Basketball's No. 1 Anti-Fan

Chapter 301 He Doesn’t Look Like a Rookie
Jokic scored the first goal for the Cavaliers, and then Aldridge received the ball in the low post and back-to-backed TT.

Popovich is using him as peak Duncan.

Aldridge did not disappoint expectations. After receiving the ball, he made his signature back-to-the-basket shot with a slight backward turn.

The Cavaliers attacked, Irving waved his hand to signal the tactics, and Jokic was "rewarded" with a low-post tactic.

Jokic also quickly got into position with his back to Duncan.

Cheers from fans immediately rang out at the scene.

It was already impressive enough that Jokic scored in the one-on-one match against Duncan, but now he is so determined to get into position. His performance is not like that of a rookie at all.

Popovich also stood up and walked to the sidelines at this time. The gesture he made was also very interesting. He asked the Spurs not to provide assisting defense.

If Duncan can't defend a rookie, he can retire right where he is.

"This is not a good choice." Kenny Smith played the role of a rational person.

In fact, Jokic really couldn't beat Duncan in the low post.

Duncan just slowed down, but his outstanding height and wingspan still gave him an advantage in this relatively static confrontation.

And Jokic's current strength is not enough to make Duncan feel relieved.

After swaying left and right, Jokic's reluctant shot was blocked by Duncan.

Including the one blocked by Leonard before, this was the second time he was blocked in the first three rounds. He is still very immature in this level of confrontation.

However, what happened next was beyond everyone's expectations. He actually used his long arms to retrieve the blocked ball, then turned around and completed the second attack with a big hook shot.

And the key is that he showed a soft touch in the second attack and actually hit the ball!

This made Smith silent.

He was analyzing rationally, and Jokic was slapped in the face at the speed of light!
Not to mention Smith, even Duncan stared at the young man in front of him with wide eyes.

It wasn't because Jokic was able to score the ball on the second attack, but because of Jokic's mentality.

It seemed that his block just now was fake.

If Jokic wasn't a member of the Cavaliers, he would have wanted to take Jokic as his apprentice!

Hansen also reached out and high-fived Jokic while retreating.

Off the court, Jokic gives people the impression of being an "ordinary" person. He doesn't want to go to work, he doubts himself, he enjoys life, and he doesn't even care too much about what others think of him.

If you just live with him, you can't tell at all that he has the mental qualities to become a superstar.

But when he is on the court, he will work hard, be calm and composed, do everything he can and show his best.

The difference between the two is so great that it even makes people feel like their "account" is being logged in from a different location.

But this is also what makes Jokic so unique.

The Spurs continued to play Aldridge in the post.

This time Tucker moved back to help defend, but Aldridge turned to the baseline and made a slight backward shot and hit it again.

Aldridge's physical fitness is not very strong. The only thing worth mentioning is his excellent wingspan of 2 meters.

However, relying on this advantage, he has mastered the "simple way" of turning and leaning back with a small amplitude, which is as lethal as Nowitzki's one-legged stand.

Two years ago, when the Trail Blazers and the Rockets met in the playoffs, he relied on this move to blow up the Rockets' inside line.

TT's defense is strong, but it has no idea what to do when facing this kind of play.

Hansen broke through and made a quick stop from mid-range to score the first goal of the night.

Looking back, Malone waved his hand and the Cavaliers switched defense in the interior.

TT went to defend Duncan, and Jokic switched to defend Aldridge.

This choice looks bad, after all, TT's defensive ability is much stronger than Jokic.

But real basketball is not a game, and the effectiveness of positioning is not determined by the level of ability.

No matter how good TT is at defense, he is just a short, powerful inside player. He is good at low-post confrontation and can also assist in mobile defense, but he is at a disadvantage defending a technical player like Aldridge.

On the contrary, although Jokic is a little slower, his height and wingspan are there, and theoretically he can interfere with Aldridge.

Facts soon proved that Ma Long's adjustment was a stroke of genius.

Aldridge continued to back up in the low post, but Jokic successfully predicted the direction of his turn, interfered with his long arms and successfully made his shot miss the basket.

Moreover, Jokic quickly turned around and blocked the position after the interference, and then used his long arms to grab the defensive rebound.

One point that even Hansen overlooked is that Jokic's rebounding ability is underestimated.

