Jokic & Nuggets Key Adjustment
Jokic shows us the Nuggets philosophy.
Throughout the course of the season, I had questions about the level the Nuggets’ defense could reach when it comes to contending for a championship. Adding good defenders like KCP & Brown were good moves but if Jokic has a flaw it is his ability to defend at the highest levels and his vulnerability in ballscreen defense. To combat this the Nuggets will use a variation of ballscreen coverages with the most common looks being “ICE” and “Hedge” coverages mixing in drop vs certain players. I am very impressed with the Nuggets defense so far this postseason and I can say that I am glad to be surprised at how well they execute and implement different strategies.
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📝 Playbooks:
2023 NCAA Tournament Playbook | 2023 Uconn Huskies Playbook | NCAA Tournament Bundle (2018-2023)
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ICE
You probably think about Tom Thibodeau yelling out ICE often with the Chicago Bulls as he is often credited for making this defense famous with the Boston Celtics under Doc Rivers and it has been used by almost every team in the NBA since.
The coverage is designed to force the ball away from the ballscreen and force the ball to the sideline to prevent the player on the ball from getting screened off and keep the ball in front of them.
Getting this ICE setup is not always the easiest but the goal is to have the player on the ball get above the screen and emphasize forcing the ball away and toward the sideline.
One thing that teams do with players like Booker is to use this same coverage and force the player to their weak hand - Weak Coverage.
Note: this could just be their normal ICE coverage and since it’s forcing to the sideline it pushes Booker/KD to their left.
Drop
In the regular season this is obviously one of the most run coverages by any team since the willingness to allow mid range is encouraged over the course of the season and helps protect the rim better and limit the roll man. Throughout the playoffs this is typically tweaked and run differently based on matchups and this is exactly what the Nuggets are doing by having Jokic play Drop - but only against CP3.
Normally playing Drop Coverage and allowing players like Chris Paul to walk into mid-range jump shots is not an effective strategy but the caveat here is that CP3 is more of a pass first guard and not a shoot first guard (in the year 2023). By making him a threat to shoot more and staying home on shooters it forces him and the Suns to get out of their primary offensive attack and have CP3 make shots.
He can make shots and makes them when it counts (although he is hurt now so this might be a moot point if he can’t get back) but this is also reserved for the “others” outside of Booker/KD so keeping this in mind is important going forward.
Hedge
Jokic and the Nuggets blend hedge and up-to-touch coverages all in one and this allows some flexibility for Jokic to read the players and recognize how high or off they should play in the moment. The theory is that against Booker/KD to have Jokic off the shoulder of his man setting the ballscreen and then force the ballhandler to go lateral and try to limit downhill attacks with good angles.
Against a player like Booker who likes to turn the corner and get downhill this can be tough, but forcing him outside of the paint is the goal once he gets going quickly.
Jokic also recognizes here he does not need to be any higher since Brown has Booker in a good position going away from the basket.
As the ball is coming off the ballscreen the player in the opposite corner (Braun) will be the tag man responsible for the roller and the other player on the wing (Green) will then take the next pass and play in between the corner and the slot.
Then when Booker skips this pass the Nuggets will “X-Out” the two opposite players.
The hardest thing for bigs in ballscreen defense is defending multiple actions or ballscreens in the same possession and executing the scouting report. This is where Jokic shines even though he isn’t considered a great defender - he is a high IQ player that can excel in multiple strategies and schemes throughout a game, series, and postseason.
Here is a good example of this in one possession starting out with an ICE coverage on booker in which he is at the 3 point line against a better shooter off the bounce and retreating back on the attack .
Then as the ball is swung he recognizes its CP3 in the ballscreen so positions himself outside the paint and on the left side but still in drop coverages to try to prevent any paint attacks and allow a deeper midrange shot.
A good example of the different coverages the Nuggets are employing vs different players with different skillsets.
Jokic Off Ayton
One creative thing the Nuggets are doing is taking a page out of the Warriors, Celtics & 76ers by having Jokic switch off the Ayton matchup and onto Okogie or other players on the Suns who are not the outside threat other players are. They do this by having Aaron Gordon start on Ayton so if they throw it into the post the Nuggets still have a solid matchup.
Then when the Suns run their normal ballscreen action with Ayton setting it they switch Gordon onto the ballhandler, and have Jokic in the paint waiting for the roll man to take Ayton and keep the matchups as good as they can be with wing on wing and big on big.
Since the Suns don’t typically have a lot of off ball action on the backside, we can see the Nuggets are able to communicate easily as Jokic switches onto Ayton and then sends Brown onto Okogie.
Jokic & Gordon Adjustment
A very cool thing I want to point out from when the Suns tried to hunt Jokic by having Okogie set the ballscreen and become the roll man. Jokic hedges out onto Booker and this leaves the roll man Okogie open in space to try and exploit the 4 on 3 advantage.
In the first example we see Booker hitting Okogie on the roll and then Gordon step up to stop the Okogie shot and leaving Ayton open for the drop off dunk.
Jokic then recognizes this and tells Gordon after the play to “Stay Home” and ignore Okogie’s scoring threat.
The next time Okogie gets it in space on the short roll, Gordon stays home and forces a pass out.
Watch here how Gordon bluffs and stunts at Okogie forcing him into a non decision and a pump fake as Jokic recovers.
📝 Playbooks:
2023 NCAA Tournament Playbook | 2023 Uconn Huskies Playbook | NCAA Tournament Bundle (2018-2023)
🏀 Resources:
Basketball Playbooks | Coaching Clinics | Coaching Membership | Newsletter
👉🏻 Follow:
I hope you enjoyed this breakdown, and as always thank you again for all of your support and for sharing my work.
Outwork Yesterday
Coach Pyper
Can we get some more breakdowns? Would be awesome!