Why I think the Kobe-Pau Lakers would be just as good today

[HoopsNY]

Melo is a bad example. He was always a ball stopper. Karl used to complain about it in Denver. So did Jackson in NY. In Melo's world everything had to revolve around Melo.

I didn't mention Melo to justify his style of play. I mentioned Melo to show that the league has determined that you simply can't play outside of the style that is expected now and obviously, that has a significant impact on everything else. It wasn't an organic shift.

You are just trying to revise history with Steph. He led the league twice in TS, in his 20s not his 30s. Durant had 4 straight years with a 63%+ TS with OKC. He played 81 games with a 64.7% TS at age 24. Kawhi had a 61.6% TS at age 24.

It doesn't matter if he led the league twice in his 20s. Steph's TS% from 2023 is the third highest of his career at 66%, at the age of 34. That's higher than his 2015 TS% (64%) where he won MVP. He averaged more points, had a higher ORTG, eFG%, and a higher TS%.

You might say, well, you're cherry picking one year and other players in history have done better than their prior MVP years in non-MVP years, but we see this amongst many of today's stars/superstars, so it's not an isolated incident. It's seems to be a trend which indicates that these players aren't better than earlier iterations of themselves. They've just adapted to a different style of play.

[HoopsNY]

Him having one 27 point game is nice it's only one game. Game 5 he went 10 of 26 from the field but I'm not going to say that one game shows Tatum shuts him down. It's just one game. Also I doubt that was the best game of his career.

If the Lakers played Boston the goal of both teams would be to win so if we're talking about some hypothetical Tatum vs Gasol consideration of how their individual match-up fits into, affects and is affected by everything else is relevant. If Tatum or Gasol scores 4 straight buckets and it's looking easy like they're getting hot, the coaches will make adjustments. It's not going to happen in a vacuum. And more importantly, this discussion is about who wins in a Lakers/Celtics champion meet.

Game 5 was really an anomaly for the series. The first 4 games, he shot the ball at a 54% clip, with only 1 game being below 50% (44%). My point is that overall, this was his best series, at least statistically. And this comes with no Butler on the floor.

[HoopsNY]

The average team shot 78% from the foul line this year.

https://www.teamrankings.com/nba/sta...ate=2024-06-18

Back in 2006 the average team shot 74.6% from the line.

I am sure it was the "ecosystem" that made all the difference.

I'm curious to know what percentage of those shots were taken by 4s and 5s in the early to mid 2000s as opposed to now? And how many of those players playing the 4 or 5 are actual 4s or 5s.

Also, players are shooting better, because shooting is emphasized. It doesn't mean the players are automatically "better". Otherwise, just cancel out the league's first 60 years and start right around 2015 or 2016. Because then the prior eras' greats weren't really that great.

[Real Men Wear Green]

Game 5 was really an anomaly for the series. The first 4 games, he shot the ball at a 54% clip, with only 1 game being below 50% (44%). My point is that overall, this was his best series, at least statistically. And this comes with no Butler on the floor.

So 2 out of 5 games his shooting was below-average, 3 out of 5 above average, one of those games was very good, one was fairly bad...nothing here is making it look like Tatum didn't do a decent job. Butler's absence didn't much change the way the Celtics defend him. Possibly if Butler was out there going off the Celtics would have tried putting Tatum on him but that's got nothing to do with this discussion. It did mean the Heat needed more from himbut he topped out at 25, even without their top guy he wasn't going off for 30+. If Tatum is an easy target shouldn't an All-Star on a team missing their best player be out there trying to destroy him? Tatum was the biggest Celtic on the floor for many possessions and we still didn't see that happen.

[tpols]

The funny thing about this thought experiment is the 2001 Lakers made even less 3s than the 2009 iteration. So they'd really be trash today.

Can you imagine prime Shaq trying to defend Tatum at the 3pt line? Whilst getting locked up by him on the other end?

Tatum was the same height and weight as Bulls Rodman. 6'8 240. And Rodman did a splendid job, so we can only logically deduce that Tatum would too.

I have learned so much in this thread! Thanks fellas!

[Real Men Wear Green]

You have to be a special kind of stupid to compare Gasol to Shaq.

[tpols]

You have to be a special kind of stupid to compare Gasol / Odom / Bynum trio to Shaq.

Listen up pal.

If Tatum can lock down a trio of premier 7 foot post scorers, what chance does Shaq stand?

And on the other end of the court how does a 375 lb lumbering Shaquille O'Neal keep up with the great Jayson Tatum chucking 3s?

We have ALL seen how great Tatum hits from deep in Bostons past two NBA Finals. He shot a blistering 26% from long range. And his running mate was on fire at 22%.

You can't ****ing stop that. Period.

[Real Men Wear Green]

Moving past the painful attempt at levity, Tatum is actually first in playoff points since 2020.He's a dangerous scorer. Ok, he wasn't hitting threes this postseason. He still averaged 25 points, 9.7 rebpunds and 6.3 assists.

You were colossally wrong about the Celtics and Mavs. You don't really understand basketball, logic, or really anything. Some people are stupid. It's ok. Jesus loves you. Probably.

[warriorfan]

Listen up pal.

If Tatum can lock down a trio of premier 7 foot post scorers, what chance does Shaq stand?

And on the other end of the court how does a 375 lb lumbering Shaquille O'Neal keep up with the great Jayson Tatum chucking 3s?

We have ALL seen how great Tatum hits from deep in Bostons past two NBA Finals. He shot a blistering 26% from long range. And his running mate was on fire at 22%.

You can't ****ing stop that. Period.

lmao.

[ILLsmak]

Moving past the painful attempt at levity, Tatum is actually first in playoff points since 2020.He's a dangerous scorer. Ok, he wasn't hitting threes this postseason. He still averaged 25 points, 9.7 rebpunds and 6.3 assists.

You were colossally wrong about the Celtics and Mavs. You don't really understand basketball, logic, or really anything. Some people are stupid. It's ok. Jesus loves you. Probably.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIdpx7-gims

I think him vs Lewis is similar to what it’d be vs tatum.

-Smak