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Nikola Jokic is the most unique NBA player ever..

RonnieBobby

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Aug 14, 2020
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I'm not say the best, I'm saying there has never been a 7'0'' 285lb player who can almost routinely get triple doubles like he does. He is averaging 24.5 ppg, 11.8 RPG, 13.5 apg, shooting 63%, 40% of 3s and getting 1.5 steals per game. He does all this without jumping high, running fast or being particularly quick. He is simply a one of a kind.
 
There was a long hair hippy white guy back in the 1970's that a lot of people forget but he was doing a lot what we see with Jokic

The point center isn't anything new.

What is though is one so far from the basket.

But Bill Walton isn't just some weird pothead ESPN found on skid row...
At his peak before the injuries did a lot of what you see with Jokic
 
We had a pretty robust conversation around Jokic and AD over the summer during the playoffs. I stated that Jokic was a top 10 player in the league and some folks initially said I was way off, but when you actually look at the stats it makes sense.

This year it seems Jokic is taking it to another level. It’s not crazy to say he is a top 5 playmaker/passer in basketball. And he’s so smooth and in control as a scorer.
 
I’d say sabonis sr might have been a nice comparison had we seen him play his prime in the NBA. He was a wicked passer as an old immobile fella.

Plus in this era where teams are beating one another 145-141 in REGULATION of course everyone stats are better these days.
 
I’d say sabonis sr might have been a nice comparison had we seen him play his prime in the NBA. He was a wicked passer as an old immobile fella.

Plus in this era where teams are beating one another 145-141 in REGULATION of course everyone stats are better these days.

Sabonis had some filthy passes when he was in Portland. Too bad we never got to see him in his prime. Seemed like point center was never really a thing 30 years ago, but I think Sabonis could have handled it reasonably well. Heckuva of a player.
 
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I’d say sabonis sr might have been a nice comparison had we seen him play his prime in the NBA. He was a wicked passer as an old immobile fella.

Plus in this era where teams are beating one another 145-141 in REGULATION of course everyone stats are better these days.

Scoring is up about 10ppg and assists are up about 2apg from Sabonis years to Jokic years. Not quite the volume that makes up 2-3 times more assists per game.
 
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There was a long hair hippy white guy back in the 1970's that a lot of people forget but he was doing a lot what we see with Jokic

The point center isn't anything new.

What is though is one so far from the basket.

But Bill Walton isn't just some weird pothead ESPN found on skid row...
At his peak before the injuries did a lot of what you see with Jokic

Walton was far more athletic than Jokic. He wasn't nearly the passer NJ is either. This guy is in the Magic and Bird stratosphere when it comes to seeing the floor.
 
Sabonis had some filthy passes when he was in Portland. Too bad we never got to see him in his prime. Seemed like point center was never really a thing 30 years ago, but I think Sabonis could have handled it reasonably well. Heckuva of a player.

Sabontis didn't have near the stats Jokic has, but his son is getting close.
 
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Ronnie...do you often go out to eat and declare that you just had "the best steak ever?"
 
Scoring is up about 10ppg and assists are up about 2apg from Sabonis years to Jokic years. Not quite the volume that makes up 2-3 times more assists per game.

Wow my mistake. That’s really hard to believe. I mean like I said nets scored 145 in regulation the other night, I just don’t remember that from the Jordan era. Seems like low 100s was tops with multiple games played in the 80s and 90s. Which you never see now, seemingly every game is 100-110+. Idk though I can’t argue with facts.
 
Wow my mistake. That’s really hard to believe. I mean like I said nets scored 145 in regulation the other night, I just don’t remember that from the Jordan era. Seems like low 100s was tops with multiple games played in the 80s and 90s. Which you never see now, seemingly every game is 100-110+. Idk though I can’t argue with facts.

You’re not wrong.

Average in the. Mid/late 90s was about 95ppg.

Average for Jokic’s career is about 105ppg.

