So as NBA Twitter continues to debate Nikola Jokic’s place amongst the NBA’s elite, his detractors are pointing out more and more things that make him inferior to others in the league. While his defense is hardly a new addition to these complaints it seems to have come to the forefront of the argument as it becomes increasingly difficult to find fault with his Offensive game.
There is no doubt that Jokic was bad on defense this past season. There is no doubt that his lack of athleticism will limit his potential on that side of the ball. That said I believe his defensive deficiencies have been greatly overstated. Having watched a fair number of his games over the past two years I have seen his sky high basketball IQ extend to his defensive game. He understands where on the court he needs to be and his own limitations.
He knows he can’t stay in front of most players on a drive, so instead he takes angles that force the players to less than ideal positions. Instead of layups right under the basket, they are force into shots 3-5 feet away over his outstretched hands. When someone attempts to post up, he uses his body well to keep them in place and keeps his hands straight up. He doesn’t jump and commit the foul but makes the shot difficult with his long arms. Now these things don’t always lead to the shot missing, but they certainly make those shots more difficult which is in fact the point of defense.
That said his struggles this year were certainly apparent. He seemed lazy on defense a lot of the times and the things I’ve seen him do well, weren’t happening as much as they had his rookie year. I attribute this largely due to his increased role and lack of endurance. He was exhausted all season and openly said so. His effort on the defensive end definitely lacked because of how much he worked on the offensive end. With improved endurance I expec to see him return to his rookie season form on defense where players shot 7.9% worse inside 6 feet then their average when he was defending their shots.
His most egregious defense this season came in the pick and roll. Mike Malone instituted a defense this season that asked the big man to drop back on pick and rolls and but the burden of covering the ball handler on the perimeter defender. This was done largely because of Jokic’s limitations. Unfortunately it backfired as Denver’s guards were terrible at getting around the pick leaving Jokic left to choose between allowing a wide open 8-10ft jumper or a layup or dunk. In games where Malone allowed the bigs to be more aggressive and jump the ball handler, Jokic and the team as a whole saw greater success on defense. What he lacks in mobility he makes up for in intelligent play and quick hands. He forces more turnovers and does a pretty good job of denying the pass to the roll man until the guard can recover.
Jokic certainly has plenty to learn on the defensive end, and this past season was a miserable display of defense. That said, he has shown an ability to play decent defense and has consistently made his team better on that side of the ball. His rookie season stats show that he can be a positive defender and certainly has the IQ to overcome his physical limitations.
That being said I think the narrative of him being a terrible defender will be largely disproven this year, though it will likely be a label that will follow him throughout his career regardless of actual performance. I wholeheartedly believe Jokic can turn himself into a positive defender while still remaining one of the best offensive players in the league. That makes his ceiling sky high, and gives Denver fans plenty of reasons to get excited.
