What’s crazy is that while you do have these injury prone guys at the position, a lot of the guys getting hit the most (zubac, gobert) don’t miss a lot of time at all year in and year out 

I remember a game earlier this year he got smacked so hard on his bald ass head you could clearly see a full red handprint left behind and there was no foul called

I have watched a lot of Spurs games and teams go at Wemby as well.

He should threaten to fight more players so they actually review it, seems like the only way to get things done

I know it’s part of the game but it’s always funny to see a big man get mauled and have no call, and then go the other way and some small guard flails his arms at the most minuscule contact and gets free throws.

Dwight Powell gets whacked in the face/head a lot too. Sometimes he even does it to himself.

How about being deadlocked by Draymond? Is that a big enough deal? /s

Dude, Dwight Powell gets mugged. Remember a few weeks back when KAT hit him in the nuts over and over again?

i agree on all of your points.

i think for jokic specifically, that he just gets exasperated with the constant no calls. he then over-embellishes everything to try to get any call, even on very obvious legal plays. its hard to watch. but its also hard to watch him leave with scars on his arms from guys that dont cut their nails and lacerate him.

I also think a lot of time it looks worse when a big man does it as when they are playing for space and elbowing the shorter guy they hit their head and kneel area and often guys like Rudy get called a flagrant for it. When they do that against guys their height it is not called

tale as old as time.

Also, go back and watch how Draymond defended him in 22. WWE shit

I don’t care how much lighter you are than the other guy, if you full force plow your ass into someone’s knee when they aren’t ready that shit will buckle.

Twerking your ass into the other guys crotch while reaching around to grab his ass isnt boxing out.

KAT gets away with the most hilarious stuff. Elbows, clearouts, stiffarms, kicks. I’d be terrified to guard that dude.

Didn’t he get hurt on a chase down block or a fast break? I didn’t feel like the nets were dirty or anything. They just very much played to make everyone else beat them instead of Jo.

I’m happy to see he’s finally wearing the damned goggles lol

“Arvydas Sabonis has the biggest head in the NBA. And I don’t mean ego. I mean head. Check it out. That thing must weigh 80 pounds”

• Jayson Williams, Loose Balls

Yeah, the reason they are in the dumps right now is because all the remaining injuries are clustered on their forwards, who are also their best back line defenders.

They were only able to survive the Jokic injury because it was, by far, the softest part of their schedule. They are in a really tough section of the schedule now, and they are so easily exposed without Gordon, Watson, a healthy Cam Johnson, or even Spencer Jones available. They are literally on their 5th string forwards at this point.

People overrate the importance of guards and underrate forwards. For example, Siakam was the most important player to the Pacers last year

fucking Solomon Hill.

Yeah it’s the same thing as when people criticized Daigneault for his statements after the Dort play. Coaches back up their players publicly. The logic doesn’t matter, you just insert yourself in between the player and the media, it’s part of the job

This doesn’t really piss me off given that context 

100% of fans want their coach to say the same thing

all of them.

This is just such a stupid quote.

Giannis consistently takes hits that would be called flagrants on other players but don’t even get reviewed. I can’t count the number of times he’s been dangerously grabbed going up to the hoop.

Ya that’s exactly what he’s saying

There’s middle ground between Lu Dort throwing a chop block and guys playing physical

It’s because big dudes can’t be physical back with a small player without being called for fouls. Shaq was fucking up other 7 footers so the refs didn’t care.

Honestly it makes sense that players get officiated differently depending on their playstyle and size. That’s why officiating does require some(a very small amount but some nonetheless) of subjectivity.

Players like Shaq and Giannis are so physically dominant that they are impossible to defend if they assert themselves in particular ways. That’s why both the teams they were/are on and the teams they faced/face feel like they are getting the raw end of the deal. They get away with things that might be considered offensive fouls by other players while the defense also gets away with defensive fouls that wouldn’t necessarily fly on other players.