Or maybe because of his outstanding offensive performance and relatively weak defense, people will subconsciously ignore this point.

In fact, Jokic's positioning and ability to judge the landing point of rebounds are both at an excellent level, which is why his physical fitness is mediocre but the number of rebounds is not low.

Then, right after that, he showed his best part.

After grabbing the rebound, he immediately held the ball high to prevent it from being stolen, then looked forward like a scope, and threw the ball in front of Irving who was in the front with a quarterback-like long throw.

It sounds a bit unbelievable, but this long pass is indeed leading Irving's fast break.

After receiving the ball, Irving didn't need to make too many adjustments. He accelerated two steps and directly flew up for a layup.

"I like this kid!" O'Neal shouted out loud.

He can back up in the low post, defend against opponents, and even make such a wonderful long pass. Although Jokic is visibly immature, his talent is also obvious.

There are fewer and fewer centers in the league now, and it is very rare to find a good center seedling.

Popovich was standing on the sidelines with a frown on his face.

When he was making arrangements before the game, he was targeting Hansen and Irving, but he never expected Jokic's performance as a starter would be so eye-catching.

He has seen many European white bears, but it is obvious that Jokic seems to be different from them.

Fortunately, what Parker did on the court soon calmed him down a little.

Aldridge had a hard time playing in the low post, so Parker immediately started a classic pick-and-roll with Aldridge.

Aldridge has strong mid-range ability, so the Cavaliers can only choose to switch defense.

After Jokic was forced into a mismatch against Parker, his weak defensive ability was exposed, and Parker passed him in one step, allowing the opponent to score a layup.

Irving continued with Jokic, and this time Jokic chose to shoot outside after the pick-and-roll.

The Spurs chose to switch defense this time. Although Popovich was surprised by Jokic's starting lineup, he obviously didn't know Jokic at all like Walton did.

Irving chose to break through Duncan and made a quick stop and layup.

He passes the ball when he should, and breaks through when he should. Irving's growth is visible to the naked eye.

6:8.

Although the score difference on the field is not big, the Cavaliers' offensive threat has been significantly improved compared to last season.

Last season, when the Spurs played against the Cavaliers, they only had to defend Hansen and keep a close eye on Irving to prevent him from scoring too many points. But now it's a bit difficult to know where to start.

You know, Han Sen hasn't even started to exert his strength yet.

Attack and defense changed, Malone continued to micro-manage, Jokic switched back to Duncan. Parker did not stop there, he switched to a pick-and-roll with Duncan and continued to catch Jokic.

The Cavaliers chose to shrink.

Duncan received a pass from Parker at the elbow, and his mid-range shot was blocked by Jokic and went wide.

Jokic is not fast, so the interference with this ball is actually quite limited.

If it were Duncan two years ago, he could have completely ignored the hit rate.

But it's clear that Duncan is aging, and it's especially evident this season.

After Aldridge came, his tactical position was greatly weakened, his number of shots hit a career low, and his scoring failed to reach double digits for the first time in his career.

Under such circumstances, it is inevitable that his condition and ability to seize opportunities will decline.

Fortunately, Duncan was still conscious. After seeing Jokic grab the rebound again and prepare to pass the ball, he decisively chose to foul on the spot to stop the fast break.

Both sides returned to their positions.

Hansen held the ball and asked Jokic to continue playing pick-and-roll.

Although Jokic's pick-and-roll quality needs to be improved, his offensive threat is great, and after starting, his pick-and-roll priority in positional battles is higher than TT.

Facing Hansen's possession of the ball, the Spurs did not dare to switch and could only go around.

And this kind of detour is not a complete detour, because Duncan will first pounce on Hansen to buy Green time to circumvent the defense.

However, the disadvantage of this approach is that it will give the pick-and-roll player certain opportunities.

Jokic didn't get a chance to shoot from outside in the last round, so this time he chose to cut in after the pick-and-roll.

Hansen saw the opportunity and knocked the ball to Jokic from behind Duncan.

Aldridge's assist defense ability is average, which gave Jokic an opportunity. After taking a step forward, he performed another powerful dunk with both hands.

The Quicken Loans Arena was boiling with excitement.

6:10.

Popovich reached out and called a timeout.

Han Sen was also slightly excited when he came off the field.

