The Wolves Have A “Jokic vs Gobert” Problem
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The Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves always end up in a chess match between Nikola Jokic & Rudy Gobert. But how did Denver gain the upper hand to start these NBA Playoffs?
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48 Comments
Wolves or Nuggets? 🤔
NIKOLA JOKIĆ IS M.V.P. 25/26. N.B.A. U.S.A !!!….FATASTIC NIKOLA JOKIĆ M.V.P. 2026 !!!…
Timberwolves had a huge opportunity due to Nuggs not sinking a lot of 3s. And still were outscored.
Offensive vs defensive isn't 50/50 like baby Giraffe says 😅
It's silly even trying to put percentage 😅
This in depth analysis of the game, the players, the strategy REALLY helps me who is not from a basketball background and innate understanding of the game truly comprehend and appreciate the amazing skills displayed …thank you
Denver has just so many offensive weapon man.
The Nuggets fans know how good is Rudy Gobert. He is just as good in defense as Wemby, but this league kinda hates him.
every team has a "our big man vs Jokic" problem lol
Ant is injured and the wolves are coming off two deep but ultimately unsuccessful playoff runs. The front office has been trying mightily to trade for the missing piece – Giannis, Durant, Kwai. They know they don’t have a path this year, even with a healthy Ant, so they’re gonna want it to end quickly.
Defense against nuggets is never the most important thing, even if you slow them down from 122 points to 117 points, that's still a lot of points, the offense of wolves is the problem, they are one of many teams in the NBA stupid enough to not having a real point guard, you can't do that, the idea of running point by committee is just stupid, look at the Magic look at Hawks and the worst of all Rockets, their offense is shit even tho they have more than enough good talents to fill the roster, they play the game mainly by physicality like streetball, even OKC has the same problem (at a much much higher level), if anything they are very lucky last year for avoiding good enough teams to exploit that, namely (if luka stayed Mavs) Nuggets and Celtics, that's why they went and get Jared McCain, he is the perfect fix to OKC's system, can run point but also effective without the ball.
Wolves need to do what most teams are doing. Put a 6,4 guy on Jokic because they get away with foaling all they want. I enjoyed watching Gobert take on Jokic but it' hurt their team defense.
Every team has a jokic problem when they play the nuggets…..
When I was a kid watching ESPN and NFL Network, this is the type of sports content and game breakdowns I was really looking for. NBA TV was always a dissapointment
Minnesota wanted to play OKC defense. Foul every time and make the refs call it, but there’s did call it and they were outscored by 20 after the first quarter
With all due respect to Gobert's defense, Jokic has always had an advantage. As a Lakers fan, Jokic hitting damn near buzzer beaters in back-to-back plays with barely 1s on the clock against AD providing 99% coverage is etched painfully into my memory! 😂
With the Wolves effectively forcing Edwards to be a PG when he clearly fits more naturally into the SG role, the entire team's offensive ceiling is lowered as Gobert isn't a quarter the scorer that Jokic is.
Additionally, the Wolves don't have defenders who can reliably slow down Murray or minimise Gordon's surgical cutting abilities (now with improved shooting). This leaves Gobert responsible for being the main help defender when Denver's wing players have the ball, but that reduced Gobert's opportunities to go 1v1 against Jokic (which is where he's more effective at guarding the 3x MVP), giving Jokic extra airspace to utilise his shotmaking, leaving Gobert at even more of a disadvantage than if he could stick close and bother the shot with his physicality.
As we all know, Gobert is a defensive demon in the paint, but when he's forced to stay away from his defensive assignment, he's kinda cooked because he has less chance to make a closeout.
Minute-by-minute it's a small change, but it adds up over the course of a game.
To stop Joker I feel you need to allow to be joker. It’s a mental game allow him to take shots but don’t allow him to get his teammates involved. I wouldn’t rotate on him driving play him 3/4 defense and drop coverage on him deny Murray the ball and crash the glass only one person leak in transition.
Excellent analysis and production, thanks a lot!
