Does Jokic’s genius actually make him a good defender?

How good is Nikola Jokic on defense now? This detailed film breakdown & scouting report explores how Jokic uses his basketball IQ and genius in 2024 to overcome his defensive shortcomings, and whether he’s still a liability on defense for the Denver Nuggets.

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#ThinkingBasketball

every basketball fan from LA to somore
knows that Nicole AIC is a basketball
genius we’ve certainly dissected it over
the years on this channel but a question
I’m often asked is how does that
offensive awareness translate to defense
meaning if yic is such a savant why
isn’t he a better Defender what I really
think we’re driving at here is how much
does his basketball IQ actually help him
on on
defense jokic’s issues as a man Defender
have been discussed forever he’s a
seven-footer who doesn’t provide much
shot blocking and he’s not super agile
either so he can be vulnerable guarding
out in space centers typically provide
the most Rim protection So in theory
having a weak shot blocking Center
limits A team’s defensive ceiling and in
the last two years Joker’s contested a
ton of shots with in 6 ft of the basket
but he’s barely lowered opponent field
goal percentages based on what we’d
expect Landing him in the 22nd
percentile among all centers now yic
probably contests so many shots because
opponents aren’t really worried about
his shot blocking so they still shoot it
when he’s nearby at the same time when
you pull him out to the perimeter and
ask him to guard in space he doesn’t
have the greatest lateral movement
either he comes out High to defend Steph
Curry on this screen struggles with the
crossover and then when he’s back at The
Rim doesn’t provide that vertical
protection a lot of big Defenders are
vulnerable to Sharp left to right
changes in Direction but yokich actually
stops and starts pretty well for a big
he’s cheating over to help on Kyrie
Irving here when his man goes to pick
he’s quick to hop out and briefly double
Kyrie then turn back and recover into
the paint so he actually moves backwards
and in straight lines quite well he
recovers almost step for step with bam
aab bio’s roll here to get back in front
of him and here he starts away from the
ball slides over enough to deter a shot
attempt then beines it to the corner and
look where he was on this pass that’s a
great reaction and the straight line
speed to the corner he actually
overextends and is burned laterally
again but then flies back to influence
the putback and that is a ton of
activity and ground to cover on a single
play he’s actually a fairly High motor
Defender and combined with that solid
stopping and starting ability and his
straight line movement he has good
horizontal coverage on these plays where
he’s scrambling around with multiple
efforts so on a play like this he can
sag off his own man to position himself
to read the floor so when Jimmy Butler
slips the screen he plays a little
goalie and nearly picks it off and this
time he’s dropped back into the paint
and touching that cutter is just enough
for Dante Exum to think twice about
passing it then that quick straight line
movement to get out high and meet Kyrie
where he can slide in One Direction
fairly well doesn’t bite on the hesi and
that’s defended pretty well even with a
bit of a late close out on the
shooter this time he’s roaming off Rudy
goar again takes away the cutter then
when goar tries to screen he’s quick
enough to get out and take away the shot
from Mike connley and Conley needs to
skip it across court but it’s not easy
to throw over a seven-footer and Joker’s
pretty agile contesting like this and in
one motion turning and recovering back
to the play so there’s never an
advantage created and The Possession
goes nowhere and this ability to roam
and recover really brings out that
basketball IQ he’s lasered in on this
pet Golden State action so when the
cutter slips out he basically beats him
to the pass for a turnover here’s
another one against the Warriors where
he’s perfectly positioned to handle that
slip to the rim but is also sitting on
the pass to Curry and that leads to some
Joker Showtime on the break this is from
the finals where he’s more worried about
bam as a roller than the pull-up
shooting of Kyle Lowry so yic is in a
drop only he’s reading Lowry’s eyes and
Spins right to the rim to kill a
layup he’s really good at reading
opponent’s eyes like this and disrupting
passes but he’s also just generally good
at understanding what the opposing team
is trying to do diagnosing this play and
then making a very very high IQ switch
out to Klay Thompson then he keeps clay
in front of him briefly only to read the
next breakdown by lingering in the paint
to help Jamal Murray and only when
Murray fully recovers does yic release
back to his own man and this possession
was a defensive master class that would
have looked a lot different without
jokic’s reaction at the start of the
play this one’s even better where the
heat are in a bunch formation Joker’s
wondering who Bam’s going to screen for
and then it’s a no look steal and that’s
a very quick reaction to the cutter and
it’s confirmed yic has eyes in the back
of its head um yic has always had great
hands defensively they’re extremely
active and his Elite hand eye
coordination lets him Target the ball
accurately like this and he’ll even
track passes as they’re leaving your
hand and snatch them that way way we’ve
