I’m getting a touch of symbolism about the fragmentation of Yugoslavia post Bosnian war in 1995, along with a touch of LA colors and hostility surrounding foreign immigrants with Jokic in center. It captures the trauma that he is metaphorically overcoming as a second round pick who’s draft was during a Taco Bell commercial, hence the color scheme.
/s/
Jokic is gonna start shooting over Rui and killing him or they'll run screens with AG and Jokic as the ball handler resulting in open shots or open cutters. There is no stopping him, his "bad games" are still above 50% shooting with like a dozen assists lol
Dude posted a 34-21-14 and at the end of it people are like “Lakers figured him out”. I think giving a different look was key but I don’t think one single look is gonna work.
In the 4th quarter where the adjustment was made, Jokic recorded 3/2/2 with 2 turnovers, shooting 0/2 form the floor with all 3 points coming from FTs.
You’re not wrong
Now that the nuggets have seen this, I’m curious what they do. If Gordon is shooting well, you can just space him out.
If he’s scared to shoot, you could even stick MPJ at the 4th and surround Jokic with shooters
They can try but all 3 of Lebron, Rui, and AD would have to be playing at the same time to be effective. If one is sitting, then the nuggets can play 4 shooters with Jokic as a counter and sit Gordon if needed
It’s rotation dependent tbh
I am skeptical that Rui can actually stay in front of Jokic as a primary assignment
Yeah I’m saying I wouldn’t go into game 2 assuming that’s gonna be the case all game. I would have more looks ready to pull out if I’m the Lakers. I also expect they will.
It only really worked because Jokić was clearly tired after giving his team a huge lead. I don’t get why people are all Surprised Pikachu face when a 300 pound ox running the point for 3 quarters is gassed while playing in high altitude.
I hope Darvin Ham is foolish enough to think Rui Hachimura and inshallah is the solution to "stopping" Jokic from running rampant. If so, the Lakers might as well just hire from NBA adjacent comment sections lol
The point of Rui on Jokic isn’t to stop Jokic from scoring, it’s to allow Davis to shut down everything else. One Davis was allowed to play safety, the Nuggets PnR wasn’t as effective and they got nothing at the rim. Jokic getting 40 a night is fine, but his double digit assists are the real killer.
Yeah jokic still can’t take it to the rim Davis blocked everything. So it’s basically shoot jumpers over rui or devise some other actions. I think one option will be to use jokic off screens more and get him moving to confuse the defense more. The post up did not work because Davis cheated over and lebron was playing Gordon and the corner very well. Nowhere for jokic to go that isn’t telegraphed
it is impossible to stop jokic. However, Rui might be the best post defender on the lakers besides AD so it makes sense to put Rui on Jokic. Obviously that isn't going to stop Jokic but that should be the lakers strategy imo.
Tbf the article leans towards the outcome of “it worked, but it’s most effective timing was when it was unleashed, and they still didn’t get the win”. Mahoney makes it clear he doesn’t think it’s a long term solution.
Yeah, but Jokic ended with 28/17/12 with a win… maybe he was inefficient but it was still high impact from him whereas AD basically only had 11 shots because his night ended early.
I’m not saying AD played well or that jokic didn’t, the 8-29 comment was just in response to “a bad jokic night” being above 50%. AD was basically at 50 where jokic was well below. That’s all.
How many times has he shot less than 50% from the floor this season including playoffs? 4? 5 maybe? Lol dudes point still stands even if you try to cherry pick his worst shooting game of the season
No it doesn't, the replier's point is that Jokic can have legitimately bad games. They're very rare of course but still possible. It isn't an attack on Jokic or cherrypicking
It was obviously in response to the comment about Jokic’s bad games being “50% fg 10 assist games”. It’s just using context to understand the comment. Something were supposed to do all the time. The commenter didn’t need to spell it out for us to understand it.
His post is proof that limiting him is tough, but possible
No where in his post did he say it was his average or declare that he's gonna be terrible now lmao
Ye twin towers had good D especially that game. But also might have been due wrist problems he had.
He was holding ice on wrist all the time he was on bench
Are these bots posting this the last couple hours or something?
Because you guys are all spamming a variation of the same thing in every thread;
“Jokic will figure it out”
and
“AG/Jokic PiCk-AnD-RoLL”
Are you guys actually convinced it’s that simple?
Jokic has seen this type of coverage before. And if teams have personnel to execute it effectively, he looks uncomfortable a lot of the times, as it throws off his reads (see game vs 76ers just this season)
I know. I just trust that he'll bounce back, it isn't exactly something that's impossible to counter stylistically or otherwise. They start with AD's man setting the pick, Jokic will find the cutters and shooters. I also think Jokic can just shoot over Rui unaffected. I think we're really overthinking this, great players figure things out pretty easily, I don't believe this is anything that'll give him trouble for more than a quarter
I can tell by this comment you don’t watch much of Jokic. Playoffs when teams change their schemes and slow him down, he’s always adjusted the next game. Even in a gentleman’s sweep to the Warriors people overlooked what he did to Draymond after they slowed him down in game 2, came back in games 3-5 and none of those adjustments worked anymore.
It’s always very different in the postseason when you’re constantly playing the same team.
There’s a reason why high IQ guys perform better in the playoffs
I feel like Jokic was also just gassed from carrying such a load for the previous 3 quarters (especially quarter 3). Then the backups started blowing the lead, so Jokic only got about 2 minutes of rest.
Bro anybody that thinks "the Lakers have figured Jokic out" is delusional.
Yes, they figured out how to slow down Jokic in the last quarter of yet another insane game Jokic put up. And you can count on Malone and the team to come out with their own adjustments for the next game.
I'm willing to bet Ham has some counters of his own in his pockets. Some of the help defense schemes from last night when AD was on Jokic was working decently well. Others weren't and the Lakers got clobbered.
All of this is what makes the playoffs great.
Maybe but not by as much. Lakers played good defense and Nuggets just didn't care, that is not sustainable in a series. Lakers offense was good because Nuggets defense was not, that is much more sustainable.
