Bucks Zone

Brook Lopez says he's grateful for the opportunity to defend Nikola Jokic one-on-one - "I appreciate the trust"

Brook Lopez is up to the challenge of defending Nikola Jokic one-on-one.
Matthew Dugandzic|
Brook Lopez says he's grateful for the opportunity to defend Nikola Jokic one-on-one - "I appreciate the trust"
Brook Lopez says he's grateful for the opportunity to defend Nikola Jokic one-on-one - "I appreciate the trust"

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Milwaukee BucksDenver Nuggets

Nikola Jokic is a different kind of superstar. While he can score with the best of them, he does his most damage by facilitating an offense that also has the likes of skilled players such as Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, and Michael Porter Jr. So, when the Milwaukee Bucks faced off against the Nuggets on Saturday, they assigned their starting center Brook Lopez to defend Jokic one on one.

While the initial results indicate the strategy did not work as not only did the Nuggets obliterate the Bucks, 129-106, but Jokic also had his way with 31 points, 11 assists, and six rebounds, it must be noted that Lopez spent most of the game sitting on the bench due to foul trouble. Nevertheless, the veteran center expressed his gratitude to the coaching staff for trusting him enough with the task of slowing down the reigning MVP.

“I appreciate that trust,” Lopez said. “It’s a great challenge, and I’m up to that challenge. I’m here for it.”

Trying to stop the Nuggets’ flow

Denver plays a dynamic brand of basketball, and at the heart of it is the unselfish Jokic, who averages a team-high 9.9 assists—good for fourth in the entire league. The Bucks’ coaching staff believed that the Nuggets were at their most dangerous when everyone got going, and Lopez was tasked with trying to slow down the passing of their star center.

“The Nuggets are obviously great when they get that ball moving. They have a lot of guys that can shoot, that can score, and their whole offense starts with Jokic,” said Lopez. “He’s great at moving the ball and finding those guys, so you want to try to minimize that as much as possible.”

One on one

Giannis believes that with Lopez guarding Jokic, the Bucks have as good a chance as any at slowing down the versatile big man.

“I feel like you got the defensive player of the year (Lopez) guarding Jokic one-on-one, and he’s a guy that wants to play-make a lot, get his teammates involved and you gotta take that; you gotta take that chance,” Antetokounmpo said.

The Greek Freak admitted that that was their gameplan against Denver, but it got scuttled when Lopez got into foul trouble and was limited to just 19 minutes of action.

“And that was our game plan, but Brook got in foul trouble. We gotta watch, go back and watch the tape, see if we can do anything better, but I feel like having Jokic go one-on-one with Brook and having everybody staying out and trying to protect the 3-point line is the best game plan.”

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Matthew Dugandzic
MATTHEW DUGANDZIC

Matthew finished his bachelor's degree in Economics (Management) at the University of Split and got his master's degree in the same field at the University of Zadar. Whether it is playing the game as an undersized 6'3'' power forward or simply watching it, Matthew can't get enough of it. After all, he has been an avid NBA fan since the 2000s. But don't get him wrong, as Matthew still loves the old-school NBA and is a true student of the game. From on-court moments to off-court stuff, whether it's about the stars of modern-day basketball or legends of the game, Matthew covers every category of the NBA world and basketball in general, as long as it makes for an engaging and exciting story.