What is happening to Jokic & Nuggets? Are Anthony Edwards & Wolves UNSTOPPABLE? | Hoops Tonight
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- Опубликовано: 7 июн 2024
- Jason Timpf reacts to Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns, and the Minnesota Timberwolves' dominant 106-80 Game 2 win over Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and the Denver Nuggets in the NBA Playoffs. Jason breaks down how Minnesota has taken control of this series, and discusses why Nikola Jokic needs to put his foot down as the best player in the world and deliver a monster Game 3 performance. Will Denver fight back in Game 3 to save their chances of repeating as NBA champions?
Timeline:
00:00 - What is happening to Nuggets?
13:42 - Nikola Jokic must save Denver
23:12 - Wolves-Nuggets Game 2 Film Study
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#nba #nuggets #timberwolves #denvernuggets #minnesotatimberwolves #wolves #nikolajokic #jamalmurray #anthonyedwards #karlanthonytowns #rudygobert #nbaplayoffs #playoffs #nbafinals #nbahighlights #basketball #sports 
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Thank you Jason. Jokic was elevated into a tier of his own in the NBA. If you’re a Lebron, MJ, Kareem, Kobe, Shaq, Magic, Steph, etc. level player you are held to a different standard.
Jokic has not met that standard in this Wolves series on either end and defensively last series was rough too.
We can’t kill Luka for his defense, Giannas for his perimeter game, Embiid for his injuries, then make excuses for Jokic. Heavy is the head that wears the crown. Is he a GOAT level offensive player? Is he an above average defender like people have said? GO PROVE IT over and over and over in the playoffs like every other pantheon level player.
Fans don’t get to put him in those convos then run from expectations when it gets tough.
Not fans northeast American media with all kinds of ridiculous bias. Joker always pushed Rui in the back to get offensive rebounds and got away with it
Preach brother!!
Calm down the series not over yet
@@deddiev1718stop being a Bron stan. U not a Lars fan fr
When you're at that level, you push through. Steph was getting hammered against Memphis and Boston in 2022. He fought through it and willed his way into his spots and it opened the rest of the team up. Jokic isn't fighting through, and the rest of the team is following suit. So they can't even begin to get into their sets.
And that's not even mentioning the complete breakdown of their defense. The nuggets defense looks completely lost
That was the greatest defensive effort I've ever seen from any team in any sport. Simply because of who the nuggets and who joker is. To see him be bothered, and even blocked three times in a row in one possession. It's kind of shocking. It's like seeing your dad get beat up
And by any sport, do you mean any American sports? Because I’ve seen amazing defensive effort in football (soccer) as well!
11 turnovers by the Joker in game 1&2
@@myriad7596you see that in about every soccer game
Well I'm an American so obviously I don't watch soccer lol. I bet it's been good defensive efforts so my fault. Well actually you can say that the giant locking down. Tom Brady was pretty epic. But this is up there.@@myriad7596
@@myriad7596true, I think the Giants versus Patriots was a defensive clinic. Because of Tom Brady and the year the Patriots had that year
best basketball breakdowns on youtube
He’s up there
He said the Suns would beat the Wolves in 5
@@richardfinney2548and he admitted he was wrong…
@@richardfinney2548breakdown isn’t the same as a take bro
@@Arn3zlove it when he’s proved wrong on my team
"Maybe he just doesn't care." Yessss. Very well could be. Joker is now actively running away from potential greatness (his job). Has the world annoited him too soon? BTW, you are the greatest BB analyst in the world! lol Why. Because you are so smart *and* you care so much. That's special. Keep it up.
100% with this Jokic criticism. Deserved. Love watching Jokic play, but it seems like something’s going on and he’s not engaged. Game 4 vs. the Lakers, as the sweep slipped away, Jokic was sitting on the very far end of the bench, not talking to anyone, with his legs crossed. He hasn’t seemed much more engaged than that since.
Jokic is the most unselfish superstar to ever play the game. Cut him some slack
Malone said Murray didn't practice all week and I think they are just banged up and out of rhythm at the worst time.
The criticism may be merited but the scolding voice from Jason is annoying. It's condescending. Apparantly he thinks that he, Jason Timpf, understands how important it is to fight hard in the NBA, and Jokic and Murray don't understand that. Think about the arrogance of that position.
@@qqw743it’s not that they lost, it’s that they collapsed. It’s embarrassing to show this lack of composure
Where tf is my MVP? What are you doing Nikola??? It seems like he is NOT fighting at all, what tf is going on ?!
One underrated thing about MN is their depth. Their players can literally go 100% and get subbed in by similar quality players when they get tired. The drop off for Denver's players is much steeper.
The T-Wolves just seem totally locked in. They aren't celebrating a single win. They get to the locker room and acknowledge they haven't done shit yet. ANT is keeping them on task individually and I think they'll take Denvers punch and then knock them the fuck out.