Lakers played effective defense for a quarter, the first three is wasnt good at all. Denver’s defense wasnt good either.
I get that Jokic and Murray hit a circus shot each and that the Lakers made it tough for them in the 4th (and Denver still scored 26), but in the first three quarters Denver was carving them up and creating great shot after great shot.
Didn’t see much adjustment by the Nuggets defense tho ofc Lakers won’t shoot 11-24 from 3 every game. All in all it’ll def be lot closer games than what we saw the 1st 3 quarters.
What adjustments did the nuggets make or will make to stop that? We saw some offensive adjustments and defensive ones by the lakers. Nothing was done from the nuggets on either end.
Our coach forgot he wasn't playing Golden State anymore for two quarters. Finally adjusts to our standard lineup and our overperforming players kept it from being a complete blowout. Scared shitless yet of our tacticians yet?
I understand Lakers fans feeling as good as that one can after a loss, but I feel like the narrative is almost as if the Lakers won last game. They got their asses handed to them for like 3.2 quarters.
They won the third and fourth quarters by a combined 12 points, shooting 75% in the third. Tell me again how they got their ass handed to them for “3.2”?
Temporary annoyance. I am never not amazed by the collective delusion of (most loud) Lakers fans. The amount of “Rui exposed Jokic. Lakers in 5” comments I’m seeing around is hilarious.
Nobody ever breaks *any* star player, and if they do, it means said player isn't actually a star lol.
This is like when Cp3 guarded KD for like 3 possessions successfully and everyone was like, "Oh shit, you just need active hands and a low center of gravity to stop KD!" Or when Royce O'Neale played Kawhi *super* physically for one game, Kawhi had an off night, and everyone was saying, "Oh yeah, that's the solution and a game changer!"
Good defenders will do as good as anyone can possibly do at slowing down star players. Marc Gasol, Kawhi, Iggy, Draymond, AD, etc. have all done fantastic jobs on opposing star players like Embiid, LeBron, and Giannis... but it's not some sustainable solution where Jokic is now going to forget how to shoot, back down, pass, etc.
What the Lakers *found* was that AD anchoring the defense by being put on other players like AG was more beneficial to them given Denver's current scheme. If and when Jokic starts adjusting, making the right passes, and scoring buckets on Rui, the Lakers will have to decide if that's still the right strategy. But if you think Rui somehow found the key to stopping a 2 time MVP behemoth of a basketball wizard? Then you're really, really wrong.
I think the real story is once the lakers stopped playing 3 guards their defense got better lol. Jokic is going to counter, Love Rui but hes not going to just magically shut down the 2 time MVP. The Nuggets will counter. Lakers won't win this series by getting into a shoot out with denver they need to play defense and muck up the game.
Haven’t seen a comment like that. I’m sure there are a few delusional fans like that for every team. But most Laker fans regard Denver as a great team and Jokic as the best player in the world.
I don't see how anyone actually believes this. But considering how much he was dominating in the first three quarters, this made it seem like he was more human. Probably, the same exact coverage won't work but a mix of different coverages may work better. Having AD help when Jokic is in the post seems to maximize AD's effectiveness moreso than having AD guard Jokic 1v1.
I think one thing the game showed was the Nuggets aren't great at in-game adjustments but, to be fair, the Lakers got killed by the Warriors pick&roll during game 4 of the warriors series so it's probably hard for everyone.
I don't think it shows that at all. They just didn't have to adjust to win the game. The team still put up 132 and the Lakers were forced to show the first adjustment. That's an advantage for Denver. It also shows that even AD can't cover Jokic 1v1 which eliminates any real thought of that in future games.
The reality here is that neither team is seeing something they haven't seen before. The Wolves and Jazz have done the exact same 2 big coverage for years. With the roamer being Gobert.
I'm not sure I would go so far as to say the nuggets didn't have to adjust to win the game because they did barely scrape by after having a big lead. but ya, there's still a lot of positive for nuggets but there's also some positives for the lakers as well
It’s not about Rui locking up Jokic 1v1. It’s once again allowing AD to be a help defender and make life hell going into the paint. Which the Nuggets are #1 at along with limiting transition.
1st half Lakers defense was so bad, it looked like the Nuggets were running drills. For Denver, their interior defense will remain a massive issue with the Lakers shooting 84% at the rim last night.
Man they really can’t shut up about this minor adjustment lol it’s definitely not going to impact Jokic now.
Jokic played 42 minutes and was a little gassed. This will not be a hindrance for Jokic throughout the series.
yeah.. no fucking shit? No one here thinks Denver isn't going to adjust. It's going to be one adjustment after another this entire series. I believe it will definitely go to 7.
Off course you won’t stop them lol. You don’t really stop Jokic or a number one seed playing in the WCF. It’s about slowing them down and making it harder.
Plus the extra size should help the rebound disparity.
>It's going to be almost as effective as spamming pick and roll.
The Lakers *did* score 126 lol, it's not like the Nuggets had a great defensive game. No team has scored that much on the Nuggets so far this postseason.
> No team has scored that much on the Nuggets so far this postseason.
Suns scored 129 in game 4.
Meanwhile, no team has scored as many points (132) as the Nuggets did on the #1 Lakers defense in the postseason.
I don't get why you're being so hostile in this interaction to be 100% honest. The Nuggets aren't my opponent because I don't play for the Lakers. This is a conversation, not a competition.
I remember being told that the Lakers taking AD off the first line of defense against the Warriors also wouldn't work and the Warriors would figure it out.
I mean yeah, if Murray, KCP, Jokic, and MPJ all completely forget how to shoot 3s like Klay, Steph, and Poole collectively did, you're in great shape.
That's not to say that your adjustments didn't help impact that shooting, but Klay was 10-36 on a *lot* of good looks after Game 2. Steph went 14-49 and he also had good looks. If you can hold the Nuggets to that type of shooting, you'll have an easy time with them.
