Is this the way to stop Nikola Jokic? 

Ben Taylor I don’t know if you know Darryl Morey. But if you meet Darryl Morey, tell Morey to either release Montrezz Harrell or trade Montrezz for draft picks to leave cap space to sign Lamarcus Aldridge. I am a 76ers fan and I feel all the 76ers needs is a backup C. Aldridge is the perfect fit that they need. Do everything in your power to let Darryl Morey know to sign Lamarcus Aldridge

Yes, but that is also a 2-way street. He has constantly being acquired by the best teams. He is a really solid guy to round out your roster.

Yeah, an ideal role player, just like Robert Horry, with less luck

While I think PJ has underperformed on the offensive end, I think he's playing the Ben Simmons role with a twist - he's not the point and he's actually shooting 3's. Jokic was getting the better of Joel in the first half but the second half sealed it. They won a game they normally would have lost in other years. Huge adjustment and kudos to whoever thought of the adjustment.

@@terrypanama8004 your comment before i was here

We sure do miss him here in Miami

ikr

facts! I don't trust neither him or Harden in the playoffs. Many of Harden's passes were sloppy and when playing against elite defensive teams like Bucks or Celtics you will pay for it. Great game though from Embiid!

Can't believe he outplayed malone lol

@@georgiosyiannakou5537 harden stats have dipped in the post season and has had countless games where he was horrible. People act like he wasn't bad vs the heat in 2022

Bro he's great till game five

It woke up for the first time in 13 years

Doc is a terrible coach

@@jsim519 if your team is up 3-1 in the playoffs and doc is your coach, you better be prepared to choke the series

And then people say Harden isn't a great defender 😉

@@vikramkrishnan6414 he’s not wtf he’s arguably the worst defender at his size

Ayyy make another Jokic video!

@@kylehowe6761 Hahah yessir working on it.

Reminds me of Dirk in the GS series. That lower center of gravity and active hands make it tuff sometimes

Jokic has trouble with physicality, period. When Dwight Howard was guarding him in the bubble, he couldn't handle it, either.

Yes averaging a triple double the league has really been fucking with him! ha ha ha

A broken clock is right twice a day

Except against the Magic

Made my heart skip a beat.

Someone else must have forced him to do it, there's just no way

It's possible that PJ asked for the assignment

😂😂😂😂 FACTS as a 76er fan I feel like I’m in the twilight zone.

i mean the 76ers are doing amazing this season. he is probably making ingame adjustments all season. just media narrative wont agkoledge it

he was litteraly fouling him the entire game same thing green did in the last playoffs thats why he had issues on his lower back

This always bothered me why teams just let jokic trot up the court without pressure. Any other elite playmaker would see at least a body by the time they reached half court.

@@tellsteveharveyidontwanthe2283 👍🏾ok Buddy

It is just one game...on the road...came after 5 strait triple doubles...so you think you are onto something?

@@AtmosphericAtmosphere ain’t that big of a deal bro. No need for excuses, no one cares 👍🏾

Man the nuggets offense is nuts. Hence why the weakest shooter still at 39% frm 3.

I think cuz he doesnt shoot them that often he scores in the paint most of the time

Shooting is more than just raw%’s.

@@jerrymoody6989 they still lost even though they have great offensive impossible to play jokic in crunch time he is a liability on defense end guards will hunt for him in iso match ups

@Francisco Pizarro facts we all know who to leave open when the game is on the line.

Thybulle was supposed to check in but for some reason was just waiting at the scorers table

The coach his reaction is also hilarious. *"4 players?.. wait a minute".. Looks at bench: "James, get your ass on the floor!!"*

I kept cracking up trying to record the voice over.

@@ThinkingBasketball 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

hidden in plain sight

If I were a nuggets fan, I'd be happy to see Jokic and the team get cooked like this every now and then. This game gave them more to learn than any other game this season. It's good to take some tough losses in the regular season and Jokic/Malone are smart enough to counter when it matters most.

@@swirvithanplatt3743 24-8-9 is getting cooked these days? Sixers shot 51% from 3, if they shoot their season average of 38.5% they lose by 7. Embiid 47 points plus extremely good shooting probably had a bit more to do with it then PJ Tucker. However I do agree with the premise that some regular season loses can be good for a high achieving team to maintain focus.