Well said, that's exactly what I see. Wolves are not resting on their laurels, believing their own hype. From what I see, the Nuggets have believed their own championship hype and think they can't be beaten. Big mistake.
yep, knocked the fuck out. for sure.
The Jokic indifference is such an endearing meme when he’s winning (This guy is the MVP but just wants to go home to his family and race horses!) but it loses its charm fast when he’s losing.
100%
Great take
I never saw a whole team just give up and breakdown like that before. Especially a defending champion. Just folded like chairs after a couple bad calls.
Jamal gave up when he was throwing crap. Jokic gave up that play when kcp gave it to him isoed on kat and he gave it back.
Then kcp gave it back like "bro the play is you posting up kat."
Jokic didnt even try KAT he just gave it right back to KCP.
Like wtf?!?! YOU THE MVP BRO WTF?!?!
This is what KAT looks like with an edge.
That was KATs game. Love ANT but game 2 was all KAT.
Suns in ‘22. Clippers in ‘20.
It reminds me of Suns game 7 vs Dallas just gave up after the first quartee
The Suns were just demoralized by this same wolves team last series doe lol
Almost seemed kinda fishy
@@austingreen1274 Warriors '22 got beat down by Memphis
its like denver was absolutely stunned and didn't know how to respond. they were in shock. like seeing an accident or something and not knowing how to process it.
i think when they were interviewed they weren't out of shock yet, not knowing what was gone let alone how to handle it.
as a nuggets fan i hope they get it together and solve the wolves defense problem. as a basketball fan i hope they do too. and if the nuggets can't solve it - kudos to the wolves.
TWolves roster is too complete that's what. They have the personnel to adjust to anything. Nuggets are also suffering against the same formula they had to face when they got beat by the Lakers in the bubble as well. Multiple big bodies to make Jokic's life difficult on both the offensive and defensive end to exhaust him, and a 2 way guard that locks down Murray. If Gobert was actually useful on offense and Ant continues this trajectory, this team would be dynasty caliber.
I’d be careful with a word “dynasty”, they were calling Nuggets that and look what happened👀
Honestly tho this team has an offensive ceiling, it’s just Nuggets playing no defence and no offense at the same time, which is shameful
Yeah nba rules made nugs get rid of bruce. I wonder if the rules will make minn break up the team also. Seems only fair.
I think they just ran into the best defense I’ve ever witnessed. Jokic is one of the greatest offensive individual players ever, but this Timberwolves team might be one of the greatest team defenses ever.
Exactly. This Wolves team deserved way more recognition throughout the year. This is an all-time squad, defensively. Best D of the modern 3 era, hands down.
So were the bad boys but Jordan overcame
@@deddiev1718not on the same level
This current era for the most part has weak front court defense...Wolves are the exception
@@Cahluvca That's placing the standard insanely high for front court defense, if the only exception for "weak front court defense" is multiple-time DPOY Gobert as C, KAT as PF (elite defender for his position), and Jaden McDaniels at SF (elite defender for his position).
Every one of them is elite at d for their position, including DPOY
Remember when giannis fought tooth and nail in 2022 against Boston and took them to 7? Jokic has done nothing close to that
Did you actually watch the Denver/Minnesota game? They sent 3.5 people to guard Joker.
Minnesota is basically playing football and the refs are letting them. I don't think nugs were ready for that. My guess is when nugs try to match that physical play they gonna get called for it and get frustrated again.
@@Nugschrisjokic just cant match this phisicality, he soft and the wolves are playing real basketball
@@joxmz5534 he can I've seen pretty much every nugs game in the last couple years. He has it in him. Remember when the suns owner interfered with the play last year? He was playing like it then.
@@goo8295Bruh what you think Boston try to do with Giannis in 2022? The whole team literally tried to stop him.
It feels like Jokic is pissed off with the way Murray plays the whole playoffs. He's crazy inefficient but that's not the biggest problem. The biggest problem is that he's forcing plays and shots, he kills all of fluidity Denver was recognized for.
maybe, maybe not but Jamal Murray has always tried to be Jordan by forcing plays/shots, there never has been a version of Murray where this wasn't the case so Jokic comes a bit late with being pissed off if that's what it is. Murray has always been vocal about wanting to not only be the best player in Denver but overall in the NBA. he won't stop thinking/tring to be MJ, look at MPJ, he also had a big ego and wanted the ball at all times but realizations were made and he does what he's supposed to do for a while now, not Murray though.
also, it doesn't help when Jokic and Denver as a team keep encouraging Murray to take shots when it doesn't go well (like they did in game 2 where Murray hit the buzzer-beater).
they were very vocala about Murray to keep shooting and start flowing eventually, so you can imagine that him forcing plays and shots gets a boost since his team supports it. in the same quarter where Murray hit the buzzer-beater he turned over the ball by trying to be MJ again, I think that's what led to a 97-95 Lakers lead instead of a potential 97-95 for Denver, which eventually wouldn't have required for Denver to need a buzzer-beater in the first place, and there was a same sequence either at the start of the 4th or end of the 3th where Murray tries to make his own play only to pass it to Jokic in the very last second of the shot-clock..
