NBA Playoffs 2021

[hpantazo]

Glad the series is tied and the teams are relatively well matched, but from a talent perspective, is this not the worst NBA Finals in years upon years? I don't remember two worse teams...

Giannis is the best player in the world. Sure the team around him is only good and not great, but when your best player is better than everyone else he makes up for a lot.  The Suns are a very good team.  3 All NBA caliber players and a lot of strong role players around them.  The fact that they don't have an uber talent does hold them back some though

No he’s not. Maybe the most dominant force, but I’d take KD or a healthy Kawhi over Giannis every day of the week. Both guys are better two way players. Bucks wouldn’t have even gotten by Brooklyn If the Nets had 2 of their star players healthy.

So you will take a ring chaser and a player that does not exist over Giannis…that is weird.

Yeah, this year and going forward Giannis is clearly better than KD and Kawhi. KD is going to be 33 years old with history of several serious injuries and Kawhi is 30 coming off a torn ACL.  Giannis is better now and will be better going forward.

[Somebody]

I'm not even sure if the Suns have one All-NBA calibre player, much less three.

[ozgod]

Glad the series is tied and the teams are relatively well matched, but from a talent perspective, is this not the worst NBA Finals in years upon years? I don't remember two worse teams...

Giannis is the best player in the world. Sure the team around him is only good and not great, but when your best player is better than everyone else he makes up for a lot.  The Suns are a very good team.  3 All NBA caliber players and a lot of strong role players around them.  The fact that they don't have an uber talent does hold them back some though

No he’s not. Maybe the most dominant force, but I’d take KD or a healthy Kawhi over Giannis every day of the week. Both guys are better two way players. Bucks wouldn’t have even gotten by Brooklyn If the Nets had 2 of their star players healthy.

So you will take a ring chaser and a player that does not exist over Giannis…that is weird.

TP for truth 

[gouki88]

Kendrick Perkins going from saying Giannis was Robin to Middleton’s Batman last week to proclaiming that if the Bucks win Giannis is better than LeBron & KD is hilarious.

I get his gig is to generate views through saying nonsense like this, but how can he respect himself flip-flopping so drastically?

[Moranis]

Glad the series is tied and the teams are relatively well matched, but from a talent perspective, is this not the worst NBA Finals in years upon years? I don't remember two worse teams...

Giannis is the best player in the world. Sure the team around him is only good and not great, but when your best player is better than everyone else he makes up for a lot.  The Suns are a very good team.  3 All NBA caliber players and a lot of strong role players around them.  The fact that they don't have an uber talent does hold them back some though

No he’s not. Maybe the most dominant force, but I’d take KD or a healthy Kawhi over Giannis every day of the week. Both guys are better two way players. Bucks wouldn’t have even gotten by Brooklyn If the Nets had 2 of their star players healthy.

Giannis is a far more complete 2 way player.  It isn't close.  Giannis is not only the best defender of the 3, but he is also the most versatile defender of the 3.  He is also the most balanced offensive player.  In fact, the ONLY thing that either Durant or Leonard does better than Giannis is shoot the ball (and even with that Giannis has a better eFG and TS% than Leonard and isn't all that far behind Durant).  Shooting is obviously very important, but it doesn't make up for the fact that literally everything else Giannis is better at.  He is a better ball handler, he is a better passer, he gets to the line more, he rebounds better, he is much more suited for actually running an offense, etc.  Giannis is the best player in the world, has been for the last couple of years, and almost certainly remain so for the next couple of years.  Frankly, barring major injury, the only person in the league that could overtake him as best player in the league at any time in the next 5 seasons is Doncic.   

[Roy H.]

Giannis is clearly the best defensive superstar-level player in the league.  It’s not that close.

Add to that that he is a top five scorer and I am think it’s fair to put him at the top.

[td450]

Giannis is clearly the best defensive superstar-level player in the league.  It’s not that close.

Add to that that he is a top five scorer and I am think it’s fair to put him at the top.

That has been true for a while now, but if there are 6 minutes to go in the 4th quarter of a finals, he just isn't the best player in the world for that. Durant is #1. Several other players are more likely to come through too.

