Nikola Jokic is revolutionizing the center position

During the best series we saw the incredible offensive dominance of kareem abdul-jabbar and shaquille o'neal and those two were probably the best offensive

center

s we have ever seen until this guy

nikola

jokic

is having one of the best offensive seasons in history of the league. and if that sounds crazy, maybe not In about 10 minutes, let's start with his high-level stats, where he's near the top of the league in scoring efficiency, volume of plays, and outside shooting in 2019. I called him the best big band of all time passing, but he is one of the best passers in the history of the sport regardless of

position

, size, year, league or deep breaths let's go back a little from the days of oscar robertson most of the weightlifters in the offense They dominate the ball magic johnson steve nash russell westbrook this is what the athletic seth part now coined the heliocentric offense with everything orbiting around a main star who scores or sets up his teammates. players like this often provide value on the ball.

Tran Young and Luka Doncic possessed the rock over 50 times on offense, but only in jest. he has it about a quarter of the time, but it's still the fulcrum of the entire nugget attack. He often touches it in the middle of the court and then runs towards the ball to reset it if necessary and makes very quick decisions. This is a great example of cutting the short corner touch, passing it and then flowing into a handoff, then rolling into the bucket and tipping the pass instead of catching it because of course it makes sense to guide the ball instead of grabbing it and shooting , starts as the point guard here. his roll fades and then he just picks it up and looks for a handoff or flows into a two-man play with someone else and that's just a nightmare to defend for 24 seconds as he's so dangerous that his defender never wants to stray too. great jamal murray fake there and he's a great body to move around in, so handoffs can take teams by surprise.

Jokic is perpetually involved in spotting actions like this and then serving as an outpost for his teammates to work with and when defenses try to deny. those little handoffs he just does it through the back door, instead michael porter jr is a little stuck here so joker comes in for that two man game and the slightest defensive mistake is a layup around this passing expert . His height allows him to stand high and pick defenses. spaced out in the middle of the court and since he is the

center

, he has up to four athletic cutters swarming around him at any given time.

Denver likes this corner action where someone breaks free and this doesn't even seem that open, but it's a warm-up pass for Jokic and if defenses want to activate this action, a half-step is all the wild card needs to find one of If your receivers contain these cutters, the help must come from the weak side and the slightest movement leaves the corner exposed and can break them. On top of that I also think this guy has the peripheral vision of an eagle. He knows his teammate is there as a set piece, so he's monitoring this defender out of the corner of his eye and switching sides becomes a higher percentage of offense for the Nuggets.

We're used to seeing these types of skip passes out of the pick and roll, but Jokic hits them standing still and dribbles much less than a typical heliocentric star, although he can bounce right off a classic pick and roll and make plays off of that as well. . he doesn't scout with his live dribble but he still makes these passes because of all the different delivery angles he can get around the defense, of course if these passing routes ever fail the wildcard can just drive it and do the damage himself himself, abuses people. at these points he keeps up with him until he finds the land that pays and if you help too much he once again beats you with the wild card pass he has great body control when he puts it on cover and incredible touch on these short shots. lots of space and pick and pop and he will shoot moon balls from the middle and the Joker's shooting prowess has made him deadly from long range as he is so accurate from there that his fake gets rid of defenders and can stroll through the paint to score soft goals or he can make them fly by and euro makes his way to a no look drop from mid range this year he has been an absolute flamethrower shooting 50+ from floater range and on two lengths and this feels like the piece end of the offensive puzzle to make him unstoppable if you get a little deep and his layup radar doesn't have any hits, he'll just catapult home a three and can shoot them after his normal spotting action in the middle of the court.

Shooting on the move feels particularly unfair, occasionally outrunning crosses off a screen like a guard, and while he's not quite Dirk Nowitzki, he certainly looks like him at times with one-legged stepbacks and 41 jumpers. 3 points. Jokic has become one of the best outside shooters in the league since the shutdown last March. Neagle is third in field goal percentage on all shots outside of 15 feet, and while he takes more twos than most volume outside shooters, this is a sample of 548 shots that makes it abundantly clear that he is an excellent outside shooter. shooter or just can't shoot in front of a live audience time will tell he can also happen on the move and this makes him a nightmare as a rolling man with a four on three advantage remember he's still a seven wrecking ball feet, so you can end up on these tours, although your preferred choice of rolls is the one-leg schoolyard float.

By the way, I prefer a sourdough roll, he can always stop at the elbow to catch and shoot and just when you think it's the best possible outcome, he Larry Birds at home for a tray Larry Birds is a verb and if you don't out, should be the definition. Jaw-dropping clairvoyance and audacity rare in basketball, including making layups out of thin air from ready-made baskets. It also makes looking extraordinary a routine. and we haven't even mentioned his powerful postgame where he simply methodically works his way to a comfortable distance and finishes smoothly over opponents. do things like slide to the other side of the hoop, he also has a classic right shoulder fade that combines like peanut butter and jelly with one of his favorite post moves, the little right jump hook, he has that pillow touch that he's fast enough to spin defenders and even dance back into that hook, my god these skills destroy switches.

Jokic immediately puts smaller players in the meat grinder and is so big and under control that guards almost have no chance against him. The nuggets immediately look to punish these changes. and with a good space the help can't come and there is another one of those special one-handed ones that really needs two hands to continue playing basketball. This aggression is a key improvement on Jokic. His conditioning allows him to keep the accelerator on the floor. By the way, he is also a great offensive rebounder, especially after his own shot, these follow-ups mean that his efficiency on scoring attempts is actually higher than the raw numbers indicate and if we treat these plays as a single scoring attempt for everyone in the league.

Jokic gets that boost from Zion and looks like one of the top 5 scorers in the NBA, at least statistically, because his passing is so lethal that it's hard to double team him. This is the gentlest of the Solomon Hill doubles and is like parting the Red Sea. For Joker, his timing on kickoffs is sublime. He throws this one to get maximum airspace for his shooter and loves to use that look to throw off defenders and these cross-field connections are routine for Yokic. It's not about finding an open man in four-on-three situations. it's about finding the best play, not each and every one of these bold attempts make it through and sometimes he even misses open layups, but give him the slightest window and more often than not he finds something magical, the heat doubles it here with the shooter above.

He looks to the other corner, but he's actually looking for layups, so he drops it behind Duncan Robinson's ear and it's more points in for the nuggets in total. He's arguably the best playmaker in the league right now, one of the best scorers in the NBA and can do both with or without the ball, which is enough to make him an all-time offensive great among the plus and minus leaders this year, only Stephen Curry's Warriors are worse offensively without their best player, but with the wild card the Nuggets have a ridiculous offensive rating of 123. Unsurprisingly, a numerical metric sees him as the best player in the league this year and well, he has a lot of weaknesses on defense, all he has to do in that sense is hold his ground because his offense is at wise levels, so enter his high level of outside shooting. scoring all-time level passes and consistent involvement in the offense

nikola

jokic

is a solid mvp level player and his career in 2021 could be the best offensive season we have ever seen from a big man if you want to compare jokic's stats to the of other greats.

Men, you can access our historical database on patreon.com thinking that basketball is the best way to directly support this channel. We have a monthly live stream, extra content and more. I'm interested to know how you think Joker compares to the other great offensive players. in league history, as always, thank you for watching until the end and, of course, I hope you're having a great day.