Early Sunday morning in the U.S the Spain National team beat the Serbian national team in the second round of FIBA World Cup play 81-69. The biggest loss of the day for team Serbia was the loss of their all-star Nikola Jokic. Jokic was ejected with 6:40 left in the third quarter. Marc Gasol had trapped Jokic in the corner and the referee called a jump ball. That set Jokic off and within seconds he was sent to the locker room.

Nikola Jokic Ejected, And?

Nikola Jokic Ejected

When a team is in a quest for a championship, of any kind, they look for stars. But if you have a star and he is not on the court, then it does them no good. The main guy needs to be on the court when it comes to crunch time, period. On the surface it seems like this was only one time, he did this once it will be okay.

Two problems arise from that way of thinking. One we discussed, your star must be on the floor to win, the second is perception. This is very important because perception is what gives one a reputation. If the leagues’ referees see you be a player that goes off quickly after calls and has a bit of an anger issue, you will get a reputation as being that type of player. Then for a little outburst of normal nature become quick technical’s.

Last season the most technical’s that was called was 16. Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Draymond Green. Between the top three, they have only two ejections… Nikola Jokic is down at only nine technical fouls called but has three ejections. Yes, three, no other player had three ejections, only a few had two. So for every three times, he got called for a Tech he got ejected. That looks a bit off to me.

The Effects Of Ejections

Let’s just look at the effects of today’s ejection from the coach of Serbia, Aleksandar Đorđević 

“That’s an episode that we just must understand, analyze and I hope it will not happen again,” he said.  “He has a great personality. Players grow during all their career, not only until one point. They grow every day until the last day that they play. This is a moment for him to grow, to understand how this competition is played. He’s a big kid so he will understand.” “I didn’t like the stupid reaction of our player who should be on the floor,” Stated Dordevic.

Similarly, on the Denver Nuggets, the team always had his back, but even Malone would note that he has to stop the complaining. But in the end when he is tossed it puts more pressure on the rest of the team to come through. It affects everyone when the main guy gets tossed. Nikola Jokic ejected in FIBA loss.

This Season

This is not to say this is a major issue right now for Jokic or the Nuggets. As well I will not say that he does not have good reason to complain. We all see how many times he gets hit, the abuse he endures during a game. Just look at his arms during any game he plays. You will find very red and scratched up arms. I call it the Shaq syndrome. When a guy is that big and that talented, referees just do not see them as being fouled.

It takes a massive flop to get those calls so if you power through and get the bucket, must not have gotten fouled. That being the case he must understand it and learn a better way to express his discontent. This is the season that Jokic should dominate the game. With his confidence and his talent, he should have an MVP caliber season. The nuggets should make a deep run and content for a title and the most important piece to that run is Nikola Jokic.

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Paul Casanova

3 Comments

    “Marc Gasol had trapped Jokic in the corner and the referee called a jump ball.”
    Why don’t you say it the way it was?
    Marc Gasol made a foul on Jokic and referee called a jump ball.

    You are correct. But he will get hit like all year and wont receive a call. He must find a way to Express himself without getting that T. That was my point. Thanks for your reply!

    Yes Paul, and you are correct. Jokic needs to control himself in these situations.We saw how he got ejected 3 times playing for Denver Nuggets.
    Refs are under average on this World Cup, that is also a big problem.

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