Nikola Jokic Just Had A Legacy Performance...

[@alsorustybuckets]

Please check us out on Spotify!: podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rustybuckets

[@andrewlund6596]

Rusty been real quiet since G7

[@Andrewjs2187]

I could see Jokic being in discussion as a top 12 player of all time if he wins it this year. 2 time FMVP & 3 time MVP is pretty insane

[@imnotblindbutiloveblindfol8449]

Imo he’s top 10 if we wins again this year. First team since the Warriors to repeat. 2-0 in the finals without an all star. And MV3 and 2x Finals MVP.

[@urbaindelva7869]

​@@imnotblindbutiloveblindfol8449Who is 2-2 in the Finals without an All-Star?

[@gabrielantunez7642]

I mean he would have the same resume as Durant with mire MVPs and as the actual best player undebatably

[@aarushshah2007]

He means without an all-star as help​@@urbaindelva7869

[@aarushshah2007]

​@@gabrielantunez7642and Durant had way more help and way less Legacy

[@celtic69]

he’s smoking on that shaq pack

[@Love2Musgrave]

shaq should have kept his comments to himself he is obviously jealous he shoud have just congratulated him like a normal person instead of downplaying his success but you know it's shaq so we shouldn't have expected actual human decency.

[@siniister710]

As we all should rn

[@maxeydafriend7353]

Just got blown out by 45. Ant smoking on that Joker pack.

[@Greidyelcuh]

Not anymore

[@chrisludwig4729]

Saying the Nuggets looked like they were gonna lose after going 0-2 at home, including a blow out is totally fair. The " discourse" of Jokic being exposed after 1 decent game and 1 subpar game was always dumb

[@brennan_]

Especially with Jamal looking so hobbled. But if he's going to be healthy enough, it's hard to bet against the Nuggets.

[@alsorustybuckets]

Which is what I was saying in the video!

[@kode-man23]

I’d be lying if I saw this being the outcome after the end of game two, but I just said “let me see game three. Let me see that little 3 beside Minnesota’s name, while the little 0 is beside Denver’s name.”

[@undertakerblaise256]

@@kode-man23crazy but I knew Denver was winning both, won bread on Fanduel because of it 🔥

[@willbarnhart8833]

@@alsorustybuckets I think people probably saw you have fraud next to him in the thumbnail and just went off that.

[@wyotriumphrider]

He is the most complete, supremely skilled player I've seen in my lifetime (since I started watching basketball in the mid-1960s). He does for the Nuggets what SGA and Luka simply do NOT do for theirs, namely make everyone they play with better. It WHY he's the MVP. Again.

[@mja4wp]

I started watching NBA not long after you....I agree....he has singlehandedly brought my attention and focus back to watching more games than in the last 20 years....Im a Knick fan...but good God, I have been watching Denver games now too for the last 2 years.

[@Anthonydu01630]

Ok grandpa

[@desipardo1646]

You don’t deserve flack for discussing a narrative, but you do deserve flack for crowning the timberwolves as the best team in the league, as the winner of the series, and for saying the nuggets faced poor competition last year. Records are one thing, but we all know how much of a heater the suns, lakers, and heat were on prior to playing the nuggets last year

[@shorewall]

Suns and Lakers were picked over the Nuggets. So that says to me that the Media Narratives don't have a basis in reality.

[@zsomborszigeti6797]

​@@shorewallwhere the fuck where they picked before the nuggets? You talking about this year?

[@aleksandar8090]

💯 agree!🙌👍

[@mja4wp]

his take on Luka is premature...Luka is a bit soft on D...(compared to Joker and SGA) and Luka is still maturing...he's not there yet...and Jokers stats are just so much more impactful that he's not even in the same level as SGA and Luka (who's stats are closer as far as overall impact).

[@Saviorszn]

@@mja4wppause 😂😂😂

[@jackcooney1651]

Update? lol we love Wolves basketball

[@Other_Robots]

As a new yorker who lives in denver I’m hoping for a knicks vs nuggets finals

[@kurosan0079]

See, I don't even think it's that crazy of a concept if the Knicks make it out the East. They're like the Zombie Heat squad from last year but play a different style.