As a nuggets fan Im glad this game went this way lots of lessons to learn… Philly didn’t learn much they aren’t always going to shoot that well and Embiid can’t shoot 60 percent on 31 shots every game of a 7 game series. This would be an incredible finals matchup

@@RGates33 it’s getting cooked when the other guy has nearly double your points and rebounds…

It is nice because you know Jokic isn’t going to take this without learning. However it is going to hurt his MVP case, even if he doesn’t care about MVP.

everyone is going to try this now guy knows he is in for a hard time

@Tom Sugars come on dude they didn't stop jokic they did good job buy jokic just didn't shot and he only missed 4 shots when he did

he dropped 29 8 7. is that really "stopping" him?

@@tomsugars566 try and fail lmao

Very good point. He should have attacked and gone to the stripe for some FTs.

He can't really do what he normally does because pj is still strong but pretty nimble too would steal the ball if jokic tried his usual moves

Jokic has to shoot on pj. I kno u not supposed to shoot over smaller players but pj too strong and quick hands on perimeter. Jokic would tear him up in the paint but embiid as a help defender prevents that. Gotta shoot

@@TreBeL1000 What a smaller physical player does against all big men who want to dribble is take away their first step. Big guys dribble well against other big men. They don't dribble so well against someone who can steal the ball and beat them too the spot.

I'd put Jae Crowder there along with PJ imo and I gotta believe Suns are asking for a stupid amount for a team to have not grabbed him already smh

Iguodala is similar -- warriors got to the finals w him, then he went to the Heat and brought them to the finals, back to the warriors and another finals

Your guaranteed to get out rebounded with PJ out there

Yes, I think a lot of teams have been picking up on this recently. MIN beat DEN and held Jokic in check earlier this season with Slo Mo as the primary defender and Gobert as the roamer. And Utah started guarding KAT the same way few years ago with Bogdanovic after KAT lit up Rudy for 7 threes.

@@PeterYangMN Yea also last year in the playoffs the warriors did well having Draymond guard him.

The reason it works is bc small players are allowed to foul bigs with no penalty.

Unfortunately Jokic and Malone lost us that game, but we just have to get into a good rhythm and I have faith for the rest of the season and beyond

As a Sixers fan that was his biggest problem yesterday , there was multiple times that game he chose to dish it out when he really should’ve took it to the basket. He’s gotta be more aggressive, I’m not complaining but if you’re a Nuggets fan 1 made FG in the 4th quarter is unacceptable.

@@chriscus3683 exactly

Malone lost that game, he should do the same, put Gordon on Embid and let Jokic rest on def, like Embid did. This way Jokic had to play every posesion on attack and def and Embid could focus mostly on attack.

only basketball thing u should watch man. this is basketball in his pure forme

Is*

he isn't really, that's why he's still sought after by contending teams.

@@metalsadman Yeah tbf, I guess fans under rate him we just see 37 or however old he is and think bro bros GOTTA be washed and he shows his age out there sometimes but dude honestly I dont know if anybody in the league puts in more effort than Tucker, it may not be obvious at first glance because hes not that athletic by league standard but bro hustles EVERY PLAY.

By who? In fact the only thing people are reminded of PJ is his defense.

He's ONLY RATED as a defender

@@fateriddle14 "Rodman is underrated as a rebounder" 🤣

Embiid did amazing , tucker did pretty good. But the adjustment is what won them the game.

So in a 7 game series you think joe out performs the leading scorer and player with the highest defensive win share in the league ? Embiid dominates Joe 100 times out of a 100. He can’t guard Embiid.

Just say you don't know hoops and move on...

The dickridin is crazy‼️

Plus Philly at home...

Worry about how yall are gonna hide this big fella against the talented western guards bro✌️ Remember the only deep run Jokic has ever had is when murray became mj for 2 weeks

Clippers have Marcus Morris and Batum, Pelicans have Herbert Jones and Nance, Mavs have Kleber, Suns have Mikal Bridges. All could play in PJs role on Jokic and they all have guys that can play Embiids role in Clippers Zubac, Pelicans Valanciunas, Mavs have Christian Wood or Powell, and Suns have Ayton. That's just a few off the top my head that they'd face in the Western conference playoffs as for the East the Celtics have done this before with Grant Williams on Jokic and Rob Williams or Horford playing rim protector! Nets could put Simmons in Jokic and Claxton as a roamer to protect the rim, Cavs could put Mobley on Jokic and Allen roaming, Heat Butler/Adebayo, Knicks Randle/Robinson and Hawks Trae Young/Capella lmfao that's a joke btw but really Hawks it doesn't matter cause they'll give up 120+ to anyone as long as Trae Young is in the court smh