talked about his reflexes and quick
hands helping adjust passing angles on
offense and there’s a direct translation
to defense where he tracks the passer
eyes and the ball and then adjusts
accordingly and this one’s some Larry
Bird nonsense after a turnover plucking
Kyrie’s Outlet right out of the air and
he’s reading Irving the entire way and
he’s Nimble enough to spin and snatch it
with those great
pause Joker’s been in the top 10% of the
league in deflections per minute in each
of the last two seasons because he has
those great reflexes really dangerous
hands and he reads offense as well Lowry
sets up the pick and roll here he
briefly steps in front of him then
defends the pocket pass while he
recovers so the pass has to come over
the top and Joker’s big enough to get it
and force a turnover
on this one the sun set up a two-man
game on the wing joic comes out to show
on the screen and the second pton Watson
falls down he jumps back to cut off
Durant and takes away the roll pass and
this is that second recovery we saw
earlier defending the pocket pass and
flowing right into better position on
the roll so he plays angles really well
in two-man actions he’s pushing Booker
down to the Baseline here but also
kicking his foot out and waving his
hands to defend all the passes and don’t
forget about those kicks the dude was
like a hockey goalie in the finals last
season taking away entries and potential
layups with this unorthodox technique
that requires Great reaction time and
he’s also unorthodox in how he uses his
hands in the paint as a form of Rim
protection most big men try to time up
their jump to contest these drives
vertically but yic swipes at the ball
down low with those big Ms and this
allows him to backpedal at different
angles and still challenge shots without
loading up to jump that means when he’s
defending pick and roll he can toggle
from retreating in front of the ball
right to the roller and you’ll often see
him turn and get a swipe like this in
these spots so Nia has a very ground
bound form of Rim protection that comes
with tradeoffs he doesn’t smother a ton
of attempts near the hoop or block a lot
of shots but he tries to position
himself in a way to take away an easy
layup while playing the pass when
offensive players come downhill in a
two-on-one situation he often plays the
pass which means sometimes there’s going
to be a relatively easy shot at The Rim
because two-on ones are really high
value plays but it can also produce
incredible saves Draymond Green’s coming
downhill on the short r Ro and what
we’ve seen for years in this situation
is Draymond hitting a corner cutter with
a lob on that short roll yic had a front
row seat to this one back in
2022 but this time he knows that lob is
coming so the instant Draymond picks up
his dribble he retreats to the pass and
throws off the whole thing we also saw
this wild Gambit in part two of the
smartest plays of the year where he
basically fakes a charge to bait the
pass and protects the rim that way all
of this means that yic doesn’t foul that
much while protecting the basket and
since he’s often positioned well to take
away easy options teams don’t end up
with a ton of shots at The Rim when he’s
on the floor despite his lack of shot
blocking opponents shoot right around
the league average number of Rim
attempts when joic is on the floor and
among the 20 starting centers on
postseason teams he’s on the weaker side
in field goal percentage allowed but
remember he doesn’t foul that much on
these contests among centers he’s in the
top five in fewest shooting fouls
committed per 100 possessions so when we
look at the number of points Denver
gives up at the rim with jic on versus
off the court there isn’t a big change
but when we account for how much they
commit shooting fouls with him on the
floor suddenly he looks like a good
paint protector now part of this is not
really having a great backup and this
doesn’t make the nuggets a great Rim
protecting team when he’s on the court
but this has been a multi-year pattern
that coincided with jokic’s improved
conditioning and lower foul rates
starting in
2021 so the nuggets have built a defense
around his strengths and while he isn’t
the most versatile Defender you can
certainly build a good defense around
him now Denver’s actually had one of the
best pick and roll defenses in the
League this season on jokic’s coverages
According to second Spectrum he’s also
an excellent defensive rebounder and
another small factor that really helps
in the playoffs is communication which
is something we’ve seen from him before
he spots a Cross Match here with Murray
guarding bam frantically communicates to
everyone is still talking when Bam gets
the ball the help finally comes down and
it’s another kick save so he
communicates well recognizes threats
plays angles and sometimes just reads
offensive players
souls for me that lack of a vertical
presence and some defensive rigidity
make it hard for him to be a really good
defender in today’s game but he’s
certainly not a bad one either he’s
improved enough over the last few years
that I might even consider him an above
average big man Defender and so yeah I
think a big part of that is that Nicole
iic’s offensive
genius actually translates to the
defensive end to support this channel
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watching this one hope you’re enjoying
the playoffs and that you are having a
great day