How Nikola Jokic & Denver Nuggets SOLVED Timberwolves defense | Hoops Tonight 

The screens werent even that hard, it's just Wolves were trying to run through Jokic. Which is not possible.

When an unstoppable force meets an immovable object

What a great analysis! I've been a Nuggets fan my whole life, but always willing to learn and look closer at tactics. Thanks for this.

There isn't a lot of solving happening. Jamal Murray looked markedly more mobile than before, and the referees went back to officiating the games normally, instead of basically allowing hand checking in the first 2 games. How on earth anyone is able to perform consistently when the refs get different instructions on what is a foul and what isn't is beyond me. As I always say, NBA officials are not there to enforce the rules, they are there to create what the NBA thinks is an attractive viewing experience.

That was the Nuggets Team we love to see!

Not sure if you guys know, but by the NBA rulebook this is the definition of an illegal screen. "An offensive screener must have his legs no wider than shoulder-width apart, and he may not extend his legs outside the vertical plane of his body when setting a screen." Jokic is doing this pretty good comparing it for example with Gober who extends his legs all the way to Paris.

The only adjustments the Nuggets made were that they were more deliberate, getting into their action, and they placed an emphasis on getting into their action early in the shot clock. Other than that they just played better basketball.

Losing more and more respect for wolves fans as this series goes on. Majority of the talk from nuggets fans after the first 2 games was how good the wolves defense was and how bad our team looked cause of it despite getting hacked the whole time. Nuggets win 1(WITH AN EVEN WHISTLE MIND YOU) and all you hear from wolves fans is "REFFFFS!!!:("

Why are the screens illegal? There’s basically no lateral movement. He adjusts his feet, but his upper body doesn’t move much. His stance is also not excessively wide. I don’t understand why those are illegal. NAW just runs into him, because he tries to cut it as close as possible. Edit: Given what I’ve seen in Game 2, these screens don’t seem that egregious. They do throw a wrench in Minnesotas defensive scheme though. I don’t know what to think. I don’t want this series to be about officiating. Edit2: It seems I have been burned by people, telling me that those screens are illegal. I might’ve misheard something. Jason basically just talks about the physicality not about the officiating aspect. I wanna apologize for that.

You do not want to run in to Jokic! Just so cool how that Team is working hard and it is a pleasure to watch

I’m a new Nuggets fan, just this past year I’m learning about basketball. I really appreciate the detailed explanation in this video. I’d love if you’d make on explaining fouls, what a screen is, what different plays are and terms are- what they mean, and all the details so I can understand more. I’ve watched a couple of videos about fouls but didn’t quite understand. No matter, this was great, thank you. Such a great video to learn much about the details of plays and the details that matter.

This is so good and helpful to learn from, thank you so much for explaining things how you did.

Jason becoming Denver fan over the years 😅. Thank you bro on your hard work is more interesting follow nba playoffs with you on our side breaking the games for us 😊

Great show and analysis on this show. Great job.

I appreciate both teams taking advantage of the push offs they allow. Nuggets weren’t utilizing it enough the first two games while the Timberwolves used it to perfection

Watching Kat on defense has to be one of the most painful things you can do to your mental health tbh

Man, this was IMMENSELY informative. If I were a HS coach this would be required viewing for my players. Well done, Jason!

Awesome video

Really enjoy your stuff! No BS just to the point! Sub!

Every possession is a fight, every game is a war. I love new NBA decisions, keep up the good work.

@16:50 that screen by Jokic is just beautiful! Annihilated the defender! It was like a perfect hockey body check and the guy was on the ground. Solid screening by the Joker!

video starts at 3:41

Nuggets played rhe first 2 games with no heart. Their defense last year was SWARMING

Thank you for acknowledging the reffing! Im all for letting them play but i saw denver guys getting hit in the face in the first 2 games and nothing getting called. Its been more wrestling than basketball

If the nba let teams play defense the way wolves played in game two, you would see a drastic decline in scoring, my thing is be consistent its either we playing defense or not. Simple

What are the thoughts on techs called (or not) g2 vs g3???

Mailbag Question: I've noticed that theres been a lot more blowouts as of late than what I had expected. It seems like usually the team that gets off to a good start just rides that momentum until the other team eventually gives up. Are there any basketball reasons as to why this is the case, or maybe is it more mental?

The title will age extremely well and make Jason look like a genius or backfire tremendously

A physical style favors the deeper team. May not matter as much with a stretched out playoff schedule. But with just one day between games it might come into play. Like the Wolves in game 4.

The 2 things I noticed was they officiated this game differently than the 1st 2 games and the wolves weren’t nearly aggressive as they were in the first 2 games

Those screens and picks they set I think we're one of the biggest things. There were multiple things though. Murray being healthy and moving like normal Murray. They had better spacing, were quicker on they're cuts and passes while all being more patient on openings other times. The screens started everything I think. That gave them breathing room. Jokic did better at protecting the ball from being picked off by defenders. They also did a better job at catching passes.