point being, Murray always was like this and overall it's a bigger disadvantage for the nuggets since it kills the fluidity of Denver and interrupts momentum, I never liked him as a player for that very reason, buzzer-beaters and a couple 50 point games don't make up for him trying to be MJ, one can argue that Denver wouldn't require buzzer-beaters and 50pts games from Murray if he just started making the right plays instead of trying to be MJ, I do see it that way.
however, Jokic has a fair-share of the blame too, Jokic doesn't have the killer instinct, in game 1 he took over the game with 2 and a half minutes left, but that was too late. KAT got fouled out around the 8min40 second mark and instead of Jokic taking advantage of that and taking it to Gobert for a potential win, what does he do? forces passes and makes plays for his teammates while they just brick it around. the right play in every possession would've been Jokic trying to score ever since the second KAT got fouled out, but he chose not to and that's why the Nuggets lost game 1, he tried to do it towards the end but that's too late. Jokic is a regular season MVP but no playoff MVP, the game was there for the taking and he wants to be a teamplayer instead.
this is also an overall critique for Jokic, he doesn't always make the right plays, especially in that game 1 vs the Wolves, he had 8 minutes to take over and get easy buckets, that would've been the right play. not the first time Jokic does this, not the last (he did it almost all Lakers series too).
could've been 1-1 now, I have a lot of critique for Murray but Denver being down 2-0 has to do with Jokic, not Murray.
@@slXD100 Jokic downplayed this season for sure but it looks to me like he has been trying to limit his game and just take the role into the system. For instance, his mid-range shooting was unbelievably efficient for last couple of years. Beside Durant he was the best mid-range shooter in the game and the only player in NBA who was shooting better than 50% from any spot inside the three point line. But this season his mid-range shooting is gone, he just stopped using it. And even if it was his decision, I can not believe that coaching stuff let this happen. Having the player who's the best in post up while being the best in mid-range and floaters, is a game changer and it's spacing the floor totally different. He's mostly a post up player now and much easier to deal with, especially because it's physically exhausting and he's often gassed out in 4th, sometimes even in 3rd.
Meanwhile Murray's getting more and more freedom to do whatever he wants. So instead of trying to get more from Jokic and limit and control Murray, we have opposite situation and this hurts Denver so much. I agree with everything you said about Murray, he could be solid player if he didn't think he was much better than he actually is. Even if he accepted his role, I still believe Denver needs different player on his position. Some consistent point or shooting guard who is a little bit more athletic and who can actually plays defense.
And about teammates supporting Murray to continue to shoot in game 2. I mean, same thing crossed my mind, I didn't like it but it was the game 2 and Denver needs Murray to get him going in order to have any chance to repeat. So there was some logic to sacrifice one game to get him into the rhythm but he just continues to play extremely poorly game after game. I can't imagine that someone with any common sense still encourages him to shoot.
Maybe Jokic teammates are tired of him being an absolute liability on defense.
I was talking about offense. Jokic is specifically bad in one segment on defense and it's when athletic players drive to the basket. To downplay that Denver needs good defenders on guard positions. KCP is a good defender but he's in mismatch with Edwards, (too small) and Murray can't guard anyone, not even Conley
@@donie-rg4cy that is true, Jokic stopped doing that and I now too wonder why.. it's odd.
yes, Murray is just too incosistent and even if he plays well, Wolves have a way to shut him down. Malone talked about Murray shooting and as far as public opinion, he is totally behind it and has nothing against it, he is very staunch regarding that and how he supports it, so I don't think we'll see that stop anytime soon. also, I believe they should use Braund and Watson way more against the Wolves, they work well against them, get stops and make it rougher, better defense and both more athletic than Murray, it would relieve the defense and open the offense a bit more
Good point about Jokic's indifference, I certainly didn't see LeBron go down without a fight last round, they battled every game and he played his ass off despite being clearly gassed. I thought there were some strange execution errors from Denver too, I specifically remember Gordon having a 1 on 1 post up with Mike Conley and taking a fade away jumper instead of backing him into the paint for an easy 2. Jamal skipping the presser is clearly a bad sign and I agree that Malone seems to justify that behavior with how much he complains. I hope they manage to regroup during this 3 day break, because that was a terrible game.
yo that Gordon fade on Connelly was insane... I had to start shouting like a crazy person alone in the room
LMFAO IG I'm crazy too, I'd be doing the same if I was a Nuggets fan
I was saying the same thing 😂😂 “who tf you think you are shooting such a fade away? Kobe?” He shoulda backed him right into the paint as he’s much bigger and stronger
As a Denver fan, this is absolutely spot on (as per).
