Jokic is the 4th best player of all time

[ImKobe]

Whether it was good or not is debatable. But saying he got shut down is nonsense. He still led the team in scoring and assists as usual.

They weren't winning that game with Gordon and MPJ playing with injuries that would keep them out in the regular season.

This is pure delusion.

A guy who averaged a 30-pt triple-double got held to 20 points and 7 assists with 5 turnovers, and you're saying it's DEBATABLE whether he was good? He wasn't shut down even though he only got 1 shot attempt up in the 2nd half? Ok buddy.

[tontoz]

This is pure delusion.

A guy who averaged a 30-pt triple-double got held to 20 points and 7 assists with 5 turnovers, and you're saying it's DEBATABLE whether he was good? He wasn't shut down even though he only got 1 shot attempt up in the 2nd half? Ok buddy.

It was a blowout so he didn't score in the 4th. 20 pts through 3 quarters with a 72% TS is not bad. The 4th quarter was just garbage time. They were down 25 after 3. If the game was competitive then he surely would have kept scoring and been close to his average.

Jokic led the team in scoring and assists. He had a 72% TS while the rest of the team had a TS of 47% but lets pretend that Jokic got shut down.

[SouBeachTalents]

It was a blowout so he didn't score in the 4th. 20 pts through 3 quarters with a 72% TS is not bad. The 4th quarter was just garbage time. They were down 25 after 3. If the game was competitive then he surely would have kept scoring and been close to his average.

Jokic led the team in scoring and assists. He had a 72% TS while the rest of the team had a TS of 47% but lets pretend that Jokic got shut down.

That's the same guy who I'm sure would insist Kobe's 6/24 was a good game

[ImKobe]

It was a blowout so he didn't score in the 4th. 20 pts through 3 quarters with a 72% TS is not bad. The 4th quarter was just garbage time. They were down 25 after 3. If the game was competitive then he surely would have kept scoring and been close to his average.

Jokic led the team in scoring and assists. He had a 72% TS while the rest of the team had a TS of 47% but lets pretend that Jokic got shut down.

He did next to nothing in the 3rd as well bro. 1 shot. They were down 14 at the half, the game was well within reach.

OKC shut him down which means they shut the Denver offense down as they denied him the ball and took it out of his hands when he did have it, thus a team that's overly reliant on one guy could not produce any offense to keep up.

[ImKobe]

That's the same guy who I'm sure would insist Kobe's 6/24 was a good game

It wasn't a good game overall, but Kobe at least finished strong and played great defense. In Jokic's case he did next to nothing after 2 quarters, couldn't adjust his game.

[tontoz]

He did next to nothing in the 3rd as well bro. 1 shot. They were down 14 at the half, the game was well within reach.

OKC shut him down which means they shut the Denver offense down as they denied him the ball and took it out of his hands when he did have it, thus a team that's overly reliant on one guy could not produce any offense to keep up.

Exactly. Joker's teammates were so inept (or injured) that they couldn't make OKC pay for swarming Jokic. The idea that Caruso shut down Jokic is nonsense. He was just the one trying to deny him the ball. He got plenty of help once they passed to Jokic.

That doesn't mean Jokic played bad. What it really means is that he was the only guy OKC was worried about. Their plan was to force everyone else to beat them and it obviously worked.

Ordinarily swarming Jokic is suicidal because he can pick the defense apart with his passing. But Gordon couldn't move without the ball, Porter couldn't make a shot and Murray wasnt bubble Murray. Who was going to make them pay, Russ?

[ImKobe]

Exactly. Joker's teammates were so inept (or injured) that they couldn't make OKC pay for swarming Jokic. The idea that Caruso shut down Jokic is nonsense. He was just the one trying to deny him the ball. He got plenty of help once they passed to Jokic.

That doesn't mean Jokic played bad. What it really means is that he was the only guy OKC was worried about. Their plan was to force everyone else to beat them and it obviously worked.

Ordinarily swarming Jokic is suicidal because he can pick the defense apart with his passing. But Gordon couldn't move without the ball, Porter couldn't make a shot and Murray wasnt bubble Murray. Who was going to make them pay, Russ?

