Welcome to the B-Ball Brunch. Enjoy reading about my NBA musings about last night during your brunch hours.
All Nikola Jokic does is be clutch.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Vincent Carchietta/USA Today.)
I feel like there are so many strange reactions whenever the subject of Nikola Jokic is brought up. Some call him overrated. Some don’t think he’s that great because he looks out of shape. Some think he’s the greatest thing since the smartphone.
Some just don’t see him for what he is: an amazing basketball player that gets the job done. A second round pick that every team passed on because he wasn’t in the greatest of shape and didn’t have much experience. A lot of people make fun of the way he looks yet he’s the one playing 65 minutes in a quadruple-overtime playoff game. It’s almost like he’s the Dusty Rhodes of basketball. Yeah, he LOOKS out of shape but he can last all day long and is a genius in his profession.
It didn’t seem all that great early when he got off to a slow start (and it still is a pretty slow start at the moment). He’s still not shooting very well right now and in earlier games, he was passing on a lot of shots while the team wants him to put them up. The offense isn’t there yet (24th in offensive rating or points per possession this season, compared to 6th last year) but it’ll get there. Plus Jokic will make the plays when needed.
Like the last two games! Against Philly on Friday, he came up big with a long two-pointer in the waning seconds. And then on Sunday afternoon, he made another clutch long two to win it for Denver against the Wolves. The Nuggets have won four out of five games in games decided by four points or fewer and Jokic has done his part in those pressure-filled situations (I mean, TWO game-winners in three days).
Basically, I think Jokic will be fine. Yes, he doesn’t look like your typical prototype NBA player. But neither does Stephen Curry. Jokic just gets the job done. That’s why I foolishly picked him to win MVP!
Bullet Passes
It’s easy to say TANK TANK TANK when it comes to teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder, for instance. But I like that they’re really competing. Obviously, you can’t tell players NOT to try hard but the Thunder are playing their dudes. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is performing brilliantly right now. Hopefully, the Thunder build around him while Sam Presti drafts MVP-talent in his sleep.
While eating sushi (I feel this is very important in this paragraph for the sheer fact that I LOVE sushi), my friends and I watched the Raptors/Lakers game. And my friends were just flabbergasted at the Raps taking care of business. “Who is Chris BouCHER?” “Matt Thomas?” “What’s a Terence Davis?” “Rondae Hollis-Jefferson is still in the league?”
(Please believe me that we respect everyone that gets into the NBA.)
Anyway, the fact that Nick Nurse trusted them against the scorching Lakers is big. Serge Ibaka and Kyle Lowry are not going to be playing in the immediate future. Plus Fred VanVleet is playing A TON of minutes (THIRD in the league at 37.4 minutes per contest). The Raptors’ depth was not known to be great. But maybe it got better with these guys playing important minutes. And they got the win, too!
The Knicks lost another game by 20-plus points (this time, it was against Cleveland). The front office (President Steve Mills and GM Scott Perry) suddenly walked in and took over the podium.
(VIDEO CREDIT: ESPN.)
Suffice to say that they are not happy with the 2-8 record. We don’t know how long of a leash head coach David Fizdale has. They kept mentioning about consistency and they said they’re not seeing it with this group.
It’s rare to see a team’s front office do a postgame presser. We’re only 10 games in and this is just NOT a good sign.
Not that the Knicks are used to good signs in recent years.
Dion Waiters is suspended for 10 games. More on this in a separate entry!
Watch This Play
Jokic. Clutch. That’s all you can say.
(VIDEO CREDIT: House of Highlights.)
Like I said, he’ll be just fine.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
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