Popular NBA analyst Charles Barkley shocked many fans by blaming Denver Nuggets coach David Adelman for the team’s recent struggles. Nikola Jokic has played some of his worst basketball in many years due to Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert defending him more physically. Minnesota took a 3-1 series lead in Game 4, despite losing both Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo to injury.
Barkley called out Adelman for not making the right adjustments to help Jokic:
“For Denver, I think Coach Adelman has done an awful job helping the Joker. The reason the kid from Minnesota (Ayo Dosunmu) is doing great – they are attacking Joker in the pick and roll. If you go back and look at all those plays, they are attacking Joker. But I don’t like what Coach Adelman is doing with Joker. Joker is not a post up guy to go one on one.
He’s got to do a much better job putting Rudy in a pick and roll. Because remember when those other teams play against Rudy, they attack him in the pick and roll. I think coach Adelman has to stop just giving the ball to Joker because that’s not his game. Attack Rudy – that will help the Joker free up because even when he’s making a shot, it’s really difficult.”
Jokic is getting strong criticism for the first time in his career as being the reason for his team’s struggles. However, Barkley believes that Adelman making a couple of adjustments could help Jokic and save Denver’s season.
MVP Jokic Is Needed For Major Comeback
Jokic has surprisingly already had two comebacks from down 3-1 in his NBA career, but he’ll have to do it again to get to the second round. Minnesota is expected to lose both Edwards and DiVincenzo for the rest of the series.
Denver has a great chance of coming back since they have the superior talent of Jokic and Jamal Murray as All-Stars against Minnesota’s best players of Julius Randle and Gobert. Two home wins and one road victory is not that hard for the better team.
However, Barkley is right that adjustments must be made since the Timberwolves are forcing Jokic to hit difficult shots all game long. Jokic’s teammates must also step up to make plays when Minnesota provides help defense to open other Nuggets.
Jokic Must Get Past Rudy Gobert’s Defense
History has shown Gobert often letting other teammates like Randle or Naz Reid defend Jokic, Joel Embiid, and Victor Wembanyama as the top offensive centers. Gobert often gets criticized for this due to winning four Defensive Player of the Year awards.
This series is changing that to add more respect to Gobert’s name since he’s the one defending Jokic without much help. Jokic must win this matchup and have his usual great performances against Gobert’s best defense.
Barkley made a good point about how Jokic must work for every single basket since that tires him down the stretch. Jokic, Murray, and Adelman must figure out their mistakes fast or risk getting eliminated in embarrassing fashion.
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