Nicola Jokic is a very unique player, so that in the trend of NBA history, there is no player as his template for the time being, the slightly fat figure is very fleshy, as if it has nothing to do with the body required for basketball, but it is such a player, he is likely to win the regular season MVP, this season so far can contribute 26.1 points, 13.8 rebounds, 8.1 assists 1.3 steals 0.8 blocks, is the Nuggets this season's scoring king, rebound king, assist king, Steals king and block king, today we will have a good talk about Jokic this player.
Mediocre figure
Jokic was born on February 19, 1995, is Serbian, 211cm tall, weighs 128kg, and has an arm span of 221cm; this physical condition is really ordinary, compared to other top inner lines:
Embiid, height 213cm, weight 126kg, arm span 228cm;
Towns, height 213cm, weight 113kg, arm span 222cm;
Brother Alphabet, height 211cm, weight 109kg, arm span 224cm;
Thick eyebrow brother, height 208cm, weight 114kg, arm span 227cm;
Jokic is not the tallest, but the weight is the heaviest, looks a little chubby, the arm can not see the contours of the muscles, and Jokic's arm span is also the shortest of these players, and the figure can be said to be inferior to others. To put it simply, it can be described by the word mediocre.
Mundane athletic ability
Due to the reason of the slight fat body, Jokic's movement speed has been affected to a certain extent, not so flexible, and as a 211cm high inside player, Jokic has hardly dunked in actual combat, the bounce ability is really general, belongs to the kind of can go to the basket without dunking, in his body to see the dunk This scene is impossible, the comprehensive athletic ability in the NBA is a very general type of player, there is no strong muscle as the foundation, the speed is definitely not going up, as shown in the following figure, The difference between the muscle lines of the arm and the alphabet brother is very obvious, so the athletic ability and the alphabet brother and other people are also one day and one place.
It is also because there is no excellent body, there is no excellent athletic ability, so Jokic in the NBA when the market is not very good, 2014 NBA draft, until the 2nd round of the 11th pick was selected, is a 2 round show, just look at his conditions, if you choose again, he still can not enter the first round of the show. Congenital conditions are not good, then how Jokic got a foothold in the NBA, and won the MVP trophy in the hands of many superstars (Jokic won the MVP in the 2020-21 season, ending the three-in-a-row dream of the alphabet brother), which has to say about his advantages.
Advantage one: The soft feel is enviable
In basketball, the common disadvantage of insiders is that the shooting is not very good, but as a 211cm tall Jokic shooting is one of his strengths, currently playing 514 regular season games in his career, averaging 30.3 minutes per game, shooting 53.9%, shooting 34.7%, free throw shooting rate of up to 83%, this is how many people dream of shooting feel, there are three-point shooting ability, there are mid-shots, free throws are also abnormally accurate, compared to other levels of the inner line, Jokic's free throws do have an advantage, Towns, like Jokic, has a career free throw shooting rate of 83%, Embiid's career free throw shooting rate is 81.1%, Alphabet Brother is 71.7%, Thick Brow Brother is 79.4%, Gobert is 63.6%, like non-inside player James's free throw shooting rate of 73.4%, Doncic's free throw shooting rate is 73.6%, so Jokic's free throw shooting rate is very good, whether compared with inside players or compared with interior players.
Advantage two: the rhythmic offensive technique is amazing
Although Jokic's athletic ability is average, but his offensive skills are very rich, in addition to dunking, other techniques such as holding the ball to break through, back-to-back turn, hook throwing, butterfly steps under the basket, etc. Are proficient, with their own unique sense of rhythm, making it very difficult to defend, which is what traditional interior players do not have, it is simply the ceiling of the offensive technology of interior players, just from the technical point of view, reminiscent of Yao Ming, are technical flow players.
Advantage three: overall better than James
So far this season Jokic can contribute 26.1 points, 13.8 rebounds, 8.1 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.8 blocks per game, five statistics are the nuggets first, of course, in the entire league, each of his data is not the best, but it is first-class, averaging 26.1 points per game in the ninth place in the scoring list, averaging 13.8 rebounds per game in the league, averaging 8.1 assists per game in the league's seventh place, scoring, rebounding and assists three data have entered the top ten, Jokic is the only player in the league to do that.
James has averaged 29.7 points, 8.2 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.0 blocks per game this season, which looks really good, but Jokic's comprehensiveness can be said to be no worse than James, and even better than James. Jokic has now scored 75 triple-doubles in his career (it took only 522 games, the second fastest in NBA history, and the first is Oscar Robertson), ranking seventh in NBA history. He has already won 18 triple-doubles this season, ranking first, he is only 26 years old, this ranking will continue to climb. In the most classic games on March 7, 2022, he cut a terrifying stat of 46 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists, 3 steals and 4 blocks, and then back-to-back on March 8, he cut a large triple-double with 32 points, 15 rebounds, 13 assists and 1 block.
Advantage four: enthusiasm is not comparable to ordinary people
Although Jokic's athleticism is average and his movement speed is slow, he is very the defensive end. This season his interference shooting data is 12.3, ranking fourth in the league, thick eyebrow brother 11.1, alphabet brother is 9.7, Downs is 9.3, Embiid is 9.1; interference two-point shooting is 9.3, ranking third in the league; interference three-point shooting 2.9, ranked 35th in the league, this data can be seen that he is very hard to assist in the outside line, overall he is very motivated, and did not slack off defense because of slow movement.
Advantage five: have a super high influence on the game
A player's influence on the game can be seen from the side of the player's strength, Jokic on the court and off the court, the Nuggets are a completely different team, Jokic on the court, the Nuggets to win 200+ points, off the court, the Nuggets to lose 200+ points, the gap is 400+, the entire league is very high. Another statistic is that his game contribution this season is as high as 23.1, ranking first in the league, 1.8 higher than the second-place Embiid's 21.3, and 4.8 higher than James's 18.3, which is a very terrifying influence, Jokic is more important to the Nuggets than James to the Lakers.
There are many advantages of Jokic, but there are also disadvantages, and he will be more excellent in the following two aspects. First of all, his figure, if he trains the "pork belly" into muscles, his movement speed will be much faster, the world's martial arts are only fast and not broken, after the speed increases, his bouncing ability will also increase, whether it is offensive or defensive will be further improved. Currently, as a 211cm interior lineman, averaging 0.8 blocks per game is indeed a bit less, and James has 1.0 times.
Another is his leadership temperament. Jokic makes people look very amiable, but lacks a leadership temperament, he is the number one star of the team, he not only has to play well himself, but also to give his teammates confidence, which is sometimes a firm look, sometimes a domineering shout, he needs to improve this aspect.
Conclusion: Jokic is taking a route that no one has ever taken, as a 211cm interior player, he has no excellent physical fitness, no outstanding athletic ability, he almost does not dunk, but has excellent technique, excellent organizational skills, a charming sense of rhythm, and his playing style subverts our understanding of interior players.
Jokic is already a 1-time MVP winner, 4 All-Stars, as a second-round show, it is difficult to think that he will achieve such a high achievement, this season he is still the most powerful contender for MVP, many people are very optimistic about him, the probability of winning MVP is very large, the current 26-year-old, the future will be better.