You know, he has only scored 2 points so far tonight, but the Cavaliers are already in a big advantage in the situation, which was unimaginable last season.

In fact, Irving only scored 2 points, and the remaining 6 points all came from Jokic.

Although he was blocked twice in a row at the beginning, Jokic's stable mentality gave him the opportunity to explode.

If nothing unexpected happens, Jokic will have the night of his career tonight.

After the timeout, Popovich made a substitution, and the player who came on was very unexpected.

He substituted Duncan for rest and replaced him with Boban Marjanovic, the 27-year-old rookie signed by the Spurs this season.

Boban is 2 meters tall and has a wingspan of 24 meters. He is a standard giant on the court and has a pair of huge hands. The basketball looks like a bowling ball in his hands.

Popovich wants to use a bigger player to cover Jokic.

Of course, there is another point. Boban is also from Serbia. Although the two are not teammates of the national team because Jokic has never been selected for the national team, he is Jokic's basketball predecessor after all, and will give him psychological pressure.

Boban came up and made his first contribution on the offensive end. Although he was very slow, much slower than Jokic, his body was really big and he directly blocked Irving. Parker took the opportunity to break through Jokic, attracted Tucker to help defend and then passed the ball to Leonard, who made a mid-range shot.

Parker has a high basketball IQ, and it is obvious that he wants to knock Jokic off the court.

But if the Spurs go for Jokic, the Cavaliers will certainly go for Boban as well.

Irving and Jokic broke through to the basket after a pick-and-roll, attracted a weak-side double-team and then passed the ball to Hansen.

Hansen broke through with the ball again, and the entire Spurs defense was shrinking towards him.

At this moment, Han Sen made a long horizontal pass without looking at anyone.

Jokic played very smartly. When he saw Boban coming up for a pick-and-roll, he chose to shoot outside, and from the strong sideline. This created space for Irving while not being easily noticed.

Hansen's pass was also hidden enough, and the Spurs only reacted when the ball reached Jokic.

But after being penetrated twice by Irving and Hansen, it was obviously too late for the Spurs to make up for it.

Jokic didn't hesitate, he stood in front of Popovich and threw a three-pointer.

"Shh!"

From the previous big hook shot, we can see that Jokic had a good touch tonight, and his three-pointer also went through the net.

The cheers at the scene were completely unstoppable.

They love this little fat boy so much!

Jokic's performance tonight was also shown on the big LED screen on site.

He made 6 of 4 shots and scored 9 points in this quarter!
"He doesn't play like a rookie at all!" Even Kenny Smith, a rational person, couldn't analyze it rationally.

"If he can improve his defense, he will become the best center in the league in the next five years!" O'Neal took his evaluation of Jokic to a higher level.

Popovich looked at Jokic in silence at this time.

No. How did the Cavaliers select this guy?

You know, the Cavaliers' lineup lacks a good inside player!

Moreover, Jokic is just a rookie now, he will grow, and he doesn’t dare to think about the future of the Cavaliers!
Parker continued to look for Jokic, and Jokic tried hard to defend this time, but was instead fouled by Parker.

Garnett stood up and called Jokic to his side, put his hand on his shoulder and quickly shared defensive experience with him.

Parker made both free throws, helping the Spurs keep the score close.

Turning back, Hansen continued to play pick-and-roll with Jokic.

And after the pick-and-roll, he hit the ball sideways to Jokic.

Boban knew he couldn't keep up with Jokic, so he retreated to the basket in advance and raised his hands to interfere with Jokic.

It was at this moment that Jokic received the ball, dribbled one step, turned around, jumped against the defense, and adjusted his position in the air in one go.

This is obviously the result of confidence and courage to take action.

The referee's whistle sounded at this time, and Jokic completed a small lob shot after adjusting in the air.

The ball hit the back of the basket, but bounced and fell into the net.

This is a 2+1!

The boy who loves to smile will not have bad luck. Jokic not only had a great touch tonight, but also had pretty good luck.

After seeing the ball go in, Jokic just nodded, as if no matter how good the goal was, he wouldn't get a celebration.

But at this time, the Cavaliers' bench and the fans at the scene were all in a boiling excitement.

TT on the court also ran up to Jokic and bumped his chest with him, then yelled at him.

After tonight, everyone will know who is No. 15 for the Cavaliers!
(End of this chapter)