In just four minutes and 38 seconds in the second quarter of Game 1 of the Western Conference Final, Denver Nuggets star Nicola Jokic made the third false statement of the game on his team’s bench. At the time the team knew that its 7-foot passing saint was in trouble.
More than 5,000,000 miles away, Joaquim’s favorite Serbian coach, Dejan Milojevich, had already concluded that the referee’s whistle had already blown. Milojevic carefully traced his former student on his big-screen television while he was going through an onslaught of prejudice, noting that some people desperately say the big man’s methods are reckless.
“He was nervous,” Milojevic said. “That’s why he had so many fouls. I saw it happen and thought, ‘I hope whatever goes wrong in court, even if it’s quiet.’
But Joaquim’s suspicions were evident from the Serbian coach’s living room.
“I know his face,” his coach replied. “I can tell you what he thinks. I’ve seen these people for many, many years, many hours a day. When I see that look, I know what it means.”
That meant a game 1 was drunk, with Jockey following in just 25 foul-plague minutes, followed by a heartbreaking Game 2 loss, in which Anthony Davis snatched the Nuggets’ upset intentions with a clutch jumper on the bugger. Giving Davis a clean look, Denver’s scary b-box-out skills and a missed free throw, Misjavic enjoyed the trending in those last minutes.
Jockey scored the final 11 points of the game for his team, and, if not for Davis’ game-winner, the traditional center, the bubble would have caused Celebre Doo to travel.
“I know people are mad at what they’ve lost,” Milojevic said, but they proved they could play with the Lakers. His defense was excellent. They should have more confidence. “
Milojevic coached the Jockey in the Mega Basketball (now Mega SoccerBet) in Belgrade from 2012 to ’15, and he was instrumental in honoring the center’s skills so that he could fulfill his NBA dream. Although the coach felt that the jockey had the talent to succeed, there were many who had doubts that had the personal discipline to make it. “I heard a lot, ‘No, Jokic, he can’t do that,'” Milojevic said. “They said, ‘Look at him.’ I did – and I saw someone special. “
The famous Serbian coach spoke to this ESPN reporter on Tuesday, but since Serbia was six hours ahead of Orlando, Florida (Game 3 started at 3 a.m. in Jokic’s hometown), Milojevic got a special arrangement to ignore the game’s analysis. He had already tried to stay in the playoffs, but when the halftime hit around 4.30am, Milojevic said he would inevitably achieve during the break. Now he goes to bed at normal hours and sees the first thing in the morning without announcing the result, free from professional and long coach challenges.
Like Jokic, Milojevic was once a Serbian center, a rugged undersized big man, whose skill and toughness on glass earned him the nickname “Serbian Barclays”. He was a tough player who lost weight in his own kitchen. It was not unfavorable to merge in a court that should have required a physical presence. “I only started fighting if I defended someone else,” he insisted.
Milojevic was known for his exceptional footwork, a skill he passed on with the jockey. His coach said, “I showed him some things, and a week later, he passed me already in capacity.”
Jokic’s unusual skill set is a testament to his creativity. Yet the basketball team, the head of basketball operations, insists that Milosevic’s fingerprints are on Jockey’s game.
“I’ve spent a lot of time in numerous gyms around the world, but Dejan quickly jumps to a completely different one.” “He doesn’t teach Nicola to ‘dribble, dribble, on the left shoulder.’ He reaches under the elbow to ‘dribble, dribble and shoot with the left hand.’ There is no cookie-cutter education. It is teaching its people to be unique players. “
Ever since Jockey picked up the basketball, he has been patient on the court and has chosen to share rather than dominate the ball. It was never a chisel specimen, and Milojevic discovered that it is easily released during conditioning unless something is at stake.
“There were winners and losers in our conditioning exercises,” Milojevic said. “I made them as competitive as possible. I got Nicola’s best effort when I did it that way.