This season there’s a jump up to 113ppg.
 
We had a pretty robust conversation around Jokic and AD over the summer during the playoffs. I stated that Jokic was a top 10 player in the league and some folks initially said I was way off, but when you actually look at the stats it makes sense.

This year it seems Jokic is taking it to another level. It’s not crazy to say he is a top 5 playmaker/passer in basketball. And he’s so smooth and in control as a scorer.
I remember one of the sub topics was “who would you rather build a team around” and I’d still say Jokic to this day.
 
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Lot's of unique players in the league today. Towns is one of the most gifted scoring Centers in history. 39.6% from 3 for his career so far and can score at will 1-1 in the post. Unfortunately, he hasn't had the shooters around him as Jokic has had.
 
Wow my mistake. That’s really hard to believe. I mean like I said nets scored 145 in regulation the other night, I just don’t remember that from the Jordan era. Seems like low 100s was tops with multiple games played in the 80s and 90s. Which you never see now, seemingly every game is 100-110+. Idk though I can’t argue with facts.

People romanticize the Bad Boys era like it was every team that played that way. They were called the Bad Boys for a reason. They were the exception, not the rule. Plenty of high scoring games in the 80s and 90s too, especially if you’re talking about one-off anecdotes like the Hawks and Nets.

There are two main reasons why scoring is up now compared to the 1990s, and neither one has a thing to do with physicality in defense:

1. Pace of play is higher. It’s an up and down game now, instead of dribble dribble dribble, Iso-ball.

2. The players today are ridiculously more skilled at making 28+ feet shots. Not only are threes worth more than twos, it also creates more actual space that defenses have to cover.
 
Lot's of unique players in the league today. Towns is one of the most gifted scoring Centers in history. 39.6% from 3 for his career so far and can score at will 1-1 in the post. Unfortunately, he hasn't had the shooters around him as Jokic has had.

Towns is a nice player but he has no where near the vision or playmaking ability as Jokic. Jokic has legit, top flight vision.
 
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You’re not wrong.

Average in the. Mid/late 90s was about 95ppg.

Average for Jokic’s career is about 105ppg.

This season there’s a jump up to 113ppg.

Yeah we are now seeing players come into the league who learned how to play basketball in an era of watching Steph Curry fundamentally change the game. All these damn young kids can shoot. The shooting skill across the board in the league right now is bonkers.
 
Towns is a nice player but he has no where near the vision or playmaking ability as Jokic. Jokic has legit, top flight vision.
I wasn't comparing passing ability. Jokic no doubt wins that. I will say though, that Towns is the more versatile scorer and better shooter.
 
The change is due to adaptation to the European style.

Spurs did it much earlier than the Warriors.

In European basketball you don't hold onto the ball for long and rarely Dribble
1)Shoot
2)Pass
3)Dribble


The change is with the shooting.

Teams back in the day wanted fast ball movement and moving without the ball.
But people weren't throwing up shots.
 
The Europeans lanes are a main reason

Why Sabonis and Divac could do so much

Divac made those Sacramento Kings teams

Have more space because you lack a true post

Some of us who really started to pay attention to international basketball in the 1980's saw this


Sabonis gets credit because his team was the first team to beat an American Olympic team in 1988.
 
I remember one of the sub topics was “who would you rather build a team around” and I’d still say Jokic to this day.

And I’d still take AD to this day but it’s not like either are scrubs.

It’s pretty much ADs defense vs jokers passing as that’s the biggest difference in their games imo. Both can shoot it, granted joker probly slightly better, but very much worse at catching alleyoops lol
 
Lots of guys are friends now. He doesn't seem to have a lot of friends, so that's kinda unique?

I browsed assist stats last year, he got 7 per. I didn't notice any other centers in the top 30, Bam was #32.

Jokic is alright!
 
And I’d still take AD to this day but it’s not like either are scrubs.

