It probably wasn’t in his story nba draft a choice of such value above his place, that o 41st pick in 2014When the Denver Nuggets they were left with the already two-time MVP of the regular season and one-time MVP of the finals, Nikola Jokiche is called among the great legends of this sport.
But how exactly did Jokic fall to that 41st pick? Why didn’t any of the other teams pick the Serb in the previous 40 spots in the series? The truth is that for this surprise of historic proportions to come to fruition, there was several factors that they hurt to that of Sobor and made him fall into the class. Next, we look at the three most important.
Doubts about the natural
If they were heard before Doubts or questions to Jokic about his physiquealready being a league MVP, they certainly multiplied in n. power before his arrival in the NBA.
In a league dominated by exceptional athletes, an inside with several extra pounds and? she could barely get off the floor to set in the hoop. A player who did everything with his speed, no spectacular plays in the open court or flying around the boards offensively or defensively.
“With her body type it was easy to have questions“the former Nuggets manager said a few years ago, Tim Connelly, during an interview with the Denver Post. “We thought about the teams that had failed in previous years when it came to drafting players like this. As Marc Gasolwho also didn’t exactly look like Adonis (a Greek mythological figure) when he was selected in the 2nd Round“.
Lack of minutes in his team
His name Ratko Vardaof the NBA’s memorable run through the Detroit Pistons in the early 2000s, created one of butterfly effect which helped the Nuggets take Jokic in the second round of the 2014 draft.
The inside veteran was the great signing of Jokic’s Mega Bemax for the 2013-2014 ABA League season and his presence, limited his minutes joker in the first team of Serbia.
2012-2013 was the first season with few minutes on the court for Jokic (4 games in the Serbian league) and the same in 2013, showed some interesting qualities during the U19 World Cupaveraging 7.1 points and 5 rebounds for runner-up Serbia.
Without Varda, we could easily see Jokic starting in 2013-2014. However, it was the veteran ex-Pistons who took that starting spot in addition to being the team’s primary offensive reference: he averaged 14.8 points in 23.7 minutesthrough 24 games (all starts) in the ABA League.
Jokic, on the other hand, Came on as a substitute in 22 of 26 gamesthough he managed to average 11.4 points and 6.4 rebounds.
For next season, Varda left the team and Jokic, who had already been drafted by the Nuggets in 2014, became a starter. The result? it was was selected as the 2014-2015 ABA League MVPshortly before making the jump to the NBA.
What would have happened if Jokic had started in 2013-2014? It’s impossible to know, but seeing that the following year he managed to win the MVP, we can reasonably conclude that at least he would be one of the best players in one of the toughest and most competitive European leagues. And if that were to happen, another franchise would likely have targeted the Serb before the 41st pick.
silent growth
Unlike other major international players like Luka Doncic or recently Victor Wembanyama, Nikola Jokic wasn’t one of the names that sounded loud years before the time of the Draft. Partly because of the huge competition that Serbia’s youth teams always offer and partly because they play in a team a little bitaway from the big continental competitions like Euroleague or EuroCup.
This is so true that even within the Serbian structure itself, Jokic was not such a household name like others during their formative years. To the extent that he barely registered the U19 World Cup as his only involvement with youth teams, without official matches in categories such as U18, U17 or U16.
Other Serbian internals of his generation such as e.g Nikola Jankovic, Nikola Milutinov or Dusan Ristic, was ahead of him in estimation. Until of course, Jokic’s talent exploded onto the scene between 2013 and 2014, to show that his level was far above that of any of his teammates or teams.
I am a sports journalist who has been writing for a news website since 2015. My work primarily focuses on sports news, but I have also written about other topics such as technology and the arts. I have an extensive background in journalism, having worked as a reporter for a local newspaper before moving to a news website.
Nine regular season games took place in the NBA on the night of December 26-27.
Utah hosted the Eastern Conference leader and won a sensational victory.
The first half of the match was spent with a small lead for the Pistons, who kept their opponent one or two shots away most of the time and entered the long break with a 1-point lead at 68:67. The decisive factor in the match was the third quarter; In this quarter, Jazz made a 16:3 move and took the lead by 12 points, 90:78. The home team had the advantage in the score, but Detroit gradually reduced the gap and 19 seconds before the siren, after two free throws by Cunningham, they equalized the score – 129:129. However, the match did not go to overtime – Utah took advantage of the remaining time with the efforts of George, who scored a two-pointer 3 seconds before the siren – 131:129.
Svyatoslav Mikhayyuk He stayed on the field for 21 minutes and recorded 9 points (3/4 two-pointers, 1/2 three-pointers), as well as 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal.
