AROUND the NBA: Pat Bev Suspended 4 Games Next Season| PHX Fires Vogel

[dirkfansince1998]

Not trying to be an ass. I really don’t know what to say. Jokic doesn’t have to play against guys his size hardly ever, unlike in previous eras. How is that hard to understand?

When he plays AD and performs well, I’m impressed, though AD isn’t really quite big enough. I’m a little impressed when he embarrasses Gobert. On the other hand, who doesn’t. Against Embiid this year, he went for 25 and 19, 11 of em offensive boards. But that was only one game. And in it, he gave up 41/7/10 to Embiid on the way to the loss. So how impressed am I supposed to be? 

Let me turn the question around on you. How well do you think Jokic would do against prime Mutumbo, who was never even the best center in the league? My guess, it would be a great contest. How well did Shaq (a three-time MVP) do by that measure? Hint: he dominated https://www.landofbasketball.com/games_b..._oneal.htm.

So your case is about post up dominance. But that's not the only way for Jokic to dominate a game. I would assume that a matchup against Mutombo would look similar to games against bigger bodies in the current NBA. Less low post touches. More high post action and pick and roll. Forcing the rim protector to defend the perimeter. Creating space for his teammates. Relying on his passing and midrange game. Something the Nuggets love to do and the reason why most teams aren't willing to defend Jokic with their primary rim protector. Jokic is going to find the open cutter every single time and there won't be any help defense at the rim. And if he cannot find an opening he can still rely on his Dirk-like midrange shooting.
Or to completly mess with the defender. Reverse pick and roll. Jokic as the primary ballhandler with guards screening for him. Nuggets ultimate weapon because most bigs have no clue how to play on ball defense in the pick and roll.
That's why we rarely see the matchups that you are mentioning. The Mavs put PJ or Kleber on Jokic. Lakers Hachimura. 76ers Tucker. The center is shadowing the play and playing off the worst shooter. 

But to get back to the initial question about his numbers. Why is Jokic as good as the numbers suggest? I recently watched the Redick/LBJ podcast and they talked about the difference between good players and all time greats. Elite scorers in the modern NBA cannot be defended 1v1. Teams are forced to make adjustments. Greatness in todays game comes down to the ability to read and react to the mentioned adjustments. Embiid can create a 4v3. But he isn't nearly as good of a decision maker as Jokic. Booker or SGA are getting doubled but they aren't on LBJs or Luka's level when it comes to reads out of the double team.
I think that is a good explanation for Jokic's all time great impact metrics. Among the few elite scorers that cannot be defended 1v1 he is the best decision maker. Luka is almost there. In my opinion the 2nd best player in the league when it comes to this but Jokic is more consistent.