The Return of Nurkic

[SheedSoNasty]

Really wanna see how Whiteside handles the benching.

It didn’t look all that great today. He seemed apprehensive and lost.

 

[B-Roy]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29562198/what-jusuf-nurkic-gained-losing-year-injury

Nice article by Ramona Shelburne.

 

[tiredhunter]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29562198/what-jusuf-nurkic-gained-losing-year-injury

Nice article by Ramona Shelburne.

That was great.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

It didn’t look all that great today. He seemed apprehensive and lost.

Hopefully Lillard will have a good talk with him and find out what the problem is.

 

[damianlillard]

Nurk had another huge game. He continues to be elite especially on the offensive side of the ball. Even though it’s a small sample here is how he’s doing after 2 games so far
24 point a game
9 rebound a game
5 assist a game
3.5 block a game
2 steal a game
Shooting 54.8%
100% on free throw, 13 for 13
1/4 for 3 pointers

 

[KSF-ERIC]

Nurk had another huge game. He continues to be elite especially on the offensive side of the ball. Even though it’s a small sample here is how he’s doing after 2 games so far
24 point a game
9 rebound a game
5 assist a game
3.5 block a game
2 steal a game
Shooting 54.8%
100% on free throw, 13 for 13
1/4 for 3 pointers

Unbelievable. All Star caliber.

 

[Scalma]

The talent and instincts this guy has for someone that only picked up a basketball ten years ago is ridiculous. It doesn’t matter what center he goes up against, it always feels like we have the better guy, or at worst, a guy just as good. He just glides around the court so effortlessly. And man, how we missed his screens.

 

[illmatic99]

I think it's really going unnoticed how great he has been in such a short period of time. I don't want to jinx it given how much he falls to the ground, but he is better now than he was last year in these first three games.

He's putting up 22/12/4 while averaging 3 blocks and 2 steals a game in only 31 minutes. He's also shooting 50% from the floor and hasn't missed a single FT in 21 total attempts. That has translated to a 32 (!!) PER. All this with super impactful defense, and no empty stats.

Did anyone anticipate him being this far ahead only 3 real games in? Paul George really struggled in his return after 10 months post-surgery from his leg break. The extra 6 months Nurk has had, and his increased focus to maintain his mental strength has been unbelievable.

knock on wood.

 

[42N8Bounce]

I did not expect this out of Nurk. It looks like he isn't forcing anything and letting the game come to him.

Totally agree with this article -

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/page/nbareturn29594655/what-seeing-hearing-nba-bubble#por

Portland Trail Blazers

• Big development: Jusuf Nurkic looks fantastic

The early returns on Nurkic after his 18-month absence following a gruesome leg injury have been fantastic for Portland. Nurkic has shown up looking like he never left, reestablishing his pick-and-roll chemistry with Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum while moving well around the court.

However their time in the bubble ends, the Blazers can go into the offseason knowing they can count on Nurkic moving forward, which is huge for them.

 

[damianlillard]

I did not expect this out of Nurk. It looks like he isn't forcing anything and letting the game come to him.

Totally agree with this article -

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/page/nbareturn29594655/what-seeing-hearing-nba-bubble#por

Nurkic has been playing like a top 5 center so far. He’s legit! He has been averaging
22 point a game
12.3 rebound a game
4.3 assist a game
3.3 block a game
1.7 steal a game
All on 52.4% shooting a game and 100% free throw shooting!
And his PER has been 31.5
So far he has been elite! Looking forward to the Nurkic vs Jokic battle

 

[KSF-ERIC]

Going up against Nurkic and Embiid this week. He has owned them in the past.

 

[damianlillard]

After 8 bubble games Nurkic averaged
17.6 point a game
10.3 rebound
4 assist
2 block
1.4 steal
On 49.5% shooting. 52.5% from 2 point field goal.
88.6% free throw shooting on 4.4 attempt a game
So far I’ve been very impressed with Nurkic with that fact that he has, for the most part, returned to his old self. It seem like he has never left. His impact on the team is huge. His biggest flaw so far has been missing too many bunnies. If he can connect them at higher percentage then he would easily be averaging at least 20 point a game. What are your guys thought?

 

[AldoTrapani]

After 8 bubble games Nurkic averaged
17.6 point a game
10.3 rebound
4 assist
2 block
1.4 steal
On 49.5% shooting. 52.5% from 2 point field goal.
88.6% free throw shooting on 4.4 attempt a game
So far I’ve been very impressed with Nurkic with that fact that he has, for the most part, returned to his old self. It seem like he has never left. His impact on the team is huge. His biggest flaw so far has been missing too many bunnies. If he can connect them at higher percentage then he would easily be averaging at least 20 point a game. What are your guys thought?

About that. But missing bunnies really dampers his play latley. It’s very frustrating. He needs to dunk a lot of those easy ones. Other than that he’s great

 

[bobf]

About that. But missing bunnies really dampers his play latley. It’s very frustrating. He needs to dunk a lot of those easy ones. Other than that he’s great

Yeah, Nurk's always had problems with bunnies. He's had some real nice power dunks though so he just needs to expand on that mentality.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Somebody (@HCP?) needs to make a compilation video of Nurk's missed bunnies and he should be forced to watch it on a loop so that he dunks them. Normally people do that when they're afraid of being fouled, but he's got an excellent FT% so if he can't dunk it, he should just do pump fakes until he's mugged.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Going up against Nurkic and Embiid this week. He has owned them in the past.

The rare self-own.

 

[oldmangrouch]

After 8 bubble games Nurkic averaged
17.6 point a game
10.3 rebound
4 assist
2 block
1.4 steal
On 49.5% shooting. 52.5% from 2 point field goal.
88.6% free throw shooting on 4.4 attempt a game
So far I’ve been very impressed with Nurkic with that fact that he has, for the most part, returned to his old self. It seem like he has never left. His impact on the team is huge. His biggest flaw so far has been missing too many bunnies. If he can connect them at higher percentage then he would easily be averaging at least 20 point a game. What are your guys thought?

I have had 2 concerns. 1) As mentioned, he hassed too many bunnies. 2) The offensive rebounding by the opposition.

I can't decide if it is physical or mental. Is he being timid, or does he just get fatigued (not quite in game shape yet) ? Most of the time he looks close to his old self.

 

[Orion Bailey]

I have had 2 concerns. 1) As mentioned, he hassed too many bunnies. 2) The offensive rebounding by the opposition.

I can't decide if it is physical or mental. Is he being timid, or does he just get fatigued (not quite in game shape yet) ? Most of the time he looks close to his old self.

they are tied together i think. Right under the rim he still seems timid. 5 ft and out he seems like his old self.

 

[julius]

I have had 2 concerns. 1) As mentioned, he hassed too many bunnies. 2) The offensive rebounding by the opposition.

I can't decide if it is physical or mental. Is he being timid, or does he just get fatigued (not quite in game shape yet) ? Most of the time he looks close to his old self.

I think, like OB said, it's both. But he's definitely looked winded. But he usually averaged about 29 minutes a game, and I think he's been above that in the bubble. Practicing all you want helps, but it only goes so far. His body was still 15 months away from game shape.