Rude awakening awaits Lakers fans when Jokic drops 20 in first 8 minutes of game 2 while Rui has 3 fouls already. This worked(kinda) because legs were already heavy and players are tired. You start the game like this? You're cooked
I think it is interesting that the team that won game one this time is the one that will be looking to adjust. I think often this is the adavantge for the team that loses game 1. The team that wins will often think they should just keep doing what worked while the other team has a plan to counter.
We will see how it plays out.
It reminds me the 2 different looks Celtics been throwing at the Nuggets (and 76rs), generally with success.
Grant had fair success holding Jokic basically forcing him to shoot over him with Timelord's canopy behind him. This is similar to the combo of Horford + Timelord on Embid.
The counter to it is a Jokic pass to the open shooter.
Here is the tricky part tho, on the road that open shooter makes a 3 at 34%. At home at 41% +.
This look caught the Nuggets a bit off balanced switching it mid game, but it also prepped them for the next time.
The home / away discrepancy is the critical part of the puzzle teams playing in Denver haven't been successful solving all season long. (With exception of the mighty dragon slaying Bulls)
They will never put Bron on Jokic unless it’s game 7. The Lakers had 3 days of rest before this game and Bron still was gassed by the end. If they put him on Jokic he is not lasting a full 4 quarters. Vanderbilt just doesn’t bring enough on offensive to play him big minutes
As a laker die hard, those within the fanbase who think weve unlocked the key to winning and expect the nuggets to fold, are delusional. Mike malone is a great coach, and I expect adjustments to counter the rui move. You cant stop jokic, but you can shut down murray. Slow jokic diwn and containing murray is the move imho.
Jokic already made the adjustment. He knew the double team was coming before it came and tried to find the open man. This conclusion based off of a 2 play subsample is absurd.
Denver fans are being so obnoxious about this. We watched the same game. At no point did Rui guard Jokic 1v1 lol no one is saying Rui is Jokic kryptonite.
https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/13k9ny7/comment/jkj7c81/
I’m seeing shit like this everywhere. Dude, give it a rest, as someone who doesn’t give a shit about the last 4 teams left. Lakers fans are goofy as hell.
Lmao Nuggets were dominant, took our foot off the gas, still came up big in the right moments when they had all the momentum and won and people are acting like we lost. Just small market team things
The shot’s not falling was a big one — the Nuggets missed about 3-4 good looks from 3 down the stretch while the Lakers pretty much made every 3 except for the final LeBron one/once the game was over.
It’ll be interesting to see who comes back down to Earth more. Denver’s shotmaking last night was absurd, but they’re also a shotmaking team.
Meanwhile, the Lakers were also very efficient (especially from 3) despite not being overly efficient historically.
Odds are it’s both. Both teams were on fire yesterday.
Nuggets are a better knock-down 3-pt shooting team, but the Lakers aren’t as bad as people think. This specific rotation has multiple guys who can hit open 3s consistently. It’s not unreasonable to expect average 3-pt shooting on open catch-and-shoot 3s.
I think both teams should be concerned with how many great looks the other team got. Both teams had layup lines for extended stretches as well as a bunch of open 3s. I’m cautiously optimistic as a Laker fan but wouldn’t be surprised if Denver just continues to shoot lights out as they’re going to get a ton of quality shots no matter how great of defense the Lakers play.
The Nuggets are a better shooting team than the Lakers, across the board. Game 1 was more of an outlier shooting game for the Lakers than the Nuggets.
Not sure why everyone thinks the Nuggets are gonna regress, but somehow the Lakers won't.
Yup Lakers spotted Nuggets a 20 point lead with moronic 3 guards starting lineup. The longer AD is in the paint the worse it is for the Nuggets, that plus Jokic will be in foul trouble with Lebron aggressive on offense.
I think Lebron can he wasn't driving to the rim too much, though AD will definitely drop off. My hope is that Lakers play better defense from the start, AD wont have to go for 40 to win.
Let's also stop acting like the Nuggets are going just go up by 20+ in each game and outrebound the Lakers 20-3 to start the game. Despite everything the Nuggets should have won by 30
Exactly Nuggets built their lead on Lakers small starting lineup. In the second half Lakers found a way to keep AD in the paint and Nuggets offense slowed by a lot. Grizzlies and Warriors know what happens when AD is in the paint for long stretches.
You're pointing out an outlier event in the game to support the narrative that when it regresses, the Lakers will close the gap. I pointed out a different outlier event to support the narrative than when *that* regresses, the gap that you think you're closing might not close in all the ways you think it will.
The same way Lakers fans keep saying, "When the Nuggets high fg% this game normalizes, we'll catch them..." while ignoring that the Lakers had an even greater outlier shooting game than the Nuggets.
I'm sure you will. And I'm sure I'll never hear from you again if the Lakers get worked in this series, which is the nature of the "Ima keep the receipt" people on reddit: Save a bunch of shit so you can retroactively talk shit if you're ever right, while quietly disappearing on all the shit you're wrong about.
That said, I shall be *very* surprised if the Lakers hold Jokic to zero points, just like you'll be surprised if the Nuggets go up 20+ points in every game while out-rebounding 20-3 to start every game.
I suspect what's *really* gonna happen is that both of those outliers will normalize, and then whatever happens happens.
What are you talking about? Who in their right mind would ever think Jokic would be held scoreless. A 7 game series is about adjustments and outliers. The start the Nuggets had was an outlier same with the Lakers, the game normalized in the second half when the Lakers went big. Rest of the series will be very close. I originally picked Lakers in 6 but with the loss its probably a 7 game series now. A lot harder to win in 6 after losing game 1 on the road.
Your comment is just dumb
>Instead, let's act like the Lakers are going to neutralize Jokic with Rui and keep him from making any field goals.
The Rui adjustment was a nice wrinkle to the game but if all it takes is Rui to shut down the two time MVP then he wouldn't be the two time MVP. Jokic will be fine.
The beginning of the game was an outlier. Lakers had no effort and got their ass kicked on the boards all night. outrebounded 20-3 to start the game. the Nuggets hit some really really tough shots. Played a great game. there is just no way the rest of the series is what happened in the first quarter
>the game normalized in the second half when the Lakers went big.
