Can you read the game like Nikola Jokic?

niic is one of the best passers to ever play the game and sometimes it feels like he has eyes in the back of his head out there so can you read the game as well as he does we can't stand out on the floor and play center for the Nuggets but we can pause some videotape and try to guess what Joker is going to do so keep score if you want open your mind and let's take an interactive quiz on Nicole aic's is passing let's start with something that's not too complex yic is in the two-man game with Jamal Murray catches it on the roll and is it a going back to Murray B Michael Porter Jr C Aaron Gordon or D cavius Caldwell Pope think about it as you watch it again which of these teammates gets the pass and it is C Gordon congratulations if you started one for one let's do another simple one jic comes off a screen and should he a hit the shooter up top B hit the cutter or C shoot it himself take another look what do you think well the answer to this one is B hit the cutter and this is the quintessential yic assist where the cutter looks completely covered but he throws it anyway similar situation here Joker gets a screen from kcp and should he a pass to Caldwell Pope B skip it across the court or C shoot it and if we play it back through this time he opts to go with the shot because his man sagged way off to take away that cutting action and the penalty for that is an open three great job if you got that one this one's a pick and pop action so should yic a pass to the cutter B skip it to the wing or C shoot it h what do you think here it is again is it one of those passes or a shot it's a cutter pass and a miss layup and he maybe could have led Jackson a touch more but this is a wonderful read all right this time yic is screening the Lakers switch it so he has the mismatch and now ad's lurking in help and mpj's headed to the corner will he a hit Gordon B kick it out to Porter or C shoot it himself and this one's a little tricky because of everyone's positioning but it's some seriously high percentage offense on the kick out to Porter in the corner for an open three let's stay in the same game with Murray feeding jic and screening away and is it going to the cutter Justin holiday or is it going back to Murray after his screen for a layup and this one's basically a Quantum coin flip because he hits Murray this time but that's only because Jamal's Defender jams the route when La switches and if he doesn't do that it's behind the back to holiday so I say give yourself two points if you got that one right okay here's a simple one with jic waiting for more screening action and does he a hit Reggie Jackson or B Porter in the corner and on this one he goes for the skip instead of the slip and the read here is primarily about this help Defender cheating way over in case Jackson does slip the screen which opens the corner three and yic never has to look because he knows where all the pieces are supposed to be and these are literally Blind Faith passes trusting his teammates to be in the right spots all right here's that same play we just saw with Porter screening for the corner and will jic a hit kcp back door B swing it to Murray on the wing or C wait for Porter on the hand off and here he waits because the kcp pass is a little too tight but then porter back doors so will he a hit him B fire to kcp now or or C attack his own man and these passes are still too tight so he goes to work on a smaller Defender waiting for any double and now does he a go to Murray B hit Gordon or C spin to shoot himself and this is a drop off to Gordon for the dunk and yage is dictating the read by targeting Murray's Defender with his head position and that big big ball swing to fake out a corner pass here's one where jic is bringing it up and running pick and roll and too late you missed it and if you spotted that Defender cheating way over to help on the screening action give yourself I don't know three points that's amazing um let's get back to that Lakers game with yic rumbling downhill uncovered here and should you a shoot the floater B hit kcp in the corner or C Gordon cutting and I'll give you a hint here the key to this one is recognizing the Personnel because LeBron James won't fall for that no look and it's a rare misstep now in the 2023 playoffs the Lakers famously guarded joic with ruy hamura for stretches well Anthony Davis roamed off the ball to use his length and that same thing happened this February with ad Switched Off and roaming so Joker backs down the smaller hachimura and does he a hit pton Watson B kick it out to a shooter or C shoot it himself and with Davis's length lurking why not just take the high percentage shot yourself okay what about this one where jic again has a smaller defender on him the center roams right behind him as backup so will he look for a Gordon at The Rim B Payton Watson on the baseline or C kick it out to a shooter and as you think about that answer keep in mind how fast these reads unfold in real time and how tight some of the windows are here's another mismatch around the free throw line area and will he a hit the far corner b hit the paint C go to the near corner or def find the wing and in these situations sometimes the right pass isn't about positioning but about expectation because scoot Henderson's in good position but joic knows the rookie isn't ready for a pass at all and Magic Johnson used to do this all the time throwing it right at the defender because there's a difference between being in position to defend the pass and being aware a pass is coming and this is the complete Mastery of the sport and when you add in jokic's reflexes and Perpetual misdirection it's impossible to predict where he's going is this one a pass to Gordon a kick out to a shooter or a shot for Joker by all reasonable measures the open players here are the shooters but he gets it to Gordon anyway unreal and when you watch Denver play or really anyone remember that re beting the game involves understanding where all the pieces are and manipulating Defenders sometimes by hanging in the air to wait for them to commit so you can find something even better and yeah it helps to have eyes in the back of your head but this kind of near-perfect decisionmaking is exactly what makes niic one of the best offensive players in NBA history let me know down below how many of these you got right or what your total score was if you followed along with our crazy scoring system if you like this kind of video let me know and maybe we can do another one in the future otherwise you can support us at patreon.com basketball thanks as always for watching and in this case playing along with this one and of course I hope you are having a great day

Channel: Thinking Basketball

Views: 198,334

Keywords: NBA, NBA film analysis, NBA Analytics, Thinking Basketball, highlights, NBA highlights, NBA film breakdown, NBA scouting reports, scouting reports, Xs and Os, Nikola Jokic, GOAT passers, passing quiz, passing IQ, decision making, basketball test, Denver Nuggets, Jokic highlights, passing highlights

Id: xbbyIK5tXzI

Length: 8min 58sec (538 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 21 2024