It’s pretty much ADs defense vs jokers passing as that’s the biggest difference in their games imo. Both can shoot it, granted joker probly slightly better, but very much worse at catching alleyoops lol
AD is a great player. Def top 10. I don’t think you can wrong with either. However, if I was a gm, I’d build around Jokic.
 
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Ronnie...do you often go out to eat and declare that you just had "the best steak ever?"
I worry about Jokic's health

For 1-2 seasons I would take Jokic.

5-10 it would be other bigs

He is hualing a lot of weight around. He doesn't jump and put a lot of stress on his joints though. Maybe you know if he has health problems, I don't.
 
AD is a great player. Def top 10. I don’t think you can wrong with either. However, if I was a gm, I’d build around Jokic.

Yea durability def swing to Jokic too can’t argue that.

AD just plays my type of basketball, personally. Dunking on people and blocking shots. You have to remember I’m the same person that advocated for a 3 pt dunk arc that if u jump from beyond it and dunk it should be worth 3 pts lmao.

I can’t knock Jokic a bit, hella player. And while I def enjoy his nasty passes, I enjoy ADs nasty blocks, oops, and dunks.
 
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You’re not wrong.

Average in the. Mid/late 90s was about 95ppg.

Average for Jokic’s career is about 105ppg.

This season there’s a jump up to 113ppg.

I don't know if you deliberately cherry picked a low scoring period, but if you go back to the 1980s scoring was about what it is today.
 
I don't know if you deliberately cherry picked a low scoring period, but if you go back to the 1980s scoring was about what it is today.

I was responding to a post about Sabonis so I looked at the years he was in the NBA to compare them to Jokic.
 
Yea durability def swing to Jokic too can’t argue that.

AD just plays my type of basketball, personally. Dunking on people and blocking shots. You have to remember I’m the same person that advocated for a 3 pt dunk arc that if u jump from beyond it and dunk it should be worth 3 pts lmao.

I can’t knock Jokic a bit, hella player. And while I def enjoy his nasty passes, I enjoy ADs nasty blocks, oops, and dunks.
For sure. Both are incredible players that we’re lucky to get the chance to watch. Imo this is the best the NBA has been since the early-mid 90s.
 
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I worry about Jokic's health

For 1-2 seasons I would take Jokic.

5-10 it would be other bigs
He seems pretty durable tbh. Both him and AD are in their mid 20s and haven’t had any serious injuries. Ad moreso if we’re being honest. I was impressed with Jokic and ADs playoff performances lst year.
 
Yea durability def swing to Jokic too can’t argue that.

AD just plays my type of basketball, personally. Dunking on people and blocking shots. You have to remember I’m the same person that advocated for a 3 pt dunk arc that if u jump from beyond it and dunk it should be worth 3 pts lmao.

I can’t knock Jokic a bit, hella player. And while I def enjoy his nasty passes, I enjoy ADs nasty blocks, oops, and dunks.

Yeah the durability is hugely in Jokic’s favor. I’m with you, if starting a team for the next 10 years I’d take Nikola over AD.
 
I was responding to a post about Sabonis so I looked at the years he was in the NBA to compare them to Jokic.

Sabonis didn't play until he was on the downside on his career. NBA didn't get the best of Sabonis.

You can't really compare the two by numbers until Jokic is in his 30's.

But if you want to see Sabonis at his best see if you can find the 1988 olympics
 
Because he found out they won't give him a max contract.
We will see if it continues.

Lack of self control. Usually is a bad sign.
Guess we’ll see. AD was mr. glass up until a couple years ago. A freak accident as you put it, can happen to any player. Jokic seems to take this serious obv.
 
Guess we’ll see. AD was mr. glass up until a couple years ago. A freak accident as you put it, can happen to any player. Jokic seems to take this serious obv.

We are talking about two different things.

I am talking about playing at a high level in their 30's..

You are talking about injuries.

Body types comes into play. Just look at Shaq and his decline
 
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