Rico Hines Private Runs

[raptor jesus]

Best player in the world against a top 25 player

Watch on YouTube

The best defender on Siakam that series by far was Siakam himself. He clearly was in a bad place mentally during the bubble. Even in that video you can see him get to his usual spots pretty easily against Brown, but he had no finishing touch whatsoever.

[vulture]

Best player in the world against a top 25 player

Watch on YouTube

The best defender on Siakam that series by far was Siakam himself. He clearly was in a bad place mentally during the bubble. Even in that video you can see him get to his usual spots pretty easily against Brown, but he had no finishing touch whatsoever.

You can tell that he had no finishing touch by the way brown blocked him repeatedly.
Being mentally out of it shows on tape too.

[HumbleRen]

Best player in the world against a top 25 player

Watch on YouTube

The best defender on Siakam that series by far was Siakam himself. He clearly was in a bad place mentally during the bubble. Even in that video you can see him get to his usual spots pretty easily against Brown, but he had no finishing touch whatsoever.

You can tell that he had no finishing touch by the way brown blocked him repeatedly.
Being mentally out of it shows on tape too.

Maybe the proper context to discuss pascal being a top 15 player is thru the regular season only. It’s really hard to debate his status because of the lack of any stand out Playoff series.

[vulture]

The best defender on Siakam that series by far was Siakam himself. He clearly was in a bad place mentally during the bubble. Even in that video you can see him get to his usual spots pretty easily against Brown, but he had no finishing touch whatsoever.

You can tell that he had no finishing touch by the way brown blocked him repeatedly.
Being mentally out of it shows on tape too.

Maybe the proper context to discuss pascal being a top 15 player is thru the regular season only. It’s really hard to debate his status because of the lack of any stand out Playoff series.

That might be the way to trade him for a superstar. Don’t let other GMs watch his playoff reel.

[Gold Dragon]

Nobody said pascal is top 10 and mvp candidate today. Just that he could be down the road.

Jaylen Brown had 3 3rd team all nba votes. Pascal has won a 2nd team all nba and a 3rd team all nba award. This past year he had 7 2nd team votes and 42 3rd team votes.

He isn’t a top 10 player right now, but he is not far off, at least in the minds of those who official decide these things for the nba.

Using All NBA to determine a ranking for a player is iffy.

Zion, AD, Kawhi, PG all were ineligible last year and I would consider all of them to be better than Pascal or just as good.

He's defintely in that top 20 convo though and can cement himself as a top 15 player this upcoming season imo.

Injuries matter. Until these chronically injured high risk players show they have recovered from their injuries to pre injury levels, they deserve to be ranked below someone who has just performed at an all nba level.

There are a ton of players in history who have their careers destroyed by injury and are a shell of their former selves. All 4 of these guys could be that next season and we won’t know until the games start.

[HiJiNX]

A lot of insecure Raptors fans underrate our players and overrate other teams’ players. This is why nobody had us winning in 2019 despite clearly having the most stacked roster in the year that league.

As it pertains to this conversation, Siakam absolutely has the chance to join the top 10 conversation if he simple makes one more three and gets to the line once more per game. That’s it. He doesn’t even need to improve anywhere else. He’s not that far away.

The thing about Siakam is that he’s become offensive anchor status—not just scoring. There aren’t a lot of guys in the league that can create something for their team every time down the floor. Despite Siakam’s below average perimeter shooting, he was basically the entire offensive system for the second half of the season for a team that played really well down the stretch, as Siakam got better down the stretch. He was discovering himself. Then the playoffs came and you could tell that he had some demons to exorcise there. His first three games were either average by his standards (games 1 and 2) or just plain bad (game 3) and then in games 4 and 5, it clicked for him and he was the best player on the floor (with notable mvp candidate Embiid on the other end), so good that Philly’s entire game plan in game 6 was to not let Siakam create anything for teammates since nobody else could do anything. Again, he was discovering himself.

Now that he knows what he can do, I expect a lot more marquee games from him. Confidence is a funny thing. He had it in 2019. He had more of it in 2020. Then the bubble shattered it. The Tampa season was a dark place, yet he was showing signs of recovery in the last 20 games. Last season, his confidence reached pre-bubble levels during the season and definitely rose to another level in games 4-6 against Philly. He knows what he can do now. He won’t be a shrinking violet. And with the added boost of confidence and an off-season to work on his shooting, I fully expect an even better Siakam next year.

To say that top 10 is out of the question in my opinion is more hyperbolic than saying it’s not at all possible, given the evidence and Siakam’s career trajectory across time but especially over the course of last season where he was seemingly taking leaps from month to month and sometimes game to game.

[vulture]

It seems like you guys are underrating siakam by saying he has top 10 potential.

He’s better than jokic because he plays defense.
He’s better than curry because he plays defense.
He’s better than luka because he plays defense.
He’s better than embiid because he’s from the better city in Cameroon.
He’s better than durant because Scottie scored on his head.

