Denver will be tough. AD gets in foul trouble and we are screwed. Winning in Denver is also extremely difficult. I would say Denver is the favorite if I was forced to bet.
We really need Lebron to play better if we are going to have a chance. We may need Bamba in this one.
Was randomly perusing YT to see if there were any videos of Vando guarding Muarry (sort of how he did Curry in game one), and found this one where Minnesota had him on.......Jokic!
It's from a couple years ago, but it made me wonder if you couldn't get spot minutes with Vando on Joker. You would need to help with the double in the post, but Vando could play a high energy brand of defense and offense that could make Joker work for it. There would definitely be a footspeed advantage.
AD on Gordon, Vando on Jokic, AR on Murray, DLo on KCP and Bron on MPJ. This keeps AD away from foul trouble due to Jokic as well.
AD can sag off Gordon and protect the paint. Gordon shooting 38.5% from 3P in playoffs, but 34.7% from 3P in regular season. 32.5% career 3P shooter. Gotta believe his shooting numbers will drop due to heavy defensive work like what happened with GSW guys. _________________ Showtime 2.0
Jokic = AD
Gordon < LBJ
MPJ > Vanderbilt
Murray > D'Lo
KCP < Reaves
Brown = Lonnie/Briwn
Braun < Dennis
Green < Rui
I think the harder part of comparing players to players is that something I heard Draymond Green say today of the Lakers on his pod cast.."we just couldn't figure them out..every series they have been able to figure out the other team until now"..normally in a playoff series you key in on the 2 stars of a team..Brown/Tandem..Murray/Jokic..Curry/Thompson..figure out a way to slow the 2 stars and you have a good chance..
But the Lakers are different..you could slow LBJ and AD..but their other players can play like a super star any given night or even a given quarter (like Lonnie in the 4th) or half.
So how do you prepare for that? I think any team's game plan against the Lakers should center on slowing LBJ and AD because that gives the best chance, but any of the other guys can go off and you still lose (like the Warriors in game 4).
So while you can say
DLO<Murray..maybe 1 game in the series its DLO>Murray like DLO in game 3 and that can change the series
Murray will have our best perimieter defender on him where as DLO and AR will have Murray on one of them. Both can create their own offense and target Murray on defense like they did with Curry. That will aslo tire out Murray which can affect his offense. Key will be making sure KCP doesn't get open 3s. But DLo had much tougher job of chasing Klay all over the peremiter and contesting 6"6 Klay's shot. KCP doesn't get to roam around like that with screens set for Klay. _________________ Showtime 2.0
Analogy in football would be the wild card team that’s been playing must win games for a month against a top seed that’s been resting players for a month. The wild card team is just unbelievably locked in all the time and this explains a few runs where they go on to win the Super Bowl.
As the stakes get higher and pressure mounts the tendency to choke goes through the roof. Shots stop falling all of a sudden.
The Nuggets are largely unproven in this regard. I don’t think Murray or Jokic will choke but I don’t bknow about the rest of their team.
I can tell you AD and Lebron are battle tested. They won’t be shying from the moment.
And at least for now we seemingly have a whole bunch of guys who just don’t give a f***k and flat out balls out. Playing with AD and LBJ will generate a lot of opportunities if you don’t choke. We seem to have a bunch of players who don’t choke. DLo was a little suspect in the beginning but I think he’s turned the corner in terms of his confidence.
Jokic is a much better defender than given credit for the guy has great IQ
Jokic > AD, AD too inconsistent, Jokic always turns up
Gordon << Lebron, Lebron is just flat out better
MPJ > Vando, MPJs offense is just too much better
Murray> DLO, Murray is electric, DLO more miss than hit
KCP>Reaves, more experience, better shooting and D
Don’t hate me, but I feel like Beasley might be a factor this series. He is familiar with Denver, and they play a more traditional defense. Hope he can explode for a game or 2
Jokic is a much better defender than given credit for the guy has great IQ
Jokic > AD, AD too inconsistent, Jokic always turns up
Gordon << Lebron, Lebron is just flat out better
MPJ > Vando, MPJs offense is just too much better
Murray> DLO, Murray is electric, DLO more miss than hit
KCP>Reaves, more experience, better shooting and D
5th post in 3 years. Wonder if it's concern troll or someone's burner.
Jokic is average on defense on his best days. Terrible match up defensively against agile and atheltic AD. And AD always shows up on defensive end. But AD is incocnsistent and mediocre defender Jokic always turns up?
AR is significantly better than KCP as an offensive player. KCP can't create his own offense. KCP probably a bit better as catch and shoot 3 point shooter, but AR is a 3 level scorer. AR also did a commendable job guarding Curry.
Murray is near super star level player so obviously better than DLO. DLO has scored 17 or more in Lakers 7 playoffs wins this season. If those are misses, Lakers are in great spot and bad time for concern trolls whose math doesn't add up. _________________ Showtime 2.0
Was randomly perusing YT to see if there were any videos of Vando guarding Muarry (sort of how he did Curry in game one), and found this one where Minnesota had him on.......Jokic!
It's from a couple years ago, but it made me wonder if you couldn't get spot minutes with Vando on Joker. You would need to help with the double in the post, but Vando could play a high energy brand of defense and offense that could make Joker work for it. There would definitely be a footspeed advantage.