Joker vs. ANT is the most beautiful basketball to watch!! Elite playmaking and touch vs. monster but elegant athleticism! Nuggs in 6, hopefully!

The nuggets are gonna win the next game too. It will go 7 but Denver did solve them.

Had Arod’s Minnesota team been on this channel before?

Sweet science

I know for sure Minnesota will come game 4 with calculated changes and then game 5 Denver will do the same. We finally get to see a good series go back to back. Answer for answer. 🔥🔥🔥

i’ve watched the Nuggets come back from down three games to one twice in one post and scratch out 2 7 game series wins in back to back series so i think denver can win game four on the road. i believe

The main thing Denver figured out was Jamal actually hit some shots and could move better. Plus Gordon made them pay for leaving him, his 3 attempts are normally empty possessions; he put the game away. They have a shot at winning the series still, because they have the best player and 4 of the top 6 players in the series; but it seems likely Minnesota wins, if they can recover mentally from this game, as the healthier team with the 2 hottest shooters. Ant hitting outside shots and KAT shooting close to 60% from 3 are both ungardable, unfair, cheat codes.

Just like last year, Ant has always been a physical defender but a low IQ one at the same time. In the past his net defense was actually negative. He's improved a lot but you can still target him by making smart adjustments. Make him make mistakes and make him work. He's by far not some 'best 2 way guard' some analysts claim him to be.

why are your replays so choppy. like literally 2fps

Love and appreciation for your videos, much better staff than JJ. Redick honestly...

The screens were bordering illegal. Those are moving screens and the refs are not calling it. Also you can't turn your hip to bump the defender out of position. He was extending his ass out. Guys were falling down and there was no call. Props to Jokic for being so subtle.

I was hoping they would lose game 3 and then reverse sweep the twolves like the LA Kings did to the Sharks in 2014. That series was insane and the LA Kings were like this Nuggets team where they had previously won a cup in 2012.

how did denver do that?

Game 2 lineup

bro, refs need to be consistent with those screens. there's no perfect screen. the screen will move 99% of the time.

If Murray is healthy nuggets in 6 or 7

Guys come on, look at the Timberwolves body language they knew they weren't winning game 3 before it even began. So did the refs. The arbitrarily switch from "let me play" style reffing - normal in playoffs for all NBA history - to "call it tight" reffing was what decided this game. There are matchups where that's all that is needed. This is one of them. True fans dont care how its called as long as its CONSISTENT. Its the inconsistency that allows for rigging. And if you need me to explain why, especially in this series, then you either dont understand basketball or you're being willfully ignorant due to bias to protect your team. The early foul trouble for the Wolves says it all, when they were playing how teams regularly play in the playoffs. That forced them into super lax D the rest of the game, for fear of fouling out, giving Denver open looks all night. This isnt rocket science. So yeah, if youre happy and defending BLATANTLY INCONSISTENT reffing, you are the problem. Inconsistency is what rigging revolves around.

Denver's game plan was to keep it simple and very physical, I believe this will be Denver in 6

i think the 4 day rest time does wonder to nuggets

There’s no secret , they just gotta make shots , that’s all..

So basically Denver decided enough is enough we’re champs have the best player not you. Game over lol 😂

Lol. The way they beat our defense was to get a 4th grade game level reffing group. That and we shot terribly. Lot's of good looks too. And regarding physicality. The Nuggets were allowed to throttle us and we got called for fouls on minor things.

i wouldn't say the nuggets offense clicked, i would say this is what happens when the game is called more appropriately and closer to the actual rules of the game and you can't just grab and push and bump into every player anywhere on the floor including while actually attempting a fieldgoal....though the real problem in G2 was actually the massive amount of off the ball fouls on every possession that went uncalled and therefore repeated over and over

Wolves are better without Gobert!

jesus eardrum warning on the start of the video

I said 100 times Jokić is goat when it comes to screening 🤷 adm many were just he set illegal screens my god 🤣🤦

The Wolves did not show up, too many days off with their women ordering them around. New game tonight!

It's not solved until the series is won. The nuggets are banged up and questionable healthwise. I speculate Murray was struggling due to his calf strain. But wait, he started hitting his shots all through the entire game. That right there was the difference. If he keeps that up Denver goes to the next round. If he is not healthy enough to do so, I doubt they advance.

When Jokic is in the game, Gobert shouldn't play. He makes Wolves game worse. He is too slow on the defense (with Jokic in), too slow on the offense. Jokic has been bullying him for the last 3 years, in every game. In game 2, Wolves played much better without Gobert.

Such a tough series to watch for me. Antman is my favorite player in the league and the nugz are my team.

They wanted to play super physical against a 140kg Serbian menace 💀

Offense clicking & also the Defense yall forgot Denver is a good defensive team too…

Wolves in 6 he’s gonna act like he saw it coming when wolves win game 4 0-3 so far on predictions

The Wolves played terrible. But it’s certainly not panic time.

Wolves in 6

Gobert

More of wolves couldnt hit any shots, played defense and offense bad. Horrible energy by the wolves too

Starting off 2-0, statistically, they have a 7% chance to come back and win. In other words, historically it's 93% that the other team will win and move on.

