NBA Season 2021-22

[celticsclay]

Even as someone who thinks Embiid should be MVP… watching the Nuggets this season you can also understand the Jokic argument.

Legit, this Nuggets team is atrocious without Jokic. And even with Jokic playing well the Nuggets might get swept here by the Warriors. OOF. Nuggets without Jokic might actually be a terrible team

At least Embiid has Harden and Maxey who is balling too in support

This is what I have been talking about for months, so TP. The nuggets supporting cast without Murray and mjp is one of the worst in the entire league. They really aren’t that great a team. There were just a real lot of bad teams in the west.

[pokeKingCurtis]

Even as someone who thinks Embiid should be MVP… watching the Nuggets this season you can also understand the Jokic argument.

Legit, this Nuggets team is atrocious without Jokic. And even with Jokic playing well the Nuggets might get swept here by the Warriors. OOF. Nuggets without Jokic might actually be a terrible team

The Nuggets without Jokic would be no better than Orlando

Is that not true of most teams without their top 3 players (MPJ, Murray)? Genuinely asking.

We'd probably be an exception because our role players are so good and our role players are also really good on D.

[gouki88]

Even as someone who thinks Embiid should be MVP… watching the Nuggets this season you can also understand the Jokic argument.

Legit, this Nuggets team is atrocious without Jokic. And even with Jokic playing well the Nuggets might get swept here by the Warriors. OOF. Nuggets without Jokic might actually be a terrible team

The Nuggets without Jokic would be no better than Orlando

Is that not true of most teams without their top 3 players (MPJ, Murray)? Genuinely asking.

We'd probably be an exception because our role players are so good and our role players are also really good on D.

Yes, but I don't think most teams can go from being a bottom feeder without their best 3 players, to being a near-50 win team with just one of them (Jokic).

Can you imagine how we'd look if we didn't have Jaylen and Smart for a whole season? How Phoenix would look without CP3 and Ayton for a whole season? How Milwaukee would look without Middleton and Jrue all season? And so on.

I don't think any of those teams would be where Denver is with just Jokic.

[Goldstar88]

Just noticed that the Mavs won without Luka. How good is Brunson? [dang]. 41pts, 8reb, 5ast while shooting 15-25 from the field and 6-10 from 3pt.

[Atzar]

Tough to see Denver taking a game in this series.  Those monstrous third quarter runs of death have returned with a vengeance now that Curry and Thompson are back and (mostly) healthy, and Denver doesn't have the personnel either to stem the tide or to keep up with it.  And Draymond might be the single best anti-Jokic weapon in the entire NBA. 

[gouki88]

Tough to see Denver taking a game in this series.  Those monstrous third quarter runs of death have returned with a vengeance now that Curry and Thompson are back and (mostly) healthy, and Denver doesn't have the personnel either to stem the tide or to keep up with it.  And Draymond might be the single best anti-Jokic weapon in the entire NBA.

It doesn't really matter what Jokic does, GSW have the defensive personnel to completely nullify his teammates. And his teammates absolutely cannot defend Klay, Curry or Poole.

[colincb]

Tough to see Denver taking a game in this series.  Those monstrous third quarter runs of death have returned with a vengeance now that Curry and Thompson are back and (mostly) healthy, and Denver doesn't have the personnel either to stem the tide or to keep up with it.  And Draymond might be the single best anti-Jokic weapon in the entire NBA.

It doesn't really matter what Jokic does, GSW have the defensive personnel to completely nullify his teammates. And his teammates absolutely cannot defend Klay, Curry or Poole.

DEN is in the playoffs because of Jokic. They don't have a #2 or #3. Any good team would beat them.

[tazzmaniac]

Just noticed that the Mavs won without Luka. How good is Brunson? [dang]. 41pts, 8reb, 5ast while shooting 15-25 from the field and 6-10 from 3pt.

Looks like he's going to be an unrestricted free agent.  He's due for a huge pay raise after this season. 