Not a lot of footage there to see how he held up. I think we saw him stepping around for a steal and a double team defensively once. I assume that’s what they were doing all the time was sending a quick double once he caught the ball. We’re going to double a lot under Ham I think, so in theory, Rui/Vando could be thrown on him with help coming quickly and then we scramble from there. Vando’s speed around Jokic was pretty impressive.
I think we will go straight up with AD and their sub patterns will align. But it is interesting that he’s had experience guarding Jokic. I would not have guessed that.
KG is mentioning all the stuff Dwight did for us against Jokic back in 2020. Dwight had the strength, defensive IQ, experience and all the little tricks to pull off what KG is talking about here. TBH Dwight is probably the ONLY guy who could have pulled off what he did to Jokic in 2020. Im not sure AD has the strength or even that dog mentality of hitting first KG is talking about here.
KG is mentioning all the stuff Dwight did for us against Jokic back in 2020. Dwight had the strength, defensive IQ, experience and all the little tricks to pull off what KG is talking about here. TBH Dwight is probably the ONLY guy who could have pulled off what he did to Jokic in 2020. Im not sure AD has the strength or even that dog mentality of hitting first KG is talking about here.
Dwight was so good vs Nuggets. Remember McGee started regular season, but was fouling too much and getting cooked in playoffs vs Blazers. difference in class between those two was evident in playoffs. Tristan impacted the game with his offensive rebounding at Cavs but not sure he can do anything vs Jokic defensively especially at this stage of his career. Dwight killed Nuggets in one game with offensive rebounds as well. _________________ Showtime 2.0
KG is mentioning all the stuff Dwight did for us against Jokic back in 2020. Dwight had the strength, defensive IQ, experience and all the little tricks to pull off what KG is talking about here. TBH Dwight is probably the ONLY guy who could have pulled off what he did to Jokic in 2020. Im not sure AD has the strength or even that dog mentality of hitting first KG is talking about here.
Dwight was so good vs Nuggets. Remember McGee started regular season, but was fouling too much and getting cooked in playoffs vs Blazers. difference in class between those two was evident in playoffs. Tristan impacted the game with his offensive rebounding at Cavs but not sure he can do anything vs Jokic defensively especially at this stage of his career. Dwight killed Nuggets in one game with offensive rebounds as well.
Draymond really impacted Jokic last year as well in the playoffs. The efficiency difference was vast between when Draymond guarded Jokic and everyone else on the Warriors. Like around a 15% difference in TS% which should tell us Jokic can be impacted by a great defender. Our optimal defense might be a big physical guy like Bron on Jokic and AD on Aaron Gordon to stay in the paint
These idiots really think we are going to be eliminated on our home floor???? Also that first bozo thinks we will get swept.....my goodness
As a Madridista this playoff run feels oddly similar to our CL run last year. Aging stars in Benz/modric/kroos with young upcoming talent that was counted out every single round and ended up winning it all
It was crazy to watch. Everytime it looked over, they come back. Glado tho, cant stand those english teams and Paris _________________ 48 49 50 52 53 54 72 80 82
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I want to see AD away from Jokic, that way he doesnt have to bang much and he doesnt have to play outside much defensively. Not that i think he stands no chance, i think he stands a better chance as a help defender and being in/around the paint to protect the rim. MPJ is usually the corner shooter i think, so helping off him or Gordon would be best. James has the strength to take him, and he doesnt have to cover much ground defensively that way. Murray isnt quick and fast as Ja, so Reaves and Russell shouldnt have trouble staying in front. If Vando starts he should be on Murray tho imo, or Schröder. But DLo and AR can do it successfully i believe too. _________________ 48 49 50 52 53 54 72 80 82
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They do have Laker killer Reggie jackson on the bench though
Jackson has been getting no meaningful mins. He is opposite of what the Nuggets want to do. Play team ball.
Some of you continue to underestimate the Nuggets and compare them to past teams. This is a different team. They have the look and feel of a team ready to win a ring.
Going to be a great series. Both teams have strengths and weaknesses to exploit. Both are playing winning basketball. Going to be interesting and fun to see which team is capable of exerting their will and taking this series.
How about trying Rui on Jokic? Shorter but his lower center of gravity and longer wingspan may compensate. The strength is certainly a plus. From a physical standpoint, he may resemble Green more so than anyone else on the team. _________________ Luxury Tax/FA Spreadsheet (Save to your Google Drive to edit)
Murray will have our best perimieter defender on him where as DLO and AR will have Murray on one of them. Both can create their own offense and target Murray on defense like they did with Curry. That will aslo tire out Murray which can affect his offense. Key will be making sure KCP doesn't get open 3s. But DLo had much tougher job of chasing Klay all over the peremiter and contesting 6"6 Klay's shot. KCP doesn't get to roam around like that with screens set for Klay.
Murray will get the curry treatment, heavy dose of Vando/DS/Reaves attached to is hip… DLo, Lonnie, maybe even Beasley can take care of KCP
Our big wings, Bron/Rui/Vando should be able to handle their big wings (Gordon/MPJ)
Gonna be down to Brow vs Joker, who can stay out of foul trouble
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