[@youngmelo1841]

They both play great defense, but brunson is a better offensive player than anyone on the Heat ​@@kurosan0079

[@jesstiss222]

As a Denverite, I’m rooting for the Knicks in the East! Love them dawgs! I hope Denver is treating you well 😊

[@mja4wp]

When they were healthy at beginning of playoffs I had them beating Celtics in ECF and facing Denver in Finals....idk about that now...

[@TsdsxSansTSSunStone]

Bro got neither 😔

[@mja4wp]

Hakeem Olajuwon, Draymond Green and now Anthony Edwards have all basically said the same thing about Joker....Gobert is NOT an overrated defender....Joker is super special...there is NO answer for him....Give him his flowers.

[@ShawnKendricks]

Who’s here after he lost 😂😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@jonasgorea3823]

Joker is the best offensive player ever. I said what I said

[@theodorebradshaw4711]

Never seen someone as unstoppable as Jokic in my lifetime

[@Gotothelui]

If it's not him, it's gotta be Steph, or Magic, no other exceptions.

[@macktheknifee9301]

He produced 70pts the whole game, no turnovers, against the DPOY, beating every coverage possible. I don't care if it's "ugly", if you enjoy bball, you enjoy Jokic.

[@undertakerblaise256]

⁠​⁠@@macktheknifee9301this adversity narrative resembles Steph Curry in the ‘22 Finals with Smart being the DPOY, beating every coverage possible.

[@mhead1117]

​@@Gotothelui steph is a average passer at best

[@antoinehenderson1659]

Jokic in this game, played some of the greatest basketball I have ever seen.

[@meh7348]

Love how people are using this to hate on Rudy, like wow he got cooked by the best player on the fucking planet who also happens to be on the best team in the NBA.

[@j-rey-]

The criticism is overly harsh, but he is being exposed as a subpar perimeter defender who doesn't deserve to be one of the three 4x DPOY winners.

[@shepardice3775]

​​@@j-rey-He is a better defender than Dikembe Mutumbo. If you're going to call Rudy out for his "supbar" (vastly improved, and i would say serviceable) perimeter defense it's ridiculous to act like Mutumbo was close to Gobert skill wise lol. If you're going to say Rudy doesn't deserve it, Ben Wallace is the only one who actually does.

[@jordandwiggins1026]

@@j-rey-Yeah because Mutombo totally shut down Shaq and Duncan when he played them in the Finals right?

[@yungtago9161]

@@j-rey- This is just entirely false. At what point in this playoffs has Rudy been "exposed on the perimeter?" He was excellent defending the Suns big 3 in isolation on the perimeter and has also done very well in higher coverages against Murray. The only thing he hasn't been able to do defensively is guard Jokic in the post which can be said about pretty much the whole league

[@mja4wp]

Rudy, Bam, AD...they are all excellent defenders....the thing is, Joker is a supernatural force of nature and perhaps the best overall offensive we have seen....it's not fair to punch down on Rudy when it comes to Joker....Hakeem, Draymond and now ANT have all said it...there is NO answer for the Joker...give him his flowers.

[@kohsmoger1567]

I think Jokic winning the award is more than defensible when you consider the advanced stats and box score stats along with team standing. Jokic probably should have won the mvp last year.

[@j-rey-]

Preach. And I definitely think he should have won last year. I know it's a regular season award, but I think his playoff performance last year vs Embiid's total failure just boosts the argument that Jokic's game was actually more impactful during the regular season, too. Jokic just always plays the same, dominant game, whereas Embiid relies too much on free throws, has a playstyle that is conducive to injuries, and is way too inconsistent. All that just happens to be highlighted more in the playoffs.

[@ChrisChanSajelan]

But the narratives last year say otherwise. I hate that there's no exact criteria for these awards

[@SamuelBlackMetalRider]

IYKYK Jokic 4 straight MVPs

[@martingomez3221]

He should have won MVP last year, yes even based on just the regular season. Better than Embiid on most advanced stats, including better true efficiency, and played more games. It was already an overwhelming case for him then IMO, it will be even more overwhelming in hindsight.

[@JasonAtlas]

I think Jokic same number of MVPs and gianis is owned one more of the early ones.

[@TheSheemed]

2 games made you question 2 years of basketball. GG

[@UnoDinero95001]

IM SAYING 😂

[@emmanuelc316]

Rusty acting like he didn't reference the mavs getting swept after Dirk won the mvp like 20 times before denver took the lead in the series

[@mort996]

I love you Rusty but I couldn't wait for you to eat your own words 😀

[@paxtonbecker]

He took that shaq disrespect about the mvp personally

[@shorewall]

Yeah, I don't think Jokic cares much about the awards, but when they are disrespecting you to your face, he stepped up. Hey Shaq, tell him how his ass tastes!

