Millsap rates Jokic as better than Vucevic
In battle of Euro big men, Nugget chooses teammate
DENVER — Friday’s Magic-at-Nuggets game was not completed in time for this edition. Read the late game story in our eedition at OrlandoSentinel.com/late or on our website.
Denver forward Paul Millsap was asked Friday to compare the games of 7-foot European centers Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets and Nikola Vucevic of the Magic. He didn’t mince words. “Jokic is a different player. He’s a way, way better passer, in my opinion. A way better basketball player,” Millsap said. “I give Vooch his credit. He’s playing really good basketball, he’s a really good player, but our guy’s a lot better.”
When told of the comment from Millsap, Magic coach Steve Clifford wasn’t biting.
“Players have their opinions and frankly it doesn’t matter. I don’t ever get involved in that stuff,” Clifford said. “He’s taking up for his guy. Vooch is playing great. … I can only control what I can control and worry about us playing well. That’s all I care about.”
Clifford, however, did say he sees a lot of familiar traits in both players, who are friends off the court, both having grown up with similar backgrounds in Europe.
“Tremendous similarities. They both bring range shooting, passing, decision-making to their teams, so highly skilled, highly intelligent players, yes,” Clifford said.
Vucevic, in his eighth NBA season, is coming off one of the best weeks of his career during which he averaged 27.8 points, 10.5 rebounds, four assists and 1.25 steals per game and also shot 58 percent (43 of 74) from the field. He was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for his efforts.
Through the first 18 games of the season, Vucevic is averaging 20 points, 11.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.
Jokic, in his fourth season, is averaging 17.2 points plus 10.1 rebounds and he leads the Nuggets in assists at 7.1 per game.
“We have similar games in a lot of ways, but he’s a very good player. The way he plays, I think, not many big men have played like him or play like him now,” Vucevic said of Jokic. “His IQ is just really high. He just knows the game very well and knows how to make his teammates better. He’s the type of big man you don’t see much, and it’s fun to watch when you see a guy like that at his position that is so skilled and can do so many different things.
“It will definitely be a tough matchup but at the same time be a fun one to go against him. … I’m excited. I know him off the court as well, so it will be fun to play against him.”
Thanksgiving, Euro-style
Vucevic took advantage of the team’s first Western tour stop Thursday in Denver by connecting with old friend Jokic.
The a 23-year-old Serbian invited Vucevic, a 28-year-old Montenegrin, over to his Denver home on Thanksgiving night for dinner. Not that Europeans celebrate Thanksgiving holiday, but Vucevic said it was nice to get together with his friend.
“It was fun to catch up,” Vucevic said. “He’s a good guy off the court and it was good to see him.”
But there was no turkey and stuffing.
“No, it was a Serbian dinner. It was nothing crazy, just more of a Serbian dish, but I didn’t get to do the Thanksgiving [team] dinner because I was at his house.”
Fond memories
Magic forward Evan Fournier played his first two seasons with the Nuggets, who plucked him out of France as the No. 20 pick in the 2012 NBA draft. He said Friday he still has fond memories of the city in which he started his career.
“Of course, when you are a kid and you’ve never been to America and all of the sudden you stay in a city for two years, at the time that was the longest I’d ever stayed in one place,” Fournier said. “… Of course Denver has a special place because they drafted me, they gave me a shot.
“But I see it like an old girlfriend now . ... You know, like you had a good time, but now you are married and you have a wife.”
Fournier did not get a chance to get out to some of his old haunts, but he said he was “desperate” to get some sushi from his favorite Izakaya Den.
“I was in Englewood. I had a nice little house right in front of a dog park,” Fournier recalled. “I had this huge backyard. My dog loved it, played in the snow, whatever. It was cool. We actually still talk to our old neighbors, so yeah, yeah, yeah … good times.”