Nikola Jokic

[Srle]

Denver perimeter line sucks on defense , they are way too easy to pass by that leaves Jokic in no man's land, insert Jokic to the teams who are good defending perimeter and there will be no complain about his defense.

[Serbian_Layup]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q55OrBtzKpo

Jokić vs KAT
Two amazingly efficient post players with great shooting touch, probably most skilled bigs in the league.

https://www.reddit.com/r/denvernugge...ferent_styles/

Jokić's mental growth over the last 15 games has been remarkable. He carried the Nuggets on his back at the most difficult time of the season. He faced adversity, his mettle was tested and he responded in the best possible fashion. He is starting to realize that the Nuggets are his team, he is not shying away from the pressure or responsibility anymore nor he backs down when things are not going his way. If he enters next season with that kind of mentality and sharpness, with expected physical improvement, it's going to be a wild season for him and the Nuggets. Foot speed and pick&roll defense is where he is most vulnerable right now.

If Bogdan, Teo, Bjelica and Jokić ever get to play together, with some terrific role players and scorers off the bench that we have, it's going to be a basketball at its finest. A basketball rhapsody.

[serbianhoops]

[Serbian_Layup]

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comment..._hook_pass_to/

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comment..._hand_for_the/

[serbianhoops]

Ahahaha....FAIRY TALES FOR DUMMIES, just like the story of Nikola Jokić being a horse jockey driver before moving to Novi Sad to play for Vojvodina Srbijagas junior team.

I can hardly believe that Ražnatović, a man who pretends to watch 4 games a day, didn't watch Nikola Jokić's 34 points (on 14/20 2FG), 19 rebounds & 5 blocks game against Partizan, and his next week's 38 points (on 11/11 2FG) & 9 rebounds game against Vršac. Especially because these Junior League of Serbia's games were available on the Basketball Federation of Serbia website.

2012/13 Junior League of Serbia - Round 1 : Vojvodina Srbijagas - Partizan (75:80) - Nikola Jokić (#9 white jersey)

Moreover, I will be really disappointed if it appears to be true that Tadija never heard of Jokić before. Tadija, which is Branimir Tadić surname, is Ražnatović's man in the shadows, the one in charge of selecting Serbian prospects for the Beobasket agency. Some tends to forget that Jokić first appeared on scout's radar screen at the 2011 Maxima Zlatibor Basketball Camp organized by Miroslav Pecarski (Marko's father by the way). At the time, Pecarski Senior and Dusko Vujosević praised him. Nikola was a few inches shorter and a lot of pounds heavier, that's probably why he remained in the shade of other Serbian prospects of his generation and only hit the spotlight after a late growth spurt.

https://www.facebook.com/163040310462190/posts/1851711154928422/

[Serbian_Layup]

MVP? It seems more and more convincing.

[Toruko]

He is deservedly in talks but Embiid is clearly in front of him.

[Straight forward]

No, he's not. Jokic is actually a front runner ATM. Embiid is not even among top five usually.

[Toruko]

Jokic is a bit better offensively but Embiid has more impact on both ends and the Sixers are more successful. Embiid was just a bit too long injured but he is clearly no 1 atm but it can change in time. Very difficult to evaluate this season.

[Katastroika]

MVP? It seems more and more convincing.

99% of analysts have him at the top during a stretch of last weeks. Harden, Lillard closest rivals. As Embiid already now missed 18 games and 1/4 of a season he is literally not even a candidate any more, same goes for LBJ who, to be honest, has been more in conversation because he is LBJ but for his achievements on the court this season.

If he stays healthy the chances are big. He is incredibly dominant since beginning of the season.