[@SamuelBlackMetalRider]

@@shorewallhe definitely stepped up big time the night he received his MVP trophy

[@carefulilickwindows6881]

Yea, and now OKC is about to get dropped off and the Nuggets are going to advance. Shaq needs to apologize

[@josephmatthews7698]

Dont underestimate clutch offense and defense. It's the most important Stat because it shows what a team can do while trying their best against another team trying their best. Its no coincidence denver has had some of the best clutch stats last two years.

[@sarahsloot2290]

No one could have guarded Joker, I think Gobert deserved DPOY. Jokers D has been pretty damn good in these playoffs as well. Narratives just won’t be defeated, because they don’t play by rules.

[@shorewall]

I think a lot of people hate Rudy, just like a lot of people hate Jokic. Draymond Green is typical, since he resents Rudy for winning DPOYs over him. Lol, what a little punk Draymond is.

[@colesmith193]

I agree, most of the shots Jokic was making were defended really well by Gobert. The guy just has insane skill and touch.

[@payrysdoscs4903]

Jokic saw the Edwards-MJ talk and said "Not today!"

[@jbwanthony3177]

Jocic making yet another rusty take age horribly

[@Edwoonie]

I don’t agree on people HATING you but if you make a prediction it should be fine to criticize you, you should stand on your analysis and accept the flame when it’s wrong

[@ineveryuniverse3953]

Except the flame had been so overwhelming that Rusty had to actually address it in the vid, which is actually so sad. However, I will admit it overall was a good thing since he did take the time in that same segment to admit he was wrong about the take and the conversation he kind of jumped the gun in discussing. You’d only stand on your point if you still believe it, and Rusty clearly doesn’t believe in that take anymore.

[@nathanjohnson2382]

Dudes were talking crazy when he won MVP but he’s down 2 to 0 which it’s a Regular season award. Crazy how we got here

[@drumusic5665]

Man is more defensive than Rudy Gobert

[@VVzxc]

The amount of back peddling is ridiculous lol

[@KAye633]

Back peddling*

[@VVzxc]

@@KAye633 corrected . Texting while driving 🤷🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

[@jao_tusi3381]

i wouldnt say that it aged badly but yall know that its funny

[@Jay_Scheme]

that complaining section was pointless. The “hate” you received from that video was justified. You didn’t just discuss the discourse around that narrative. That’s fairly obvious for anyone who watched that video.

[@obnoxioushuman6785]

I won't lie rusty i love yeah one of my favorite basketball commentators i guess id call it? on this platform. that said man yall called it a bit too early with the Jokic fraud video

[@alsorustybuckets]

I said in that video that he’s still gonna be the best player in the NBA regardless of what happens in the series. And that the fraud narrative was stupid. That’s what the actual opinion I expressed was.

[@jesstiss222]

@@alsorustybucketsyou said that but in a very “cya” kind of way. You started the video highkey salty and expressing disdain for Joker DESERVINGLY being awarded the MVP (without giving any substantive argument for why anyone else deserved it more) and added reluctant “praise” for Joker. You did the EXACT same thing as Shaq, talking out of both sides of your mouth and the timing was indefensible. Joker has done nothing but beat every allegation and exceed every expectation, but still gets that kind of treatment when he’s finally acknowledged for it?? It was very disappointing to see you do a mealy-mouthed pile-on with the rest of the “Everybody hates Joker, even though he’s the best player in the world” media propagandists and it was very disappointing. Don’t try to play it both ways.

[@obnoxioushuman6785]

@@alsorustybuckets I think thats entirely fair and i get that, but it was just a bit too early. and I do understand you were not being like full hater, hence in my comment i said you're not wrong in what you said but too early. Jokic gets dogpiled on all the time when he does things wrong, probably more then other superstars small market, small personality etc i think feed into this. I think it would have been better talked about after the series (if jokic lost) in a defense of Jokic. all you need to do to see hes not a fraud after all is watch last years playoffs. it was also definitely a provocative title and thumbnail but thats just youtube algorithm playing; and i get that.

