To be fair, in order to at least test this you probably need more than 2 guys who will shoot (I think that talking point is nonsense, especially when he’s just an offensive flamethrower every night), but this Phoenix team I don’t think was the test for it (to be fair, they may not see that team in the playoffs)
If I’m the Nuggets, I’m rooting for the LAL matchup as opposed to GSW matchup. Jokic can deal with AD and it removes AD from protecting the rim, but Jokic will get targeted repeatedly by GSW like last year’s playoff matchup.
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I may get proven wrong. But other than familiar faces and names, this GSW is not the one from last year. Curry was the best player in the playoffs last year and while he’s been good, he’s not been there. His supporting cast has been appreciably worse.
Just wait until they put him in the pick and roll 
. Nuggets surrounding players in previous playoff flameouts were always way more of the issue than jokic(not a traditional rim protector or super switchable but still a good defender). Shocked a team with perimeter defenders like austin rivers, facu campazzo, will barton and bryn forbes couldnt check the suns and warriors.
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Yeah, this is the first year that Jokic has had both Murray (not important defensively but obviously very important offensively) and Gordon (extremely important defensively) with him (also Porter has gotten much better). That seems pretty important.
That wasn’t what people thought before the series though. They thought the off the dribble shooting of Book, KD (and CP) in P&R was a terrible matchup for Jokic.
Also, after the first two games of the series, the Suns went all in on shooting (not just Book & KD) and that’s part of why they won games 3 and 4 – they benched Torrey Craig and played Shamet, Warren, and Ross more (obviously those guys have big defensive limitations but all of the Suns’ role players were “one-sided” from the start).
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I think your last point about the severe limitations of the Suns’ bench is most trenchant. To be honest, I really wonder how, after seeing how the Suns played against a skeletal Clippers team, you could have picked them here (when I look at that list, the only guys I’d expect more of, though, are Goldsberry, maybe).
I just don’t think any team is going to be able to shoot well enough to consistently overcome playing Terrence Ross and Landry Shamet against an offense helmed by Jokic.
National Nba media, moreso than any sport, is extremely biased to big markets/teams with the top tier marketing stars(jokic is not). Brian windhorst started off his last podcast with, well i didnt watch the game but looking at the box score it looks like jokic had a good game.
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Suns going all in on Durant wasn’t a good idea. And I don’t know that there was a good option as for what to do with Ayton. Booker’s going to want to be out of there soon enough I suspect.
Goldsberry is a big time Jokic hater. which is somewhat shocking but he has this one rim protection stat he talks about incessantly
Yeah, I know the CW is that you win with stars and not depth, but trading 3 playable wings for him (Crowder was more an internal politics issue than not wanting him obviously) just left these guys bare.
@kturnup - I’ll admit that like 99% of my Goldsberry exposure is on Zach Lowe’s pod (Zach is arguably the largest Nuggets booster in media), so I haven’t caught the full brunt of the Jokic criticism, but he at least strikes me as smart, and not just a talking head.
And old. Durant looks old to me. And slow. Suns fans are going to have a hard time dealing with what could have been a Bridges/Booker combo for a much longer time.
Also not like the Nuggets have struggled in the playoffs before. Especially considering their injuries. They went to a WCF.
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SMH at the questioning of Matt Ishbia’s decision making.
He is smart, which is why I’m always taken aback by his Jokic talk. He thinks Embiid is clearly the better player
Right, the last time they had a healthy Murray and a good big wing (Grant)…they were in the WCF right.
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I don’t want to come off too harsh because some of his analytics stuff is good (and his visualizations are obviously great) but if you really pay attention to what Goldsberry says, the way he analyzes the game lags behind his credentials, imo.
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Embiid is obviously a vastly superior defender - I think it’s a valid argument at the very least and not a decisive blowout either way. I think when you consider the availability of the two (generally) I’d much rather have Jokic.
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Embiid such a monster on D. But not as reliable on O. Tough call.
Given the talent of the perimeter players and the paying style I just dont think defense from a center, especially in the playoffs, is that valuable anymore.