Why The 2023 NBA Finals Made NO SENSE 

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I can’t understand the people who think that Jokic is boring to watch. The dude can literally do everything. Except jump.

In addition to Denver’s defense. Finals games are wayyyy different psychologically. It’s known that players tend to get tunnel vision under pressure, trying to be more aggressive than usual instead of following the game plan.

After game 2, Nuggets were pretty good on rotations and forced Heat into lot of tough, contested 3's from looks similar to those in this video. Their wings and guards are pretty athletic and close distance really well. You think you have open shot and then a 6'10 Gordon is leaping at you. I think Heat wanted to be more direct and force Denver to hard commit to stopping the drives. Jimmy being so off really hurt that strategy.

Raptors, Bucks and Nuggets winning chips has restored my faith in NBA basketball 💪🏀

He forgot to take into account that Denver is really good at defending the three point line. Their close outs are fast and strong and they can contest almost any shot.

Remember when coach Nick said the Nuggets wouldn't keep their No. 1 seed with their Jokic led defense?

The Heat did have a lot good looks at threes. They weren't making them. Thats why they decided to drive to the hoop rather than shoot the 3

You know what I noticed late in the Celtics/heat series. Butler couldn’t draw fouls anymore which is big part of his game. Once players stopped jumping on his pump fake in the key. Almost like butler didn’t know what to do after teams stopped getting fool with that pump fake. Notice butler gets in a good rhythm when he draws these fouls. Just an observation.

The Denver defenders were so good at collapsing the middle and then recovering to cover the 3point line with their agility and length (mpj, ag, etc) I think they really made Miami shy away from those attempts

The nuggets has the ability to recover on those 3s and force you to take 2 pointers instead. That's what I saw.

i think the heat were scared of jokic’s rebound and outlet pass ability, the heat miss a couple threes and u give the nuggets easy points going the other way. pretty hefty gamble to just chuck up threes and hope they fall, nuggets were terrible on open look 3s in game 5 i can’t imagine the roles being reversed

Murray deserves more credit. Look at how far the nuggets got last year without him

Coach do you think part of the issue with getting more threes like you suggest might just be a lack of high-level passing ability on the Heat? Bam is easily their best passer, but most of the plays you highlight involve his teammates trying to pass the ball to him, not the other way around. Jimmy is very smart and has developped solid enough reads over his time in the NBA, but he’s still somewhat lacking as a passer. Not to mention the size differential just made it harder for the Heat to see open teammates, much less find good passing angles or deliveries. That first pass you suggest Gabe Vincent make to the corner shooter through 3 Nuggets players for example just looked to my eyes to be too advanced for him entirely, even if he had been looking for it.

Miami was an 8th seed for a reason and that was on full display in these finals

Coach Nick, I also believe that another big reason why the Heat couldn't keep up with the Nuggets is that the Heat players weren't as good at making contested layups and short shots in the paint compared to the Nuggets. I want to say that if you or anyone else goes back and track all the short shots, the Nuggets probably made maybe 10% or so more of these paint buckets, which is huge. I also want to mention that some of the Heat players would pass up on a short shot, some contested and some with a little space, more often than the Nuggets players. So in short, the Heat need at least a good center and a big athletic wing on the roster to improve on their weaknesses to win a championship.

I'd guess the two vets K-Love and Lowry must have been mighty frustrated by the many times they were open at the 3-point line and didn't receive the pass. Yes, there were openings as you point out, but the Nuggets' mobility, size and effort enabled them to close gaps quickly - and as the series went on, the Heat offense really looked intimidated, especially in the last game that was so intense. The Nuggets defense got better and better as the playoffs went on - watch the video of that final game, and you'll see they really were "on a string", moving in unison. Under that pressure, the Heat, lacking many real playmakers, simply lost their offensive creativity and unity.

Coach, you’ve seen what happened whenever Miami passed a ball to an “open man”. After game 2, Denver were quick enough to close out and easily contest those shots. They weren’t really open lol.