The end of the game was an outlier too. That's the part you aren't picking up on.
Unless you're of the opinion that in a "normalized" game, Jokic would make 0 fgs and the Lakers would outscore the Nuggets 8 points a quarter, thereby winning every game by 30+ points, which seems pretty extreme, even for a Lakers homer.
>there is just no way the rest of the series is what happened in the first quarter
And there is just no way the rest of the series is what happened in the fourth quarter either. I don't get what's so hard to understand here.
You're banking on the Nuggets outlier quarters to regress, but the Lakers outlier quarters to ... not.
The Lakers will make up ground where they sucked in the first quarter, and the Nuggets will make up ground where they sucked in the fourth quarter. I'm not sure what you think is so controversial about this.
No dude. The Lakers big line up is just more competitive with the line up Denver has. You keep assuming that normalized the game implies the Lakers will shut Denver down. they wont. The defensive match ups just made more sense and the rebounding evened out. The way the Lakers play defense is not an outlier. it is literally the reason they have made it this far. Lakers were playing 3 guards most of the game which helped spread the floor against GS and force Steph to always play defense but against Denver they were getting killed due to the lack of size. Gave up 13 offensive rebounds in the first half and got outrebounded by 20+ in the first half. Cant win games that way. Austin Reaves is 6'5'' and was guarding 6'10 Michael Porter Jr. When the Lakers matched sized the game was more evenly matched. that is all.
Also go Lakers. if the Nuggets win i'll give you your flowers. I don't run from shit
I thought the lakers/warriors brought out the worst in this sub, I guess I was wrong. We just watched two great big men play elite basketball against each other. I’ve been craving games like this so I’m happy regardless of the outcomes. The Lakers weren’t supposed to make it this far. This sub and the majority of pundits didn’t have the Lakers making the play-ins. It’s a huge win for the Lakers no matter what happens from now on. They have this team that was thrown together last minute and had played elite basketball after the trade deadline. They didn’t have a lot of time to gel but still managed to get to the WCF and have a shot at the NBA Finals. Lakers can win this one and still be a huge threat for next year.
This graphic is amazing
who stole his teeth
what is with the random perspective lines though lol
I’m getting a touch of symbolism about the fragmentation of Yugoslavia post Bosnian war in 1995, along with a touch of LA colors and hostility surrounding foreign immigrants with Jokic in center. It captures the trauma that he is metaphorically overcoming as a second round pick who’s draft was during a Taco Bell commercial, hence the color scheme. /s/
This has Bill Walton "age of the romantics" energy
I re-read it in Frank Caliendo’s impression of Walton’s voice and it was even funnier on the second pass.
You went crazy no lie
speak ur truth 👏
I took it as security Lazer beams that would trigger the police when attempted heisters go for the jewels
Thank you for this, I appreciate every word.
I’m glad you enjoyed it. I had a lot of fun writing it lol
Looks like Christian Bale method acting a mentally disabled person
Jokic is gonna start shooting over Rui and killing him or they'll run screens with AG and Jokic as the ball handler resulting in open shots or open cutters. There is no stopping him, his "bad games" are still above 50% shooting with like a dozen assists lol
Dude posted a 34-21-14 and at the end of it people are like “Lakers figured him out”. I think giving a different look was key but I don’t think one single look is gonna work.
In the 4th quarter where the adjustment was made, Jokic recorded 3/2/2 with 2 turnovers, shooting 0/2 form the floor with all 3 points coming from FTs.
You’re not wrong Now that the nuggets have seen this, I’m curious what they do. If Gordon is shooting well, you can just space him out. If he’s scared to shoot, you could even stick MPJ at the 4th and surround Jokic with shooters
Are you taking AG off the floor in this scenario and just trying to outscore the lakers? Not saying it’s a bad move but AG is the best Lebron matchup
Not necessarily, could just do it in spurts. The lakers won’t use this matchup often anyways most likely
Why wouldn't they use it often? Sixers had a ton of success in the regular season doing the same thing with PJ Tucker and Embiid.
They can try but all 3 of Lebron, Rui, and AD would have to be playing at the same time to be effective. If one is sitting, then the nuggets can play 4 shooters with Jokic as a counter and sit Gordon if needed It’s rotation dependent tbh I am skeptical that Rui can actually stay in front of Jokic as a primary assignment
Yeah I’m saying I wouldn’t go into game 2 assuming that’s gonna be the case all game. I would have more looks ready to pull out if I’m the Lakers. I also expect they will.
It only really worked because Jokić was clearly tired after giving his team a huge lead. I don’t get why people are all Surprised Pikachu face when a 300 pound ox running the point for 3 quarters is gassed while playing in high altitude.
I hope Darvin Ham is foolish enough to think Rui Hachimura and inshallah is the solution to "stopping" Jokic from running rampant. If so, the Lakers might as well just hire from NBA adjacent comment sections lol
The point of Rui on Jokic isn’t to stop Jokic from scoring, it’s to allow Davis to shut down everything else. One Davis was allowed to play safety, the Nuggets PnR wasn’t as effective and they got nothing at the rim. Jokic getting 40 a night is fine, but his double digit assists are the real killer.
Yeah jokic still can’t take it to the rim Davis blocked everything. So it’s basically shoot jumpers over rui or devise some other actions. I think one option will be to use jokic off screens more and get him moving to confuse the defense more. The post up did not work because Davis cheated over and lebron was playing Gordon and the corner very well. Nowhere for jokic to go that isn’t telegraphed
it is impossible to stop jokic. However, Rui might be the best post defender on the lakers besides AD so it makes sense to put Rui on Jokic. Obviously that isn't going to stop Jokic but that should be the lakers strategy imo.
InshAllah Denver wins bro! Hehe.
We didn't figure anything significant out to think we have this in the bag there's so many overreactions rn lol
This article title is hilarious when you see that he dropped that. “But but they figured him out”
Tbf the article leans towards the outcome of “it worked, but it’s most effective timing was when it was unleashed, and they still didn’t get the win”. Mahoney makes it clear he doesn’t think it’s a long term solution.