Ha if you were a real nuggets fan you’d have an original thought to share
Ha If you were a real nuggets fan you’d have an original thought to share
Love these breakdowns!!!
Anthony Edwards is saving Gotham City!
Joker is in trouble!
Thank you Jason. So helpful to see your examples on video clips.
Excellent analysis Jason. I told my husband that Jokic didn’t seem to care. And when it got tough, he just disappeared. Last night was the first time I didn’t know where Jokic was a lot of the time and when I looked for him, he was just standing watching the play. He wasn’t helping any of his teammates when they were in trouble. He played as if it didn’t really matter. Now I will say that his personality generally follows the same pattern. I don’t like his pressers because h “seems” indifferent to the questions, and he treats the questions and reporters like they are asking stupid stuff. And maybe they are but that is their job. His personality is not easygoing-it is dismissive. That’s okay for awhile but there are procedural things that these guys need to know and do it. Murray was lucky he didn’t get ejected, and so was Malone. They were lost on the court and didn’t even know they were lost.
They knew they were lost. It broke them psychologically. They won’t recover.
Your fake you don’t watch nuggets games. How many regular seasons games did you watch this season?? 1 maybe. Don’t mistake Jokic’s nonchalants for not caring. Jokic does everything in his power to uplift his teammates each and every night. He breaths life into the team and he is the reason we tied for first seed. Jokic had done everything he can to make his team confident in themselves but at the end of the day his team mates need to step up and hit shots. Jokic can’t hit his stride unless his team is right there with him. He is the most unselfish player in the league and stop trying to make him Superman
And why should Jokic pamper to the media and people like you
@@noahdavis327 because the players are all to be made available to the reporters at their he presser.
@@noahdavis327
If you maybe go back and read what I actually wrote you would see that I wrote that it “seemed” he was not into the game and was not playing like he usually does! That would mean that I have watched many Nuggets games. It was a statement leaning t the opinion that the team’s spirit was broken and they were shocked by how good the T’Wolves played. Neither of these teams are one of my favorites, but the T’Wolves are just starting their bright future and are fun to watch. Chill!
I highly respect your opinion! Thank you for your great breakdowns.
Good takes bro. I am from Minnesota. Your takes on the players can apply to all humans to be better.
Im a lifelong Nuggets fan and multisport athlete. I am not excusing the emotional outbursts or the way my favorite team responded down the stretch. That said, I dont think any of this was that hard to understand if youve ever played organized sports especially basketball.
The first 5 minutes of the game the wolves came out aggressive and were fouling a lot with no calls. In quick succession there was a foul on Braun where they slapped his arm knocking it away from the ball, Reggie was elbowed in the face while trying to get to the dribble handoff and went down, the Kat charge on Murray, lots of fouling while pressuring the ball. The nuggets didnt lose composure during those plays. They saw the level of contact being allowed and tried to adjust their own physicality and got called for those fouls. Thats when they lost composure. Right after reggie got elbowed Joker went down and elbowed Reid in the face which got an offensive foul. Right after getting run over by Kat, Murray gave a hard contest to Ant's shot that got called and its when malone charged the floor. It wasnt just the no calls, it was the calls on the Nuggets that pissed them off. Did they play like shit after that? Absolutely.
Imo I felt like Minnesota was playing football and refs were letting them. Nugs could have probably done the same and got away with it too but instead they got frustrated. I just have this feeling now nugs gonna play foul ball like that and refs will call the game soft. I don't really see how nugs turn it around. Murray def not 100% Malone said he didn't practice all week. I think they are banged up and out of rhythm at the worst time. Not to mention they are missing bruce and Jeff in this series more than against La.
Great video dude thanks for what you do
Big nuggets fan here. I refuse to watch any commentary or highlights after a game like last night besides yours because you’re respectful and incredibly knowledgeable. Sucks that the nuggets haven’t responded, they just look like shells of themselves out there.
Yeah...same... Man that game sucked
yeh. i agree with his assessment.
wolves were designed to stop nuggets. and if they could do that, they could stop pretty much every team.
but one thing i'm thinking that he mentioned. wovles relied or bet on the league changing from calling every nit picking thing on defense to not so much nit picking on defense. on one hand - i totally agree with letting teams play defense. but on the other hand - you don't do that in the middle of the year. because teams prep even build depending on the rules and way things are called. so it's hard to change mid season. it's kinda wrong to make teams change midseason.
to aggerate to make my point. it'd be like the nba getting rid of the 3 point shot mid season. players and entire teams would be washed up because they'd built themselves with that 3 in mind.
remember, im seeing many sides of this. but what i saw in game 2 was denver playing their game and realizing that the wolves were allowed to play extremely physical defense, and the nuggets weren't prepared to play against such a defense, because for most of the year and for many years, the nba made too physical a defense a foul liability.
so wolves won becuase they were allowed late in the season to play the kind of defense they knew would stop what the nuggets were designed for.
teams are always looking for "the answer" to players or duos, etc. joker and murray. well, the wolves designed a defense for just that. they stopped those 2 and the nuggets didn't have enough bench points or others' points to stop them.