Maybe I'm old style, and people may say 3 point shooting is the most essential part of the game now, but I hate it, everyone's trying to shoot from half court,and it's not pretty nor fun to watch, that's why the nuggets winning this year's championship was a much needed breath of fresh air, hopefully more to come 🏀⛏️⛏️

Denver was able to adjust to Booker/KD, then to LBJ/Davis/Reeves, finally to Miami running & shooting Stampedo... Their scouting and preparation was a top-notch, and they were pretty fast for such a big Crew, with even faster Hands, plus they have Jokic who is just like a Coach in the Play, and big Anchor that keep'em focused no matter what. It is possible that fatigue finally catch the Heat, after all the Wrestling with Boston and the previous..? And still they should try more threes, obviously, even with sucha low Efficiency. But my Impression is that Denver simply was the impenetrable Fortress during this playoff, ready to conquer every Team.

Very few of those opportunities were clear-cut open 3's - the Nuggets were closing out damn fast on the shooters in the last 3 games and they were often just half helping. Their size also reduced the passing angles.

Miami only shot 2 FT in game 1. This probably changed the team's mentality form shooting 3's to driving to the basket and drawing fouls

I learn so much from watching your videos. Thank you.

The Heat's inability to stop Denver's offense put pressure on their own offense to keep up and made them play tight.

You assume everyone can pass the ball like Jokic. But only Jokic can.

Shocker, not everyone passes like Jokic and the Nuggets.

As a south Florida native & Miami Heat Diehard. This series was frustrating ( not because of the loss ) just it seems they went away from what helped them get this far. It was mind boggling

Hi coach, I have noticed that but what I believe it happened was how inconsistent and mental the threes were/are in the series. The higher three success imo was predicated on the mental victory they had over their opponents. On Denver's case I think it had to do with the lack of control on the game pace, as you know, Miami was always trying to dictate the pace of the game, both sides but they could hardly dictate the pace, which made things worse considering how fast paced Denver was. That is without even considering how inconsistent Miami shooting was. On the three point being secondary to ball movement and team effort, I could not agree more. I believe the over reliance on efficiency skews how efficient things can be within specific contexts, as shown here, 3's are not in practice efficient as well as living by the free throws. Could not agree more on the assessment and was worried I was making things up.

You perfectly articulated my problem with their pocket passes to Bam; Jokic is an excellent defender and too few open 3 opportunities. Great analysis as always!

with what kind of software do you animate these videos? Looking for a one just like this, would be a great way to do video analysis

@5:02 oh snap Coach Nick bringing out the mean crossover + handles!!!!

Insightful video, exactly right...hope Spo. corrects this when playing bigger teams.

Game 1 really took our a lot of the Heat's confidence from 3. They executed near perfection and got so many open shots but missed so much of them. Nuggets defense also got better with each passing game.

This analysis overstates, by a lot, how open the Heat role players were. It's easy to freeze the video and point to a guy who has some space at that moment. That doesn't mean the shot would be open by the time it got there. The Nuggets were flying out to the arc very aggressively all series, generally with bigger, physical defenders: Gordon, MPJ, KCP, Braun. Seems to me the Heat were trying to establish Jimmy and Bam's inside/mid-range game to generate more truly open looks. And really, this made some sense as a gameplan, because Jimmy's one-on-one prowess is what got them to the Finals in the first place, and Jokic's rim protection is, at least on paper, the weak point in an otherwise strong defense. But the Nuggets just out-executed, and were too good at keeping them from getting easy stuff and from getting to the line. They basically dared Bam to shoot infinite 12-foot shots and he just kept missing them. The Jimmy-centric offense that got them to the Finals broke down against a team with better, more physical defenders to put on him (esp. Aaron Gordon) and a more disciplined team defense approach. So yeah, you can say they should have kicked it out more and taken more 3-pointers, but I think Spoelstra knew that unless his team got the Nuggets scrambling first, those weren't going to be good looks - case in point, late in Game 5 when Jimmy was gassed and you had role players trying to do too much from the outside. Ends up with Kyle Lowry going one-on-one with A. Gordon on the perimeter and getting his shot inhaled.

