He is also playing smart and under control. Hate to use this cliche' but .......things seem to have really slowed down for him.
Really want to see him and Dame as our core. Love the chemistry they have together and it feels like they’re the strongest tandem we could possibly build around.
He is a top 5 center in the NBA right now, hes hugely contributing to our team winning games which is about the best compliment he could get.
Comparing Nurkic and Jokic over the past ten games: Not bad! Especially when you compare their (prepare to get angry) +/- numbers over that span, and you remember that Denver are 8-2 to our 6-4. (TND is "Tendex" - an aggregative stat like PER that is worked out like this.)
It helps that the team is having him post up about ten times more often per game than they were earlier in the season.
And its about damned time and they better not go away from it until it is defused by the defenses we face.
Comparing Jokic to Nurk. Here are the key stats where Jokic is better. Can Nurk close the gap on these? 1. FT% -- 83% to 74% 2. FG% near the basket -- 0-3 feet 70% to 60%. 3-10 feet 50% to 40%. 3. AST% -- 38% to 18% (damn!) Other than those minor items, Nurk is better: 1. Nurk is a significantly better defender. 2. Nurk is a better offensive rebounder (14% to 9%) 3. Nurk has a lower turnover rate (14% to 17%) 4. Nurk gets fouled more (43% to 30%) Nurk's 18% assist rate equals what Jokic was doing in his first season with Denver. After that Jokic' assist rate took a giant leap from 18% to 29%, then 30%, and this year 38%. Here is my question for you basketball X's and O's experts. Did Jokic somehow morph into a passing savant from year one to year two? Or did Denver change their offensive system in a way that maximized Jokic' passing? In other words, is the huge difference between Jokic & Nurkic assist % more a function of Jokic' superior passing, or more due t0 different offensive systems?
Denver started running the offense more through him. He doesn't bring the ball up but a lot of times he becomes their "point guard" in terms of playmaking and running the offense.
Jokic has a much better ast/TO ratio as well. Jokic is a minus defender, but he has Milsap to cover this weakness. Nurk isn't as good on offense, but he has our backcourt to support him. Interesting, though moot, comparison, really. http://bkref.com/tiny/cbEiD
So even though Nurk gets almost as much usage % it's a different kind of usage? Not a "point guard" kind of usage? Maybe we need to copy a bit of Denver. They're doing pretty good.
I think people are severely underrating Jokic’s passing and vision.... The offense runs through him BECAUSE of his passing.
I think their styles are too different for Portland to use Nurk the way Denver uses Jokic. The first thing is that Jokic has to be respected as a threat to shoot the 3 as he is a career 35.6% 3 point shooter. If Nurk could develop a consistent 3 point shot (not sure if that is a good thing or not?) it would be easier to run plays with him having the ball extended out to the 3 point line. As of right now he is best suited getting the ball around the free throw line if we are talking about how to utilize his passing skills best. That leads me to the second thing which is that Jokic has some ability to penetrate. Some of that is predicated on his ability to knock down the 3 which he takes advantage of by pump faking or going by a hard closeout allowing him to get by his defender despite being fairly slow. Once he's by his defender it opens up all kinds of passing lanes. I don't know if Nurk's big frame would ever suit him being able to handle the ball like that on drives. He did have one play last night where he got the ball in a similar spot to where Jokic does and drove all the way down for a little running layup off the glass. He missed it but it was a pretty strong move for someone his size, I just don't think it's realistic to have him develop that too much. The thing I will say could be in Nurk's favor is if he starts consistently commanding a double team in the post and the team learns how to create passing angles for easy baskets or open 3's out of that. He wouldn't be getting them the same way as Jokic but that would be the easiest way to boost his assist numbers and make our offense much better. Nurk may actually have better vision but as of right now he needs teammates to make good cuts or go back door or hit shots after a dribble hand off to get his assists whereas Jokic creates a lot of his assists due to his skill set, if that makes sense.
