]

People are rightfully salivating about the offense but he's quietly had a very strong defensive finals. Quick hands caused a lot of deflections and led to a ton of steals and he did a terrific job using his size to vertically contest shots. He's no DPOY but he's been very good on defense.

Thoughts?

[FultzNationRISE]

Yeah. Basically when he’s the last guy to beat it’s an easy basket because he doesnt even try to contest, it’s part of their strategy to have him avoid foul trouble at all costs. But when a Nugs defender is guarding someone down in the paint and Jokic is around, it seems opponents miss an inordinate amount of shots near the basket, even if Jokic doesnt directly block them. And he also prevents a lot of offensive rebounds which in itself is a form of defense.

So yeah, the idea he’s a big negative defensively is erroneous. He’s not a dominant man defender but he appears to be a very effective team defender.

[tontoz]

Yeah the narrative about him being a bad defender is just nonsense. They held Miami under 100 pts 4 times and that couldn't happen if he was a bad defender. He is very active and knows where he is supposed to be. He isn't jumping for fakes or making dumb fouls. And he is a beast on the defensive boards.

Bam had a TS of 50.4% for the series which is embarrassing for a big.

[Carbine]

I think he was their most impactful defender this post season.

[j3lademaster]

The narrative that Jokic is a bad defender came from the Nugget's loss to the Warriors last year. But it's not like Jokic was hunted because he can't defend, but the Nuggets had nothing else outside of him so if you make him work and constantly attack him you will come out on top. Okay, replace Jokic with a superior defender: Embiid? Gobert? They're all going to get put into switches the same way, and Steph was going to cook them.

[basketballcat]

DOMINANT :violin:

[Full Court]

Agree. I was impressed by his defense. Really, the whole team stepped up on defense.

[theman93]

His defense was absolutely stellar.

https://i.ibb.co/BL0d2Xc/jokicdefense.png

[dankok8]

His defense was absolutely stellar.

https://i.ibb.co/BL0d2Xc/jokicdefense.png

He isn't a Giannis level defender but holy he's been even better than I thought. Jokic actually played great not just good defense.