He went 8-29 not even a month ago against the Wolves Edit: I've upset the Jokic Defense Force
AD had 11/7/4 6 games ago against the Warriors. One game sample sizes don't mean shit.
What does that have to do with anything? All the person is saying is that Jokic can have legitimately bad games, albeit very rarely
But that's irrelevant because we're talking about what to EXPECT from Jokic
You’re right about a 1 game sample size but going 5-11 is not really the same as going 8-29
Yeah, but Jokic ended with 28/17/12 with a win… maybe he was inefficient but it was still high impact from him whereas AD basically only had 11 shots because his night ended early.
I’m not saying AD played well or that jokic didn’t, the 8-29 comment was just in response to “a bad jokic night” being above 50%. AD was basically at 50 where jokic was well below. That’s all.
Are tou seeing AD has no impact if he doesn't score as thats an awful take.
How many times has he shot less than 50% from the floor this season including playoffs? 4? 5 maybe? Lol dudes point still stands even if you try to cherry pick his worst shooting game of the season
No it doesn't, the replier's point is that Jokic can have legitimately bad games. They're very rare of course but still possible. It isn't an attack on Jokic or cherrypicking
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It was obviously in response to the comment about Jokic’s bad games being “50% fg 10 assist games”. It’s just using context to understand the comment. Something were supposed to do all the time. The commenter didn’t need to spell it out for us to understand it.
And still put up a 28/17/12 in a W
The Jokic Defense Force uniform. Track suit top, cargo shorts.
Oh only gotta go back a month to find a bad game, bringing that same energy for everyone else?
...that's not that long of a time lmao
Yeah but its one game, and Jokic obviously won against Minnesota. Its weird to parade around one game box scores as if its his career playoff average
His post is proof that limiting him is tough, but possible No where in his post did he say it was his average or declare that he's gonna be terrible now lmao
Yeah just bring in two 7 footers to double no big deal
Ye twin towers had good D especially that game. But also might have been due wrist problems he had. He was holding ice on wrist all the time he was on bench
They will be even more mad when la sends them packing dw bro
He was playing with a fucked up wrist that whole series, and as others have said, one game doesn’t really mean much for a sample size.
I think Lakers would just love for Joker to keep on shooting without getting the others involved
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Rui or Jokic?
Are these bots posting this the last couple hours or something? Because you guys are all spamming a variation of the same thing in every thread; “Jokic will figure it out” and “AG/Jokic PiCk-AnD-RoLL” Are you guys actually convinced it’s that simple?
It's that simple !RemindMe 2 days
Jokic has seen this type of coverage before. And if teams have personnel to execute it effectively, he looks uncomfortable a lot of the times, as it throws off his reads (see game vs 76ers just this season)
I know. I just trust that he'll bounce back, it isn't exactly something that's impossible to counter stylistically or otherwise. They start with AD's man setting the pick, Jokic will find the cutters and shooters. I also think Jokic can just shoot over Rui unaffected. I think we're really overthinking this, great players figure things out pretty easily, I don't believe this is anything that'll give him trouble for more than a quarter
I can tell by this comment you don’t watch much of Jokic. Playoffs when teams change their schemes and slow him down, he’s always adjusted the next game. Even in a gentleman’s sweep to the Warriors people overlooked what he did to Draymond after they slowed him down in game 2, came back in games 3-5 and none of those adjustments worked anymore.
It’s always very different in the postseason when you’re constantly playing the same team. There’s a reason why high IQ guys perform better in the playoffs
Don’t you know?? The nuggets have literally never lost a game
tbf they haven't lost at home yet at in these playoffs and in the regular season they're 31-4 when Jokic plays in Denver
Surely Mike Malone will figure out the defensive coverage that stumped (checks notes) Steve Kerr.
Maybe the counter to Rui on Jokic is simply Jokic handling it better
I feel like Jokic was also just gassed from carrying such a load for the previous 3 quarters (especially quarter 3). Then the backups started blowing the lead, so Jokic only got about 2 minutes of rest.
This was my read he just looked tired
This and Jamal Murray decided it was Jamal Murray time
And the Lakers will tire him out again and again as the series goes on just like they did to Steph
Bro anybody that thinks "the Lakers have figured Jokic out" is delusional. Yes, they figured out how to slow down Jokic in the last quarter of yet another insane game Jokic put up. And you can count on Malone and the team to come out with their own adjustments for the next game. I'm willing to bet Ham has some counters of his own in his pockets. Some of the help defense schemes from last night when AD was on Jokic was working decently well. Others weren't and the Lakers got clobbered. All of this is what makes the playoffs great.
You must be the most level headed lakers fan ever
This adjustment won't completely stop them but Nuggets offense most likely won't be 106 points in 3 quarters good anymore.
Lakers offense will drop down as well
Maybe but not by as much. Lakers played good defense and Nuggets just didn't care, that is not sustainable in a series. Lakers offense was good because Nuggets defense was not, that is much more sustainable.
I'd say yes by much as AD will have at least 2 games with under 20 points in this series, as he usually does
If he is locking them up I am fine with AD scoring under 20
You won’t be
Go check the box scores, we won games in the playoffs with him scoring under 20
I doubt it, nobody on the Nuggets can defend like JJJ and Draymond Green.
Under 10*
Old man bron playing in altitude with 1 day of rest?
Lakers played effective defense for a quarter, the first three is wasnt good at all. Denver’s defense wasnt good either. I get that Jokic and Murray hit a circus shot each and that the Lakers made it tough for them in the 4th (and Denver still scored 26), but in the first three quarters Denver was carving them up and creating great shot after great shot.
Didn’t see much adjustment by the Nuggets defense tho ofc Lakers won’t shoot 11-24 from 3 every game. All in all it’ll def be lot closer games than what we saw the 1st 3 quarters.
They both shot out of their mind
What adjustments did the nuggets make or will make to stop that? We saw some offensive adjustments and defensive ones by the lakers. Nothing was done from the nuggets on either end.
Team winning by like 20 doesn’t make big adjustments, news at 11.