Jok owns Gobert. Jamal is not the same, he's better than he's ever been. We have shooters now and are much deeper. We're not a great defensive team but they can turn up the D enough in crucial periods of time and we have great individual defensive players (Aaron Gordon, Payton Watson, Cam Johnson, Bruce Brown, Spencer Jones, Christian needs to regain his previous defensive form but he's still so so ATP). We have a legit backup 5 who is a big skilled bully to hold it down while Jok rests. Also from the bench Brucie B is back, Julian Strawther has been a revelation, 6th man Hardaway is deadly, aforementioned Spence Jones, P Wat's growth and development this season has been amazing. Hopefully he'll be back sooner than later. So no more taking over games in the non Jokic minutes. No more lack of bench skill and production. No more not enough shooting. No more not enough defenders. No more Jamal melt downs if his shot isn't falling. When they give the effort even Jok and Mal are decent defenders. I think they have to pick and choose when to deploy that energy because they do so much on the offensive side. This team has grit. It has experience, they've won it all before. They are back to being an elite clutch team. So with all of this being said, where are Denver's weaknesses? Do they even have one anymore??? What are they lacking RN that is crucial enough to keep them from another championship? I don't think there is anybody that can stop them RN. Only injuries, potentially David Adelman, or lack of focus in crucial moments could derail this freight train. This Nuggets team is not the one from last season or from 2 years ago. They are evolved, stronger, smarter, deeper. And they are locked in RN riding a 13 game winning streak. At full strength, who is going to stop this well oiled machine???😤
the action here is "flex" motion
Denver usually uses it to let joker shoot 3pt shot
Rudy kinda dominated Jokic tbh
why did Jokic shoot so poorly against the thunder even though he's been really efficient from 3 when he's wide open
4:10
Think you gotta mention Gordon’s improved 3pt shot making this offense possible
Don't count the wolves out tho. They also had a bad shooting game, ant can explode, and finch is a good game to game adjuster.
1:06 Apparently Jokic lost 20lbs going into this postseason in order to improve his conditioning.
Problem is, now he's nearly the same weight as Gobert so he can't push him around as easily anymore. I was honestly kinda shocked Nuggets fans were so excited about it – Jokic had trouble against KAT in 23-24 cuz they're close to the same size, now he's closer to Rudy's size.
Will have to see if Gobert can keep up the same intensity throughout the series or not
Nuggets won because pussy fouls lmao
NBA wants a jokic vs wemby. 5vs8. Nuggets win
Where is Peyton Watson
Winning even after that 3 point shooting horror show gives me some confidence
nuggets in 4 gobert isn't a siolution against jokic
Finch IS NOT an elite coach.
Jokic the DPOY killer! 💯
Everyone talking about Denver shooting performance while Randle Ant and Mcdaniels combined 2/17 from 3 I think they have their own shooting to worry about 😂 did yall even watch the game! 🤦♂️!
Also by posting joc up in a lazy point forward position for half the game they preserved his energy which was a major factor in last year's match
Green FN
Wolves needs for a floor general type point guard. Antony is a superstar but doesn’t have the same level in decision making like Brunson or Jokic or Jama
This is a good video, I love skipping ads
I told wolves fans trading kat for gobert makes them a worse team but AnT didnt want to share spotlight with another number 1 pick. Ant ego took pups from young contenders to pretenders
The wolves need a backup with length and trade randle for a pf thats 6,11 plus
No one is stopping Jokic, Nuggets have the best offense in the NBA.
The trick to beat the Nuggets is what OKC do, play really fast and aggressive, try to interrupt Jokic as much as possible all over the court.
Don't let Jokic get enough time to do playmaking.
gobert is back to his utah days, playin 1vs5 on defense with 4 cones on his team around him
They should put naz reid on jokic and randle should come off bench
ruddy guarded him well like he had active hands and was physical and pushed him off his spots and preventing catches that all of the dpoy defender of the past like kg or Draymond wanted him to do.
I stopped believing in this Converge team after the way they lost to Ginebra last conference. That series exposed the lack of leadership and structure in that team. Plus, all the non-basketball issues na meron din sila.
lol Randle Ant and Mcdaniels combined 2/17 from 3 I think they have their own shooting to worry about 😂
Rudy did his job.
Great breakdown
cmon man, on 1:03 is an obious foul!!
The part I disagree with is your point saying they can’t concede 3s to Jokic, I think if Jokic wants to shoot 8+ threes in a game he’s letting the defence off the hook. He’s not collapsing the paint, finding cutters making kick outs to much better shooters if he’s the one standing at the 3 point line, also I do question how good of a 3 point shooter he is when his volume ramps up consistently. From my knowledge almost every games where he shoots high volume threes he doesn’t make that many. He’s a 3pt good shooter but, if anything it’s the lesser of evils.