Against the Los Angeles Lakers, he matched up with LeBron James. In the second round, when he matched up with Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker, he held him to 43% shooting and forward Kevin Durant to 39%. In the first round, he held Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns to 36% shooting from the field and 11% from 3, according to ESPN Stats & Information. ![]() According to ESPN Stats & Information research, opponents have shot just 39.8% from the field and 27.1% from 3 with Gordon as their primary defender in 19 playoff games. Gordon has been a defensive stalwart for the Nuggets throughout the playoffs, regularly defending the opponent's best offensive player, no matter their size or position. "As far as the offensive side, it was just get in where I fit in, find cuts, find openings, find transition buckets, try and get easy ones, and then just - really just get in where I fit in." That's how I came into the league, defensive-minded. I knew I was coming in to play defense and make their job easy. You've got Jamal Murray that can go for 50 on any given night. You've got a two-time MVP in Joker that can do everything on offense. ![]() "I felt like I was going to be a defender for this team, a defenseman for this team," Gordon said. But this was exactly how Gordon had always thought of himself. The Nuggets may not have fully realized it when they traded for him after he requested the Magic for a deal. What the team really needed was defensive toughness and whatever Gordon could give them offensively. The team was built around Jokic and Murray. The Nuggets' hierarchy had been set for several years. Once Gordon came to Denver, all of that changed. So he's looking around like, 'Is it me? Is it supposed to be me?' He tries to fill that role but then gets critiqued for playing a certain kind of way." "Knowing AG now, I understand it: He knows what a fourth pick is supposed to do," Booth said. 4 pick in the 2014 draft, which comes with expectations of scoring and star power that never really fit well on Gordon. Gordon had a different reputation in his first six-plus seasons with the Orlando Magic than what he's built for himself as the ultimate star-in-his-role player for the Nuggets. "We didn't realize what a consummate teammate he was and how willing he was to sacrifice." "We didn't realize how talented he was," Booth told ESPN after Gordon scored a game-high 27 points in the Nuggets' 108-95 win against the Miami Heat to take a 3-1 series lead Friday night in the NBA Finals. ![]() That they'd run all the models and scoured hundreds of hours of tape on the burly forward and saw something in him that portended he'd be as perfect of a fit alongside Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray as he has been.īut in all honesty, the Nuggets general manager says, they were just looking to replace the production they'd lost when forward Jerami Grant left in free agency in 2020. MIAMI - Calvin Booth would love to tell you that he and the Denver Nuggets' front office foresaw a night such as Friday when they traded for Aaron Gordon in March 2021. NBA Finals 2023: How Aaron Gordon turned into a perfect fit alongside Denver's offensive hierarchy You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |