Last week I changed the world with my piece about CJ McCollum and Kemba Walker (here it is) and how super fun they are to watch, so I thought to myself "Self, you could do that again but instead of writing about munchkins you could tell the people about giants!". And that is how I arrived at an article about Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid; two incredibly young and incredibly large human beings that will be entertaining us for years to come. Let us begin.
Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
(This is an actual passport photo from when he was 14, you can always rely on me for quality investigative journalism)
6-10 Center, 22 Years Old (Born 1995)
All stats are from current 2017-2018 season, via basketball reference, except for net rating
Normal Person Stats:
16pts/10reb/5ast
48% overall from the field
33% from three
88% from the line
Lame Nerd Stats*:
22.3 P.E.R. (Player Efficiency Rating)
57.6% TS (True Shooting)
22.9% USG (Usage Rate)
4.0 WS (Win Shares)
+14.0 Net Rating (via cleaning the glass)
*As I am sure you remember, I explained the lame nerd stats for those of you who actually have lives last week. However since I not only added a new stat since then, but actually learned what win shares are, we get to go down that boring rabbit hole yet again. To reiterate from a week ago: I highly suggest you skip this section.
So, win shares. Apparently win shares are a basketball statistic that measures a player's total impact on the court and rewards them with a total number equaling that player's share of his team's wins. Go figure. For instance if a team has fifty total wins at the end of the season, the cumulative total of the players' win shares on the team should also be fifty, or very close to it. Therefore Nikola Jokic's share of the Denver Nuggets' twenty-one wins is four. Something to keep in mind is that this stat does not adjust at all for minutes played, meaning players who play more, even if they are average will accumulate more win shares than efficient players who play low minutes. "Fun" fact: there is a stat which does adjust for win shares on a per minute basis and it is called...win shares per forty-eight minutes. Nerds are not the most creative people.
Next up: Net rating. Net rating is the amount of points a player's team scores(offensive rating) minus the amount of points a player's team allows(defensive rating) every hundred possessions while the player is on the court. Using Nikola Jokic's numbers once again as an example, his plus fourteen net rating means that his team, the Denver Nuggets, score fourteen more points than their opponent every hundred possessions played while he is on the court. The reason this is done per one hundred possessions and not per game is to account for pace of play, meaning games with less possessions( and therefore less actual play) are weighed less than games with more. This statistic is excellent for comparing teams to each other(as in the Warriors score ten more points than their opponents per one hundred possessions this season), and is the go to statistic for measuring offense and defense throughout the league . If you know or look at any nerd stat, this is the one to follow in order to understand where the league is at in a snapshot.
Nikola Jokic though. A Big man who has an incredibly unique style to his play, a pass first center who averages five whole assists per game. Moreover, he is excelling in a sport that generally rewards those with incredible speed or leaping ability, two attributes which he doesn't exactly have in spades. If it is the first time you have seen him play, you may think he is slow. Or nonathletic. Or hungry. Honestly I am not even sure he can dunk and he is damn near seven feet. But then he will do something like this:
At which point you understand why he doesn't need to be fast, or jump high, or run with any grace whatsoever. Who needs grace when you have magical passing skills like this. Grace is for figure skaters like Chaz Michael Michaels and Jimmy MacElroy. Nikola Jokic simply bends space and time when he makes passes, for his passing is the constant, and all else is relative.
Remember when I put the five assists in bold earlier? I do everything for a reason! Putting aside my fantastic use of figurative exaggeration and humor ( for but a moment), Jokic is the best passing center in the NBA right now. This is especially true when factoring in that the Nuggets' offense runs through him, meaning he is the focus of opposing defensive schemes, despite this he has gotten them to be a top ten offensive team in the league. Here is another clip of him rolling to the basket, hitting a cutter along the baseline:
This is solid hot potato passing in a very crowded lane against an excellent defensive team in Golden State. This pass, similar to the miracle he produced in the earlier clip, requires a certain awareness that I personally don't think should be attainable by a human, it can only lead to disaster. Jokic knows exactly where he is going with this pass the minute he starts rolling down the lane, way before he touches the ball himself. Beautiful. Gorgeous. Inspiring. *Another descriptive adjective to be added later*.
I think by this point I have succeeded in proving Nikola's passing is dope and that he should be a Professor Emeritus at Hoops University teaching Big Man Assisting 450: How to one up your guards while maintaining the ethical high ground. But I bet you are wondering if he can score? Why yes he can put the ball in the basket, and while he isn't a low post bruiser he can bully smaller defenders If they switch onto him. Case in point:
That's Draymond Green guarding him there. You know, defensive player of the year Draymond Green. Draymond "Literally Guards Entire Teams" Green. And our boy Nikola Jokic just went through him like a hot knife through butter. Nikola is adept at posting up smaller defenders this way, and he is always looking for the pass out to a shooter, should the defense send help.