[@joykenn9772]

​@@jesstiss222W Take. The fact he got ratioed so hard in his own channel showed how right you are bro

[@gaj7062]

Im gonna predict jokic goes down as a top 4-8 player all time

[@joykenn9772]

Not a bad take brother. Not bad at all

[@JakeKoenig]

If he wins two more rings, he will be a LOCK for Top 5 all-time as long as he doesn't retire early. If he gets three more rings and two more MVPs, we'll be having a GOAT discussion. Anything beyond that, he'll be the GOAT. We'd be looking at 5+ rings and/or 6+ MVPs, and the career stats to back up his resume. If the Nuggets win the title this year, those milestones will be very attainable for Jokic. And the Nuggets will be title contenders for the foreseeable future.

[@gaj7062]

@@JakeKoenig I doubt he will get that far, I think voters are getting sick of him winning mvp, especially since this year was so controversial. The chips are more realistic, I think he could very well end up with 5 if the nuggets are all completely bought in, I just struggle to see him winning next year if he wins this year

[@omgbygollywow]

It's all Shaq's fault. When Shaq dissed Joker in the MVP award presentation, he woke the sleeping giant, poked the bear, grabbed the tiger by the tail, played with fire, opened Pandora's box, let the dogs out, lit the fuse, unleashed the kraken, tugged on Superman's cape, spit into the wind, pulled the mask off the old Lone Ranger and messed around with Jim.

[@JordanGurney]

I love Shaq, but he can be a total dick sometimes. Keep your opinions to yourself, or hell, speak your mind on TV, but don't say that shit to Jokic directly

[@zombiespro12]

Shaq really treated him as if he wasn’t already a 2-time MVP and Finals MVP smh

[@jonasbrown1]

all ima say is none of the other mvp candidates would do the dpoy like this

[@jonasbrown1]

maybe giannis

[@maximusorbis2548]

@@jonasbrown1gets locked up by Al horford

[@bulja80085]

I mean if Rudy Gobert was on Luka or Shai, that would be an easy missmatch and they would probably score even more points, the fact that Jokic is cooking him so bad without an obvious missmatch is more impressive in ny opinion but your point doesn't stand, other than Jokic and Giannis all other candidates were guards like Luka, Shai, Ant and Brunson and a shifty wing like Jayson Tatum, all of them would cook Rudy in an iso situation, not to mention that Jokic does most of his scoring and is most efficient from the post and floater area, if the other candidates were in an iso situation against Gobert intheir most dominant and efficient area they would also cook him

[@Jonathan-A.C.]

@@bulja80085 Not really, maybe Giannis, Luka, and Jokic, cause if size, footwork, and/or the assist threat

[@bulja80085]

@@Jonathan-A.C. Dude the other guys are 2 times faster than Rudy, they can easily create space for a shot or blow by him

[@youngmelo1841]

Jordan would be the 2nd best player in a series with Jokic

[@UnoDinero95001]

That’s a crazy statement 😭😭

[@jonathansykes4986]

Jokic just proves he is better than Luka. Screw all these people who think Luka is better.

[@pennygirl015]

Yeah, I think the argument of giving it to the guy who wants it more sucks, it should be given to the most valuable player, and jokic by far is the most valuable player to his team. We shouldn't be giving it away to criteria such as he wants it more.

[@gaspi91]

Screw you too. Luka also had a great year.

[@pennygirl015]

@@gaspi91 No one said he had a bad year. Wdym?

[@mja4wp]

yeah, thats just some emotional BS...there is no logical metric that proves out Luka better or more valuable than Joker

[@potatopizza93]

The Gordon bringing the ball up strategy was sneaky genius, shout out to Thinking Basketball who just did a break down on it. The Wolves’ strategy was to put Rudy on Gordon so they could let him roam off the only non shooter and protect the paint. But with Gordon bringing the ball up, that’s no longer an option, since you don’t want Rudy doing a full court press- you want him in the paint. It breaks the whole match up strategy and the house of cards fell from there

[@nerothelost9605]

Jokic is an Apex Predator. No one else in the league is like him mentality wise.

[@SamuelBlackMetalRider]

It’s underrated indeed, his composure & humility hides his « calm » Predator mentality. Obviously he stepped up BIG TIME the day he receives his 3rd MVP trophy to shut everyone up

[@emersonbessler5686]

Bron pretty good but I feel like he’s too old to keep up with his mentality if that make sense

[@carefulilickwindows6881]

​@@emersonbessler5686Brons mentality was pathetic sometimes even when he was younger. Great most of the time though.