But that's part of the story. the other part is that the wolves jumped from lower scoring in the season to off the charts in the play offs. and the nuggets didn't jump at all but actually went backwards, plus then add in the wolves defense.
I felt like the refs were letting Minnesota play football and nugs weren't expecting that. They'll try to be as physical next game and then refs will decide to call it softer. Don't see how nugs can turn it around here.
@@Nugschris they getting punked . The Nuggets are 0-8 this year when they fail to score 100 points . Hard to score on that lockdown defense of Minnesota
@@Nugschris thats a more concise way to put it. good example.
yeh i wonder if the nugs can switch to playing more physical. but if the refs do call it softer, then its back to how the nugs are used to playing and maybe they'll do better. its joker that has to really step up and score like 10 more than he has, and the rest like at least 4 more than they have. because wolves are playing unusually high points and shooting percentage.
LOVE THE FILM JASON!!!!!❤❤❤❤
Love the film breakdown
Jason is bringing the fire today 💪🏽
If Jokic can knock Kat on his ass when he made their 6th point and not get called, Kat's isn't a charge either.
I could have watched a breakdown on every play from this game. Great breakdown, as always Jason
Wow, this is a basketball video, holy shit. First time watching this channel and now I feel I've been missing out
Welcome aboard. This is top tier content.
Great analysis.
The way you break things down is special.
That being a good partner or friend analogy when you having a bad day was the perfect way to explain how what Jamal did was not cool.
Love the early rant, love the importance you place on character and attitude in the sport
Jokic needs to watch Kareem's response after the Celtics blew out the Lakers in Game 1 of the finals 148 to 114 in 1985.
Excellent breakdown! Denver Nuggets need to hear this!!
Part of the problem here is that many analysts place way too much emphasis on ring culture and the importance of championship pedigree and therefore strongly favored Denver before the series. They ignored a number of things that Nuggets fans were keenly aware of. First, Murray is maybe 60% and played really badly v LA. If he's not Playoff Murray the Nuggets aren't beating a really good team.. Second, the Nuggets don't have a bench that Malone trusts and for good reason. And finally, the Wolves are just a much deeper team at this point. It's no real surprise the Wolves are leading given the circumstances.
the issue is how few of the nation people watch denver consistently. this is murray, and is the reason he's never been an all star. the talent is there, but when he's off he is WAY off. and when that happens, he goes iso mode too much and the rest of the offense watches and goes cold.
Well said
100% on point
Always loved Jason’s breakdowns because on top of schemes and statistics he really gets into the intangibles and mentality aspect. Extremely thorough analysis on the series so far that goes beyond the x’s and o’s
As on of the biggest Jokic advocate the past few years, I'm trying to be his biggest critic now. THIS is where he has to prove his worth.
You are absolut right!
one of the best basketball podcast i've ever seen
I love Jason's breakdowns. I love how he incorparate stats for example pts per possesion etc. hHe also adds the mental part of the game and explains them in a logical manner that makes the pod entertaining for me. He get wrongs predictions but that is why we play the game to see what happens. Jason is the one who got me into Ant he was talking about why it's good to have that big strong guard archetypr in yout team.
It almost felt as if Denver didn't want to win, it was surreal. As a fan, that game broke me. Although, I like and respect their team. I admire their defense and how they play. If they beat us (and it's looking like that) I want them to win the ring. Great commentary by the way. I'm not mad at you at all, you were speaking truth.
Jason, this was a phenomenal and genuine breakdown.
It’s amazing how regular Joker looks when he’s actually playing people his size. Joker is great, but we have to slow down with this greatest offensive player stuff. He’s still an unathletic, slow big guy who struggles when he plays bigs with athleticism and make him play defense too.
This is truly the dumbest take I've ever heard. Just stop watching basketball
@@MikeMike-qb6oy I agree. Jokic has dominated pretty much every big in the league past few years. The difference is the games the past few years weren't officiated like a football game.
This is not a dumb take at all, by the way.
@@MikeMike-qb6oy like I said, he won a chip last year playing no one his size in the playoffs, these are facts. The last time he did was 2020 and he got bullied just like he’s getting bullied this year lol. I know it hurt your heart, but athleticism and size will always dominate unathletic in the nba as soon as the playoffs start. U think it’s a coincidence he’s struggling as soon as the refs start letting them play physical 😂😂. But I’ll let u tell it my 👀 don’t work
Huh? Jokic has averaged 30/11/9 vs 4 time dpoy rudy gobert and 24/10/7 vs ad in the last 4 years, just because he is having a bad series doesn't mean he isn't one of the best players we have ever seen
Been a tough week for Canadian men for sure 😂
Hate the betting ads
Back to the 90's. Excelent
Im a huge Nuggets fan Jokic fan. Your take absolutely nailed down what my frustration is as a fan. Back in the Lakers series I was wondering why he was passing out of so many one on one situations with AD when he’s shown in the past that AD can’t stop him. I’ve been waiting since game 3 of the first round for him to put up 40+ points because it’s looked like what’s needed. A lot easier to forgive when the team wins, but when the team loses and loses in the fashion they have against the Wolves his performance stands out. And it trickles down to the rest of the team. I saw a team that lacked the confidence to shoot and instead we’re making the dumbest riskiest passes. It’s starts with Jokic. A real Nuggets fan who has been watching can’t be mad at you perfectly articulating the issue. I knew this was a series we could lose but I expected to see some right. I expected them to play like they have in the past when their back is against the wall. Our franchise had never won a championship and could never boast that we had the best player in the world before Jokic.