So how do you counter the screens and dribble hand offs? Talk about a game plan to counter this.

They solved the first strategy. But you act as if the wolves won't make any adjustments. Also you say Denver was more aggressive I would say they were the more aggressive team that didn't get penalized for it. A lot of the fouls came from what could be an offensive foul and trying to get back into position. They were fouls but it limited how aggressively the wolves could engage back

Nuggets in 7 even if Minnesota wins tomorrow.

It's ONE game, dude.

Important: Denver fans, this may sound bad but keep up the narrative that we're mad that the refs are against us! I get that the refs have actually favored us in every possible way all series, but rigging is part of the game now. So don't let your ethical center get in the way. If we can trick the refs into not letting MN play any D again, then it'll be a tied series. And because the league has always SHAT UPON the smaller market MN, no one will listen to their tiny fanbase until its too late and the momentum will be ours! So keep up this narrative like we're mad at the refs for being unfair to us! As the defending champs, the league is all about $ and they know lots of new fans are on Denver's side. So they listen to us. Keep up the narrative, Denver fans! Im telling you, it's crucial. With a matchup like this, we win easily if the refs don't let MN play real defense. Even just for 1 more game or 2 if we can keep the refs doing this then we'll win the series.

They didn’t solve anything excerpt getting away with toms of illegal screens.

How mike malone*

who are the Game 4 refs sponsored by? i hope Rocky Mountain F(l)avored Tic Tacs only had a one game contract

They didn't solve it. Wolves sisnt locked them like in game 2. And wolves was throwing up brick mostly

If NUGGETS can pull off game 4, I'll come back and watch this breakdown. Otherwise, I'm chalking this game up as we dominated game 1 & 2 in Denver -- did a ton of Media interviews and started feeling ourselves -- and came out w/ low energy and layed an egg. Again, prove game 4 to me or I ain't buying it Denver. This game was nothing more than one team was desperate and the other team was chill'n. Go Wolves 🐺

What defense? They didn’t even play defense.

They “solved it” by shooting 50*% from 3. There, saved y’all 20 minutes lol

The NBA is always ready to crown the next MJ. The want Ant man to be next media superstar. He is acting like one with bad defense just like Lebron.

The Timberwolves are looking bad. Ant man is good but the others need To play nfl style with no calls by refs to win

Nuggets didn’t really solve a whole lot I don’t think. The wolves just came out flat. They played games 1 and 2 like it was single elimination but they played game 3 like they knew the nuggets had to win 4 of the next 5. If you play like you know they have to win 4 of the next 5, they might just fuck around and do it. Can’t take the champs lightly.

These Denver Nuggets fans are annoying. Timberwolves are winning today.

Biggest nuggets meat rider on the internet lol

Friendly advice leave the video until the end and less talking takes too long and because of too much downtime the video action makes the video plong.

All this talk in here is hilarious. Timberwolves came out flat. They literally gave this game. It was on them. Big evidence of this was when they let murray run full court uncontested on a layup..

.

I wouldn't say they solved it. Wolves just didnt play all that hard. Nuggets just out played them. They hit their open shots wolves didnt. Rudy also didnt close out as quick as he usually does. Also the refs called a quicker whistle.

Wolves in Five 🤷‍♂️

Lotta cope going on here from champions who are stuggling agains the t wolves lolololol

Nuggets always look great when they're well rested and making shots. You start punching back and they look mortal real quick. Wolves in 5.

Wolves didn't try. Yea, neither do the Wild or Vikings. Bunch a garbage teams in Minnesota. Denver didn't try in game 1 and 2. Yeah right

Oh so they figured out the Timberwolves defense because they made adjustments for one game give me a break NBA is a game of adjustments now Minnesota is going to adjust to what Denver did it's about time they finally got one win but now they figured out the defense give me a break when the nuggets win all the rest of the games then we'll talk about them figuring out the defense let's see what happens the next game last time I checked the nuggets are still losing so far in this series you sound like a biased fanboy

All of a sudden Denver fans talkin real sweet in the comments. You get some ticky tack fouls and think y'all gonna come back? It's one game. Y'all were quiet as hell up until now. We played poorly and weren't allowed to play physical, which causes turnovers, which leads to a lot of out points. We wouldn't have this issue if we could score better in the half court. We still got the series tho

Your shameless shilling for that gambling site is cringe af😬

I mean shitty refs will help who call off the wall shit haha

I don’t think they solved much of anything. Just seemed like the refs started being a lot less tolerant towards physical contact. Resulting in worse defence from the Wolves, and the lack of physicality in the defensive end affected their offence. A young team that uses their defensive impact to fuel their offence clearly affected the entire game.

Embarrassing video lol. They shoot literally 60%, there's a super soft whistle, and suddenly down 2-1 they 'solved' Minnesota? Last night was a statistical anomaly on BOTH ends of the court, why don't we cool it with the reactionary takes after just one game. You're the same guy that was saying Jokic was overrated 2 days ago.