Many of the shots Heat tried shown on this video are makeable shots and quite good. No team makes perfect reads and perfect games.

Really great video. None of the announcers brought these issues up during the game. It’s very apparent now that you mention it. I also think a Jimmy was hurt or sick. It was only the last four minutes of the last game that he decided I put the game in his hands. I think Duncan should have played more. Glad to see Lowry do so well. Really good Finals considering Denver was always going to win. The Heat need some length for sure….

It's ok for the Celtics, Bucks and Warriors to lose, Nick. Let's be real this man was really disappointed he never got his Nuggets-Warriors WCF, and that he never got his Nuggets-Celtics finals 💀

Other teams overreacted to Jimmy Butler. As soon as he got a few buckets it was panic mode on defense, but the Nuggets just kept daring him to make those tough shots and he got flustered and started missing or just not taking them. How many times he drove into the middle of the lane and picked up his dribble with nowhere to go tells me the Nuggets won the mental game.

That sponsorship transition was too good. I didn't even skip it

NBA champs and not by paying to get a Lebron or a KD. By drafting, by hard work, by perseverance and loyalty. NOTHING BUT RESPECT

honestly it was just jimmy not being aggressive and the heat in general being too stubborn to change their ways

Listen bro. This seems like a great analysis but there’s a reason why Christopher Columbus died too! Denver defense stepped up and Miami was overwhelmed. They were missing from 3, so they need to go inside. They tried to do what Boston didn’t do. Denver too missed a lot of 3s, so they went inside where they killed Miami. If you noticed, coaches Spo and Malone had their team go inside, something coach Mazulla didn’t do or couldn’t do.

they were just trying to capitalize on attacking "the worst defender to ever play in the NBA" but they find out too late that the media lied and he is actually an elite level defender

This goes to show that stats can't predict the outcome of every game nor series. But you said it, coach, good old fashion points in the paint, ball movement and team work! The best team clearly won. As a long time Nuggets fan, this still feels surreal!

Coach, I know you say this all the time but can you explain what it is helping from one pass away? Does that imply players should help from two passes away? What does that look like?

With how aggressive the Nuggets were at contesting the 3pt line, I doubt most of these "wide open 3s" were actually wide open.

Thanks again as always coach great job 👍 🏀

Heat played like the 2k CPU sliders were all the way up..

Always enjoy your videos. Haha was that the cure ha??? People might not want to admit it or whatever but sizr was just a huge factor from the jump in my opinion. Of course the game is more than just whos taller. Jamel was a beast too.

“Bam has to know he’s been struggling to finish”. As my girl is out of the country visiting family I can relate. 😢

Video doesn't make sense, "tHey diDnt tAke mOre 3s"

strus being lost in offense and defense took a toll in this heat team. they won in game 2 because his offense is ok, but in the whole series his defense is lacking. some players are not built for the finals.

Its refreshing to see other teams getting the chip. Raptors ,Bucks ,Denver. Past underdog teams winning today is what made watch NBA more

Sheeesh, I missed your old badass audio background. If any, can you bring it back, sir?

Only thing that didn't make sense was the media response. Anyone who knows basketball knows Jokic is incredible.

love your work!

I believe there are a lot of possession that seems opened, but the nuggets players are perfectly capable of rotating and recovering those possessions

Imagine after all this time Nikola Jokic was hiding that he could jump and he just started flying around the court like Michael Jordan or prime Blake Griffin. Good gosh, that would be insanely funny and crazy at the same time. 06/18/2023, 11:21am

Weirdly I felt the heat did not need herro for the playoffs in fact they were probably better than they would have been. But during the finals they really needed herros offense

Look, strus and vincent are miami's best shooters. And in their losses, strus shot 2/26 (7%), and vincent shot 8/30 (26%). That is abysmal. So it's actually a good adjustment to try to put pressure inside, instead of continuing to chuck bricks and die by the three like boston did against them. Especially since denver didn't have any real rim protectors. But THEIR adjustment was to collapse into the paint early, and give up the kickout three, which they knew miami became more and more hesitant to do the more they missed. Just great high level basketball