Weaknesses you ask? Defense. I make fun of his lack of physical tools ( length, leaping ability, speed, strength) but it is hard to be a good defender in the NBA without hitting the genetic lottery, he can neither defend the rim or switch all that effectively on defense. Moreover, this lack of true NBA athleticism makes him an average finisher offensively for a big and sub-par at drawing shooting fouls and getting to the free throw line( thereby hurting his scoring efficiency). Needless to say he won't be posterizing anybody soon.
All this said I highly recommend giving him a watch, and the Nuggets by association. Especially any games between them and Golden State, some of my favorite regular season games over the past couple years have been between the Nuggets and Warriors.
Oh and Nikola is a big funny dude. As in his body language and facial expressions are just hilarious. And he kinda looks like hes always about to fall down. And hes a bit overweight. In terms of non basketball entertainment while on the court he is definitely first team all NBA right now. Along with with this next guy...
Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers
7-0 Center, 23 Years Old (Born 1994)
All stats are from current 2017-2018 season, via basketball reference, except for net rating
Normal Person Stats:
24pts/11reb/3ast
48% overall from the field
29% from three
80% from the line
Lame Nerd Stats:
23.0 P.E.R. (Player Efficiency Rating)
58.0% TS (True Shooting)
32.8% USG (Usage Rate)
2.9 WS (Win Shares)
+19.5 Net Rating (via cleaning the glass)
This guy. Look I get it, normally I try and shine light on dudes you don't know. Or that play in small markets and get little mainstream media exposure. These things definitely don't apply to this big man hailing from Cameroon. But. He. Has. Been. Killing. It. He has played a grand total of sixty-one games and may very well be the best center in the NBA already. You know how when you watch like ten year old rec league basketball there is that one kid who is already like six foot two? Joel Embiid is that kid in the NBA, except he is also coordinated. Just watch this. Hes the dude with the ball.
Despite having the gravitational pull of a small moon the guy can pirouette with either foot into a variety of finishes with either hand around the basket. Normally I am against all player comparisons to historically great players, but I kinda get them when it comes to Joel Embiid and Hakeem Olajuwon. I see it. Both guys are massive centers who somehow have great footwork,coordination, and change of speed on offense. In a sport where post play can often devolve into ugly bully ball, Embiid certainly does a fine impersonation of Olajuwon's balletic style. (If haven't seen any tape of Olajuwon, watch this. All of it. I'll wait.)
And like our close personal friend Nikola Jokic, Embiid is not a black hole on offense. He can whip some nice bounce passes around and hit cutters. You want an example? Sure thing. That's what I am here for:
That is a lefty bounce pass between two defenders resulting in a dunk for his teammate. His dominant hand is his right. That was left handed. The other day I tried to flip my omelette with my left hand (because I have mastered the enterprise with my right hand) and flipped it out of the pan onto the floor where my dog promptly ate it. It was as if he knew I would fail in my foolish endeavor. Moral of the story : don't ever risk losing the last of your pepper jack cheese chasing ambidextrous glory. Second Moral of the story : dogs are surprisingly sneaky. They always act dumb but I am quite sure it is a charade.
The Point is left handed stuff is difficult.
But you know what this giant is best at? Defense. Other teams just don't get layups when he is in the game...
Other teams also don't get any other shots when he is in the game...
And while he is a good offensive player, putting up good efficiency on a massive usage rate, he is already elite defensively. In my opinion he has been the best defensive player in the league thus far this season. He just erases good looks for the opposing team when he is anywhere near the player taking the shot, and even sometimes when he is not (see above clip). The dude owns the paint defensively.
So. Weaknesses? Honestly... none. Offensively you would like him to have a higher shooting percentage as a big man, but he has a fantastic free throw rate* which more than makes up for his penchant to take mid-range jumpers. Defensively he can't really switch onto smaller players all that well, though he might become capable in time.
Free throw rate is a lame nerd stat that measures how many free throws a player shoots per shot attempt. Basically measuring how effective a player is at getting shooting fouls. High volume efficient scorers nearly always have very high free throw rates.
The fact is that Joel Embiid, some sixty games into his professional basketball career, is already a top fifteen(ish) player in this league. And I guarantee you his sights are set much higher than that. If I were you I'd stay tuned, I know I will be.
Thanks for reading. Watch this space. See you next Friday.
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