[@jamesartemio1312]

⁠@@emersonbessler5686an apex predator would never team up with other apex predators.

[@marcusbrown4933]

@@jamesartemio1312That’s a stupid take, everybody wants a good team lmao.

[@gicueN17R0]

On Holiday's behalf, he was quoted by saying that "this team made me fall in love with Basketball all over again!" So it really doesn't surprise me although to not play ALL year and then get big playoff minutes and come up big except this last game where he wasnt as active.

[@TheMePercent]

I’m from the future, they got cooked. Game 7 it is.

[@ebenezeronile]

Ayo 😂

[@almightymike9484]

Images didn’t upload at some points btw

[@alsorustybuckets]

my bad

[@darkodjordjevic7949]

Do you have any shame to talk about Jokić after video Gradu MVP ???

[@drakevick1646]

Hot Take: If he wins a ring, he has to be above Hakeem all time. At that point, he’d HAVE to be. The resume, skill set, success, all of it

[@666soccermom666]

Nah, Hakeem has a case for being the best defensive player ever, his offense is immensly better then jokic's defense and he won his titles in the golden age of centers, if jokic wins three however, then he's top 10 all time above Hakeem

[@chrisman9555]

I have Hakeem like 4th all time he has the two hardest rings of all time, but jokic will definitely be top 10

[@KAye633]

No he will not

[@UnoDinero95001]

@@666soccermom666jokic is light years better then hakeem offensively , what are you talking Bout

[@davicito3702]

This might sound crazy, but I’d rather have Jokic than Jordan on my team? After or disagree?

[@taylorsilver2566]

‘Men can get so emotional’ 😂😭 I fking love you dude

[@HorizonOfHope]

King of dry humour.

[@pshyeah1128]

This video aged like milk yikes

[@bradhicks5558]

Denver has so perfectly figured out anything/everything that Minnesota can throw out them to such a dramatic degree that the odds of Denver losing to them in Game 6 are very, very low.

[@josephmatthews7698]

Its called sports psychology. I don't know how anyone can call themselves a basketball analyst watching that second nuggets game and say the nuggets collapsed only because of the defense. That's not true at all, denver was playing at the refs not the wolves. Jamal didn't throw in the towel at the wolves he threw it at the refs. I counted over a dozen frustration plays directed at the refs especially from jamal. Where jamal just ran at all the wolves and tried to force a call that never came. Even that famous play where jamal got trapped, he had the ability IQ and opportunity to pass out of that double team but intentionally held on to show the refs how many slaps he was getting to try and force a call that never came. They were mad at the REFS not the wolves and subsequently gave up before the first half was over. I don't know how anyone (especially a so called ANALYST) can watch that game and say the nuggets don't have the talent to win. You can doubt their mindset or mentality for going after refs but not their talent. Psychology is SO important in sports and people really don't understand that. The wolves look beat with only Conolly and ANT looking like they got the mentality to fight and overcome despite the odds while the nugs have pulled together.

[@shorewall]

100%. No one can explain the switch that was flipped, without understanding that the Nuggets were frustrated and kinda gave up in that game. I think people saw it, and assumed that the Nuggets had unraveled. But Never Underestimate the Heart of a Champion! :D Some people mention the officiating, as if the NBA bailed out the Nuggets. But I take it the other way. We have never seen the Nuggets struggle that bad against the Wolves, or any other team. If anything, it makes you question the Wolves run so far, and what they did against Phoenix, which was also unusual. Regardless, the Wolves have their chances, but the Nuggets are looking like the Nuggets now.

[@justkota.3059]

9:45 dude dont lie you have NOT been called a KD lover let's be honest.

[@c0n323]

Not actually hot at all takes: 1. Jokic's defense has been better that Goberts in this series 2. Denver's defense has been just as "dominant" as minnysotas

[@bradhicks5558]

The way KAT was limping off the court after the game, wondering if he's going to be able to play Game 6.

[@ineveryuniverse3953]

I kind of hope so, considering he actually had a moment in game 5 and actually still was able to continue playing while still looking good. Then again, if he isn’t 100% then I don’t think there’s much of a point for him to play. We’ve seen that it’s more detrimental than beneficial to play a star that isn’t healthy enough to play at the level we know they can play at.