[hpantazo]

Giannis is clearly the best defensive superstar-level player in the league.  It’s not that close.

Add to that that he is a top five scorer and I am think it’s fair to put him at the top.

That has been true for a while now, but if there are 6 minutes to go in the 4th quarter of a finals, he just isn't the best player in the world for that. Durant is #1. Several other players are more likely to come through too.

In the last 6 minutes of the Finals last night, Giannis had several huge plays including the epic block on Ayton that likely saved the win. You can't define who is the best player in the last 6 minutes of a game simply on the ability to hit a jump shot. Giannis also drove to the hoop during those last six minutes, getting the Suns in foul trouble and creating shots for Middleton.

[Moranis]

Giannis is clearly the best defensive superstar-level player in the league.  It’s not that close.

Add to that that he is a top five scorer and I am think it’s fair to put him at the top.

That has been true for a while now, but if there are 6 minutes to go in the 4th quarter of a finals, he just isn't the best player in the world for that. Durant is #1. Several other players are more likely to come through too.

There is more to basketball than just shooting though.  Giannis dominated the last few minutes last night.  He made several massive defensive plays (not just the block, but others), he made quite a few clutch passes, he got key rebounds, etc.  His last points were at 3:40 to pull the Bucks to within 1, but he was all over the place doing everything after that.  The Bucks don't win without Giannis even though he didn't score a single point down the stretch.  Some games though, he is a scoring machine down the stretch, dominating in the paint, getting opponents into foul trouble, and scoring at an insane rate in the paint.  In game 3, Giannis scored 41 points with an average shot distance of 2'.  He just can't be stopped in the paint because he is such a skilled athlete.  He doesn't just overwhelm people like Shaq did, but you still can't stop him from doing whatever he wants and if you by chance do get position on him, he is a good passer with good instincts (like passing it to Connaughton to hit that critical 3 down the stretch). 

If I need 3 points with 10 seconds left, I'm not taking Giannis because he obviously isn't a great 3 point shooter, but down 1 or 2, I want Giannis because I know Giannis isn't going to be denied

[Goldstar88]

Glad the series is tied and the teams are relatively well matched, but from a talent perspective, is this not the worst NBA Finals in years upon years? I don't remember two worse teams...

Giannis is the best player in the world. Sure the team around him is only good and not great, but when your best player is better than everyone else he makes up for a lot.  The Suns are a very good team.  3 All NBA caliber players and a lot of strong role players around them.  The fact that they don't have an uber talent does hold them back some though

No he’s not. Maybe the most dominant force, but I’d take KD or a healthy Kawhi over Giannis every day of the week. Both guys are better two way players. Bucks wouldn’t have even gotten by Brooklyn If the Nets had 2 of their star players healthy.

So you will take a ring chaser and a player that does not exist over Giannis…that is weird.

So the fact that KD “chases rings” discounts how good of a player he is? Lol. I’m not even a KD fan, but watching the Bucks/Nets series, he was clearly the best player on the court. Giannis and the bucks had to go 7 games vs the Nets and KD was playing with No Harden or Kyrie for most of the series.

Pretty sure a healthy Kawhi existed a month or so ago and he will more than likely be recovered from his partially torn ACL by early next year, well before the playoffs start. He owned Giannis in the playoffs while on Toronto. Same year that Giannis was league MVP.

[td450]

Giannis is clearly the best defensive superstar-level player in the league.  It’s not that close.

Add to that that he is a top five scorer and I am think it’s fair to put him at the top.

That has been true for a while now, but if there are 6 minutes to go in the 4th quarter of a finals, he just isn't the best player in the world for that. Durant is #1. Several other players are more likely to come through too.

There is more to basketball than just shooting though.  Giannis dominated the last few minutes last night.  He made several massive defensive plays (not just the block, but others), he made quite a few clutch passes, he got key rebounds, etc.  His last points were at 3:40 to pull the Bucks to within 1, but he was all over the place doing everything after that.  The Bucks don't win without Giannis even though he didn't score a single point down the stretch.  Some games though, he is a scoring machine down the stretch, dominating in the paint, getting opponents into foul trouble, and scoring at an insane rate in the paint.  In game 3, Giannis scored 41 points with an average shot distance of 2'.  He just can't be stopped in the paint because he is such a skilled athlete.  He doesn't just overwhelm people like Shaq did, but you still can't stop him from doing whatever he wants and if you by chance do get position on him, he is a good passer with good instincts (like passing it to Connaughton to hit that critical 3 down the stretch). 

