The Portland Trail Blazers have been one of the best teams in the 2018-19 NBA season, and it seems center Jusuf Nurkic has an idea of what has played into their success this year.
Portland is one of the few teams in the league where every player has seemingly established a consistent role on the team. According to Andrew Sharp of Sports Illustrated, Nurkic feels this makes it easier for the Blazers to play at a high level.
“There's a lot of guys misunderstanding their roles in the league. I think we're one of the few teams where guys understand their role. And not only understand it, but accept it. Like they actually agree with the role,” the Bosnian big man said.
“There's a lot of NBA players [on other teams] who can hoop and do a lot of things, but sometimes for the good of the team, you just need to accept that role. It's a team sport. You can't just think about yourself. And that's where it becomes a problem, when there's young guys just coming in the league, and some guys don't feel that way, and don't want to sacrifice anything. For us, we're on the same page.”
There is certainly plenty of truth to Nurkic's comments. Portland has rallied behind their star backcourt pairing of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum over the last few years. However, it appears their supporting cast has finally been sorted out.
Jusuf Nurkic is certainly having fun in his role with the Blazers as a facilitating big man. He is in the midst of a career year, averaging 15.5 points, 10.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. He has also been a force on the defensive end with 1.5 blocks and 1.0 steal per game.
Although Portland may be having fun now, it is safe to say that things will get a bit more serious down the stretch. Despite their recent lack of success in the postseason, expectations are still rather high
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