Aaron Gordon: ''Denver is like FIBA Basketball''
DENVER (USA) - As Denver march deeper into the NBA post-season in their title defense, Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon appreciates more and more the "genius" of Serbia's Nikola Jokic, the explosive scoring of Canada's Jamal Murray and the "FIBA basketball" that the team is playing.
After pouring in 29 points and corralling 15 rebounds in Denver's 112-105 win over the Los Angeles Lakers that has given the Nuggets a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference first round play-off series, Gordon gushed about the team's approach.
"This (Denver) is a great way to play basketball," he said. "It's like how USA basketball plays, it’s like how FIBA basketball plays. You have Nikola Jokic, who is the center point, the epicenter of our offense, and he learned the worldly game, so he plays it the right way…"
THREE starters with 20+ point double-doubles in the road win 👏
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) April 26, 2024
AG: 29 PTS / 15 REB / 3 AST
Joker: 24 PTS / 15 REB / 9 AST
Jamal: 22 PTS / 5 REB / 9 AST
MPJ: 20 PTS / 10 REB / 3 AST pic.twitter.com/0MhT95PUoh
"Then you got Jamal, he's a cold killer. So a crazy two-man game right there. The open man is the right man. The right man is the open man. We play the game the right way and we're rewarded for that."
Murray, who is expected to play for Canada at the Olympics this summer, adding to an already potent national team that beat USA in the Third-Place game at last year's FIBA Basketball World Cup, had 22 points and nine assists in Denver's latest win.
Though he made just one of six from long range, Murray connected on 42.5 percent of his three-point shots in the regular season while averaging 21.2 points.
Gordon has yet to play for the USA senior team but did shine at at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2013 and before that the FIBA Americas U16 Championship 2011.
Gordon in 2013
He says Jokic is so good that it makes it easier for everyone else on the floor to excel.
It's a quality that coaches and teammates love. When it comes to success, it's not just about statistics, but about how a player makes those around him better.
"Joker's a basketball genius," he said, "He's a genius and happens to play basketball. So he makes the game very easy. And when you think the game like that, the game unlocks. You start seeing plays ahead, two or three steps ahead. You can start to nuance the game a lot. And it just becomes easier to play."
Gordon has a very good appreciation of "FIBA basketball" after watching Denver teammate Jokic play at EuroBasket 2022
FIBA