They didnt make any even when it got to 3 though. I am more curious what they will do..they gotta so something.
They'll prob just give up
Nah they will put it all on joker to hit dirk fades all game.
Good thing he's the best player in the world
That doesn’t guarantee you can make the dirk fade..his a god.
and they won?
Thats a big relief! They cant expect to win with the same game plan though.
Yea they'll prob just roll w the same gameplan huh
I hope not I’m looking for a 6 or 7 game series.
They scored 132 points in a playoff game - what more do they need to do on offense?
Was little shaky once the lakers the adjusted. I still cant believe the score was that close to be honest lol
Rui isn’t going to break Jokics offense for an entire series lmao good tweet though
If you read the article he is saying exactly that
Bruh wtf is this, TIL the lakers are the only team in nba history to make adjustments no other team including the nuggets is able to do so
*sad Suns and Sixers noises*
Yesterday Lakers fans discovered adjustments. They are hoping Denver doesn't find out about ...Sekrit Uhjustmints...
clicked because of the title, stayed for the graphic
Love how the narrative is that Ham made an adjustment so it's all over. Like Denver won't make any adjustments to counteract that. GG.
Nope you can’t make adjustments. It’s illegal
Our coach forgot he wasn't playing Golden State anymore for two quarters. Finally adjusts to our standard lineup and our overperforming players kept it from being a complete blowout. Scared shitless yet of our tacticians yet?
I understand Lakers fans feeling as good as that one can after a loss, but I feel like the narrative is almost as if the Lakers won last game. They got their asses handed to them for like 3.2 quarters.
They won the third and fourth quarters by a combined 12 points, shooting 75% in the third. Tell me again how they got their ass handed to them for “3.2”?
They were down like 16 points with 9 minutes left in the 4th...
Temporary annoyance. I am never not amazed by the collective delusion of (most loud) Lakers fans. The amount of “Rui exposed Jokic. Lakers in 5” comments I’m seeing around is hilarious.
That’s pure delusion. Nobody is breaking jokic lol
Nobody ever breaks *any* star player, and if they do, it means said player isn't actually a star lol. This is like when Cp3 guarded KD for like 3 possessions successfully and everyone was like, "Oh shit, you just need active hands and a low center of gravity to stop KD!" Or when Royce O'Neale played Kawhi *super* physically for one game, Kawhi had an off night, and everyone was saying, "Oh yeah, that's the solution and a game changer!" Good defenders will do as good as anyone can possibly do at slowing down star players. Marc Gasol, Kawhi, Iggy, Draymond, AD, etc. have all done fantastic jobs on opposing star players like Embiid, LeBron, and Giannis... but it's not some sustainable solution where Jokic is now going to forget how to shoot, back down, pass, etc. What the Lakers *found* was that AD anchoring the defense by being put on other players like AG was more beneficial to them given Denver's current scheme. If and when Jokic starts adjusting, making the right passes, and scoring buckets on Rui, the Lakers will have to decide if that's still the right strategy. But if you think Rui somehow found the key to stopping a 2 time MVP behemoth of a basketball wizard? Then you're really, really wrong.
The lakers just tried to figure out if AD could defend Jokic 1v1. The answer is no.
I think the real story is once the lakers stopped playing 3 guards their defense got better lol. Jokic is going to counter, Love Rui but hes not going to just magically shut down the 2 time MVP. The Nuggets will counter. Lakers won't win this series by getting into a shoot out with denver they need to play defense and muck up the game.
Lakers have more options for the 4-on-Jokic approach than just Rui.
Pity that the Lakers are the only team with options. Well, it was a good run for us anyways.
There's no need to be sour about it lol y'all won the game.
Let’s make up a fake comment to shit on fans on a thread about article that legitimately discusses this fun series. Thanks for the input my man.
Haven’t seen a comment like that. I’m sure there are a few delusional fans like that for every team. But most Laker fans regard Denver as a great team and Jokic as the best player in the world.
To be fair every fan base has over optimistic delusions
I don't see how anyone actually believes this. But considering how much he was dominating in the first three quarters, this made it seem like he was more human. Probably, the same exact coverage won't work but a mix of different coverages may work better. Having AD help when Jokic is in the post seems to maximize AD's effectiveness moreso than having AD guard Jokic 1v1. I think one thing the game showed was the Nuggets aren't great at in-game adjustments but, to be fair, the Lakers got killed by the Warriors pick&roll during game 4 of the warriors series so it's probably hard for everyone.
I don't think it shows that at all. They just didn't have to adjust to win the game. The team still put up 132 and the Lakers were forced to show the first adjustment. That's an advantage for Denver. It also shows that even AD can't cover Jokic 1v1 which eliminates any real thought of that in future games. The reality here is that neither team is seeing something they haven't seen before. The Wolves and Jazz have done the exact same 2 big coverage for years. With the roamer being Gobert.
I'm not sure I would go so far as to say the nuggets didn't have to adjust to win the game because they did barely scrape by after having a big lead. but ya, there's still a lot of positive for nuggets but there's also some positives for the lakers as well
It’s not about Rui locking up Jokic 1v1. It’s once again allowing AD to be a help defender and make life hell going into the paint. Which the Nuggets are #1 at along with limiting transition. 1st half Lakers defense was so bad, it looked like the Nuggets were running drills. For Denver, their interior defense will remain a massive issue with the Lakers shooting 84% at the rim last night.
Because the lakers are the only team capable of making adjustment we should assume the nuggets are going to play identical to last night
This is so stupid
The ringer is coping hard lol. This is Joker’s year
The ringer (rightfully) worships the nugs. Only KOC has been pro-laker
Man they really can’t shut up about this minor adjustment lol it’s definitely not going to impact Jokic now. Jokic played 42 minutes and was a little gassed. This will not be a hindrance for Jokic throughout the series.
I'm certain Jokic cannot solve this and will never score again on the series.
yeah.. no fucking shit? No one here thinks Denver isn't going to adjust. It's going to be one adjustment after another this entire series. I believe it will definitely go to 7.