After everything he’s done for us the only thing he could do to truly hurt the fans is not give a fuck. But maybe he never has. It’s such a mind fuck because he’s said basketball isn’t that important to him in the past but I refuse to belief that anyone can reach the level of greatness he has without being a competitor and working your ass off. It’s super weird, confusing, and disappointing to see the way he’s shown up in these playoffs. Damn. I wrote way more than I wanted to. Anyway, great analysis as always.
As a Nuggets fan, Jamal let us down last night. The whole team did, we’re getting outworked, outskilled and out coached
Nah, he's physically compromised. Your best player is responsible
LAL's guards could barely impact him on defense. He got too comfortable and forgot it's the playoffs.
Jokic was also awful.
@@ericpeters0n
Lakers guards aren't defense minded. Jokic needs to step up and be the leader everyone says he is.
Yeah Jason is right, we need to fight. This gonna need to be 80’s basketball for us to beat this team. I do think that we are taking winning for granted a little, looking for calls when we should be hustling down the court. 16-16-8 isn’t a “bad” stat line, but joker needs to take over and just bully people for 48 minutes.
Your leader has quit so. Good luck with that. Those old playoff years are the norm. Last year was the fluke.
You sir is bar none the best NBA analyst in the world. Great work.
Huge Nuggets Fan, I really appreciate your take on this. I love jokic and usually his indifference I like but not this time. Your right in that game 2 he had to take charge and take over the game! Really love the show, you and Matt Moore are 2 of my favs to listen to.
As a nuggets fan, this is the only pod I can stand watching. Clear objective breakdown. Honestly can’t be mad Nugs are down 2 heading to mini. Hopefully we can get one. Mentally the team is gone.
Everything said was FACTS!!!!!!!!
I never seen a DEFENSIVE LOCKDOWN like that! YIKES! I think there was about a 12 minute stretch where DENVER turned the ball over on every possession! & when they didn't turn the ball over, they were suffocated trying to shoot the ball!
Remember when Giannis the actual best player in the league went against the best defense in the league in 2022 after winning the chip and lost in 7 without Middleton?
That defense doesn’t hold a candle to this wolves team
gianni’s has never been even close to the best player in the world
@@tannerw5011 you obviously been watching a different sport the past 5 years
His team closed a conference finals without him the year they won the championship
@@dimitrythomas4158 and so? Against an ATL team with Trae injured. You remember who closed the finals with 50 points?
I cannot wait until Jason gets on with Bill Simmons. I want an hour minimum. Ryen Russillo and Jason would be amazing too
ty
By the way everything you want Jokic to show,fighting spirit and all that, Giannis was doing and has been doing since forever but w/e.
"Nikola Jokic must save Denver"
So he should be shooting over doubble team? LOL...
The way they guard Murray-Jokic PNR, they literally trap the roll man(Jokic) and let Jamal drive...Jamal has to finish at the rim to free up that action there is no other way around...also Nuggets have been THE WORST 3pt shooting team in the playoffs so far...that doesn't help at all
Jokic shooting 42/20 splits this series 🥶
@@ThanosdidtherighthingOnly two games...while being THE ONLY scoring treat on the floor...Jokic is the most consistent playoff
performer amongst all superstars around the league...even this playoffs he is 27/15/9 on 65% TS.
If Denver stuck Jokic 12-15 feet off of the block toward the weak side corner and inserted Gordon into the P&R it would eliminate the roamer Minnesota is using and free up Jokic to operate in open space . Doesnt mean they have to completely eliminate the Murray Jokic P&R but it cant be a go to part of the Nuggets game against Minnesota. GREAT game plan by Minn we have yet to see a counter from Mike Malone .
@@realone296What about his horrific defense this playoffs?
Jokic is putting up a pathetic effort. Make whatever excuses you want, but the performance Jokic is having is embarrassing. For a guy who is almost universally considered the best player in the world and who nuggets fans have been crying about being disrespected all season he just can't play the way he is.
