Irving sat there in a daze when he came off the court.
When a staff member handed him a towel, he ignored it completely.
He wasn’t the type of player like Jokic, whose emotions were always evident on his face, but it was clear his mood wasn’t good.
The reason for his bad mood was quite understandable, or rather, it was similar to Green’s.
After practicing hard all summer and hoping to show off his skills in the new season, he hadn’t expected to be dealt such a blow right from the start.
His defense against Curry in the first quarter couldn’t exactly be called minimally effective; it was completely ineffective.
In a sense, Curry’s playing style had completely overturned his understanding of basketball.
Curry’s three-pointers were as easy as his layups. Who plays like that!
Hansen’s attention was originally on Jokic, who was about to enter the game, but when he turned his head and saw the ignored staff member, he then noticed Irving.
"A shore that’s easily reached is worthless," Hansen spoke to Irving.
After spending a whole season together, he had come to understand Irving better. Aside from being somewhat self-centered, Irving’s greatest pastime was reading.
He wasn’t the type to read "The Godfather" six times and not be able to quote a single line, nor was he the type to pretend to read a book for the cameras while holding it upside down. Irving truly read books and took earnest notes.
Thus, when Hansen spoke these words to him, he understood them better.
Translated into common language, it meant: Success isn’t something that comes easily.
Hansen wasn’t sure if he had really taken it in, but now his gaze was drawn to Jokic on the court.
Jokic made a turnover as soon as he played.
It was a clear scoring opportunity for him, but he chose to pass to JR, who didn’t react in time.
"Be more decisive, Nikola," Hansen shouted to Jokic as he retreated on defense.
Jokic had shown everything good in the preseason, except that his scoring desire was very low.
Some people preferred to ride horses themselves, while others enjoyed watching someone else ride, finding more pleasure in the latter. Jokic belonged to the latter group.
The good news was, Jokic was open to advice, especially from Hansen.
In the next offensive play, Jokic asked for the ball in the low post, backing down Ezeli.
Seeing this, Williams fed the ball directly to him.
Being the team’s "joker" paid off; he really did receive some special consideration.
Ezeli, drafted by the Warriors the same year as Green and five spots higher, had been the starting center before Bogut joined the team.
With a height of 2.11 meters and a wingspan of 2.28 meters, plus a weight of 120 kilograms, his physique was a defensive monster in the low post.
Jokic’s back-down play couldn’t budge him at all. The continuous turns didn’t give him any comfortable shooting space, and in the end, he could only resort to a Nowitzki-style turn and fadeaway, the Golden Chicken Stance.
Don’t be surprised; a low-post back-down game validated by Hansen definitely had merit.
It was just that his pace was indeed slow, and even after losing weight, it was still slow. Ezeli successfully disrupted his shot as he lifted his hand. Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭•𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚•𝕟𝕖𝕥
To dodge the block, Jokic was forced to raise the arc of his shot, which looked like a lob shot in golf.
The difficulty was maxed out, but to everyone’s surprise, he made the basket!
The Warriors on the sideline were taken aback, while the Cavaliers’ bench erupted in cheers.
Even Hansen stood up and applauded for Jokic. That’s what being the team’s joker is all about, maxing out the popularity meter.
Of course, the shot was also quite spectacular.
As a craftsman from Serbia, Jokic’s hands were skilled not only in passing but also in that soft touch.
Yao’s ability to make it big was crucially dependent on that soft touch, or rather, it was the strongest talent for a big man on the offense.
And this talent continued to be displayed in the next offensive play, along with a display of Jokic’s basketball IQ.
He didn’t continue to ask for the ball in the low post. After one difficult play, he actively set a screen for Williams, then popped out to the three-point line.
His screen wasn’t of good quality, and the Warriors chose to double-team Williams, but Williams timely passed the ball out.
At that moment, the Warriors’ reaction was interesting.
Ezeli couldn’t rush out, and Barbosa didn’t cover for him.
Most of the Warriors players clearly didn’t understand Jokic.
Curry, who did understand, probably didn’t expect Jokic to join the rotation so quickly. He stood up too late, reminding Jokic that he could shoot threes.
But his reminder was too late; Jokic checked and saw no one coming at him, and he threw the shot from the perimeter.
With a crisp sound of the net, the arena fell into a brief frenzy.
Who else could it be? Scoring 5 points as soon as he came on!
Walton called for a timeout.
The sudden appearance of such a space-creating big man caught him by surprise.
"Do you feel strong now?" Hansen looked at Jokic when he came off the floor.
Jokic smiled and scratched his head.
Seems like, maybe, he’s indeed not weak.
After the timeout, Barbosa and Ezeli ran a pick-and-roll, with Barbosa accelerating and scoring with a reverse layup over Jokic.
Jokic’s strengths and weaknesses were now very clear.
On the next offensive play, Jokic continued to station at the top of the arc.
Ezeli was forced to pull out of the paint.