I think there are two reason for why heat shot less threes. First, Jokic ability to push fast break let the heat shot less three. Heat defended nuggets fast break very well through out the finals. Apart from some steals converting to dunk and layups, i rarely remember nuggets scoring any quick three or layup in the final. They were very efficient at these against the sun’s and lakers. Moreover, after g2 ,the nuggets figured out limiting 3 and not over helping on butler driving is the better way to defence. I don’t think the heat shooters lacked confidence in shooting, but a lot of times they hesitate and don’t feel it’s a good shot because of nuggets size and strategy.

Teams think Jokic isn't a good rim protector so opponents focus on attacking but Nikola really isn't that bad especially their rotations.

I really enjoy this series, this Nugget team is fun to watch and have many stuff to learn from. IMO Heat give it all they got, but still a distance to match with this nuggets team

Thank you Coach Nick.

Heat would chuck 3s when the game called for driving in and drawing fouls. They relied on their anomaly shooting streak from previous round and it predictably caught up. Typical Heat play was drive in, stop, turn back to basket and find anyone at the 3 point line to send it.

Such a amateur breakdown from the guy that said that you can't win with Jokic's defense

Part of the problem was that Denver could recover on those 3's very well, even if they were open. The other issue is that they didn't go right at Jokic when they had chances. It's not that he's a bad defender, but if you aren't going to eat up that space & make him defend you, you are doing his job for him. Way too many shots from Bam fading away or off balance while Jokic just stood there. In the end, they played like the 8 seed they were and Denver played like the 1 seed they were. The NBA system worked as designed, like it typically does.

3s sank on game 2, yet their win is not decisive enough. Then, good coverage by Nuggs afterwards happened. All of the comment section in every video says that they should attack Jokic, but still it ain't good enough till they really have a center.

Or it could be something simple: 30.6% vs Knicks DEF RTG #2 34.2% vs Nuggets DEF RTG #4 43.4% vs Celtics DEF RTG #10 45.0% vs Bucks DEF RTG #15 _Series average 3pt% vs teams ranked by playoff defensive rating._

Heat also had issues against lakers bubble where they also lost. I think its the length of players which they still did not address. Not just talking about the center but the roster itself.

Good video. We’ll see if the Heat can bounce back from this and win in 9.

I think some of this is, the Nuggets were willing to live with forcing role players to make Luka Doncic esque corner passes, they helped a ton off the corner and even above the break, with the intent of forcing players without a ton of on ball skills to make unorthodox passes

Sharpshooter and Cherry Picking fallacy. Bad shooting nights forced Miami to get closer but the lack of trustworthy systems and height didn't allow them to have better looks.

Coach, thank you for the great analysis. I'm no expert but to me it really looks like Heat players go to tunnel vision when they start action. I am hesitant to believe that was gameplan - not to shoot threes. Also, I think it was a big mistake not introducing Hero into game. He could've given Hero a smaller minutes time already after game 3, and gradually increase his play time each game. It almost looks like Spo fell in love with his line ups. In the end, I don't know. Just my impression.

Continuing the petition to bring back the old bballbreakdown song

Without those drives, they would have a lot less open looks from 3. They also got lucky with Denver shooting unusually bad from downtown.

Alright, that "short"-handed pun right at the start immediately got a Like from me.

