Around the NBA - July 2017 Edition

it means Gortat cheated

 

I've been lobbying to pick him up for a spark plug bench guy for years...he's a great piece for the money

 

Perfect. Let's use VORP, if that's what you choose.

Jokic was 10th best player in the league, with a 5.3. Nurkic was a .7


Nurkic's ORtg with Portland was 105. His DRtg with Portland was 104
Jokic's ORtg was 126. His DRtg was 109.

Essentially, it can be concluded that Nukic is a little better defender than Jokic, but Jokic is SO much better offensively that there really is no comparison.

 

I agree. He would be a good vet to have coming off the bench and in the locker room for our young team.



Nice pic riverman.

 

Says the Denver fan who can't take it because their SOFT ASS Center got DESTROYED in the biggest game of his career? Yeah... Buh Bye salty...

 

I'm not sure what you want here. I specifically used Nurkic's Portland numbers only. I also agree that PER isn't the be-all and end-all. Someone actually did say earlier that Nurkic > Jokic. That's just silly.

Here's the thing. Nurkic has NO perimeter game. None. Couple that with the fact that he's an awful free throw shooter (which means you can't have him in the game when it's on the line), is a turnover machine, and a worse 2-point shooter than Jokic, and Jokic being the best passing big-man in the game.................... there really isn't much comparison.

 

I do think there's a case to be made that we're getting ahead of ourselves after all of 20 games. I don't, at all, disagree that there was visual evidence that team plays better with Nurkic, in terms of how he changed the angles for shooters on offense and cutting lanes on defense. I think that's clearly going to stick around. Whether he'll be as productive--a stat monster--I think is still an open question. If he plays anywhere near that level next year, I'll be a full believer, even if he doesn't play every game.

 

@Socnorb11 ... Nurkic showed that he could step out and hit a 15' in Portland so to say he "has NO perimeter game" might be at least a little bit of a stretch. That said, I don't want him floating around the perimeter like so many of today's bigs. Plant your butt in the paint where there are few that can deal with you and your your passing ability off the of the block.

 

What's more likely; nurkic starts to hit 3s or Jokic gets quicker laterally to be able to play defense?

 

good god, I just saw he registered today and he immediately speaks on Jokic vs Nurkic
well observed my friend, kudos to you

 

I'm actually not sure that either of those things are likely.

Again, based on DRtg (from Basketball Reference), Jokic was only slightly worse defensively than Nukic, defensively. Offensively, it was no contest.

 

I actually came to see what you guys think Plumlee is worth, from a salary standpoint. There's quite a bit of talk on Nuggets forums about whether the team should prioritize him or not. I was just curious how fans outside of Denver view him, and Portland fans should be able to respond to that better than others.

 

It's funny how nug fans always bring up Jokic, it's like did we trade you Jokic or did we trade you plumlee?

 

Curious what the comparison is from Nurkic's 20 games in Portland vs Jokic. Certainly that is a small sample size but it was a completely different role for him as well.

 

Can't tell if you are trolling or just like to exaggerate to make a point. Nurkic is better at some things (back to the basket, blocks, post defense) and Jokic at some things. 66% from the free throw line is hardly aweful, and if you think he can't shoot from the perimeter then you didn't watch him play in Portland.

If you truly believe Jokic is markedly better across the board, then why did her get his lunch money stolen in their head to head matchup?

 

DRTG isn't the end-all/be-all, either. Nurkic is a much better rim protector with superior strength.

And also, on/off court numbers suggest that Nurkic's defensive impact with Portland was about twice what Jokic's was in Denver last year. Denver's defense was 2.2 points better with Jokic on the court, per 100 possessions, while Portland's defense was 4.8 points better with Nurkic, per 100 possessions.

 

I like how this guy keeps ignoring the fact that Nurk slaughtered Joke-ic H2H

Oh but Nurk had a bad game against Gortat? Tell me more about how that negates the fact Nurk embarrassed the "Joker".

 

Again, it was ONE game.

Why did Nurkic get out-played by Marcin Gortat in the Portland/Washington game?