[@mariozadra5035]

You're too handsome for this to just be an audio experience Rusty

[@imhong28]

Few videos ago.. Fraud MVP?

[@zukusenryu]

It was close the first half because Murray and Porter were a combined 3/14 for 7 points. Jamal in the second half got it going finally along with KCP. Lastly Alexander walker came back to earth after shooting 3 for 3 on 3s in the first half and he was 1 for 5 from 3 in the second half

[@Donniefango_]

This is great for Denver, I remember u saying it might be impossible to go back to back in the modern day nba. I don’t think denver are gonna be the 08 Celtics.

[@thestranger6910]

I can't help myself: MJ was 11/22 for 26 points in game 5 in 1996. If anything, they "locked him up" in 2 of the last 3 games. He still finished with 22 and 23 points in those games against the defensive player of the year. But of course, the Bulls had already been up 3-0 in the series and were never going to lose anyway.

[@JediKnightWayne]

Brunson shot 52% from the field, who cares how many shots he takes…? The bulls fan in you is showing Lmao

[@Vanilla_Jo]

My thoughts as well, as long as the efficiency is good then let Brunson sling them, a 6 foot guard shooting 50% on high volume is something any team could live with.

[@alsorustybuckets]

It wasn’t a criticism? Just an acknowledgment. It’s a different play style, I said it works for them in the video. As I have multiple times before it.

[@gurhhjde2937]

It wasnt even a critique why are u so hurt over it?

[@magnusliang4183]

Paddle back

[@donnydogpiss4533]

*peddle

[@JordanGurney]

How did Aaron Gordon go from being an athletic dude on the Magic that was in the dunk contest... to being one of the most pivotal, winning players on a championship team

[@chrilpy]

If this is the best era of NBA basketball and Jokic is by far the best player doesn’t that make him the best player of all time?

[@shorewall]

Right? You can't say Joker is beating weak competition and then say that older players couldn't play now, and this gen is the most athletic, most skilled, etc. It's one or the other. Either this gen is watered down and Joker is still the best in this gen, or this gen is the best, and Jokic is the best in this gen, therefore the best of all time. :D

[@coopermcneil5552]

Wolves just had a legacy performance* where’s that video dawg lol

[@lxnny2357]

I think the issue with the timberwolves is that from a coaching perspective, they’ve not made successful adjustments. That being said, I hope that a fire the coach narrative doesn’t start up. I hate when the coach is the first one to go in these situations because it leaves the team no room to grow. I think the major issue with the timberwolves actually starts on the defensive end. Guys are getting lost in transition way too often and it’s leading to bad cross matches. They probably also should be punishing Jokic and Murray off ball more-I.e. I’d particularly be trying to rough Murray up and have his man face guarding him all game and have the defense bumping him away from the play. The year that the cavs beat the GSW this is what they did to manage curry and it worked. Curry responded to this by adding a shit load of muscle in the coming seasons-a testament to how effective this can be. I’m not convinced that Murray would have outlasted this kind of coverage over a 7-game series… they could have neutralized him by now had they committed to this, but they just decided to not take this approach, which is odd when you are up 2-0 and have a shit load of lanky defenders that can move their feet. Why have the Twolves been bailing Denver out by gambling all the time when they’ve been up 2-0… they should have stuck to principals, understanding that if the did, they would have been able to steal 1 out of the last 3 just by wearing Jamal and Jokic out. A criticism of Rudy Gobert-I never understood why or even how he’s gone this far in his career without improving his hands or his touch around the rim… he’d be a top 10 player if he had even a slightly better offensive game, but he’s banked all his value on his defense, but his offense is neutralized if you understand that Rudy can only make a play if he’s involved in a pick in roll where he catches the ball like within dunking range of the rim. All opposing teams need to do is trap the ball handler when Rudy sets the screen and force an earlier pass to Rudy and have the help rotate up to cut off Rudy’s driving lane (you can even just stunt at him and he’s proven that he will pick up the ball-force him to make that mid range shot and he becomes useless on offense) so that he’d have to put the ball on the ground to get to the rim or put up a mid range-forcing a low percentage shot or a pass that you can recover from.

[@boydriceisawesome2520]

Rusty Minnesota defense has been *dominant * only 1 game not all that series so I don't even know if for 1 game dominant is right word for it but only 1 game...

