Giannis' Development

[breakchains]

You also believe that Knight is as good a passer as Giannis, which is patently absurd in my eyes, so we can agree to disagree.

[emunney]

LeBron is closer to Magic than Giannis is to LeBron.

[emunney]

You also believe that Knight is as good a passer as Giannis, which is patently absurd in my eyes, so we can agree to disagree.

It's true. Giannis has better passing instincts, better vision and better innate understanding of the game, but he is no better at delivering a pass than Knight is. His passes are all over the place. You seriously don't see this?

[breakchains]

Your definition of "passing" is oddly limited. Everything you describe goes into "passing" when I am discussing it. Whatever you want to call the combination of those things, that is what I am discussing here.

[breakchains]

What makes Rubio or Rondo or Nash or other great "passers" was not simply because their passes would be delivered accurately. It is a combination of vision, feel, timing, instincts, and yes, also the precise delivery. You defining "passing" as just the accurate delivery portion is weird and is never solely what I'm discussing when talking about "passing."

[DavidDunn21]

Actually, what holds him back is the lack of even Durant level athleticism. Watch the highlights of the few times Durant posterized someone...he's getting up way higher than Giannis.

I would be thrilled if he turned into supercharged Odom. If Jabari can be mid career Pierce, we've got something going.

[emunney]

There's more to passing than skill. I didn't correct you because I just took your reference to my original post about how Giannis and Knight have similar skill levels as a reference to that post, which was clear.

In my world, skill is very different from talent and I carry those distinctions through everything I talk about. A skilled writer can write about anything clearly and diligently, but it takes talent to breathe life into a subject.

So with passing, you can develop the skills you need to take advantage of the opportunities you can see, but it takes a gift to see opportunities that others can't. Giannis is gifted, but his skills haven't dropped yet.

He's just not gifted like LeBron is.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT-zhe-5ORA[/youtube]

[emunney]

What makes Rubio or Rondo or Nash or other great "passers" was not simply because their passes would be delivered accurately. It is a combination of vision, feel, timing, instincts, and yes, also the precise delivery. You defining "passing" as just the accurate delivery portion is weird and is never solely what I'm discussing when talking about "passing."

What does it mean to be a great passer who can't consistently deliver an accurate pass? Kind of critical.

[breakchains]

It is critical. I just think you overstate what you perceive to be Giannis's weakness there. He has some errant passes here and there but more often than not he is money in nearly all aspects of the pass. I think as Giannis develops, this will be refined as well. In terms of projecting, he has shown all of the things I need to see to feel comfortable comparing him to Lebron as a passer. I'm okay with it if you disagree. We can see how it plays out.

[mattg]

What makes Rubio or Rondo or Nash or other great "passers" was not simply because their passes would be delivered accurately. It is a combination of vision, feel, timing, instincts, and yes, also the precise delivery. You defining "passing" as just the accurate delivery portion is weird and is never solely what I'm discussing when talking about "passing."

Why would you lump everything into one category when it's obviously much better to differentiate the multiple aspects in play here? Case in point, JR Smith has tremendous vision and technical passing ability, but no one would ever call him a great playmaker/passer because of his decision making. But it is important to note that he is very skilled and capable of being a spectacular passer when he decides to be.

[SupremeHustle]

Actually, what holds him back is the lack of even Durant level athleticism.

[breakchains]

What makes Rubio or Rondo or Nash or other great "passers" was not simply because their passes would be delivered accurately. It is a combination of vision, feel, timing, instincts, and yes, also the precise delivery. You defining "passing" as just the accurate delivery portion is weird and is never solely what I'm discussing when talking about "passing."

Why would you lump everything into one category when it's obviously much better to differentiate the multiple aspects in play here? Case in point, JR Smith has tremendous vision and technical passing ability, but no one would ever call him a great playmaker/passer because of his decision making. But it is important to note that he is very skilled and capable of being a spectacular passer when he decides to be.

You can break it up as you like, but most people, when they talk about "passing" encompass everything that makes one a good passer. Like I said, when you call Rubio or Rondo a great passer, you are not simply limiting it to actual ball placement of the pass. It is that and everything else that goes into it. If you want to further analyze it and break it down into the individual elements, that's fine - but when someone is referred to as a great "passer," the implication is not that they simply are really good at ball placement once the ball leaves their hand. Timing, anticipation, feel, vision, all of that goes into being a great passer. It's odd to even have to explain this.

[Prez]

Actually, what holds him back is the lack of even Durant level athleticism. Watch the highlights of the few times Durant posterized someone...he's getting up way higher than Giannis.

