The league has never been more even leveled than this year

[GrayGoat]

Nearly 12 teams are 50+ win teams :biggums::biggums:

[bison]

Should be an entertaining playoffs.

By the same token there’s no clear-cut BITW. You can make the case for Giannis, but guys like embiid, Booker, kd, jokic and luka aren’t that far behind.

[SouBeachTalents]

Should be an entertaining playoffs.

By the same token there’s no clear-cut BITW. You can make the case for Giannis, but guys like embiid, Booker, kd, jokic and luka aren’t that far behind.
To include Booker in that category, or insinuate he isn't "that far behind" Giannis is disgraceful :lol

[highwhey]

To include Booker in that category, or insinuate he isn't "that far behind" Giannis is disgraceful :lol

why? he's a superior scorer than giannis. doesn't rely heavily on whistles to put points on the board. holds his own weight on defense.

[FultzNationRISE]

It’s the Lebron Effect.

When Bron was in his prime, the only way he could possibly be stopped was by dynasty caliber superteams. The few franchises that saw even the possibility of a window threw the kitchen sink into immediately stacking their team to the rafters.

Now that he’s not in his prime anymore (yet still on the MVP shortlist, let THAT sink in) teams are striving to be good yet maintain some flexibility, because without peak Lebron in contention that’s going to be good enough.

[3ba11]

When Bron was in his prime, the only way he could possibly be stopped .


.


09' Magic were a 1-star team and one of the top 5 biggest underdogs to ever win a playoff series.

The 11' Mavs were also a 1-star underdog

Ultimately, Lebron turned preseason favorites into Finals underdog or loser for 6 straight years (11-16') - that's the definition of failing the expectation..

And these super-teams were initially formed because he couldn't win a weak East with homecourt in 09 and 10'. So he's just an underachiever because he never learned how to win (brand of ball) and only learned how to team-hop (talent-based winning)

[tontoz]

why? he's a superior scorer than giannis. doesn't rely heavily on whistles to put points on the board. holds his own weight on defense.

How exactly is he a superior scorer to Giannis? Even if we take away free throws they score the same number of points from the field while Giannis has an EFG of 58.4% compared to 52.8 for Booker.

Giannis does a lot more than "hold his own weight" on defense. Giannis also gets more assists and over twice as many rebounds.

[highwhey]

How exactly is he a superior scorer to Giannis? Even if we take away free throws they score the same number of points from the field while Giannis has an EFG of 58.4% compared to 52.8 for Booker.

Giannis does a lot more than "hold his own weight" on defense. Giannis also gets more assists and over twice as many rebounds.

:roll: :roll: :roll:

STOP. please STOP.


tell me one go-to move giannis has that isn't an offensive foul?

booker can score from ANYWHERE, in any manner or fashion.

[Full Court]

It’s the Lebron Effect.

When Bron was in his prime, the only way he could possibly be stopped was by dynasty caliber superteams. The few franchises that saw even the possibility of a window threw the kitchen sink into immediately stacking their team to the rafters.

Now that he’s not in his prime anymore (yet still on the MVP shortlist, let THAT sink in) teams are striving to be good yet maintain some flexibility, because without peak Lebron in contention that’s going to be good enough.

He's not on anybody's "short list" for MVP. :lol I doubt you're even serious.

I agree with OP though. The league is the levelest it's been in a long, long time. Maybe ever.

Funny how when it's a level league, Bronie doesn't even make the playoffs. Let THAT sink in.

[AirBonner]

:roll: :roll: :roll:

STOP. please STOP.


tell me one go-to move giannis has that isn't an offensive foul?

booker can score from ANYWHERE, in any manner or fashion.

Uh turn around, fadeaway, pull up from mid. You should remember he was splashing them on your team in last years finals

[tontoz]

:roll: :roll: :roll:

STOP. please STOP.


tell me one go-to move giannis has that isn't an offensive foul?

booker can score from ANYWHERE, in any manner or fashion.


The scoreboard doesn't care where a player scores from, or how. It doesn't give extra credit for style points.

FYI Giannis is shooting only 3.7% worse than Booker on long 2s outside 16 feet.

You got a good look at these shots when he dropped 50 on you in the Finals.

[Shogon]

The scoreboard doesn't care where a player scores from, or how. It doesn't give extra credit for style points.

FYI Giannis is shooting only 3.7% worse than Booker on long 2s outside 16 feet.

You got a good look at these shots when he dropped 50 on you in the Finals.



Yeah... being a more versatile scorer does not make you a better scorer. This is precisely why LeBron's career scoring is so incredibly underrated. LeBron does not score with style usually and he never really has. He's just consistently great at scoring the basketball. He's also not a good ISO point generator, which some people base their entire basketball viewing experience on, hence the incredible amount of vitriol you see about his scoring.

A substantial portion of people value style over just simply getting the job done.

Giannis is a better scorer than Booker. Period.

Booker is just more stylish and more versatile. But Giannis is better. It's not an argument, it's just a fact.


Anyways... the only players that have been active this season that, FOR THIS SEASON, deserve to be in the "best in the world" discussion are... Jokic, Giannis, Embiid, Durant.

No more, no less. That's it. Those are the 4. Nobody else belongs in that convo. And as far as MVP goes you can keep the same list minus Durant. You have some other guys that are close but they're on the outside looking in. Doncic is close and so is Steph, but those are the four. Steph started off as possibly the best but really fell off from last year as the year went on. I don't know if teams keyed in on him or he took some sort of psychological beating from becoming the 3 point all time leader or what but he's not as good as last year.

[Full Court]

Anyways... the only players that have been active this season that, FOR THIS SEASON, deserve to be in the "best in the world" discussion are... Jokic, Giannis, Embiid, Durant.

No more, no less. That's it. Those are the 4. Nobody else belongs in that convo. You have some other guys that are close but they're on the outside looking in.

I agree with this.

[highwhey]

The scoreboard doesn't care where a player scores from, or how. It doesn't give extra credit for style points.

FYI Giannis is shooting only 3.7% worse than Booker on long 2s outside 16 feet.

You got a good look at these shots when he dropped 50 on you in the Finals.

refs. they changed how they officiate giannis. he went from coming up short in the finals because his bareling into the lane was called an offensive foul to now calling it a defensive foul, that's why he won a championship. officiating changed in his favor. to say otherwise is stupid, you're blind.

[tontoz]

refs. they changed how they officiate giannis. he went from coming up short in the finals because his bareling into the lane was called an offensive foul to now calling it a defensive foul, that's why he won a championship. officiating changed in his favor. to say otherwise is stupid, you're blind.


Giannis scored 33 points from the field in game 6 on 16-25 shooting while Booker shot 8-22. Pretty weak performance from the "better scorer".

[bison]

Giannis put on a clinic in last years finals. He’s better than Booker, that’s undeniable. Booker is more skilled and talented basketball player. Why is that a controversial statement?

[90sgoat]

Agreed, I actually find myself casually turning in to watch some games, because you don't know if you're watching the next conference champ or something.

With Lebron and his stacking, it definitely had an entertainment quality, like rooting for him to fail was a lot of fun, but it made most of the teams irrelevant cause you knew they simply couldn't win.