It definitely seems like eons have past since the bubble playoffs and Denver DID get completely dismantled by the Suns last season. I just hope either Murray and/or Porter comes back healthy or Denver finds Jokic a new partner because it's starting to look like some of Jokic's best years are being wasted.
Hakeem played in an era where the low post dominant center is one of the most used formulas to win. I am not sure if Jokic would be used the same way if he played in those days. The Europeans were using the big men quite differently than in the NBA culture. I remember Pau Gasol's former coach said that Pau's game had become more limited after he joined the NBA. It's not a coincidence many of the best passing big men are from Euro league.
DUMBALYTICS would prefer Jokic to shoot a 3 pointer here.... shotclock is expiring and hes a good 3 pt shooter after all? and its the most efficient shot in basketball lolol DUMBALYTICS
why not? i thought 3 pointer is the most efficient shot in basketball and 3>2 and if he had high bbiq how come he didnt get it?
In the NBA .. .esp back then . .. Jokic would be getting absolutely HAMMERED on the block Bill Laimbeer would have tried to decapitate him Those days were so much rougher Finesse Centers were rare Rocket River
Jokic is a VASTLY superior passer compared to Olajuwon.... it isn't even close. Olajuwon is the VASTLY superior player....... I would have a better chance of guarding Jalen Green than Jokic would have of guarding Olajuwon.... also Jokic doesn't like it when it gets chippy..... Dream did.
That particular move would not work against Olajuwon. Love watching Jokic, love me some elite passing big men and guys that play with flair but that move is DOA against Dream.
I keep reading about this vastly superior passing, Umkay. But I just know that the Rockets won back to back NBA Championships with the offense RUNNING THROUGH DREAM. Those teams wore the left side of the floor out running sets through their HOF center who was competing vs other HOF bigs for a title. Passing out of the post was most of the offense. I think Dream passed out of the post just fine.
In case you aren't being sarc.... The rules were different back then which prevented zone defenses and driving was much harder given there was no defensive 3 seconds. The net result was that it was much harder to create an open 3 shot and thus fewer players were three point shooters. Michael Jordan, the greatest player ever - was a bad to average three point shooter. But it was a different era where three point shooting wasn't as critical to success. You had a few guys who were floor spacers like Steve Kerr and Paxson, and the Suns were very forward thinking in that department as were the Rockets (because of Hakeem ironically). But big men rarely shot the 3 ball then since they were far more valuable inside then out. The reason Jokic plays so well today is because he has the strength and size of a throwback center with the shooting and passing of a modern NBA center. He's strong so today's modern big men can't deal with him outside of guys like Howard, Embid, etc. Hakeem did what he did against monster big men where you couldn't just outmuscle guys to the rim and shoot point blank like Jokic does today. Jokics offense game is more like Tim Duncan's with a good three point shot but lacking the defense. He's a very good player, but his dominance is in part because he can exploit the modern game.