big honey and the nuggets

https://x.com/katywinge/status/1718782583302180878?s=46&t=XlsbhgknQH65_CH00_uPqw

pic.twitter.com/xdw7V4N1tM https://t.co/cS9bCIbQ58

— Katy Winge (@katywinge) October 30, 2023

initial thoughts through three games: obviously the returns have been pretty uniformly positive. it’s actually a pretty surreal feeling to look at the schedule and just feel like the team should win every game, something I’ve never experienced as a nuggets fan in 21 years watching the team. even stranger is the way everyone talks about them, the skepticism has almost completely evaporated across the spectrum from casual to national reporter. the tone reflecting on the win over the thunder yesterday is a perfect encapsulation of this: a lot of talk about how great the thunder look, how much potential they have, and almost an air of indifference to the fact that they lost by 28: you can’t really blame them, they were playing the nuggets, after all. just things you don’t usually hear

the starting lineup as expected has been fantastic: these guys can just read each other’s thoughts at this point. every jokic-based lineup is just murdering. most encouraging is that different combinations of 3- and 4-starter lineups have been more than holding their own, obviously a small sample so far but all the indicators look really good. michael porter has been playing on a bud ankle and is grabbing 11 rebounds a game.

the bench has been really, really encouraging. there is still no can’t-miss “fifth starter” type a la brucie B, but christian braun has been as good as one can hope so far given his experience level. he had 7 rebounds, 7 assists, and zero turnovers yesterday. peyton watson has shown real promise as a prospect, particularly defensively. if his decision-making and execution on offense can just be good enough, he gives the nuggets amazing defensive lineup flexibility with braun alongside KCP and aaron gordon. zeke nnaji and reggie jackson have also done more than enough so far to justify legitimate rotation minutes. and I still think julian strawther will emerge as a 8-10 min a game guy by the end of the year. dude can really stroke it

aside from interior rim protection there’s basically nothing this team doesn’t do well. they can defend/switch multiple positions while putting 5 shooters on the floor, they’re bigger than anyone and completely dominate he glass (which makes up for their lack of rim protection), and most crucially they have utterly insane chemistry.

there doesn’t really seem like there is a team in the west who is anywhere near their level at the moment, but of course it’s a long season and they’re always a key injury away from being mortal. I’m just lucky to be a fan of this team at this moment, really seems like something organic and beautiful that comes along every 15-20 year or so

nuggets fans and media are also just in this insane delirious state, we don’t know how to act fuck all yall

It's kind of reminiscent of when the Broncos first got good in the mid-70s.

Jon Keyworth - Make Those Miracles Happen

Of course, it took the Broncos a couple decades after that to actually win a championship.

i hope colorado goes nuggets i encountered one serious nuggs fan the whole time i lived there

nikola’s shooting 70% on twos and 43% on threes through 4 games

this is also obv a small sample but according to the crude shot distance tracking on basketball-reference: 75% from 0-3 feet, 67% from 3-10 feet, 80% from 10-16 feet, and 67% from 16-23 feet. how are you supposed to guard that lol

having an unstoppable guy is a big advantage

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/38796077/beethoven-how-nikola-jokic-became-best-passer-nba-history

jokic getting his close-up this year

"Listen, I don't want to take credit," Vicentic said. "Some (people) ask me, 'Hey, you create Nikola Jokic?' I don't know how to make Nikola Jokic. I was blessed to have him on my team."

some ask me hey you create jokic too

I actually created him tbh

hey you create jokic

I loved this in that ESPN profile:

On the first day of his evaluation in August 2014, the readings were historically disappointing. Jokic recorded what was then -- and still is -- the lowest standing vertical leap of any NBA player they had ever assessed, a group that is now more than 1,000 players. Seventeen inches.

it’s true he doesn’t really do jumping

quoting a euro scout who evaluated joker in his teens and wasn't impressed, "i fell into the trap of looking for athleticism".

Victory of Socialist Basketball

in jokic’s first yrs manning was here and i told a coworker jokic’s court awareness and ball movement was as good as peyton’s and got eyerolled so now i share that story every time i drink two beers really

I’m struggling to remember the last player who was such a joy to watch. Magic, maybe?

Jokics floaters are so wet Im going call them soakers.

— D-Line (Denver Man) ((Eric Wedum)) (@DLineCo) November 4, 2023

remind me to find a highlight reel of all of jokic’s buckets from tonight, all shots the league shoots 39% ok and he’s 11/12

Nikola Jokic vs Dallas Mavericks

33 PTS
14 REB
9 AST
1 STL
1 BLK
14/16 FG
+17 in 35 minutes#MileHighBasketball W pic.twitter.com/WZ7ZA9TGS3

— A Walking Highlight (@11AWH) November 4, 2023

shooting 71% from floater ranger this year

christian braun guarding alex caruso *spiderman pointing meme*

The numbers are great but 28-16-9 doesn’t even do it justice.