Despite the obvious obstacles for the Heat: Herro being out, being undersized, Love and Zeller being relatively new arrivals, Caleb and Gabe being young and inexperienced, Lowry looking washed up and bizarro Duncan Robinsom (struggling with shooting but suddenly being good at everything else), and of course Denver just clicking like a machine... It really seemed like the Heat all lost confidence in each other. "Yeah, Caleb is open but he's been off, so I'll just put it up." Every single one of them had something to prove and they all tried to prove it themselves. While Denver is playing straight team ball, led by Jokic who could just dominate anyone the Heat could throw at him but was more than happy to pass to the better shot. Jokic would have Lowry or Vincent on him, he's backing them down, five feet from the basket with a guaranteed easy hook shot whenever he wants, but he's patiently watching for a cutter that will have an unopposed dunk. It didnt seem like Denver forced anything, while everything the Heat did seemes forced. Also, I love Jimmy Butler to death, but he is no Kevin Durant or Steph Curry so when he's out there forcing threes, I'll take that all day every day. That just isn't his game. He's pure willpower and effort, and he always has a knack for playing above his ability in pressure situations, but I'm perfectly comfortable letting him be the one trying to beat me solo. Especially with Jokic being unstoppable and Murray being completely on fire. If it comes down to a classic Bird vs. Nique shootout style game, I'm just not putting my money on Butler. The Heat did what they could with what they had. I wouldn't second guess things like whether Herro would have made a difference, using Love more, using Lowry less... they did what they could. I just didn't see a lot of trust and confidence in the team from the Heat and it's totally understandable why.

I prefer this finals versus the same old warriors, lakers, or boston any day. I'm really happy to see a city win their first one.

They really didnt take that 'live and die by the 3' comment in that post game interview, and then proceeded to change what got them to the finals.

It's no sense because some ppl and the media believed that the heat can do some miracles but they don't :)

Do you think part of it could be the heat might’ve been targeting the rim because the nuggets don’t have a true shot blocker??

Basically the heat came back down to earth and I wish they did that with the Knicks

Great breakdown. The heat could have given the Nuggets a bit more of a fight. Maybe 6 games, but this year rings have their names.

The Joker dominating the Heat made no sense haha

honestly, after the mike malone and lebron drama, i think the nuggets just let the heat take game 2. this is to make sure the lakers team is the only team getting swept making it more humiliating for the lakers.

On X's and O's maybe your right but Eric made it competitive versus teams where he was out matched and the Denver nuggets were the only ones where it didn't matter because they were to big and way to good

Wow. An all timer. Either way, great breakdown.

What makes this a foul on Jimmy Butler at 9:15? His hands were vertical and he met Gordon at the spot.

Seems like Spo told them to aggressively attack Jokic and it just didn’t work

What you failed to recognize is that they missed so many threes

The analysis is on point but the main reason it was not being done is either they are pressured and is not able to see clearly or it was not part of the play.

Maybe his numbers showed different, but I think Bam got caught up with being 'agressive' (aka taking shots) and taking to many midrange jumpers. That's the least efficient shot in basketball, and even though the Nuggets gave it to him, he's never been a midrange assasin like a Durant - who still only shoots +/- 50% from mid-range. Also Butler should've been more agressive. I really didn't understand why Miami didn't jack up more 3's. I think Lowry did a really good job of that, as did Duncan early on. Miami just kept trying to go inside and they didn't make a REAL adjustment in that. Defensively they were good, offensively they just couldn't get it done. Might've missed Herro's playmaking and going downhill more than people would think. And still don't understand why Jimmy wasn't attacking everytime. A mad Jimmy is one of the best guys in the NBA, but he sometimes plays as if he's still a rotation player. Same happens with Anthony Davis btw, they seem to coast at times.

Cant you see how quick and big denver nuggets is closing out those 3s

Only no make sense for those who where disappointed that there team/s failed to make it, and rejoice to the team and there fans who succeeded. Regardless of whatever stat it is...

Man CAN WE TALK ABOUT DENVER? !?

The modern nba shooting chart not just value 3pts . Attack the rim too. Mid range is what the game lost

Butler and Spo got exposed in the Finals. Butler was passive AF and he made poor decisions throughout the Finals. Spo kept putting… wait for it, Cody freaking Zeller on Joker 😂

Come on now, minute 4:20...nobody ever would have passed the ball out being that free under the basket. Jokic didn't bother the shot. He just missed and it was a terrible miss, but come on now, passing out to Martin that shot, hell no

It’s normal to not think of fouling Gordon more It’s usage was not that high he was a counterpunch to the mismatch