[@shorewall]

They were dominant coming in from sweeping the Suns, so I think that added to it. Nuggets fell apart in Game 2, so people thought they were done, but they came back and came back hard. I love to see it.

[@steveneric127]

cmon wheres the antman vid jokic lost bro

[@BlackOctober28]

Joker first player to win Regular Season MVP, Western Confrence MVP and Finals MVP

[@codycray8461]

I gotta disagree bro, Rudy is literally like 7’3. He could bare minimum blocked his shot once or twice. Hell foul him if you have to.

[@archeey8543]

Been waiting for this video and 36 mins as well, yes please!

[@UnoDinero95001]

27:13 brother that 44 kept them from getting blown out, not made the game close. Watching the game, the nuggets felt as if they had moment 85% of the time

[@lxnny2357]

Hot take… the timberwolves haven’t been playing good defense. They just have great defenders. Schematically they’re a bit of a mess. With the personnel that they have, they could be keeping Denver to at least like a few points less per game. Guys are always getting lost, but because they’re so athletic and lanky, they cover up a lot of their flaws, but Denver looks to potentially have figured them out. Though, they’re not technically out of this series. They’re like an adjustment or two away from being back in this series and pushing it to 7. The key to this series is how the coaching staff handles Jaden McDaniels and Nickeil Walker-Alexander. I’m starting to realize that those guys are all effort and not really great basketball minds-they need to be coached live so that they know where to be on the floor, otherwise they’re nearly useless out there. It’s too late to fix this, but on the offensive side of the floor, they need more motion off ball. Their offense is too dependent on the ball handler beating their man-either due to a screen or just isolation. Guys need to be making well timed cuts to and away from the rim, but often you’ll find that guys just set up in the elbows and wait to get a pass for a three or try to attack a close out, and that means you’re depending on like your less skilled guys making tougher shots and some of these guys seem to need more rhythm to get going. The NBA has kind of lost track of the “slasher” role- there are tons of guys in the league that are literally slashers, but are now converted to stationary guys that sit in the corners for spacing. It’s not good offense. Look at Denver, Aaron Gordon is such an X factor because he helps Jokic terminate plays by attacking from that dunker spot. Aaron Gordon is kind of a slasher these days. The twolves have at least like 3 slashers on their roster and they haven’t really used them that way. This happens when the coaching staff picked an offense that’s not really optimized for their personnel-like it works on paper, but your roster would be better off running something else. Like why are they not setting many off ball screens? Why aren’t guys slashing? Why are there like no DHOs being run. It’s too 1-dimensional… maybe the coaching staff didn’t believe their guys could handle more complicated schemes.

[@johnnybadmen3473]

I'm glad AB getting to shine on a good team after having to suffer on my Pistons team.

[@-bacon_bacon-]

Ab?

[@johnnybadmen3473]

@@-bacon_bacon- Alec Burks

[@SLIDESPOT]

My ears did a double take when i heard “utah locked down Jordan in final 3 games”….i may have heard wrong. I watched that series live and thought it was a grind overall but there was one game, game 4 - 78-73 where he had below avg numbers (22 pts) the rest were (26, 31,37, 38, 38 and 39) at 36 years old. Never heard anyone back then refer to him being “locked down” that series was a grind though and he looked tired at times.

[@JasonAtlas]

The wolves defense has been worked around but they will be stronger for this next year if they can adapt.

[@JasonAtlas]

And they still anret out yet either.

[@Thehughesgaming]

The thing with Christian Braun is that his 3 went in in the regular season, shot 38% from 3

[@ymscottie]

Some clips were not uploaded/rendered well

[@aarushshah2007]

Jokic top 15 all time

[@carefulilickwindows6881]

If he wins a chip this year he's top 10. Hakeem is in my top 10 so Jokic deserves a spot too ( I don't include ppl like Wilt, Russel, Big O, Dr.j etc)

[@bradhicks5558]

No worries about your narrative about Jokic/the Nuggets after they went down 2-0 in this series. Every single NBA analyst is back peddling this week after the Nuggets are now up 3-2.

[@shorewall]

I think everyone was really shocked at Game 2, but a lot took that and acted like there would be no adjustments afterwards. So it's really funny to see everyone having to eat crow.

[@24xv555]

Where are you mate

[@Themlpg73]

I would like to know how often a team wins after being down 12 with a quarter left. I mean it sounds like it's not unusual but the difference being over 12 points within a quarter probably doesn't happen that often. Even if it feels like it's normal. I would like to know the stats on that.