If I need 3 points with 10 seconds left, I'm not taking Giannis because he obviously isn't a great 3 point shooter, but down 1 or 2, I want Giannis because I know Giannis isn't going to be denied

Ok, but surely you aren't claiming that KD or LeBron or Kawhi Leonard are one dimensional players. There is an actual historical record, and these guys along with Steph Curry have been the ones who have won all the titles for some time.

I really admire Giannis. I think he's great for the league and I wish more of the league handled themselves like him. I also realize he's just now entering his prime, so he can still improve. But so far, he's the best player in the world over the long haul, but there are other more reliable guys to close out games. He's a poor free throw shooter and somewhat less reliable at getting the shots he wants in the last few minutes.

He may be in the process of solving for that now, but he's got to actually win before I think he's in the same class as those other guys as a playoff player.

[Moranis]

Giannis is clearly the best defensive superstar-level player in the league.  It’s not that close.

Add to that that he is a top five scorer and I am think it’s fair to put him at the top.

That has been true for a while now, but if there are 6 minutes to go in the 4th quarter of a finals, he just isn't the best player in the world for that. Durant is #1. Several other players are more likely to come through too.

There is more to basketball than just shooting though.  Giannis dominated the last few minutes last night.  He made several massive defensive plays (not just the block, but others), he made quite a few clutch passes, he got key rebounds, etc.  His last points were at 3:40 to pull the Bucks to within 1, but he was all over the place doing everything after that.  The Bucks don't win without Giannis even though he didn't score a single point down the stretch.  Some games though, he is a scoring machine down the stretch, dominating in the paint, getting opponents into foul trouble, and scoring at an insane rate in the paint.  In game 3, Giannis scored 41 points with an average shot distance of 2'.  He just can't be stopped in the paint because he is such a skilled athlete.  He doesn't just overwhelm people like Shaq did, but you still can't stop him from doing whatever he wants and if you by chance do get position on him, he is a good passer with good instincts (like passing it to Connaughton to hit that critical 3 down the stretch). 

If I need 3 points with 10 seconds left, I'm not taking Giannis because he obviously isn't a great 3 point shooter, but down 1 or 2, I want Giannis because I know Giannis isn't going to be denied

Ok, but surely you aren't claiming that KD or LeBron or Kawhi Leonard are one dimensional players. There is an actual historical record, and these guys along with Steph Curry have been the ones who have won all the titles for some time.

I really admire Giannis. I think he's great for the league and I wish more of the league handled themselves like him. I also realize he's just now entering his prime, so he can still improve. But so far, he's the best player in the world over the long haul, but there are other more reliable guys to close out games. He's a poor free throw shooter and somewhat less reliable at getting the shots he wants in the last few minutes.

He may be in the process of solving for that now, but he's got to actually win before I think he's in the same class as those other guys as a playoff player.

I don't think you are as aware of Leonard's failings.  Even in the Finals, Leonard has quite simply failed a lot in the 4th quarter.  Take for example, Toronto's 4 point win in game 6 to close out the championship.  Kawhi was 0-4 in the 4th quarter.  He was 3-3 from the line.  He had straight 0's across the board for everything else and played just under 9 minutes in the quarter.  And it isn't like that is the only time Kawhi has come up small in the 4th quarter of big games.  Even earlier in that series in game 2, which GS won by 5, Kawhi was 1 of 6 from the field (though he was a lot more active on the boards grabbing 7 of them).  The series against Dallas his first year in LA, Kawhi's 4th quarters (and 2nd half's in general) were awful.  This idea that Leonard is some killer just isn't reality.  Leonard is a big time 4th quarter choker. 

Obviously Durant and James have had great series and great 4th quarters in the past on the way to titles, but Giannis is there now. 

[hpantazo]

Giannis is clearly the best defensive superstar-level player in the league.  It’s not that close.