I would be thrilled if he turned into supercharged Odom. If Jabari can be mid career Pierce, we've got something going.

I don't think there is too much of a difference if we consider age, imo. Durant has improved a ton as an athlete since coming to the league. Before he went down this year he was much quicker laterally, more vertically explosive than he was his first few years. I still remember watching footage of him his first couple years, re-watching some of those insane scoring games from his MVP year last year, and being surprised at how much more fluid and mobile he looked. I think young Durant was more explosive naturally because of his lighter frame, but I think with a few more years of pro-level diet, training, development, and natural maturation...Giannis at his physical peak ~23-24 could be right there with him.

[MiltownHawkeye]

Yeah, I'm not seeing it...I think Giannis matches Durant athletically more or less. Durant has a little more quick-twitch athleticism but that's about it. Giannis' athleticism certainly isn't "holding him back" when you compare him to KD.

Giannis is also bigger than Durant at this point and it doesn't seem that close. It's especially apparent in the shoulders, and Giannis has to have at least half an inch on him.

[mattg]

What makes Rubio or Rondo or Nash or other great "passers" was not simply because their passes would be delivered accurately. It is a combination of vision, feel, timing, instincts, and yes, also the precise delivery. You defining "passing" as just the accurate delivery portion is weird and is never solely what I'm discussing when talking about "passing."

Why would you lump everything into one category when it's obviously much better to differentiate the multiple aspects in play here? Case in point, JR Smith has tremendous vision and technical passing ability, but no one would ever call him a great playmaker/passer because of his decision making. But it is important to note that he is very skilled and capable of being a spectacular passer when he decides to be.

You can break it up as you like, but most people, when they talk about "passing" encompass everything that makes one a good passer. Like I said, when you call Rubio or Rondo a great passer, you are not simply limiting it to actual ball placement of the pass. It is that and everything else that goes into it. If you want to further analyze it and break it down into the individual elements, that's fine - but when someone is referred to as a great "passer," the implication is not that they simply are really good at ball placement once the ball leaves their hand. Timing, anticipation, feel, vision, all of that goes into being a great passer. It's odd to even have to explain this.

It's just semantics but the total package you refer to I call playmaking instead. Just think it makes more sense as it doesn't refer to a singular skill that's part of what you're trying to describe. It's like using the term shooting when you're describing someone's overall scoring game.

[H2tObes]

Go back and watch some Giannis dunks from this season, it's not like Giannis has cement bricks on his feet. Durant is more explosive but Giannis is more athletic in other ways. They're close athletically

[joedumars1]

From a outsider point of view, I have loved Giannis ever since watching his highlight tape before that draft tho. All them skills seem to be carrying over well in the NBA.

I see him bulking up (see A. Davis Frechman year at Kentucky and now, only comparing size), that will help with driving finishing with contact.

I see him being able to develop a 36-40% 3 ball sometime down the road.

When that starts to happen his passing should work pretty good too about 5 assist

The sky is the limit for Giannis, but to compare to Durant and Lebron rite now, no thanks, can he get in the conversation someday, yes I think he can, but it will be all up to him imo.

I believe the best comparison is Paul George, their trajectory are probably the best comparisons, here are George first 4 years, I know it's only Giannis 2nd, but the trajectory seems rite.

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/stats/_/i ... aul-george

[greekbuck34]

Great all around 2014-2015 awesomeness by Giannis part 2.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVQVepM6ZDg[/youtube]

Part 3 will come in the end of the season most probably.

[Greek]

Nice article. Giannis sees his self as a future 4, saying that there is not a single PF that can stay in front of him when he puts the ball at the floor.

http://www.eurohoops.net/2015/03/featured/81205/

[PedroGrande]

Very nice article... That quote made made me laugh and cry at the same time

WHAT CAN I SAY ABOUT THIS MAN? HE IS A GENIUS. LET ME TELL YOU A RECENT STORY. COACH KIDD ENTERED THE COURT AND PRACTICED WITH US. HE WASN’T WEARING SNEAKERS, BECAUSE HE DIDN’T NEED TO! PROBABLY HE DID IT IN ORDER TO EVEN THE ODDS (LAUGHS). YOU CAN’T DESCRIBE WITH WORDS WHAT HE DID. MAN, I AM HONEST.

I AM HERE TWO YEARS AND I PRACTICE EVERY DAY. I HAD NEVER SEEN ONE OF MY TEAMMATES AND OF COURSE ME DOING SUCH THINGS IN PRACTICE. IF I COUNTED CORRECTLY, HE DISHED FIVE PERFECT ASSISTS IN NINE PLAYS. IT WAS AMAZING. I WAS SPEECHLESS.