+30 in 33 minutes doesn’t even do it justice. https://t.co/SzwTkGO1Z1

— Adam Mares (@Adam_Mares) November 5, 2023

shooting 71% from floater ranger this year

― k3vin k., Saturday, November 4, 2023 8:48 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

noticed when hes taking a floater he really does it intentionally and therefor gets good looks, like a lot of guys will be driving get stoped and decide to flip up a floater which ends up being a really tough shot but jokic in accordance with his general world best anticipation looks like hes often driving to take floaters, he gets close and all squared up with his defender backpedaling and just flips it in, then he has all sort of other floater range shots hooks and where his touch really come into play all the insane lil flip shots that are more improvisational and really have no business going in but do

yeah he’s really got it down to a science

jokic fg% by distance through 7 games

0-3ft: .692
3-10ft: .707
10-16ft: .636
16-23ft: .667
3pt: .400

Need to get 3pt over 60. You can do it.

lol

jokic is the rare player rn where taking long 2s is actually a better shot (for points per shot) than his 3 (which is v good), just insane

I just feel like his scoring isn’t enough of a focus of conversation, like I’m happy that everyone understands what a passing savant he is, but he’s *also* possibly the most unguardable complete three-level scorer in the league, the splits he puts up are truly silly

one of the reasons his scoring is so good is hes impossible to double because of his passing

also if he wants to be recognized as one of the best scorers, hes doesnt care, if kevin wants him to be recognized as one of the best scorers he should shoot more

high level one of the things that makes him so great is his decision making, he makes the right play consistently, which naturally leads to shooting less than the very top scorers, if he shot more his percentages would come down cause he wouldnt be making perfect decisions, however he has so much wiggle room he could probably lead the league in scoring and still be the most efficient high usage guy, tho steph maybe could beat him there

I just feel like his scoring isn’t enough of a focus of conversation

the conversation around here is comfortably unfocused and that's how I like it

i for one would like to see a shooting more joker and in fact have been a long time supporter of said concept

also worth considering that moving a 7th 300lb body around is a lot of work and scoring more involves more moving than not scoring

all I was saying was that for a guy who scores 27 points a game his shot appetite is quite varied and equally impossible to stop! his passing opens up plenty for sure, but it’s still pretty hard to score as consistently from so many different places on the court, it’s just a cool thing that should be talked about more

jokic has zero (0) dunks so far this year btw

why does he hate the famous shot

jumping takes a lot of energy

hollinger:

Jokić’s start, in particular, has been a revelation. If you thought he’d spend his post-championship offseason resting on his laurels and blow off basketball for more enjoyable pursuits like mucking stables, think again. Through seven games, he leads the league in PER with a 33.1 mark, one that would be a record if he kept it up for a full season.

Dig deeper, and the numbers get more hilarious. After mostly abandoning 3-point shots last season, he’s actually taking them again and making 40 percent thus far. He surprised Chicago’s Nikola Vučević by letting it rip on an early-clock pull-up 3 on Saturday. He’s eighth in the league in assists; he’s a 6-foot-11 center, and everyone else in the top 15 is a point guard. Already one of the league’s most dangerous offensive rebounders, his 11.0 percent offensive rebound rate this season would be his first time in double digits in seven years.

Most notably, he’s shooting 69.4 percent on 2s despite the fact that barely one in five of those attempts come at the rim. I’m sorry but … what?!?!? That doesn’t even seem real.

The skill level on some of his shots is simply preposterous. He makes this slow-mo Euro step into a floater over Andre Drummond look like the most casually easy shot attempt; in reality, having the touch for this shot both while taking a shot and decelerating to avoid the charge is something few guards could emulate consistently. It’s just that Jokić makes complicated footwork seem about as challenging as the recipe for ice cubes. This shot also is part of a massive larger pattern: He makes one-handed, on the move, non-rim paint shots like this over and over and over again

Coach Malone said the Jamal Murray hamstring injury is not a “one or two game injury.”

Said this is something that will “be longer than we like” but the Nuggets “need to have big picture in mind.”

Malone said they don’t want it to linger.

— Katy Winge (@katywinge) November 7, 2023

not great

just as long as hes healthy for the offs, seems like hes maybe not a super durable guy, might be good to not play a whole season

plus maybe joker will shoot more

malone is right too with those hammys you really want them fully healed

yah some aren’t meant to be great in the regular

would be good for murray to make the all star team tho

doesnt look that bad

Jamal Murray will miss tonight’s game against New Orleans with a hamstring strain.

Here he is chopping it up with the coaching staff. pic.twitter.com/trpHDQ128E

— DNVR Nuggets (@DNVR_Nuggets) November 6, 2023

yeah should hopefully be a 3-4 game thing