But of course the main onus is on Jamal! Great points from Jason around 9:35
Jamal’s girlfriend needs to work her majic and bring back bubble Murray
Another thing, why isn't joker using his mid-range. I just don't understand this. The dude is one of the best mid-range shooters in the league. Last year he was the only player next to Kevin Durant who was over 50% everywhere inside the 3-point line
True but misleading as he only took one mid range shot per game compared to those guys taking 5-8 per game
Yeah but in the 2021 postseason to do was money. Up until last year. He always shot more mid-rangers in the playoffs. I've been watching him for years. He always saved his main range for the playoffs and now he's not using it. Like what the f***. He's not even coming off of pindowns and doing catching shoots like last year@@Thanosdidtherighthing
@@ThanosdidtherighthingEven if it's one, it's still good enough. The guy shoots like 15 times a game shoot one mid-range my dude you needed it yesterday
@@MindfulAttraction2.0 Agreed
That would be a good motivational speak to jokic and everything you said is true. He needs to come out and dominate. It's like his passive nature this year has rubbed off on his teammates and they can't just turn on the intensity switch like that
Jokic is my favorite NBA player but you're right he needs to pick up his game and be more aggressive leader for this team right now
The kyle anderson rip on joker is what happens every time i see someone post up kyle amderson. Hes amazing at getting steals when being posted up. From everything ive seen its his master skill hahaha.
This is why I love basketball because it’s the only team sport where 1 player can dominate enough to win the title
Cool breakdown, but my grip is once again, Jokic does NOT have a sizable gap between him and the 2nd best player in the world, if he's even number 1. I think Giannis is still the best player in the world, and is better than Jokic for example, and Luka/SGA are also very close to him. Jokic is amazing but he's not dramatically better than these guys if he even is better than them to begin with. This post & regular season have proven that he's not at a different level than these guys
This Minnesota team is leaps and bounds better than anything Giannis' has faced.
If Giannis' had played we would be blaming him for a first round exist vs the Pacers.
the gap is indeed sizable..
Take on Jokic is 💯.
This video is really hyping me up for game 3. Can't wait to see how things shake out
Around 9:10 - yes to Jason’s point on weird interview energy from Jokic. I think Jokic is furious at Jamal for his crappy performances and then his tantrum. He doesn’t want to say that, but he also doesn’t go all the way and have his back like Jason points out that he should’ve. And I love Jokic, but he could’ve been a better leader there.
Jokic isn't being double teamed by the Wolves, they are mostly playing him straight up with Towns
He just showed a couple clips where he was doubled even tripled...it's at least half the time.
This is why I kept telling people to stop picking Denver to go back to the finals just because they won it all last year. They beat an injured Wolves team, A Durant led Suns team that was never good. The Lakers who are a play in team, and a Heat team who was also a play in team and was severely undersized and lacked offensive firepower. Never pick the defending champ just because they’re the defending champ. Most teams don’t repeat unless they are a dynasty (2015-2018 and 2022 Warriors and Jordan’s Bulls). I knew Amy team who had significant size could give Denver trouble. Minnesota is bigger and stronger than Denver. It’s going to take a team with Speed and excellent shooting to beat the Wolves.
Genius
I’m a big Nuggets fan, but this post season they just aren’t playing good basketball. Very frustrated how passive Jokic has been. Sometimes I think he wants to lose on purpose so he can go home. I don’t think he wants to be considered as the best player. Always love your podcast and can expect to get an honest opinion and analysis unlike most shows who only talk about the nuggets when it’s negative.
I thunk he wants to win bro. Sure he likes to be home in Serbia and doesn't like all the attention but that's overblown I think. He seemed so determined last year you could just see he wasn't backing down. I agree somethings different this year.
FIRST. i love your content
I have yet to hear anyone that isn't Wolves affiliated give KAT any credit for his defense on Jokic. It has actually been really good. I know the other bigs have been solid on him as well, but KAT has been the primary defender.
Jason's the GOAT of NBA & BBall content!
I warned Suns fans over here in AZ about the obvious bad matchup vs the Wolves and all I got was "we beat them 3-0 during the regular season..." and I kept saying the regular season means $hit, the Wolves are a bad matchup. We all saw how that turned out. I have a colleague at work who is a big Nuggets fan and I warned him about this matchup. The Wolves are not only big, they are long, athletic, and that roster is choco' full of Dawgs! Their perimeter defenders are like a pack of dobermans and then you got Gobert and the other bigs on the backline. Good luck dealing with that on 7 game series.
You are right. We should expect him to be unbothered by all the crap around him (Jamal etc.) in Game 2, but surprisingly he is still a human and succumbed to the general despair the team felt.
That being said, once Denver wins game 3 - all bets are off! #stayonparade
Mailbag question - You've said multiple times that SGA 'uses the off arm to create space'. Isn't that called a pushoff, which is an offensive foul? I've seen him do it countless times, and many of them include extension of the arm which visually causes the defender to move back. What am I missing here?