Add to that that he is a top five scorer and I am think it’s fair to put him at the top.

That has been true for a while now, but if there are 6 minutes to go in the 4th quarter of a finals, he just isn't the best player in the world for that. Durant is #1. Several other players are more likely to come through too.

There is more to basketball than just shooting though.  Giannis dominated the last few minutes last night.  He made several massive defensive plays (not just the block, but others), he made quite a few clutch passes, he got key rebounds, etc.  His last points were at 3:40 to pull the Bucks to within 1, but he was all over the place doing everything after that.  The Bucks don't win without Giannis even though he didn't score a single point down the stretch.  Some games though, he is a scoring machine down the stretch, dominating in the paint, getting opponents into foul trouble, and scoring at an insane rate in the paint.  In game 3, Giannis scored 41 points with an average shot distance of 2'.  He just can't be stopped in the paint because he is such a skilled athlete.  He doesn't just overwhelm people like Shaq did, but you still can't stop him from doing whatever he wants and if you by chance do get position on him, he is a good passer with good instincts (like passing it to Connaughton to hit that critical 3 down the stretch). 

If I need 3 points with 10 seconds left, I'm not taking Giannis because he obviously isn't a great 3 point shooter, but down 1 or 2, I want Giannis because I know Giannis isn't going to be denied

Ok, but surely you aren't claiming that KD or LeBron or Kawhi Leonard are one dimensional players. There is an actual historical record, and these guys along with Steph Curry have been the ones who have won all the titles for some time.

I really admire Giannis. I think he's great for the league and I wish more of the league handled themselves like him. I also realize he's just now entering his prime, so he can still improve. But so far, he's the best player in the world over the long haul, but there are other more reliable guys to close out games. He's a poor free throw shooter and somewhat less reliable at getting the shots he wants in the last few minutes.

He may be in the process of solving for that now, but he's got to actually win before I think he's in the same class as those other guys as a playoff player.

I agree for the most part, those are excellent points you make, but, in terms of Giannis not being at the level of Kawhi,  KD and Lebron, are you talking career-wise or currently? Because those guys are not what they used to be. Career-wise, sure, Giannis has to take one more step, but currently he's the better player on the floor.

[Goldstar88]

Glad the series is tied and the teams are relatively well matched, but from a talent perspective, is this not the worst NBA Finals in years upon years? I don't remember two worse teams...

Giannis is the best player in the world. Sure the team around him is only good and not great, but when your best player is better than everyone else he makes up for a lot.  The Suns are a very good team.  3 All NBA caliber players and a lot of strong role players around them.  The fact that they don't have an uber talent does hold them back some though

No he’s not. Maybe the most dominant force, but I’d take KD or a healthy Kawhi over Giannis every day of the week. Both guys are better two way players. Bucks wouldn’t have even gotten by Brooklyn If the Nets had 2 of their star players healthy.

Giannis is a far more complete 2 way player.  It isn't close.  Giannis is not only the best defender of the 3, but he is also the most versatile defender of the 3.  He is also the most balanced offensive player.  In fact, the ONLY thing that either Durant or Leonard does better than Giannis is shoot the ball (and even with that Giannis has a better eFG and TS% than Leonard and isn't all that far behind Durant).  Shooting is obviously very important, but it doesn't make up for the fact that literally everything else Giannis is better at.  He is a better ball handler, he is a better passer, he gets to the line more, he rebounds better, he is much more suited for actually running an offense, etc.  Giannis is the best player in the world, has been for the last couple of years, and almost certainly remain so for the next couple of years.  Frankly, barring major injury, the only person in the league that could overtake him as best player in the league at any time in the next 5 seasons is Doncic.   

The dude can’t even score outside of the paint! LMA0. Stopped reading after that.

[liam]

 

"Following the game, crew chief James Capers admitted that there should have been a foul called on the play which would have disqualified Booker from the remainder of the contest.

"During live play, I saw a clean sweep of the ball and thought it was a no call," Capers stated. "However, after seeing the replay, I now realize that I missed Booker's right arm around the waist of Holiday, and it should have been a defensive foul on the play."