The most productive player was George, who scored 31 points for Utah, while Nurkic had a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
orlando: Black (24), Carter (16 + 8 rebounds), Bane (15 + 10 rebounds), Banchero (13), Jones (8) – start; Richardson (14) and Silva (8), Kane (5), Isaac (2), Howard (0), Penda (0), O. Robinson (0).
Charlotte: Ball (22 + 7 rebounds + 6 for loss), Knippel (16), Bridges (16 + 11 rebounds), Miller (15), Diabate (10 + 13 rebounds) – start; Hall (14 + 8 rebounds), Sexton (13), Hall (7), Green (6), Connaughton (1), James (0), Mann (0).
Chicago – Philadelphia – 109:102 (30:28, 19:24, 32:33, 28:17)
I am a sports journalist who has written for various websites and magazines. I currently work as an author at Sportish, a news website that covers sports news. My main focus is writing about soccer, rugby and other sports in the world.
On the evening of December 25 and the night of December 26, five Christmas games were traditionally held as part of the NBA regular season.
The most important match of the match day was played in Oklahoma, where the Thunder hosted San Antonio.
The home team started the game better and were ahead for most of the first quarter, but they missed a move 0:11 into the quarter, allowing Spurs to take the lead 41:36. Oklahoma was unable to take the lead after that, but San Antonio maintained its lead by keeping the game under control and eventually won 117-102.
The Spurs have won all three games against the Thunder this season, while Oklahoma has lost just two of the other 28 games.
The most productive player of the match was Fox, who brought 29 points to San Antonio, while Vembanyama also scored a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
The Lakers played Houston at home and suffered a crushing defeat.
The fate of the match was decided in the first quarter, when the Rockets won by 12 points (25:37). Afterwards, they increased their advantage by completely controlling the course of the match and eventually won with a score of 119:96.
For Houston, Thompson scored 26 points and Shengyun had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Denver and Minnesota closed out game day.
The first half of the match ended in a draw. Neither team managed to take a lead of more than 9 points, and Denver entered the big break with a 2-point lead at 57:55. In the third quarter, the Nuggets made an attack of 6:0 at the beginning and 10:2 in the middle, reaching a 16-point lead, and at the end of the quarter they were ahead +15 – 90:78. The Timberwolves did not give up and made a 16:2 move midway through the fourth quarter, reaching a lead of 107:108. This gave fans a tense ending; Edwards hit a three-pointer 2 seconds before the siren, sending the game into overtime at 115:115. And there Jokic played a decisive role and scored 18 points in 5 minutes, allowing the Nuggets to win 142:138.
Jokic scored 56 points in the NBA on Christmas Day, falling just four shy of Bernard King’s record. Nikola also recorded a triple-double with 16 rebounds and 15 assists. Murray had a double-double with 35 points and 10 assists.
NBA. Regular season. Christmas Day, 25-26 December
New York – Cleveland – 126:124 (23:38, 37:20, 24:38, 42:28)
I am a sports journalist who has written for various websites and magazines. I currently work as an author at Sportish, a news website that covers sports news. My main focus is writing about soccer, rugby and other sports in the world.
14 games of the NBA regular season were played on the night of December 23-24.
“Utah” hosted “Memphis” and in the middle of the second quarter they were ahead by 15 points at 50:65, but then they made a move at 17:4 and returned to the match 67:69. In the third quarter, the Jazz managed to take the lead with 71:69 and the game was leveled, but the Grizzlies added points at the end of the quarter and took the lead again with 109:101 and then calmly maintained the advantage with 137:128.
Svyatoslav Mikhayyuk The player, who was in Utah’s top 5 and played 22 minutes, recorded 9 points (4/4 free throws, 1/4 two-pointers, 1/5 three-pointers), 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 1 turnover and 1 foul.
The most productive player of the match was Aldama, who scored 37 points for Memphis, while Spencer also recorded a double-double, adding 11 points and 13 assists.
In the main match of game day, San Antonio unexpectedly defeated Oklahoma.
During the three quarters, there was an even contest in which no team could gain a lead of more than 8 points, and the leader changed 16 times. The fate of the match winner was decided in the fourth quarter, and the 9:0 attack of the home team was effective in this, and then the advantage reached 12 points (98:86). San Antonio then controlled the course of the game and confidently cruised to victory, gaining an advantage of 130:110.
The top scorer of the winning team was Johnson, who scored 25 points, while Castle scored 24 points for Spurs.
I am a sports journalist who has written for various websites and magazines. I currently work as an author at Sportish, a news website that covers sports news. My main focus is writing about soccer, rugby and other sports in the world.