[colincb]

Just noticed that the Mavs won without Luka. How good is Brunson? [dang]. 41pts, 8reb, 5ast while shooting 15-25 from the field and 6-10 from 3pt.

Mavs shot 22-47 (47%) from beyond the arc. Not many teams could withstand that and Dallas is a below-average 3FG% team. It was their night. Kudos to Brunson whom I've liked back to his days at Villanova.

[SparzWizard]

I thought the Nuggets would give the Warriors fits. Poole is an absolute beast

[Moranis]

Jokic's numbers are down across the board.  A guy that is supposed to be a back to back MVP is supposed to elevate his game in the playoffs, not shrink.  Maybe his teammates aren't good enough, but if Jokic shrinks and under performs the level of his teammates makes no difference.

[gouki88]

Jokic's numbers are down across the board.  A guy that is supposed to be a back to back MVP is supposed to elevate his game in the playoffs, not shrink.  Maybe his teammates aren't good enough, but if Jokic shrinks and under performs the level of his teammates makes no difference.

He is averaging 26/11/5 in less minutes than he was playing in the regular season because both games have been blowouts. This feels like you're deliberately ignoring the context of the series.

[Moranis]

Jokic's numbers are down across the board.  A guy that is supposed to be a back to back MVP is supposed to elevate his game in the playoffs, not shrink.  Maybe his teammates aren't good enough, but if Jokic shrinks and under performs the level of his teammates makes no difference.

He is averaging 26/11/5 in less minutes than he was playing in the regular season because both games have been blowouts. This feels like you're deliberately ignoring the context of the series.

His 2 pt% has dropped from 65.2 to 56.8.  He is 0-8 from 3 after hitting 33.7 (on similar attempts) in the regular season.  His per 36 rebounding numbers are down from 14.8 to 12.  And sure his per 36 scoring is identical at 29.1, but in the regular season that was on 19.1 FG's per 36 vs. 25.5 in the 2 playoff games.  His assists have gone from 8.5 to 5.7 per 36.  Denver is -36 in the series, but they are -45 with Jokic on the floor and +9 in the 33 minutes he is riding the pine.  In the regular season Jokic's on/off per 100 was an astronomically high +16.4, it is an astronomically low -45.0 in the playoffs. 

Jokic has significantly under performed in this series, especially given what he did against Golden St. in the regular season when Denver was 3-1.  And his worst game in the regular season is also the one they lost.  Jokic's under performance is the real problem for Denver in the series thus far.  He hasn't played well at all and is nothing like what you'd expect from a guy that is going to win back-to-back MVP's.  He needs to elevate his game, not have it decline.  I absolutely expect him to play better in Denver and would be pretty surprised if Denver didn't win game 3. 

[trickybilly]

gsw really annoy me. Maybe more than anyone.

Durant signing.

ONE downyear that lands them Wiseman.

They luck into a potential star in Poole, and Kuminga.

I want to see the Suns break their heart in 7.

[Who]

Tough to see Denver taking a game in this series.  Those monstrous third quarter runs of death have returned with a vengeance now that Curry and Thompson are back and (mostly) healthy, and Denver doesn't have the personnel either to stem the tide or to keep up with it.  And Draymond might be the single best anti-Jokic weapon in the entire NBA.

It doesn't really matter what Jokic does, GSW have the defensive personnel to completely nullify his teammates. And his teammates absolutely cannot defend Klay, Curry or Poole.

Nor can Jokic. He is dead in the water against shooters like that. Especially Steph with his handles and quickness. Jokic doesn't have the footspeed to contain them on Team D.

This is the playoffs. Not the regular season where Jokic can pad his advanced defensive stats playing against many mediocre talents. Now he has to face quick sharp-shooting guards. He can't matchup to those guys on switches. This is why his defensive stats are so deceiving and misleading in terms of what you can expect from him in the playoffs when facing superior offensive talent.

It was CP3 and Booker last year. Steph and Co. this year. Same problem, different year.