Stop underrating siakam and say that he has the potential to be the best player in the world. It sucks that he plays in Canada or he would have made more than 2 all-nba teams.

[And1+2]

Siakam has already had a few breakout seasons, but I'm willing to bet this up and coming one will be one for the ages.

[vulture]

Siakam has already had a few breakout seasons, but I'm willing to bet this up and coming one will be one for the ages.

I agree. He’s about to be the first player ever to win mvp, dpoy, mip, 6mofty, ECF mvp, fmvp.
Fred will be jealous of all the awards.
Championship season incoming.

[LoveMyRaps]

It seems like you guys are underrating siakam by saying he has top 10 potential.

He’s better than jokic because he plays defense.
He’s better than curry because he plays defense.
He’s better than luka because he plays defense.
He’s better than embiid because he’s from the better city in Cameroon.
He’s better than durant because Scottie scored on his head.

Stop underrating siakam and say that he has the potential to be the best player in the world. It sucks that he plays in Canada or he would have made more than 2 all-nba teams.

You're embarrassing yourself at this point.

[vulture]

It seems like you guys are underrating siakam by saying he has top 10 potential.

He’s better than jokic because he plays defense.
He’s better than curry because he plays defense.
He’s better than luka because he plays defense.
He’s better than embiid because he’s from the better city in Cameroon.
He’s better than durant because Scottie scored on his head.

Stop underrating siakam and say that he has the potential to be the best player in the world. It sucks that he plays in Canada or he would have made more than 2 all-nba teams.

You're embarrassing yourself at this point.

The embarrassment is on all of us for saying he has top 10 potential. That potential is sky high.

Let’s be more positive man. Negativity doesn’t get you anywhere in life.

[M3tro]

Can you win a chip with Siakam as your best player?

If the answer is no, than there's no universe where he touches top 10 status.

[Fairview4Life]

Can you win a chip with Siakam as your best player?

If the answer is no, than there's no universe where he touches top 10 status.

You can win with a lot of different guys as your best player. Even the very best guys need a team around them, as we very famously keep seeing with Jokic, or KD, or Giannis, Luka, etc etc etc., and a Pascal led team would be no different. Would a Pascal led team need a better supporting cast, and how do you build that is a different question.

[vulture]

Can you win a chip with Siakam as your best player?

If the answer is no, than there's no universe where he touches top 10 status.

You can win with a lot of different guys as your best player. Even the very best guys need a team around them, as we very famously keep seeing with Jokic, or KD, or Giannis, Luka, etc etc etc., and a Pascal led team would be no different. Would a Pascal led team need a better supporting cast, and how do you build that is a different question.

here are the last 10 finals mvps:

2022 Stephen Curry
2021 Giannis Antetokounmpo
2020 LeBron James
2019 Kawhi Leonard
2018 Kevin Durant
2017 Kevin Durant
2016 LeBron James
2015 Andre Iguodala
2014 Kawhi Leonard
2013 LeBron James

I think Pascal is right there with these guys expect Iggy because he is the GOAT.

[Fairview4Life]

Can you win a chip with Siakam as your best player?

If the answer is no, than there's no universe where he touches top 10 status.

You can win with a lot of different guys as your best player. Even the very best guys need a team around them, as we very famously keep seeing with Jokic, or KD, or Giannis, Luka, etc etc etc., and a Pascal led team would be no different. Would a Pascal led team need a better supporting cast, and how do you build that is a different question.

here are the last 10 finals mvps:

2022 Stephen Curry
2021 Giannis Antetokounmpo
2020 LeBron James
2019 Kawhi Leonard
2018 Kevin Durant
2017 Kevin Durant
2016 LeBron James
2015 Andre Iguodala
2014 Kawhi Leonard
2013 LeBron James

I think Pascal is right there with these guys expect Iggy because he is the GOAT.

Cool.

[OakleyDokely]

Man, so many people get triggered if you dare call a MIP, a 2 time all-nba player, a 2nd option on a champion a top 20 player.

God forbid you say he's better than Brandon Friggin Ingram.

[vulture]

Man, so many people get triggered if you dare call a MIP, a 2 time all-nba player, a 2nd option on a champion a top 20 player.

God forbid you say he's better than Brandon Friggin Ingram.

We can be honest without saying he has MVP and top 10 potential. He's a top 20-25 players and that's the honest answer.
Anyway let's hope he has a great and healthy season.

[OakleyDokely]

Man, so many people get triggered if you dare call a MIP, a 2 time all-nba player, a 2nd option on a champion a top 20 player.

God forbid you say he's better than Brandon Friggin Ingram.

We can be honest without saying he has MVP and top 10 potential. He's a top 20-25 players and that's the honest answer.
Anyway let's hope he has a great and healthy season.

Having the potential to be a top 10 player doesn't mean he is a top 10 player.

[Madhouse]

He is the best player in the world. MVP Siakam loading.

[vulture]

He is the best player in the world. MVP Siakam loading.

He has that potential no doubt. He outplayed Embiid in the playoffs didn't he?