Nikola Jokic is once more in the conversation to win the MVP award, and as with the last two seasons, he remains the king of advanced statistics. Jokic’s raw numbers aren’t as impressive as Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo, especially in scoring. But he regularly leads the league in offensive advanced stats and efficiency. But niche stats have come back to haunt Jokic.
Speaking on the Lowe Post podcast, Kirk Goldsberry shared a statistic many people won’t know. He said: “Look, Nikola Jokic is my favorite player to watch in the league and I’m happy he’s got the opportunity to win MVPs… Is this dude a good defender?
“I was questioning like how are we looking at defense in this conversation… Compared to the other elite big men in the NBA, he’s not great as a shot defender. He’s giving up a high percentage in the paint. And he’s giving up more points per game defending layups than anybody in the player-tracking era. 12.7 points per game on layups alone when he’s contesting those shots.”
(starts at 39:00 minutes)
This is an incredible stat and it goes to show the difference between him and other elite big men like Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo. His offensive skillset makes Jokic one of the best in the NBA without a doubt, but the defense has become a large part of the conversation thanks to how heated the MVP race has been.
Nuggets Coach Mike Malone Questioned The People Doubting Nikola Jokic’s Defense
When any NBA Head Coach has a talent like Nikola Jokic at his disposal, he is likely to defend that player as much as possible. And while it’s tough to say that Jokic is a good defender, Mike Malone of the Denver Nuggets did it anyway.
“Hatchet jobs are made about Nikola’s defense,” the Denver Nuggets coach said. “I don’t know who’s paying some of these people to write these articles. They’re just so one-sided.”
The Denver Nuggets have the best record in the Western Conference, so it’s safe to say that Jokic’s poor defense hasn’t affected them too much. But it will matter a lot more once the playoffs begin, and he will have to get it together on both ends quickly if the Nuggets are to make a deep playoff run.
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