It’s just different when Giannis is posting you up as opposed to TJ McConell.

Shaq also gave a ton of contact too. Just knocking dudes over and getting the and 1 call

Also, it was advantageous to make him shoot free throws.

Ty for the shoutout/call out. Lots of folks don’t know how far back we go

I’m glad a nuggets fan could give credit where credit is due instead of having to call it out as a wolves fan. It made a massive difference taking Gobert off of Jokic.

You’re right. Jokic definitely gives as good as he gets. That’s what makes it so impressive that guys like Caruso are able to handle all his physicality and still stay in front of him.

Although, I think letting players wrap their arms around his leg is a bit too much. Maybe I’m biased because I used to play at center, but if I was guarded that way I would absolutely crash out lol.

Yep exactly. It keeps things awkward for him if he isn’t right under the basket. Caruso is daring him to try to dribble towards the basket, where he’ll go for a swipe at the ball. Additionally as you mentioned, zone him off passing plays.

Refs don’t like to call double fouls because it’s a stoppage of play without net impact on the game, but it would really help from this kinda stuff boiling over all the time. It’s always wild to me to see touch fouls being called on a ball handler while two guys are just wrestling in the paint for the entire possession with no whistle

Yeah, to add on this, Jokic plays a lot in the post, which historically sees more contact allowed. Jokic uses his strength too. They’ll call contact if it’s a sustained impact on freedom of movement (I think one official described it as a “quick release”) or a “strong” impact, but they do let contact go. In that recent OKC game, at one point Jokic in the post shouldered someone to the floor for a no-call. But that’s in part because of how they let things be more physical in the post.

The other thing that putting a small defender helps with is dealing with the Jokic-Murray DHO. OKC had JDub on Murray, so if Jokic ran the DHO, Caruso could switch on it to guard Murray (a positive matchup for OKC) and have JDub, who is strong enough to not get destroyed every time, guard Jokic. Same goes for screens that Jokic sets.

Combine that with the Denver poor spacing and struggles with throwing an entry pass, as well as OKC’s relentlessness in making that entry pass as difficult as possible, and one of Jokic’s major offensive tools is kinda neutered. If he’s forced to catch the ball further out, it means more energy to get closer to the rim, which means more opportunities to have the ball poked away or stripped. When you get the ball in your spot and with space, it’s a lot easier. I think there were a few times where Jokic had a straight one-on-one with Caruso and just powered through him for an easy bucket.

But it’s the nearby help and ball denial that makes the defense work. Caruso’s physicality is part of it, but it isn’t so egregious that it’s the only reason it worked; people should look at it as a team defense rather than a 1-on-1 matchup, which Caruso would lose almost every time despite any physicality.

Well that’s a whole other problem. Caruso’s “reputation” allows him to get away with way more than another player of similar caliber.

Hooking the arm around his leg was the foul by Keyonte. Jokic definitely fouls him as well.

You’re a Spurs fan. Nothing you say can be trusted since you have a damn alien on your team. Its honestly bullshit what he can do as a player. If Wemby is healthy for the next 5 years it’s over. Everything going else you said is bull. 

Yeah the officials just magically officiate with a rule that doesn’t exist where smaller guys can just do whatever they want as long as they other guy is a big

Hahahaha Alfred E. Neuman. It looks exactly like him

If you blast through contact it is less noticeable.

There is also just a general lack of awareness about how many fouls players draw. Seperate from the flopping conversation, the guys that shoot the most fts are usually just the guys that shoot the most shots inside the arc. The only big exceptions this year are luka, deni, and harden. The former 2 just have a crazy foul rate inside the arc and the latter is the best ever at drawing fouls on 3s.

It’s almost as though a bunch of Reddit commenters are unfamiliar with the concept of a press pool

It’s a great city

no one knows what it means, but it’s provocative, gets the people going

He’s won his last title as a the main guy. Also called his only title.