00:00Nuggets, Wolves, Jokic specifically have given us just this fascinating little run out here.
00:06And the reason why I sound frustrated with Jokic has just been some of the discourse around Nikola Jokic for
00:16the last half decade and how detached from reality I think it's been occasionally.
00:23Is Nikola Jokic one of the greatest players in league history?
00:27As long as we're talking, you know, 20? Yes. Yes.
00:31And one of the 20 greatest players in league history, I think that that is totally fine.
00:37Should Nikola Jokic have some people that I won't name names because of relationships.
00:43Some people go, oh, he might just be the best player ever. No, that's ridiculous.
00:46That's laughable and an unacceptable opinion that no one should ever say.
00:49Okay. Should Nikola Jokic have had people voting for him to win MVP again while the other contenders were in
01:01his conference with better records?
01:03No. No.
01:07Nikola Jokic is now in this series where offensively the efficiency is gone.
01:13Right? He's under a 2-to-1 assist to turnover ratio.
01:18He's scoring 25 a game on 40-21 shooting splits.
01:25And he's doing that while continuing to be bad defensively.
01:32Nikola Jokic has single-handedly ruined defensive box score plus minus.
01:37And what that stat could potentially, you know, help inform people about conversations.
01:42Because it's a stat that somehow incorporates assists and tells us that Jokic is actually one of the all-time
01:50great defensive players.
01:51So immediately, you just have to throw it out.
01:52That's what happens with, unfortunately, at least with things like that.
01:58And even if I, last year, made the correct pivot to...
02:02Shea is now the best player in the world that everybody was late to.
02:05Everybody was late. That's okay. Happens.
02:09It doesn't mean that this setup here for Jokic is acceptable.
02:15Because if Nikola Jokic is going to be one of the 10 greatest players in league history the way a
02:19lot of people believe he is...
02:22Yeah, I'm going to need you to get to another conference finals, brother.
02:26I don't really think two conference finals appearances is enough.
02:32Conference finals...
02:33He can't even make the... Forget making the finals.
02:36Conference finals.
02:38I'm sorry that you've got to break through.
02:42So, you know, I know, like, J-Wire, we're doing a lot of kind of overview.
02:45We're going to put picks on the board for everybody, I promise.
02:47But, like, I like Denver in this game.
02:51Because if Denver loses this game, I...
02:56They are getting checked pride-wise in a way that no other team really is right now.
03:04Jada McDaniels ran through the entire starting lineup and said none of them can play defense.
03:09By name. By name.
03:11He didn't say the Nuggets are bad defensively.
03:14He goes, we've got to attack the bad defenders like Jokic, like Murray, like Gordon, like Brown.
03:22He just went... Like Cam Johnson.
03:24He went through the entire team.
03:26This Denver Nuggets team, coach, the Knicks have a lot of pressure because they know an implosion is coming.
03:35Denver has to check their pride in game number four against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
03:43Listen, I'm going to say something that may not be popular.
03:46I'm never going to put Nikola Jokic's top ten all-time.
03:50Because he doesn't bring it defensively.
03:53That's a problem to me.
03:55And you could do defensive rates.
03:57Defensive ratings are a joke.
03:58You know, I think the second highest defensive rating for the Knicks last game was Jalen Brunson.
04:03The guy's a walking cone.
04:05Actually, you can't even be a walking cone because it means if he's walking, it means he's moving.
04:08Anyway, you get my point.
04:10So, to me, this is a narrative of Nikola Jokic where he's settling for threes, he's not knocking them down,
04:19and he's not elevating the rest of the team.
04:21And speaking of, you know, I had my show.
04:23I had to capture, like, as I talked about Capper.
04:26He made a point.
04:27Like, Kevin, I don't know the last time during a playoff where a player's at postgame,
04:34yeah, they ain't got no one on their team that plays defense.
04:37I don't think I've ever heard a guy come out and say it.
04:40And then turn around and back it up the next game.
04:44So, I think that is where we're at with Denver is what are they, right?
04:51And to me, if you are going to win games in the postseason, you've got to have guys that can
04:59guard.
04:59You've got to get guys that can defend.
05:01And let's be honest, Denver's championship came against a team that was an eighth seed and got their way to
05:09the NBA finals.
05:12They didn't go through the best.
05:14They didn't go through Boston and Milwaukee at that point.
05:17They, I'm not saying they got gift wrapped this series, Kevin, but they didn't play the best team when they
05:23won their finals.
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