It's ok brother he did not play a good game. Every defense is worried about the opposing team's best player. OKC figured it out and Jokic and the Nuggets didn't have a counter for the defense they were up against. He has his limitations as a big man and they fully exploited it.

[tontoz]

It's ok brother he did not play a good game. Every defense is worried about the opposing team's best player. OKC figured it out and Jokic and the Nuggets didn't have a counter for the defense they were up against. He has his limitations as a big man and they fully exploited it.

Lol they exploited the fact that MPJ and Gordon were playing with injuries they would never play with during the regular season.

Why didn't they " exploit" Jokic before Gordon pulled his hamstring?

[highwhey]

Lol they exploited the fact that MPJ and Gordon were playing with injuries they would never play with during the regular season.

Why didn't they " exploit" Jokic before Gordon pulled his hamstring?

What do his teammates injuries have to do with jokic having a bad game 7? more defensive attention? but he's a superstar

[ImKobe]

Lol they exploited the fact that MPJ and Gordon were playing with injuries they would never play with during the regular season.

Why didn't they " exploit" Jokic before Gordon pulled his hamstring?

Jokic had 3 other sub-par games in that series and Gordon was healthy then. Game 7 wasn't even his worst.

[tontoz]

What do his teammates injuries have to do with jokic having a bad game 7? more defensive attention? but he's a superstar

He dropped 40 not once but twice against the top ranked defense in the league. How many stars have done that?

Two of their top 4 players were playing injured. Of course that allows OKC to focus more on Jokic. However they waited to see how limited Gordon really was before really swarming Jokic.

No star ever is going to score a lot against double and triple teams.

For the series MPJ averaged 7 ppg with a 42% TS. Even with that they still pushed a 68 win team to 7 games.

[tontoz]

Jokic had 3 other sub-par games in that series and Gordon was healthy then. Game 7 wasn't even his worst.

So what are you trying to say? I thought we were talking about OKC " exploiting" Jokic in game 7. What weaknesses did they exploit?

Jokic averaged 28/14 on the series. Does that look like the stats of someone who was "exploited?

Why was a 68 win team taken to 7 games against a 50 win team while they were exploiting Jokic?

[Baller234]

Jesus, the level of delusion is really sad.

Being a fan of an athlete doesn't mean you have to go GOAT or bust. It's okay to be a fan of a guy and be honest about where he stands historically.

I think it's a combination of everyone needing to feel like they witnessed something historic, on top of stat dorks like Bill Simmons and the new school of game analysts who boil everything down to numbers and figures. They had these guys thinking Joker was better than he really was.

[StrongLurk]

So what are you trying to say? I thought we were talking about OKC " exploiting" Jokic in game 7. What weaknesses did they exploit?

Jokic averaged 28/14 on the series. Does that look like the stats of someone who was "exploited?

Why was a 68 win team taken to 7 games against a 50 win team while they were exploiting Jokic?

Tontoz has been hitting everyone with logical takes that are actually based on reality.

People in this thread are desperate to hate on Jokic, but Jokic has an excellent series considering it was against the best defense in a long time AND he was vastly outmatched on team talent/depth.

[ImKobe]

So what are you trying to say? I thought we were talking about OKC " exploiting" Jokic in game 7. What weaknesses did they exploit?

Jokic averaged 28/14 on the series. Does that look like the stats of someone who was "exploited?

Why was a 68 win team taken to 7 games against a 50 win team while they were exploiting Jokic?

Because Denver fluked out Game 1? Because they also won a game in OT where Jokic had 20 points on 25 shots with 6 assists to 8 turnovers? I suppose that was a "good" game as well?

OKC had 74 steals, the most steals in any Playoff series in the modern era. OKC created a lot of turnovers because of how predictable the Denver offense is with how reliant they are on Jokic doing the passing and the bulk of the scoring. They could deny him the ball and use smaller defenders to poke the ball away from him, that's easier vs. a big man who has a higher center of gravity which they exploited. 16 STEALS in Game 7, the most in any Game 7 since the damn 70s. Not only do you get an empty possession on offense but it's almost a guaranteed 2 on the other end.