The Denver Nuggets just wrapped up training camp. The defending champs look to take on the Phoenix Suns in their preseason opener tonight. Though training camp is over, the Denver players seemed to have worked hard on their skills. Clips of the same have surfaced on social media. One such clip showed Head Coach Mike Malone showing Nikola Jokic the bench as he executed a defensive drill to perfection on The Joker’s behalf.
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Showing Jokic how it’s done, Malone was looking fired up. The Nuggets’ HC added a little oomph to the drill and made sure to keep the atmosphere fun. Mike Malone is known to be vocal and active about his players. Malone runs a tight ship and will call you out if you slack, even if you’re the two-time league MVP.
Nikola Jokic left people divided over his defensive abilities
Nikola Jokic was the 41st pick of The 2014 NBA draft. The Serbian center wasn’t on most people’s scouting report, solidified by the fact that he was drafted during a Taco Bell advertisement. A lot of teams chose to bail on Nikola, mainly due to his lack of athleticism and lateral quickness. These drawbacks made Nikola a defensive liability, but now the stats are saying otherwise. Jokic was recently ranked as the fourth-best defender last season, a nod to his rebounding prowess.
But just like the scouts, even Joel Embiid thinks the same thing about his rival center. The 76’ers star subtly took a dig at his peer, telling Shams Charania during a Q&A,
“You can talk about analytics all you want. When you got some guys in the league, the eye test tells you that they’re not good defensively, but analytics tell you they’re the best defenders.”
But Embiid’s opinion isn’t what is the consensus in the league. After Game 1 of the 2023 NBA Finals, Jimmy Butler, of all people, had heavy praise for The Joker’s defense. While addressing the media, Butler said,
“As much as people look at what he does on the offensive end, he’s a hellified defender as well.”
Mike Malone thinks that Nikola needs to work on his defense as he seems to be working Jokic extra hard. Malone has made the team defensively better over the years, as they managed to even keep the Heat to its lowest score for the season during Game 1 of the Finals. With the league now having a bunch of super teams pop up over the off-season, it would be interesting to see if the defending Champions make it back to the Finals to defend their trophy.