[Serbian_Layup]

Availability and playing games consistently is one of the key criteria factors when evaluating MVP candidates. I don't want to get into Jokic/Embiid discussion because both of them are having historic season and worthy of MVP. But there is a big difference between them in the aspect of availability, Embiid has already missed around 20 games with basically 20 games left in an already shortened season. That's too many missed games. On the other hand, Jokic has played every single game this season and showed incredible durability and consistency. That's one of the key factors in evaluating MVP of the season. Embiid just can't be the leader at this moment, he has just returned after being out almost a month, it's disrespecting to other MVP candidates to have him as a frontrunner right now. I don't know if he is excluded definitely from MVP race, and I do think that he absolutely deserves MVP accolade (if he was more available), but Jokic also deserves it nothing less than Embiid. And since Jokic has played every single game this season compared to Embiid, I think he deserves it. We'll see how NBA media will evaluate this race because it's clear that they are always protecting big market players that have all the hype around them, so Embiid still might have a chance. By the way, if 76ers record is the main reason why Embiid should be ahead of Jokic, it has to be leveled by the fact that West is much, much stronger than East, and it doesnt' tell the whole story. It's hard to pick between Jokic and Embiid, if there is a season where MVP award should be split between two players, it's definitely this season. I think Jokic is ahead of Embiid, even just for the fact that he already played around 20 games more then Embiid.

[Toruko]

Availability and playing games consistently is one of the key criteria factors when evaluating MVP candidates. I don't want to get into Jokic/Embiid discussion because both of them are having historic season and worthy of MVP. But there is a big difference between them in the aspect of availability, Embiid has already missed around 20 games with basically 20 games left in an already shortened season. That's too many missed games. On the other hand, Jokic has played every single game this season and showed incredible durability and consistency. That's one of the key factors in evaluating MVP of the season. Embiid just can't be the leader at this moment, he has just returned after being out almost a month, it's disrespecting to other MVP candidates to have him as a frontrunner right now. I don't know if he is excluded definitely from MVP race, and I do think that he absolutely deserves MVP accolade (if he was more available), but Jokic also deserves it nothing less than Embiid. And since Jokic has played every single game this season compared to Embiid, I think he deserves it. We'll see how NBA media will evaluate this race because it's clear that they are always protecting big market players that have all the hype around them, so Embiid still might have a chance. By the way, if 76ers record is the main reason why Embiid should be ahead of Jokic, it has to be leveled by the fact that West is much, much stronger than East, and it doesnt' tell the whole story. It's hard to pick between Jokic and Embiid, if there is a season where MVP award should be split between two players, it's definitely this season. I think Jokic is ahead of Embiid, even just for the fact that he already played around 20 games more then Embiid.

Well, 18 games in a 72 games schedule are too much i guess and sustainability is of course a major point but for me it is at least as important as sustainabity to have an impact on both ends. Guys like Jokic or Harden or even Doncic now are great offensive weapons but for me guys like Giannis, Kawhi (not this season and if he wants to) or Embiid are in front because 2 way player have impact on both ends. I am not the decision maker and there are still games to play.

[Serbian_Layup]

Well, 18 games in a 72 games schedule are too much i guess and sustainability is of course a major point but for me it is at least as important as sustainabity to have an impact on both ends. Guys like Jokic or Harden or even Doncic now are great offensive weapons but for me guys like Giannis, Kawhi (not this season and if he wants to) or Embiid are in front because 2 way player have impact on both ends. I am not the decision maker and there are still games to play.

It's totally fine, we all have different preferences.

[Serbian_Layup]

30, 11, 5 vs Magic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wGKAuBQH3o

https://twitter.com/MikeSGallagher/s...28070354829312

In all modesty I'm going to say that this guy is going to revolutionize the center position. Stuff he does on offensive end of the court no center in the NBA is able to pull off, just mind-boggling. He is becoming unguardable. If/when he gets stronger, it's scary to think what his ceiling might be.

I'll quote myself a little bit 😁
He got stronger and his ceiling is - MVP 😁

[Redgage]

I don't know if this is the right thread to post this, but it does involve Jokic a bit.

Out of curiosity....in Serbia, how popular is Luka currently? I'm curious because of course him being Slovenian he is still half-Serbian by his father's side, but also he has played with Slovenia his whole life (which makes sense). Would you say he has the same popularity in Serbia equal to Jokic at the moment?