“People always talk about Nicola and whether she’s in good shape or not. I say, ‘It depends on what you call good shape.’ Nicola is stronger than people think. She has a body frame … You see what you see. People look at her as if she’s chubby, like she’s a fat guy who can’t run. No. If you think that, it will defeat you. “
Although Milojevic admitted that he had no idea Joachim would develop into an all-NBA genius, he always believed he had the opportunity to try almost anything in the basketball court. Naturally, it comes with some indigestion. Early in his career, Jockey threw cross-court bullets of no appearance, almost impossible, bounce passes, trying to draw a needle with a full backspin. His passings came from the fringes between the legs, from the back – even from the back of his head – a stunning version of which was unveiled in the Game 7 win over the Clippers in the Western Conference semifinals.
Shortly after Nuggets drafted the jockey, Kenel Nellie expressed frustration with the big man that he was too tight-lipped. “I told Nicola that I had changed a lot since passing.” “I said, ‘Then why are you turning the ball like everyone else?’ He said, “In the mega, I throw the ball out of my head and I still play. Here, there is turnover and I sit.”
That initial approach, Milojevic confirms, was completely accurate. He said, “He made a lot of mistakes when he was younger.” I had to swallow a lot of things. He was throwing all these ridiculous passes – and he drove me crazy.
“But I saw something wonderful, so I didn’t want to focus on the mistakes in his mind. I let these things go so he could grow and learn from them.
“And now it comes out. There are a lot of great players in the NBA league – superstars – but a lot of them aren’t making their teammates better. Nicola needs that much. He enjoys passing more than scoring. That’s the thing that sets him apart. That’s why when he was throwing the ball all over the place, I didn’t say to him, ‘No!’ A lot of players can’t do what they do. So why stop that guy? “
Jockey’s offensive abilities include floaters, which he used to make Denver’s opening basket in Game 3, post-ups, a one-legged felway shuffle (often even with the wrong foot), as he sank in the final minutes on Davis. The first half, which helped Denver take a 5-lead lead.
Recently, Jockey has also dropped some accurate and deadly 3-point bombs. He is shooting about 12% better than the regular season (31.4) in this 2020 playoff (42.9). Her choice and role actions with colleague Jamal Murray are pure basketball poetry.
“It’s very difficult to be a defender because he plays differently at different speeds,” Milojevic said. “He hits the ground, which means the defense doesn’t have time to react. People look at him and say, ‘He can’t jump.’ But what they should say is, ‘Look at that. When you play with two feet on the ground, you can release the ball more quickly and the defense doesn’t have time to react.’ “
Milojevich is watching all of the NBA’s playoff games closely, as he now hopes to join the league’s coaching as his son Nikola (not named Jakok, who was years old when Milojevic’s son was born) has finished high school and wants to play college. Ball in America. Milojevic enjoyed the 2018 summer league with the Houston Rockets and has earned a lot of respect during the league.
“In normal times it is stripped away immediately, but with the epidemic there are unique challenges in travel and finances,” said Nellie.
When he thinks of his next move, Milojevic regularly after the jockey, and sometimes before, with each game. During the epidemic, Jockey attended a party celebrating the career of Milojevic in Serbia, who announced a year ago that he would step down from Mega in 2020. It was there that Jockey signed the COVID-19 contract. His coach tested negative but he still carries a smile of guilt that others got infected during the evening to toast his success.
Joaquim, who was asymptomatic, is in major playoff form, looking forward to winning on account for the Nuggets. The nerve, his old coach reports, has evaporated. Before going to sleep, Milojevic predicted a Game 3 Nuggets victory. That said, the key is where the ball was going – and to whom, it continued to be unreliable.
Denver is winning 114-106 – a clutch shooting by Murray and a career night by Jeremy Grant (26 points), rallied in a burglary quarter by the Lakers, as predicted by Joaquim’s mentor. Jockey did his part, giving up chipping in 22 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists. Milojevic says he believes the best is yet to come.
“It’s the best way I’ve ever seen,” Milosevic declared, “so of course I’m proud. Yes, we showed him an exercise to improve his vision, but you can’t study the things you do. They are different like them. “
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