Lakers putting Rui on Jokic and having AD roam

​@@pplRretards I think the Bucks can do it too, Giannis currently plays as a roaming rim protector around Brook Lopez's paint protection and strength, having Giannis on Jokic might cancel out his effect as a roaming rim protector but he's strong and mobile enough to bother Jokic (with the height and length to not get shot over on top) while Brook's presence still protects the rim against Jokic finding easy passes to open cutters. Heat is a great call, Jimmy has the strength and Bam has the rim protection. Celtics too I dont think Wood/Powell has the rim protection or Mikal has the strength for it to work but I do think the Clippers can with Morris or Batum like you said or even with Kawhi in a pinch (which he did for the Raps in 2019, he is really strong and hard to move), Pels can with Herb or even Zion in a pinch if they need to and JV clogging the paint, Lakers can actually do it really well even with LeBron and AD playing those roles. Maybe Dillon Brooks and JJJ. The Warriors can manage with Draymond playing both roles because their guards can torch Jokic in space so much it wont even matter. Wolves could in theory with McDaniels and Gobert but I think it'd be cancelled out by KAT's man being able to blow by him on the perimeter too easily

@@za9883 ya agree with all that except where you believe McDaniels could hold up with Jokic but not Mikal Bridges lol McDaniels while might be a couple inches taller at 6'9" the Bridges at 6'6", McDaniels is over 20 lbs lighter then what Bridges weighs at 210 lbs and McDaniels is rail thin weighing 185 pounds lol Bridges also has a massive 7'2" wingspan atleast for his 6'6" height!

@@Ryan-yu5kt ya that way Lebron can continue his normal role on defense by defending the guy that's sits in the corner 3 lmfao 🤣

That game was a blowout for 3/4 quarters…sixers we’re lucky and embiid had zero steals

@@kylehowe6761 Embiid had 3 steals lol

@@kylehowe6761 i dont know what game u r watchin

@@PlayfulCloud3 honestly I didn’t look at the box scores I really couldnt remember him getting steals tho I only remember him having one big block…but the other part is facts if joker would’ve stayed in attack mode and didn’t have that 3rd quarter collapse and nuggets are up double digits going into the 4th it could have been a very different ball game…but oh well nuggets get another shot at them in a month

@@kylehowe6761 “if my team didn’t utterly collapse and our best player get cooked we would’ve totally won the game!” Y’all lost, no if ands or buts.

no worries, we know they in a lab working on adjustments

Lakers, LeBron or even Rui can guard Jokic and AD can roam in the paint, Bucks also with Giannis and Lopez (But Giannis isn’t as strong he has a high center of gravity and Jokic bullied him many times in the post so idont know), Celtics with Grant Williams and Robert Williams, Memphis with JJJ, Dillion Brooks and Adams, Nets with Ben Simmons and Claxton or the Wolves with KAT and Gobert. Basically any team with 1 strong wing or big and a great rim protector, even Zion and Valanciunas or Mobley and Allen could do it.

If you look, pj was letting jokic move him on several plays. As long as u got a giant in embiid waiting in the paint you don't really need mr olympia to guard jokic. The real issue is not everyone has had a giant in the paint. In fact most don't

@@Anthonydu01630 The thinking is to take away Jokic's first step. I have thought that this is the strategy against all big men who want to be guards. They dribble well against another big guy but they don't dribble so well against a strong smaller guy who can steal their dribble and beat the to the spot. With Giannis you should pick him up full court. Jokic only has an average post game and a double team will make his life difficult down low.

@@Anthonydu01630 Lebron isnt guarding Jokic dude. Lebron hasnt played defense in like 5 years

You don't get faster, jump higher or have more athleticism in a 7 game series. It is very simple. Make Denver a jump shooting team because Jokic is not blowing by anyone. He also, is not going take anyone off the dribble and is not going to jump over defenders. They neutralized him because who are you going to throw back cuts to in the paint when you have one of the most dominant rim protecters back there defending? Jokic tied to bang PJ but the help defender in the paint has Joel. He had to kick it out and the had to make shots.

@@dsess2001 other teams did this exact same thing the 76ers did. Celtics with Horford and Williams, Jazz with Gobert etc but it never works.. last night the Nuggeta didn't adjust and through a 7 game serious they would adjust easy. After one half of trying this and grtting murdered the 76ers would stop doing it and that wouls be it.

@@dsess2001 you don’t think Jokic would pick apart that scheme lol you guys really think you figured him out…lol there has never been a single matchup in the league he hasn’t figured out and he does just fine with Joel everytime they are 1v1

@@kylehowe6761 Joel cooks him 1 on 1 and has been for awhile. Check their stats when guarding one another.

