I think he’s pretty reliable offensively, he’s scored more than 30 a game for two straight years…he’s just not nearly as dynamic as Jokic and I don’t think can single-handedly sustain an offense like Jokic (ie, your offense may not do great even if he is doing great individually). For me, Embiid’s largest issue is that he’s constantly injured at important junctures.
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I’m not sure I’d go that far. Having a great center on D that is also not someone that can be played off the floor is big. But as much better as Embiid is on D, Jokic is equally or moreso better on offense. He’s Steph in that he completely bends and changes the defense. Both are the best offensive players of the last 10 years
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I don’t know, I know everyone is all in on threes and stuff, and it’s important, but the Warriors (the posterboys of this) have always taken a lot of shots at the rim and been really good at it (Curry is a phenomenal scorer for a guard at the rim). You could argue that the Bucks’ ability to play “small” and put a lid on the rim won them a title (ie, Giannis at center). The Nuggets do generally lack rim protection as a unit, and its not NOT an issue.
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Curry is still Curry and can take advantage of Jokic.
I still think LAL is a better matchup for the Nuggets than the GSW. Playoff is all about matchup and who can take advantage of it.
His maps are awesome
I agree. I don’t listen to him much, mostly knew him by the maps and viz and analytics, so when I heard him actually dissecting stuff I started shaking my head a bit
I don’t disagree, I just don’t think that the Warriors or Lakers are very good, and I think the Nuggets are, matchups aside.
Woulda liked Embiid to take it home last night on O. Granted there were good looks from 3 that just didn’t go down, and not that Embiid was a zero on O in the 4th, but at the MVP level you hope your guy has an extra gear when trying to close out a team at home in Game 6.
Injury issues also huge. Availability is a big factor that would swing it for me.
FWIW, the Warriors have almost always ranked in the bottom 5 in the league in rim attempts (except when they had KD – middle of the pack then). Very good at making them, don’t take many of them.
This playoffs has been so great. Hope we get at least one more game seven this round.
FWIW I think the Depth Matters thing is a big deal this year bc we’ve entered a different era. There just isn’t a truly dominant player right now and it’s making matchups and guys 3 thru 7 matter a lot more than usual. The true greats are often worth the next team’s best two players. Hard for depth to matter in that context.
It’s also making for really fun games and interesting scheme stuff. Coach matters a TON right now.
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Speaking of coaching, Doc had ONE lineup that was doing anything against the Celtics and that Tucker in particular was poisoning the offense. And ofc he couldn’t figure that out down the stretch.
Nuggets depth is being overstated, bench was a tire fire all year
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I don’t know to blame Doc for last night. The offense generated 4 or 5 good looks from 3 for good shooters, and they just didn’t fall. They were making the Celts uncomfortable. Embiid had a few rim out. I would have liked Embiid himself to just take it home. MVPs are supposed to do that in those situations.
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we need 20 mins of bangbang Niang (seriously, their offense hits another level when he’s there)
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They def missed a lot of 3’s but they also got a no show from Tatum for 3 quarters. And a decent number of those 3’s were ugly late clock stuff. The wide open ones were largely Tucker’s.
Besides all of that, it’s a control the controllables thing. If you’re getting bad luck that makes playing the right lineups even more imperative.
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Yeah especially if Melton isn’t finding it. But Doc really seemed to think he needed defense out there and I thiiiiink he yanked Niang in the 4th once Tatum made those 2 3’s. The offense tanked after that and Tatum made a few more anyway.
It’s weird, if you look at lineup data, Niang is a negative on/off guy for the season, but he played lots of minutes with guys who don’t play right now (Thybulle, Harrell) or guys that play rarely (Paul Reed). When he plays with Harden or Embiid, it’s generally really good (it makes sense - putting him next to a major gravitational force who is a willing passer like Embiid, or a top notch drive and kick guy (still) like Harden, it works well). The funny thing is that the 3-man combo of him, Embiid, and Harden didn’t make his top 10 minutes of 3-man combo’s…when he seems ideal next to that.
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Think Doc just can’t get away from the idea that he needs a wing stopper on the floor so he’s loathe to play lineups without one of Melton or PJ? Don’t think I know enough to assess that, but it was really obvious last night. Also, I really don’t know if Melton can shoot or not.
Come here to discuss basketball, leave with a new SAT word. All in a days work for UMHoops posters.
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Booker would look great in a pistons uniform 