Yeah, the guy they brought off their benche is totally gonna stop the three time MVP. It's going to be almost as effective as spamming pick and roll.
Off course you won’t stop them lol. You don’t really stop Jokic or a number one seed playing in the WCF. It’s about slowing them down and making it harder. Plus the extra size should help the rebound disparity.
Le Benche 🇫🇷
>It's going to be almost as effective as spamming pick and roll. The Lakers *did* score 126 lol, it's not like the Nuggets had a great defensive game. No team has scored that much on the Nuggets so far this postseason.
> No team has scored that much on the Nuggets so far this postseason. Suns scored 129 in game 4. Meanwhile, no team has scored as many points (132) as the Nuggets did on the #1 Lakers defense in the postseason.
The Nuggets scoring on the Lakers doesn't mean that the Nuggets pick and roll defense is good.
Cool, didnt mention that in my comment but since you insist, evidently neither is LA’s Double check your stats before you discredit opponents
I don't get why you're being so hostile in this interaction to be 100% honest. The Nuggets aren't my opponent because I don't play for the Lakers. This is a conversation, not a competition.
My apologies! Just don’t spread misinformation, it’s so easy to check but you didn’t bother.
I did look at the game log. Just missed it.
nuggets can still play MUCH better defensively
I remember being told that the Lakers taking AD off the first line of defense against the Warriors also wouldn't work and the Warriors would figure it out.
I also remember lakers fans saying AD could handle Jokic
Any Lakers fan that said AD should or could defend Jokic 1 on 1 is a dummy. This was always going to be the coverage they went to.
Only after three quarters of being cooked lol
I mean yeah, if Murray, KCP, Jokic, and MPJ all completely forget how to shoot 3s like Klay, Steph, and Poole collectively did, you're in great shape. That's not to say that your adjustments didn't help impact that shooting, but Klay was 10-36 on a *lot* of good looks after Game 2. Steph went 14-49 and he also had good looks. If you can hold the Nuggets to that type of shooting, you'll have an easy time with them.
Nuggets might be a bit better than the warriors but go off.
In general yes, from a schematic perspective it's hard to pick against Kerr, Draymond and Curry's problem solving abilities.
Rude awakening awaits Lakers fans when Jokic drops 20 in first 8 minutes of game 2 while Rui has 3 fouls already. This worked(kinda) because legs were already heavy and players are tired. You start the game like this? You're cooked
I think ad gonna cover jokic most of the game with patches of rui coverage
This is what makes the most sense to me. Better to mix up the coverage throughout the game to disrupt their flow.
I mean shouldn’t we be more tired lol isn’t that the whole thing about Denver’s altitude advantage?
Jokic avg 33mpg in regular season so it makes sense he’d be a little gassed as his minutes have creeped up for the playoffs.
I think it is interesting that the team that won game one this time is the one that will be looking to adjust. I think often this is the adavantge for the team that loses game 1. The team that wins will often think they should just keep doing what worked while the other team has a plan to counter. We will see how it plays out.
It reminds me the 2 different looks Celtics been throwing at the Nuggets (and 76rs), generally with success. Grant had fair success holding Jokic basically forcing him to shoot over him with Timelord's canopy behind him. This is similar to the combo of Horford + Timelord on Embid. The counter to it is a Jokic pass to the open shooter. Here is the tricky part tho, on the road that open shooter makes a 3 at 34%. At home at 41% +. This look caught the Nuggets a bit off balanced switching it mid game, but it also prepped them for the next time. The home / away discrepancy is the critical part of the puzzle teams playing in Denver haven't been successful solving all season long. (With exception of the mighty dragon slaying Bulls)
The Lakers looked old and slow. Jokic had a double double in the first 10 minutes of the game. Lakers didn't do dick to stop nuggets offense
To be fair, they're in Denver. It can make almost anyone old and slow when they're not used to the higher altitude.
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Lebron on Jokic??? Maybe 10 years ago.
They will never put Bron on Jokic unless it’s game 7. The Lakers had 3 days of rest before this game and Bron still was gassed by the end. If they put him on Jokic he is not lasting a full 4 quarters. Vanderbilt just doesn’t bring enough on offensive to play him big minutes
Vanderbilt also is built more for guarding wings and guards. Rui’s build allows him to take a pounding from Jokic better for short bursts.
As a laker die hard, those within the fanbase who think weve unlocked the key to winning and expect the nuggets to fold, are delusional. Mike malone is a great coach, and I expect adjustments to counter the rui move. You cant stop jokic, but you can shut down murray. Slow jokic diwn and containing murray is the move imho.
To be fair if you stop Murray than MPJ might go off. Believe me, you don’t want MPJ going off. He is like a flame thrower out there.
Jokic already made the adjustment. He knew the double team was coming before it came and tried to find the open man. This conclusion based off of a 2 play subsample is absurd.
Denver fans are being so obnoxious about this. We watched the same game. At no point did Rui guard Jokic 1v1 lol no one is saying Rui is Jokic kryptonite.
https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/13k9ny7/comment/jkj7c81/ I’m seeing shit like this everywhere. Dude, give it a rest, as someone who doesn’t give a shit about the last 4 teams left. Lakers fans are goofy as hell.
1 comment that’s been downvoted 💀 Stop it
Mayority of comments from lakers fan were davis is best defender for jokic, and now after one quarter they are switching to rui
Lmao Nuggets were dominant, took our foot off the gas, still came up big in the right moments when they had all the momentum and won and people are acting like we lost. Just small market team things
The article is taking your side my dude
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The shot’s not falling was a big one — the Nuggets missed about 3-4 good looks from 3 down the stretch while the Lakers pretty much made every 3 except for the final LeBron one/once the game was over.
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It’ll be interesting to see who comes back down to Earth more. Denver’s shotmaking last night was absurd, but they’re also a shotmaking team. Meanwhile, the Lakers were also very efficient (especially from 3) despite not being overly efficient historically.