The problem is Jokic would adjust sooner than Malone would

Yeah and joker is stupid and he can't adjust and anticipate this defense, this Philly defense was surprise for him not anymore

averaged a 27 point triple double and swept the lakers lmao

Jokic is a terrible defender and PJ took away his first step. All big men think they are good dribblers but against someone like PJ he is not a good dribbler and he has no ups so he can't fire off a mid range jumper.

@@Gnofg oh I know that, but people swear to god he’s the best big man in the league when the only thing he does better then Embid and AD is pass lmfao 🤣, and well AD can’t shoot so there’s that for him

@@justingabriel1765 He is a good passer but it is relatively easy to pass from penetration. He is a god awful defender like most Europeans. Akeeem got down on Embid because he doesn’t dominate in the post like he should. When you are bigger than everyone else you should let everyone know that you are the biggest guy on the court.

🤡

Well it didn't matter in the end

here, i'm really hoping mj son could defeat them

but jokic is slow so they could guard up close and affect his shot

@@imurpapa8120 he too tall and too good of a shooter. i hope these teams meet in the finals. it would be close

@@imurpapa8120 Nah, he can use his shuffle to shoot over those defenders

Jokic being in a shoot-first mentality is a complete antithesis to his entire game up to this point. He always looks to pass first. Whether Jokic will go into that mentality is a genuine question. That man showed no interest in shooting over PJ Tucker despite being one of the greatest mid-range shooters in the league, up there with KD.

If every team starts doing it then it doesn't work. That's the reason why NBA teams only run zones on very rare occasions. It only works as a curveball to throw a team off guard when they weren't expecting it. Zone defense is much worse than a switching man to man defense when your opponent is prepared for it with the level of shooting in the NBA.

The minute he goes to the block you double team him. Jokic is an okay post player but not an outstanding one. He plays like a PG so defensively you want to take away his first step which is what the sixers did.

Exactly you have to constantly attack a guy like Jokic a lot of Den games I watch I’m actually surprised by how little teams seem to attack him.

I don't trust Taylor Jenkins to do that though, he's been looking real fraudulent lately. Now, if the grizzlies had a smart coach like Kerr or Malone, then I could DEFINELTY see Memphis implementing that. Only time will tell

I mean I think brooks although is too little at least tucker is a great post defender brooks is more of a wing defender

@@TrillBill fraud ? Jesus you guys don't give coaches chances at all ..

@@meekmill8042 I never called him a "fraud". I said he's been looking like one as of late. His rotations been questionable and his half court offense schemes are mundane. Yes or no?

@@TrillBill His rotations have been inconsistent because the team has been riddled with injuries throughout the year. I think he has been great this year with what he has had to work with but the halfcourt offense is more of a lack of shooting than bad offensive sets.

Obviously other teams have tried this, but those teams don't have the personnel to execute this as well as the Sixers this year.

Celtics do have an even better Horford on Jokic and Williams as a roamer duo and it didn't work at all. The rest of the roster has to adjust and in this game they didn't.

@@nikolakrstic8079 gotta give credit to doc rivers for adjusting though... It's not philly's fault that denver didnt adjust... This shows how valuable pj tucker's defense is even at his age...

@@nikolakrstic8079 I think I’m a vacuum you might be right that the Celtics have the personnel for this also. But Williams hasn’t been fully healthy. Only played 17 games this year or something. Not sure it’s a good comparison from that standpoint.

They did it last year too and as I said, many teams try that. You probably don't see as I do because I watch every Nuggets game. This was just obviously bad coaching for the Nuggets and the team not playing well overall. Jokic should have been more aggressive in the 2nd half I will say that

Well first you need a center like Joel tbh. The only team is the warriors probably. Hopefully Jokić becomes more aggressive on offensive and learns from Marc Gasol on how to guard the paint

Stop

It’s a fan vote

@@fazediamond5671 The comment still applies

Fans didn’t vote

Nah. over Tatum FORSURE

Revenge time

So Embiid can prove he's the real MVP again? Jokic is overrated

@@DH-lm6kh oml brother you don't know ball and it's obvious you're a bias eagles fan 🤣

@@bowenhammack6155 I don't know ball?? Lol Embiid is unstoppable offensively and can actually play defense, unlike Jokic. Jokic is just a stat padder, similar to Westbrook

@@bowenhammack6155 just mad your PER Prince lost to Embiid

You don’t think PJ and Embiid can’t switch?😂😂 it’s a matchup problem. It’s a good thing the nuggets don’t have to play the sixers in the playoffs

He left Jeff Green to play 20 minutes when he was HORRIBLE every second of the game while AG and MPJ only played 28 minutes... how stupid can a coach be?

