Nikola Jokic’s sub rotation is game-by-game under David Adelman: ‘The depth helps’

As Nuggets players settle into the David Adelman regime one of the new details they re adjusting to is his tendency to execute substitution patterns on a game-to-game basis It s not the same formula every night Not even for Nikola Jokic Denver s superstar center mostly played and rested the same rotation of minutes under former coach Michael Malone Play the entire first quarter Sit the first sparse minutes of the second then sub back in and finish the half Play the entire third Sit the start of the fourth for as long as Malone dared Adelman s inclination across the roster has been to follow the matchups or ride a hot hand a bit more Jokic s rotation in particular has been more flexible I really don t pay attention to that Jokic narrated The Denver Post last week in Minnesota That s a question for David Adelman And I m just whenever he calls my name I m gonna be there I ll play to the best of my capability So whatever it is minutes of playing consecutively five whatever So why has Adelman felt more confident mixing it up And why has Jokic been so open to that flexibility I think he understands the depth helps Adelman commented And trying to get him to the finish line is really fundamental I think in the past there were times he understood and we understood that getting him out made absolutely no sense if you re trying to win games This is different And it won t be the same thing every night It certainly hadn t been entering Denver s four-game homestand that tipped off Monday In three of the first five games Golden State Phoenix and Portland Jokic subbed out with two or three minutes to go in the first quarter then checked back in earlier in the second He played the entire first frame against Minnesota and New Orleans Adelman left him in for those extra minutes when the Pelicans were in town because the first-year coach liked how numerous easy buckets Denver was generating at the rim out of the split-action offense which flows through Jokic Other nights I think even if Jokic is playing well Adelman announced it will make sense to have Jonas get in there earlier out of fairness to Jonas and his body Adelman also ended up riding Valanciunas for more than eight minutes to start the second quarter against New Orleans a decision stemming from the success of the Nuggets second unit but one that eventually came back to haunt them Adelman felt like Jokic was stiff when he checked back in and the Pelicans struck with a - run Easily the weirdest Adelman has gotten so far though was the second half of a - win at Minnesota Jokic went to the bench late in the third Then after Valanciunas finished the quarter Jokic was back on the floor to start the final frame playing something closer to the staggered rotation that Jamal Murray often plays except without as much rest preceding it Eventually Adelman got Jokic a breather from about the eight-minute mark to the five-minute mark Rarely if ever does Jokic sit that late in a close match But this situation was a side-effect of Adelman s attempt to mirror Aaron Gordon s minutes with Julius Randle s The second half we talked to the bigs about it Adelman disclosed We declared this could be a moment where you go in for two minutes and you come out But just go in and play hard The game-to-game system depends on precisely that players willingness to adapt when a situation calls for it Adelman has lauded Valanciunas for his professionalism in handling that Absolutely everything you could ask for he disclosed To see a guy that s started in the NBA for years come here and just want to be part of this is pretty cool Related Articles David Adelman on reach-around jump ball call in Nuggets-Blazers match We will definitely do that Jared Dudley has played with and coached countless superstars His mission in Denver Protect Nikola Jokic defensively Nuggets vs Blazers observations Denver can t get Nikola Jokic the ball in crunch time Nuggets Journal Predicting the NBA Cup as Denver again plays in Group of Death Certified Jonas Valanciunas giving Nuggets solid minutes Nikola Jokic rest But the premise applies to everyone on the roster not just a backup center On multiple occasions already Adelman s sub pattern for Gordon has been dependent on an opposing power forward In chosen cases this year he anticipates staggering Cam Johnson with the bench rather than Murray Eventually one figures the Nuggets will try their double-big lineup with Jokic and Valanciunas together It can be a meeting of cat and mouse between coaches Any night could bring something new You have to respect what other people are doing Adelman noted Of class you want to control your own situation but there s going to be nights we feel like we have an advantage it will be based on rotations that we see Want more Nuggets news Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis