NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 639 How to Defend Against Jokic

Coach Buden was largely relieved by Jia Fei's words. Based on his understanding of Jia Fei, he didn't think Jia Fei was a stubborn or extreme person. On the contrary, he thought Jia Fei was very insightful, flexible, and not bound by preconceived notions, which sometimes impressed him. He even had a bit of a "tactical genius" vibe!

"There's a problem with using a large lineup: should we double-team Nikola?" Coach Buden asked.

"Actually, either way is fine. If we double-team, we'll double-team on the strong side, then rotate, and leave some open if necessary. Nikola has excellent passing ability and court vision, but the Nuggets aren't a team with particularly good spacing. They can all shoot threes, but Jeremy Grant and Paul Millsap aren't that accurate from three, so we can leave them open for a bit. For one-on-one defense, we'll limit the others and force Nikola to go one-on-one," Jia Fei answered very specifically.

"I want to try one-on-one defense in the first game, and I might make adjustments during the game. Nikola's passing ability is just too outstanding!" Coach Buden exclaimed.

Jia Fei nodded. One-on-one defense is indeed possible. Although the Clippers' interior defense is a weakness, when defending a player like Jokic, you have to make choices. Letting him do all the work is a strategy. You can't expect to limit him without preventing him from engaging his teammates, because you don't have a center in your lineup who can truly contain him.

The Clippers held their final practice before the Western Conference Finals on September 18th, focusing on defending pick-and-rolls and interior help defense. The Nuggets and Clippers face different opponents; the Nuggets possess Nikola Jokic, arguably the best center in the world. While the Trail Blazers also have Nurkic, he's not on the same level as Jokic. The Trail Blazers' offense revolves around their two star guards, and limiting them is paramount. Nurkic's role on offense is more as a screener, occasionally posting up and facilitating plays. Jokic, on the other hand, is the Nuggets' offensive core.

Many people have a misconception about Jokic, thinking he's just a flashy passer with a well-rounded offense, but lacks the ability to break down defenses. In reality, however, he's exceptionally good at one-on-one situations in the low post, with a soft touch and incredibly accurate hook shots and rebounds.

Jokic is difficult to defend because he can play both inside and outside. He can shoot from the high post and attack from the low post. Even if you double-team him, he can accurately pass the ball to his teammates. Limiting such a star is extremely difficult, and it's impossible to completely stop him.

The Clippers' attempt to rotate Jokic around isn't a good strategy. While they can rotate him, this only works on defense. The Clippers lack a reliable one-on-one post-up game against Jokic; their interior players are mostly functional, either finishing at the rim or shooting, lacking strong offensive capabilities. Trying to wear him down defensively is unrealistic. Jokic has excellent stamina; he looks incredibly sweaty and red-faced after a long game, yet he can still easily close out games in overtime. He won't have stamina issues in Game 7; he's in his twenties, in his prime, and trying to completely drain his energy is unrealistic.

Since we can't stop him, we should attack him. If we can't break him up inside, we should use our outside shooting. In the regular season, we often see Jokic getting dominated by ball-handling and shooting pros, and we also often see him getting attacked inside by aggressive rim-pushing players. Why does he rarely get foul trouble? Because as a center, he's the team's last line of defense, and the team sometimes asks him to forgo blocking shots to avoid fouls. So we can exploit this.

The Nuggets' roster looks tall and imposing, but they actually lack rim protection. In terms of rim protection alone, they aren't necessarily much better than the Rockets. Jokic often forgoes blocking shots to avoid fouls, and their other center, Millskinson, is only 201cm tall, making him a relatively short center. Even in his prime, he was never a particularly good rim protector; his strengths lie in his ability to defend multiple positions and his well-rounded offensive game.

September 19, Western Conference Finals Game 1, at the bubble area.

Like other series, the Western Conference Finals are played in the bubble, so there is no home or away game. The Clippers players don't have to travel to Denver for away games, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

This match was broadcast live on Tencent, with commentators Wang Meng and guest Yang Yi providing commentary.

"Mr. Yang, you've reached the Western Conference Finals. Please talk about this game!" After finishing his advertisement for a certain company, Wang Meng changed the subject and started chatting with Yang Yi about the game.

Yang Yi smacked his lips and gestured with his hands as he said, "Many people think the Clippers will win this series easily, but I don't think so!"

"Oh, do you have a different opinion?" Wang Meng asked, much like a comedian in a crosstalk performance.

"Of course, neither the Rockets nor the Trail Blazers have a center!" Yang Yi said in a thick Beijing accent.

“We all know the Rockets don’t have a center, but the Trail Blazers have Nurkic, right? Nurkic is a center!” Wang Meng questioned.

“Of course, Nurkic plays center, but he’s not very good!” Yang Yi said.

"Then who's the best?" Wang Meng asked.

"Jokic! Coach Jokic is so amazing! He's so tall, he can score, and he can pass, that's why he's so amazing!" Yang Yi said.

"Even if Jokic is very good, the Clippers have beaten the Nuggets before in the regular season. Jia Fei is very good at dealing with centers who are strong on offense but weak on defense!" Wang Meng said.

"I'm not saying the Nuggets can eliminate the Clippers and advance to the Finals, I'm saying the Nuggets can cause the Clippers a lot of trouble!" Yang Yi explained.

"Oh, is that so? Mr. Yang, do you think the Clippers will play center in this game? Or will they play Jia Fei at center like they did in the series against the Rockets?" Wang Meng asked.

"They'll definitely play center. Jia Fei is the Clippers' strongest player, and Budenholzer will choose to protect him. The center should still be played. If they don't play center against the Nuggets, then they don't need to play center against other teams either," Yang Yi said.

The starting lineups for both teams have been announced.

The Clippers' starting lineup is JaVale James, Patrick Beverley, Paul George, Danilo Gallinari, and Kelly Olynyk. They've returned to their big lineup, adjusting the starting eleven based on different opponents rather than sticking to one lineup for every game.

The Nuggets' starting lineup for the away game is Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, Jeremy Grant, JaMychal Murray, and Nikola Jokic.

The Denver Nuggets' head coach is Michael Malone. He has worked as an NBA assistant coach since 2001 and previously served as head coach of the Sacramento Kings. He was an assistant coach until the 2013-14 season when he became head coach of the Kings, and has been the Nuggets' head coach since 2015.