@@VladimirElliot Embiid can struggle to switch at times because of his poor lateral movement. All this is irrelevant anyway until Philly actually decides to show up in the playoffs for once

@@VladimirElliot there has never been a match up Jokic hasn’t figured out if you really think you’re going to stop Jokic with pj tucker in a playoff series…things are gonna go really really bad for you.

@@VladimirElliot if they switched it would be what the nuggets wanted with embid on Jokic

and now? lmao

And then got swept?

@@redeyexxx1841 OK? Idk why you guys are coming back to this comment and acting like you have a "gotcha". I never said this strategy was some silver bullet nor that the Lakers were going to win the series lol. I noticed the similarity between what the Lakers did and what was described in this video. I said nothing else and nothing more.

@@NBAConfidential Man I'm just having some fun after drinking a bit. I'm not that serious

This only works because embiid is a great shot creator, Theres no PF and center that can space the floor like tucker and embiid. This game was just a bad game for jokic if he favored perimeter shooters instead of trying to find cutter they wouldve won, Philly has some great paint defense but bad perimeter due to harden being there

Exactly. He went 8-12 and 2-2 from 3. He probably could dropped 35+ if he really wanted to.

@@dumbassdude8372 his problem wasn’t trying to finding shooters (Jamal and Bones went 3/13 from 3) his problem was he should’ve shot the ball more. He took 5 total shots in the 2nd half because he though being up 15 was good enough and no one else on the Sixers outside of Embiid really did anything. Harden had a hot start but only made 1 shot in the 2nd half. He should’ve attacked Pj Tuck who 100% cannot guard Jokic lol

No. As long as there's an offensive player near the paint with him, a defensive player can linger in the paint. Its why when you watch Embiid and he's lingering in the paint, he'll motion towards his man right outside.

The rules around the 3 second rule are really lenient actually. They say that if the player doesn't get an advantage by being inside the paint the seconds don't count. (This is mostly for if someone barely missed the step outside, or if they are just inside it on the edge) Another rule is that if the player is making an effort to get outside the paint at 3 seconds it doesn't count. (So that you don't block players inside the paint and then they get fouled) Case and point being it is a rule with space for a lot of leniency, being that another referee would call them and it wouldn't be a wrong call either

Dude he had them winning without Embiid harden and maxey give it a fucking break

@@Opieboi i’m supposed to give those dude a tip of the hat for beating the Pistons and Pacers???? lol let’s not pretend the rest of the league also hasn’t been facing injury issues and the fact that the rest of the team is legitimately good in a weaker Eastern conference, Doc doesn’t coach he rests on the laurels of his players

@@csgoat968 first off east is stronger than the west this year ask anyone who’s actually bee watching, second the rest of the league didn’t start the year missing there three best players so off that, third no one asked for a tip of the hat, just for you to get your parakeet head out of your ass.

@@Opieboi lol oh really now??? cause last time I checked the 8th placed team isn’t even able .500 in the East but they are in the West, almost seems as though the East is top heavy and to a casual who doesn’t actually watch games, might be enough to trick ppl into thinking the East is the deeper conference and you’re literally just spreading bullshit dude, Maxey, Harden and Embiid were 100% healthy by game 1 this year idk where you’re pulling this shit from and my man you’re actively defending Doc Rivers and I need to get my head out of my ass???💀💀💀💀💀

@@Opieboi dawg just plz shut up and never talk basketball with me again💀💀💀💀 bro really said the East is deeper than the West as if the fucking Pacers arent fighting for a Playoff spot in the East omggggg plz actually watch a single game

get howard, jokic can easily be bothered by strong handsy defenders as seen here.

And who stopped him in European championship, or did I watch some other championship in another dimension ?

What this move did was take away Jokic's first step. Jokic is a good dribbler against another big man, he is not a good dribbler against someone like PJ who can steal his dribble and beat him to the spot. Jokic also can't do a pull up jumper because he can't jump.

That's not the only reason lol.

Lol I can’t wait for you clowns to have to come play in Denver next month and make you whistle a different tune

EMBID THE GREATEST CHOKER IN THE PLAYOFFS HE IS NOT A BIG GAME PLAYER ZERO MENTALITY OR WR CALL IT LOSER MENTALITY THE ONLY MVP WHO ARE NOT PLAYING IN EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS HAGAGAGA EMBARASSING !

be humble