Pelicans: Nikola Jokic Shows Zion Williamson 3 Ways to Be a Stretch-Five

New Orleans Pelicans: Jokic shows how to stretch the floor with passing

Posting and Passing

Pels’ fans love to scream how the Pelicans need a center who “doesn’t clog the lane for Zion,” and this is somewhat true. The big man needs space to operate and you can’t have someone drawing defenders into his laire.

Unless of course that person can pass.

Jokic spends quite a lot of time in the post and the Denver offense is not stagnant and he is not clogging the lane.

That’s because Jokic is a great passer and can use the post to set up 3-point shooters and cutters without ever moving. His post game is enough of a threat that teams have to double, and when they do, they’re dead because Jokic almost always makes the right read and pass.

Let’s be honest, Jokic is probably the best passing big man of all time, so it’s not like there are loads of guys like him laying around, but what he does show is that even average passers can use the post to create space.

The combination of being able to post and also pass out of it is what makes Jokic so special, as there is no way to guard him without leaving someone open.

Jokic often creates space just standing in the middle of the lane and waiting for the double team to come. He doesn’t spend all of his time floating around the 3-point line, but instead creates shots from himself and his teammates out of the post.

In this one you see the Suns’ defenders are completely discombobulated when Jokic gets the ball, stuck between trying to help stop him in the post and cover their guy.

It leaves an open 3-point shooter, and as always, Jokic finds him with a perfect pass. Again, there aren’t many centers who can do this, but it’s a skill to look for in a big. This is something Zion must get better at, as he is going to be doubled a lot and being able to pass will create space.

Jokic plays much more like a traditional center than people realize, the big difference is that he can make plays out of the post instead of just bullying his way to the hoop for shots, though he can do that too.