Nuggets’ Aaron Gordon “has the best hands in the business”

DENVER, CO – NOVEMBER 8: Aaron Gordon (50) of the Denver Nuggets was hit by teammate Nikola Jokic (15) during the second quarter of a game against the Golden State Warriors at Ball Arena in Denver on Wednesday. He reacted by missing several putback opportunities before converting. November 8, 2023. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

Aaron Gordon was running a fade route straight downfield, but the ball wasn’t lofted enough for him to chase. He was thrown into the line about head height. When he turned to make the catch, multiple defenders were clustered in the space between him and the ball’s trajectory.

“It wasn’t a great pass,” recalled Gordon’s high school coach, Tim Kennedy.

But Gordon had already mastered the rather niche art of ensnaring the unpredictable and unruly.

Archbishop Mitty, a sophomore, strode forward and extended his left arm, trying to get his first touch on the ball before his opponent did. He tipped the pass over his car and also threw it over his shoulder, collecting it with his right hand.

“The pick-six could have gone the other way and changed the momentum,” Kennedy said. “But he was able to absorb bad passes and it didn’t cost us.”

This play occurred at a high school basketball game, not a football game. Gordon flashed in transition. But Kennedy’s choice of words was apt. With athleticism and reliable hands that would be the envy of NFL quarterbacks, Gordon’s receiving skills have been the linchpin of the underrated Denver Nuggets offense, often turning dangerous risks into thrilling highlights. ing.

“He’s always in the right spot and he’s a strong guy,” Nikola Jokic told the Denver Post. “So whenever we send him a pass, even if it’s a bad pass, he’s going to catch it and finish.”

No other quarterback in the NBA thrives on the thrill of the pass as much as Jokic. Stoically willing to throw the ball through impossible windows, such as between the raised hands of an opposing center in guard position or over the outstretched legs of a defender and ricocheting into the open space expected to be occupied by the receiver. No one is there. On my own back. on his head. Throughout the unsuspecting defense.

For it to work, someone has to be able to maintain his original style. Gordon is a natural at it. While the Nuggets are used to handling Jokic’s unpredictable big bucks as a whole, Gordon bears the brunt of that responsibility at the dunker spot.

“He’s the best passer in the business,” he told the Post. “I have the best hands in the business.”

If he sounds cocky, it’s because his hands have always been good. When he played football as a child, he started at running back, but eventually transitioned to tight end as he developed into a standout athlete in the Bay Area. Although the school tried to dissuade him from doing so, he quit playing soccer by high school. His dexterity was obvious. Instead he just took it to the basketball court.

Gordon’s talent and potential was a formula for becoming more of an on-ball player, even though he was not particularly skilled at ball-handling at the time. His size compared to the other teens made it easy to plot at first. He put it in the mailbox and went to work.

“But to make it tough, we’re going to have to challenge him in practice. Send out doubles and triple teams, because that’s what he was looking at in games,” Kennedy said. “So his ability to get stuck in traffic was something that he got used to right away as a freshman.”

Brandon Abagello had just moved from Las Vegas when they met and played against Gordon at a rec game in eighth grade. Gordon was already huge for his age (including his hands, Abagello noticed). The rookie pulled off the upset by swatting the ball away from Gordon the first time Gordon came at him one-on-one. Gordon’s competitive spirit was ignited. Abagello didn’t have much luck in the remaining games, but the two became close friends and won two state titles together in high school.

In that first interaction alone, Abagello learned an important truth. If Gordon wants the ball in his hands, he’ll get it. Triple teams are no good.

“If I’m in a pinch, if I’m on the wing and I get a double, my only failsafe is that I can throw it in the air and Aaron will go get it,” Abagello said. “…You’re trying to make a good pass. It doesn’t happen all the time. But there was a lot of room for error in terms of where to throw.”

Understanding that margin of error may have made Gordon’s teammates feel a little complacent about their accuracy at times, but it also trained Gordon even more as a receiver.

“We weren’t always the best passing team,” Kennedy said candidly.

By the time Gordon was a senior, he was playing in a variety of positions, including running point. Opposing teams were so aware of his high-flying dunk potential that they scouted and denied plays designed to end in alley-oops to Gordon. Kennedy had to tell his other players not to go for lobs or force bad passes. Granted, Gordon has improved as a receiver, but he didn’t catch a ton of 50-50 balls at the rim.

Instead, it was a matter of versatility. Opponents tried to protect Gordon with excessive physicality — he ended up being treated by Jokic — so Kennedy will likely try to subject Gordon to multiple tests. “He was used to shooting from different angles and catching the ball in different places: short corner, high post, low post, even the wing,” Kennedy said.

The dunker spot in Denver’s ball-moving offense became Gordon’s baby. He observed Jokic’s spectacular court vision and learned to space and cut the floor with pinpoint timing that complemented the two-time MVP. He has always been a gifted rim runner. When Jokic saw through multiple Golden State defenders on a fast break in January, Gordon noticed and accelerated. He knew where a bounced pass would end up.

When it comes to actually collecting and controlling passes at the senior level, Gordon benefited from a combination of adolescent experience and natural athleticism.

“I just have the coach throw me the ball as hard as I can and repeat it over and over again until I catch it,” he told the Post after hooking Jokic’s recent no-look assist.