They don’t call it on anyone
Basketball is completely subjective. There is no such thing has a black and white foul. What gets called is entirely swayed by judgement and what the league wants to prioritize. That's why we see traveling every other play, nobody even bothers to act like lanes exist on freethrows so there's no lane violations ever, moving screens all day long, etc.
The twolves are too big strong fast and physical to be moved back by any Nugget arm. The wolves poke and prod on defense with knowledge of every Nuggets’ tendency.
Something ominous and funny about him throwing a towel😂😂😂
Your comments on Joker are understandable. I agree to a large part. He doesn’t care about anything you just said. He has never spoken about being the best in the world. That’s a media creation, not something he thinks about I’m guessing. As weird as it sounds and as much as it might bother us that would kill for his level of talent and skill he most likely doesn’t give a shit about anything you just talked about.
Unhappy Tuesday. I've been a Nuggets fan since 1990 and yes... Hindsight is 20/20, but these two games have been two of the most frustrating games to watch that I can remember. I can't imagine how the team feels. I was at game 6 in 2009, and that game doesn't compare at all to these two games when it comes to ultimate frustration. Disappointment, maybe, but these two games are frustrating af. Nuggets can't even get to the rim if their jumpers and 3s aren't there.
Forget the rim Murray can barely get it over half court. They need to start playing football on defense like Minnesota is if the refs are going to allow that. They also need to have someone else initiate the action. Murray gotta play off the ball more with these giants defending him...he's just too small for them.
You just said the Nuggets and Jokic were “UNSTOPPABLE”😭🤣
Hey Jokic’s indifference in his post game interview speaks to Jokic’s regular season mentality. Jokic played his best and did his best to uplift his teammates to the highest level. It didn’t work out tonight but Jokic will still try his best in then next few games and in the regular season next year. I bet Nuggets dominate the wolves in the regular season next year
I don’t think Malone talks to Murray like that……ever!🙃
I avoided watching any clips or reading articles, because I watched, and rehashing sh^t is not my favorite pastime.😎
But, I figure I’d get a fair and knowledgeable assessment here. I was right. Great job, thanks! Unfortunately no Nuggets players or coaches will watch this……🙃
Jamal is the key to the car
Love the break down 🔥🔥🔥
Big Jokic fan and I 100 percent agree with you. I am shocked at his disinterest in even competing in anyway. Something must be wrong or else he's killing my image of him,wich he doesn't care about
Jokic isn't the leader of the team though.. he doesn't care about his teammates at all, all he talks about is "going home".. just because he's the best doesn't mean he's the leader
Man you don't watch them. When they are playing well every teammate is cheering each other on. The bench is up yelling and cheering. That's total bs. Jokic leads by example not with locker room speeches.
@cdirubio1 cheering someone on has nothing to do with them being a leader.. and yes being a true leader does mean you have to hang out and talk to your teammates outside of practice
It's weird, they played game 2 on Monday and have to wait until Friday for game 3.
They're not playing 2 bad makeshift play-in teams on their way to the title anymore. - Is what is happening.
They won the 1st seed and took care of business what do you want from them?
@@ryanmahon1 show us what you got when you finally play a good team in the playoffs.
@@Chapa-pa-pa believe me I want to see it too
I mean if nugs are actually trash that really diminishes this Minnesota run. They beat a suns team that nugs rocked last year and the trash nugs so far. Basically means Minnesota is a mediocre team at best and if they win it will be looked back as nothing special.
@@Nugschris The nuggets is currently over hyped as this all time great team, so your logic goes out the window.
Bro how have you not talked about the Minnesota defense
Most impassioned i've seen Jason in a minute. Jokic's nonchalance must've gotten to him.
I do think that you've hit it on the nose though, the largest difference between the two teams is just the 'want' factor. Ant seems to want it a lot more and the timberwolves are playing up to his intensity with hard nosed defence in spite of a slightly stagnant offence. Denver, based on both their play and their post-game interviews, feel as though they're drudging through it.
I do think that the defensive scheme that Chris Finch has implemented for the TWolves seems to capitalise on spacing with their supreme length and athleticism. Even if Denver is able to fight for their spots, will their offense still manage to hold up against the way that Finch has thrown random doubles and closed gaps with athletic defenders?
DEN vs play-in teams last season. Analysts made them look invincible...
Been a building fan of nuggets since jokic’s rookie year. Was intrigued with his player profile and eventually fell in love with how the team played and the moves they made a long the way. Feels like 8 years or building growing and hard work all was incinerated in 1 night. Even the shine of championship has been tainted. Not sure whats going on w murray. Throwing the towel is indefensible and his play has been just as bad particularly in the first quarter. Hard to see the nuggets having any chance whatsoever but I think their chances are worse with murray at this point. Hope he gets suspended.
Malone said he didn't practice all week he's legit hurt. They are banged up and outbof rhythm at the worst time. Minnesota is playing great but def nugs can at least compete with them when they are playing well. They are also really missing bruce and Jeff in this series.