Beast or Least? Jusuf Nurkic’s inconsistency plagues the Portland Trail Blazers

The Portland Trail Blazers never know which version of Jusuf Nurkic will show up. Does he need to get bashed in the face before he can dominate?

With a new year comes new ways of thinking. So let’s think outside the box, shall we? Let’s try to find a way to get regular production and effort out of Jusuf Nurkic.

I may have stumbled upon a solution.

It’s a little unorthodox, but the results may be transformative.

Can somebody please bop Nurkic on the nose prior to every tip-off?

The Incident

On Dec. 28, the Portland Trail Blazers played the Philadelphia 76ers at the Moda Center. Playing without Damian Lillard (who missed his third consecutive game with a bad hamstring), it was beginning to look like one of those games for the Blazers.

With just over nine minutes left and the Trail Blazers down by five, Nurkic gathered the ball on an inbounds pass above the three-point line. He drove to his right and collided with the Sixers’ J.J. Redick. Nurkic was called for an offensive foul on the play and had to leave the game with a bloody nose.

Then it got worse for the Trail Blazers.

With 3:43 left in the third quarter, the Trail Blazers were down 18 points. Portland looked well on its way to another baffling home loss. (They had lost six consecutive home games at that point.)

The Comeback

Nurkic (and his bandaged nose) re-entered the game with 1:11 left in the third and the Trail Blazers down by 13 points, 83-70.

It was pretty much all Trail Blazers after that point, thanks in no small part to Nurkic.

As reported by Mike Richman of The Oregonian/OregonLive, “Nurkic had a completely different energy. (He) was as aggressive as he’s been all season during Portland’s decisive close to the game.”

Portland scorched the Sixers for 42 points in the fourth quarter, erasing the deficit and walking out of Moda with a much-needed home win, 114-110.

The Search for Consistency

So why can’t Nurkic be that beastly every night?

“That’s something that he has to figure out,” Shabazz Napier told The Oregonian/OregonLive’s Joe Freeman.

And Maurice Harkless, in that same article, said, “I don’t ever know what’s going on in Nurk’s head. He’s got a whole bunch of moods.”

As for Nurkic himself – well, the 23-year-old Bosnian seems to think his struggles and his inconsistency are riddles wrapped in mysteries inside enigmas.

But they’re not. They’re just borne of a lack of effort. That’s how it appears on the outside looking in, anyway.

Freeman asks: “Why can’t Nurkic unleash his inner beast every night?”

Now witness Nurkic’s answer, and try not to shake your head off your body in dismay:

“That’s a simple question, but it’s a hard answer,” Nurkic said. “I have no answer for that.”

The Bosnian Least?

Well, I have an answer for that: It’s a lack of effort. This echoes something another long-time Blazers watcher, Dwight Jaynes, thinks.

Writing for NBC Sports Northwest, Jaynes says, “(Nurkic) is a player with restricted free agency coming his way this summer. Most players in that situation would be playing their tails off in an effort to try to show prospective new teams they have great value. But it’s entirely possible Nurkic is costing himself millions with his own personal brand of nonchalance. Night after night he’s not finishing at the rim – casually blowing open shots in the basket area and turning easy shots into difficult ones.”

A ‘Personal Brand of Nonchalance’

These lackluster performances are not a surprise. Nurkic was also criticized when he played for the Denver Nuggets.

Mark Kiszla, a sports columnist for The Denver Post, writes: “When given minutes, instead of busting his tail, Nurkic acts too cool for school, feigning disinterest that prevents him from chasing down a rebound.”

And NBC Sports Northwest’s Jason Quick writes: “Nurkic came to Portland with a somewhat sullied reputation as a pouter and malcontent with bouts of laziness.”

The Bosnian Beast?

After the comeback victory against the Sixers on Dec. 28, Nurkic commented on his collision with Redick and his stellar play after returning to the game.

“I was mad,” Nurkic said. “And, probably, the more I get mad, I play better.”

Nurkic finished the game with 21 points and 12 rebounds.

Said Napier: “I’m pretty sure (Nurkic) was happy with how he played. I’m pretty sure as a player, you want to continue that. Hopefully next game, he’ll find that … mentality.”

But he didn’t. And that’s continues to be the problem with Nurkic: his maddening and consistent lack of consistency.

One game after Nurkic got bloodied against the Sixers and turned into the Beast, he was a virtual no-show against the Hawks in Atlanta, scoring just eight points on 3-for-11 shooting. He also turned the ball over four times, contributing little in one of the Trail Blazers’ worst losses of the season.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

In Friday night’s rematch against the Hawks (a Trail Blazers victory), Nurkic again appeared slow and disinterested, especially in the first half. He played better in the second half. But he still finished with a fairly pedestrian stat line: 11 points, nine rebounds — and zero blocks.

Next: Who’s the better point guard: Damian Lillard or Kyrie Irving?

“I’m not saying everybody needs every game to hit me in the nose,” Nurkic told Freeman. “But I just need to play with the same energy every game.”

The Trail Blazers are seventh in the Western Conference, two games above .500 at 20-18. They need Nurkic, and they need him now. Especially with a tough week ahead of them.

Nurkic is aware that he must generate effort, passion and intensity without getting bopped in the schnoz first. Will he be able to do it? That remains to be seen.

If he can’t, the Trail Blazers are in for a long, frustrating winter with little hope for a bountiful spring.