Nikola Jokic was supposed to limit Denver’s defensive success, but the Nuggets have locked down the Suns in the first two games? How? Why can’t Phoenix exploit Jokic’s defense? This detailed film breakdown & scouting report breaks down the Nuggets defensive tactics, and why Coach Michael Malone, Aaron Gordon, Kentavius Caldwell-Pope, Bruce Brown and others have use horizontal quickness to slow down Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and the Phoenix Suns.
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Ben Taylor is the author of Thinking Basketball, a Nylon Calculus contributor, creator of the Backpicks Top 40 series & host of the Thinking Basketball podcast.
Stats courtesy:
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32 Comments
Make cp3 your point guard . Turn KD into a post player . Have some plays him down on the block working on the smaller defender or whoever on him .. that would always draw a double team because kd is too good . I think suns have the personal to bring the joker out further like the warriors and have him work harder by putting up a wide volume of threes while he’s above the 3 point line..
Just spam pick and roll bro it's so easy it works on 2K i swear these NBA coaches are stupid!!!
Lmao people were really going at Jokic for not winning with Facu Rivers and Barton
A big piece of the phx p&r not really working is Ayton not setting good screens. In this vid he only set 2 good ones the first lead to a wide open 3 book didn't take and the other lead to a Ayton layup. If he really sets the screen that will force jokic to have to defend in space long enough to stretch out the rest of the d rotations that passing lanes will be bigger close outs will be longer
Malone got snubbed for coty. Mike brown was always gonna win but man he’s coty in my heart
I don’t understand why the suns don’t just put booker or Durant at the freethrow line and keep him there
Ayton needs to attack the rim instead of those10ft floaters he needs to make those dunks. It looks like at times when I watch him if he doesn’t have a play drawn up for him he literally is not involved in the offense, he doesn’t roll hard on P&R he settles for floaters , doesn’t work hard on the offensive glass all the time and that’s a problem. It’s like playing 4 on 5 on offense. And the suns need to get more in sync with their ball movement too many silly turnovers because guys holding ball to long. And idk if it’s gone be tj warren or who but they need someone on the floor that can knock down that wide open corner 3. Okegie and Craig have been literally giving games way due to the inability to hit shots
How soon will KD ask to be traded to Denver?
Now that the bucks are out I’m rooting for Denver to win. It would be awesome if we see Boston vs Denver a true slugfest
will def work better vs the Lakers than the Warriors. Curry can dribble past some of these set ups, great spot up shooters and off ball movement, and Draymond can make the skip pass more easily bc he's taller than book and paul. Lakers on the other hand are decent to good on some of these things, but not elite.
On defense they need more sequences where KD is either help side on joker or one on one with joker because Ayton has been food down there and the sequences I saw with KD on him he was doing alright making him shoot tough shots. Or they need to build the wall to throw off Denver’s spacing
I mean, it’s not that hard really. Your focal points of offense tend to get exhausted carrying that load. Jokic carries the biggest offensive load in the league and when teams were able to double and triple him in the playoffs for two years it exhausted him even more. So he had to play drop based on personnel on both sides of the floor. With a complete roster him and Malone can switch up defenses and play a way that actually shows how good a team defender and honestly an individual defender Jokic is. Heck, even now people can’t wrap their brains around the fact Jokic does EVERYTHING on offense and is a plus defender and therefore is the best player in the league and was robbed of mvp.
"How will the Nuggets stop the PnR?"
How will the Nuggets ever respond to the Suns talented pull up shooters?"
"Jokic is fat."
Meanwhile, the Lakers are the only higher ranked half court defense these playoffs.
Holy shit those are terrible screens. Why set the screen if he’s just gonna slip anyways have him Iverson cut….. they can’t attack jokic cause these are awful screens
Told yall jokers defense gets him the ring
Nuggets practice session must be crazy
What I find interesting is Edwards had absolutely 0 issues making Jokic look like a defensive liability, but the Suns are having issues?
I’d like to see what their defense would look like against players who can and are willing to throw that skip pass like LeBron cause it’s not like this defense has no holes it’s just that the Suns don’t have good playmakers and shooters to capitalize on those
If Lakers gonna win their series and face the nuggets, LeBron gonna expose this defense because he loves this kind of plays
I said this at th beginning of this trade. Mid range jumpers tend not to fall in playoff games especially in clutch situations.
Durant and Booker are examples of natural 2nd options being forced (or delusional themselves) into 1st option roles.
in the end, if durant can be stopped by bruce brown, gordon, etc., then he's not as good as ppl been acting like he is. phoenix traded their depth to bring in kd under the assumption that he is a top-two player in the league, but he's not and the nuggets are proving it
Nuggets vs celtics for finals
It's just like last season. Suns struggling against swarming defense tactic. The inability to make skip pass was highlighted last season too after that ignominious exit at home in G7. Luckily this time, the suffering wouldn't last. Atleast they're not the favourite. Less pain
It’s almost like Jokic isn’t a bad defender he just isn’t an elite rim protector and didn’t have good defenders in front of him last year
Are they stupid?
Your content and analysis is perfect for playoff basketball. Coaching and game by game adjustments matter way more.
I think one of the factors not discussed/overlooked is Denver's environmental advantage of the thin air. When you're physically not used to playing in such thin air, even though they're all elite level athletes, the thin air wrecks havoc in the fatigue dept. When you're physically tired, you start making more mistakes as well. Denver's defensive schemes are well thought out and executed, have to give the coaching staff credit. I think Suns have to push the pace more, try to initiate more fast breaks and draw fouls while also giving guys like KD and Booker more open transition looks. Harder to do with CP3 out now and Payne carrying an injury but playing less than 100%. The way Denver's defense is, it's pretty much a hybrid zone disguised as a semi man to man. Denver's length and size is also causing a lot of turnovers. Wouldn't be surprised if Denver sweeps them, Suns lost their depth when they traded for KD.
Thank you Ben for this channel and your work!
Why did you show a clear foul so start the video? Like he clearly got his entire right hand
It’s almost like the Nuggets saw this coming and built a whole roster for it lol
Mid range mafia lol …Jokic laughs
Amazing analysis! honestly seeing someone dive this deep into a series and provide so much analysis makes me wonder why anyone watches ESPN anymore. In 8 mins you’ve provided more insight than any of the so-called analysts on TV. Nothing there but hot takes from people that clearly don’t watch the game. Keep up the great work!
To counter this hedging, KD and Book are going to have to time their dribbles and attacks more scrupulously against the hedge, figure out how to be bolder and more effective on long skip passes, and pick up the pace to overcome. And that's a tall order. I feel they have the capability to make this adjustment, but it's going to take a lot of hustle and pace, and it's going to require that they do that consistently over all remaining games, which is a hard row to hoe. We'll see if they can pull it off.