[@jaceygaither6666]

Edwards without Conley is just like Booker without CP3

[@konezone2416]

they still lost games 3 and 4 with conley

[@currybr]

I think that Rudy Gobert would be more popular if he changed his name to Rudy Boo-Bear.

[@eyesonthepiescc]

Thank you Shaq

[@odolany]

Never expected to hear Christian Brown called a "bruiser"

[@UnoDinero95001]

Braun* & that’s because you don’t Watch the nuggets 😂

[@Jiturra01]

"there's no adjustment"

[@ionutalex5529]

i think people tend to read the title of the video or the text in the thumbnail and make an opinion which is why using clickbaity titles might bring haters, it's a tradeoff you have to live with if you wanna use these kinds of titles/thumbnails

[@joebaer1358]

Bro who hit Rusty with the Dominican ray?

[@odolany]

Oh, yes, Rusty Buckets, lover of every player, especially Kevin Durant...

[@sarahsloot2290]

MJ didn’t like shooting 3s because it would lead to less aggressive play… Ant needs to go downhill and quickly before a 2nd defender fully cuts him off. Imo, that would set the tone and get his rhythm going.

[@christopherhofland8409]

am I loosing it or is there an audio squeek?

[@justinjimenez4075]

Rusty with the Kermit tease at 24:15

[@danielbetancourt1483]

Rusty doing damage control lol

[@ranchosdelnorte]

Why would you still say the MVP should have gone to anyone else at this point, especially in the middle of talking about a topic. It's one thing if you just said you wanted Luka to win, but no one deserved it more than Jokic this year(regardless of what playoff results would've been) and it shouldn't have gone to anyone else, hence the landslide victory in voting. Luka's main argument is points, in which Jokic is still top 7 in scoring. Then there is assist, where he is no. 2, but Jokic is no.3 with less than 1ast difference all while Luka has the highest usage rate in the league. Jokic has more rebounds, a much better record and leads the league in pretty much all advanced stats for the 4th year in a row. Luka also has a 2-9 record in head to heads against other MVP candidates (Jokic, SGA, Tatum, Giannis, Ant), one of those wins requiring a miracle shot from Kyrie. Put your feelings aside and realize there's not even much to argue about.

[@meshben7125]

the anti embiid

[@parkeryoung6932]

Im a regular watcher and if anything i feel like you talk about Jokic too much and love him a lot.

[@Ms777Lena]

If they didn't press him as much as they did, he would be better, and I don't believe they will let him next time around.

[@orlandowright2323]

Just because you put a question mark in a thumbnail or title, doesn't negate the intended purpose of what discourse you were going for. Its KZbin, people are going to see "Fraud MVP" even if it does have a ? and assume you don't like Jokic. Its marketing/promoting 101. You could have easily made a thumbnail that praised Minnesota's team defence rather than questioning Jokic's MVP status. I know you like Jokic's game, but like you said a first time viewer won't know that based on the titling.

[@MercRogers]

rusticle busticle

[@Andrew17B]

16th May, 2024. 8:00am My prediction for game 6 The Timberwolves are down to with 20 seconds left. Anthony Edwards drives and kicks out of a double team, followed by a swing pass to Karl Anthony towns who knocks down the go-ahead 3. Denver comes down the court down one with the shot clock off. Nikola jokic and Aaron Gordon run a pick and roll and Jamal Murray slips off ball and hits a game winner off of a dime from jokic.

[@HeatvsHaters]

I got an inside secret Michael Malone threatened jokic horses after game 2

[@salineaddict9850]

The Knicks aren’t hurt because they play their guys too much. They play their guys that much because of the injuries to their main guys lmao

[@jonathansykes4986]

Also jokic is the 6th best player of all time.

[@urbaindelva7869]

Let's slow down.

[@paxtonbecker]

Getting there. A chip and finals mvp will go a long way. End of his career, yes

[@legittaco5899]

@@paxtonbecker *Maybe, let's let the story play out, there's still plenty of potential time for bad luck and disappointment.

[@bradentucker4854]

I’d say you need at least like 3 rings to be around there because right around 8-4 you start talking about the Kobe’s the Duncan’s the shaq’s but yeah he can get there as long as his help is healthy

[@student99bg]

center*