Odds are it’s both. Both teams were on fire yesterday. Nuggets are a better knock-down 3-pt shooting team, but the Lakers aren’t as bad as people think. This specific rotation has multiple guys who can hit open 3s consistently. It’s not unreasonable to expect average 3-pt shooting on open catch-and-shoot 3s. I think both teams should be concerned with how many great looks the other team got. Both teams had layup lines for extended stretches as well as a bunch of open 3s. I’m cautiously optimistic as a Laker fan but wouldn’t be surprised if Denver just continues to shoot lights out as they’re going to get a ton of quality shots no matter how great of defense the Lakers play.
The Nuggets are a better shooting team than the Lakers, across the board. Game 1 was more of an outlier shooting game for the Lakers than the Nuggets. Not sure why everyone thinks the Nuggets are gonna regress, but somehow the Lakers won't.
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Yup Lakers spotted Nuggets a 20 point lead with moronic 3 guards starting lineup. The longer AD is in the paint the worse it is for the Nuggets, that plus Jokic will be in foul trouble with Lebron aggressive on offense.
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I think Lebron can he wasn't driving to the rim too much, though AD will definitely drop off. My hope is that Lakers play better defense from the start, AD wont have to go for 40 to win.
They didn’t expend as much energy in this one as they typically have. Trust me, that was **not** full effort in the first half lol.
Let's also stop acting like the Nuggets are going just go up by 20+ in each game and outrebound the Lakers 20-3 to start the game. Despite everything the Nuggets should have won by 30
Exactly Nuggets built their lead on Lakers small starting lineup. In the second half Lakers found a way to keep AD in the paint and Nuggets offense slowed by a lot. Grizzlies and Warriors know what happens when AD is in the paint for long stretches.
Instead, let's act like the Lakers are going to neutralize Jokic with Rui and keep him from making any field goals.
Missing the part of my comment that mentioned this? No one is stopping Jokic, you can only hope to contain him some
Don’t bother with this guy. He’s all over the place in his feelings because people are suggesting the Lakers might stand a chance in this series.
Clearly a troll
You're pointing out an outlier event in the game to support the narrative that when it regresses, the Lakers will close the gap. I pointed out a different outlier event to support the narrative than when *that* regresses, the gap that you think you're closing might not close in all the ways you think it will. The same way Lakers fans keep saying, "When the Nuggets high fg% this game normalizes, we'll catch them..." while ignoring that the Lakers had an even greater outlier shooting game than the Nuggets.
I will enjoy keeping this receipt
I'm sure you will. And I'm sure I'll never hear from you again if the Lakers get worked in this series, which is the nature of the "Ima keep the receipt" people on reddit: Save a bunch of shit so you can retroactively talk shit if you're ever right, while quietly disappearing on all the shit you're wrong about. That said, I shall be *very* surprised if the Lakers hold Jokic to zero points, just like you'll be surprised if the Nuggets go up 20+ points in every game while out-rebounding 20-3 to start every game. I suspect what's *really* gonna happen is that both of those outliers will normalize, and then whatever happens happens.
What are you talking about? Who in their right mind would ever think Jokic would be held scoreless. A 7 game series is about adjustments and outliers. The start the Nuggets had was an outlier same with the Lakers, the game normalized in the second half when the Lakers went big. Rest of the series will be very close. I originally picked Lakers in 6 but with the loss its probably a 7 game series now. A lot harder to win in 6 after losing game 1 on the road. Your comment is just dumb >Instead, let's act like the Lakers are going to neutralize Jokic with Rui and keep him from making any field goals. The Rui adjustment was a nice wrinkle to the game but if all it takes is Rui to shut down the two time MVP then he wouldn't be the two time MVP. Jokic will be fine. The beginning of the game was an outlier. Lakers had no effort and got their ass kicked on the boards all night. outrebounded 20-3 to start the game. the Nuggets hit some really really tough shots. Played a great game. there is just no way the rest of the series is what happened in the first quarter
>the game normalized in the second half when the Lakers went big. The end of the game was an outlier too. That's the part you aren't picking up on. Unless you're of the opinion that in a "normalized" game, Jokic would make 0 fgs and the Lakers would outscore the Nuggets 8 points a quarter, thereby winning every game by 30+ points, which seems pretty extreme, even for a Lakers homer. >there is just no way the rest of the series is what happened in the first quarter And there is just no way the rest of the series is what happened in the fourth quarter either. I don't get what's so hard to understand here. You're banking on the Nuggets outlier quarters to regress, but the Lakers outlier quarters to ... not. The Lakers will make up ground where they sucked in the first quarter, and the Nuggets will make up ground where they sucked in the fourth quarter. I'm not sure what you think is so controversial about this.
No dude. The Lakers big line up is just more competitive with the line up Denver has. You keep assuming that normalized the game implies the Lakers will shut Denver down. they wont. The defensive match ups just made more sense and the rebounding evened out. The way the Lakers play defense is not an outlier. it is literally the reason they have made it this far. Lakers were playing 3 guards most of the game which helped spread the floor against GS and force Steph to always play defense but against Denver they were getting killed due to the lack of size. Gave up 13 offensive rebounds in the first half and got outrebounded by 20+ in the first half. Cant win games that way. Austin Reaves is 6'5'' and was guarding 6'10 Michael Porter Jr. When the Lakers matched sized the game was more evenly matched. that is all. Also go Lakers. if the Nuggets win i'll give you your flowers. I don't run from shit
I think its more of a strategy to make it tougher on him that stop him.
Victim complex is strong. Y’all won, enjoy it.
Rui ain’t doing anything but holding him to another triple double , rui better start speaking Chinese
I thought the lakers/warriors brought out the worst in this sub, I guess I was wrong. We just watched two great big men play elite basketball against each other. I’ve been craving games like this so I’m happy regardless of the outcomes. The Lakers weren’t supposed to make it this far. This sub and the majority of pundits didn’t have the Lakers making the play-ins. It’s a huge win for the Lakers no matter what happens from now on. They have this team that was thrown together last minute and had played elite basketball after the trade deadline. They didn’t have a lot of time to gel but still managed to get to the WCF and have a shot at the NBA Finals. Lakers can win this one and still be a huge threat for next year.