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Post by passtheballquick on Apr 11, 2019 20:54:40 GMT -5
Our success in the first round will mainly depend on Jokic's play. Although he's still showing signs of mental weaknesses it is obvious that he's visibly growing as a player from month to month. I hope his best games will be first round PO games when 3pt shots will start falling in busting the confidence. Nuggets in 5 or 6
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2019 7:55:09 GMT -5
I hope Jokic's mindset is to grab hold of the moment and dominate throughout the playoffs. Go into alpha-mode Joker.
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Post by GBG on Apr 12, 2019 9:56:20 GMT -5
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Post by game on Apr 12, 2019 11:39:56 GMT -5
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Post by game on Apr 12, 2019 11:49:18 GMT -5
Interesting conversation on Zach Lowe's pod about this series as well.
David Thorpe, from TrueHoop, feels that the best approach against Jokic is 1) Give him the 3 and 2) play the pass. He equated it to how Steve Nash was defended in a few playoff series - if Jokic wants to score 40, we're going to let him, but he'll have to do it shooting 3s and really getting after the defense as a scorer. We know his natural instinct is to pass, so we're going to play that.
That's pretty much exactly how I would play it, especially when Jokic is away from the basket. I'm playing off him and daring him to hoist 3s, because even if he'll shoot one or two, I've seen way too many times this year him dribble off a wide open 3 because he doesn't want to take it. He also just hasn't quite been somebody who flat out makes you pay for leaving him open from 3 this season.
Malone and Jokic are going to need to have an open dialogue and take advantage of what the defense gives him - hopefully in a more strategic fashion that Malone ranting in a postgame presser "Nikola has got to be more aggressive". We've seen at points Jokic just dominate the scoring when he wants to, and if San Antonio really did play the pass and dare him to go for 40 because it's not what he really wants to be doing, he needs to score all over them and make them pay.
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Post by GBG on Apr 12, 2019 11:52:14 GMT -5
Funny how we have 24 of 25 voters picking the Nuggets to win the series, and everyone at Spurs forum thinks it’ll be them. Author of article picks Spurs in 6.
Fans will be biased, almost without exception.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2019 12:13:50 GMT -5
Fans will be biased, almost without exception. Funny though, I think the collective "we" at this forum aren't overly bias. "We" definitely pick the squad to lose and often, believe our players suck, front office sucks, etc.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2019 12:16:07 GMT -5
Interesting conversation on Zach Lowe's pod about this series as well. David Thorpe, from TrueHoop, feels that the best approach against Jokic is 1) Give him the 3 and 2) play the pass. He equated it to how Steve Nash was defended in a few playoff series - if Jokic wants to score 40, we're going to let him, but he'll have to do it shooting 3s and really getting after the defense as a scorer. We know his natural instinct is to pass, so we're going to play that. That's pretty much exactly how I would play it, especially when Jokic is away from the basket. I'm playing off him and daring him to hoist 3s, because even if he'll shoot one or two, I've seen way too many times this year him dribble off a wide open 3 because he doesn't want to take it. He also just hasn't quite been somebody who flat out makes you pay for leaving him open from 3 this season. Malone and Jokic are going to need to have an open dialogue and take advantage of what the defense gives him - hopefully in a more strategic fashion that Malone ranting in a postgame presser "Nikola has got to be more aggressive". We've seen at points Jokic just dominate the scoring when he wants to, and if San Antonio really did play the pass and dare him to go for 40 because it's not what he really wants to be doing, he needs to score all over them and make them pay. I listened to that podcast too and they brought up a lot of good points in general, not just pertaining to the Spurs/Nuggets series. My biggest issue with the Nuggets in general is their IQ/lack of awareness. Like how many times do we see Jokic get 2 post ups on lesser defenders, score with ease and then go 3-4 possessions not really being involved in the offense? In this series I'm giving the ball to Jokic every trip, and letting him destroy Poetl until the Spurs make an adjustment. If they're going to let Jokic score 40 on 70% shooting...just keep feeding him the ball. I'm very interested to see how Jokic does in a playoff setting. He was great in the Olympics but that was a while ago. He's the #1 player and in a playoff series sometimes you have to just go at a team until they find a way to stop you. I don't think Jokic is the guy to take 5-6 straight shots even if he has a matchup advantage simply because his nature is to get others involved.
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Post by rock on Apr 12, 2019 12:21:14 GMT -5
Funny how we have 24 of 25 voters picking the Nuggets to win the series, and everyone at Spurs forum thinks it’ll be them. Author of article picks Spurs in 6. Fans will be biased, almost without exception. Of course. I wouldn’t expect any different There are 4 fan bases that are already booking their tickets in the wcf vs the warriors.
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Post by DHNF on Apr 12, 2019 15:26:29 GMT -5
Nugs in 6. Joker just needs to dominate and look to score. Spurs really don't have anyone that can effectively guard him in the paint. I'm sure the Spurs will double him, which requires Garris and Murray to step up and hit shots. I like the way Garris has been playing the last few games. He's been taking the ball inside and not just hoisting threes. Murray and Millsap have also been playing well.
Malone hasn't been scared lately to pull Barton out if he isn't playing well. Barton has been atrocious since coming back from injury. I wouldn't mind Craig getting more minutes for his defensive play than Barton holding onto the ball and chucking up shots.
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Post by JB on Apr 12, 2019 16:01:46 GMT -5
agree with Nuggets legend Richard Jefferson.
the talent gap will neutralize the experience gap, but it won't be an easy series by any means.
Nuggets in 7. both teams win all their home games.
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Post by rock on Apr 12, 2019 20:03:20 GMT -5
series price has moved from around denver -200/-225 to -270
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Post by jimijam28 on Apr 12, 2019 20:16:45 GMT -5
Easy money
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Post by rock on Apr 12, 2019 20:34:37 GMT -5
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Post by jimijam28 on Apr 12, 2019 22:23:44 GMT -5
where is game 1 thread - lazy ass goat.
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Post by hated sticky on Apr 12, 2019 22:50:19 GMT -5
T- 6 Hours
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Post by rock on Apr 12, 2019 23:21:11 GMT -5
If true this bodes well for us
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Post by LotharBraunBrownBryant on Apr 12, 2019 23:47:08 GMT -5
yeah, I was gonna say, the fact is the Nuggets had room to pull the IT experiment and room to hand out some DNP-rests because they were pretty solidly in control of the division. The Spurs couldn't afford to be giving away games down the stretch bc GSW. Momentum isn't really a thing unless it's like when the Nuggets lost Gallo late in that one season and were a legit worse team.
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Post by JB on Apr 12, 2019 23:48:32 GMT -5
that stat speaks volumes about how the NBA season is (at least) 10 games too long.
players union should have demanded a 72 game season as a trade-off when the league allowed ads on jerseys.
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Post by rock on Apr 13, 2019 0:26:08 GMT -5
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