2024-25 NBA MVP Discussion Thread (Pt. 3: Son of daughter of MVP thread)

[scrabbarista]

40 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block - in 3 quarters

Denver blowing everyone out lately may hurt Jokic's chances. He takes the fourth quarter off half the time it seems.

Don't worry, Westbrook will come back and it will be a struggle again.

[Exp0sed]

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12.

how many did SGA sit out? he was way ahead earlier I think he's around 12-13 also now

[Mrakar]

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If Embiid or SGA did this ofc it would have counted....and it happend 2 times this game..

[DrModesty]

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12.

how many did SGA sit out? he was way ahead earlier I think he's around 12-13 also now

Shai has sat out 14 4th quarters. That includes sitting out 4 of the last 6. Of the 2 fourth quarters he did play, he played 3 minutes in the fourth against PHX to get his 50 points (he had 46 after 3 quarters). He also played 3 minutes against the Grizzlies, which was probably overly cautious from Daigneault, though the Grizzlies were at least trying to mount a comeback.

[Castle Black]

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[CobraCommander]

Sga is gonna win the mvp -
But honestly I
Still think it’s jokic - Sga clearly the proven to be the best 2 way wing in nba if he wins MVP this year - I think this is the last year before wemby is moving into the real
MVP
Conversation

[zimpy27]

SGA has been amazing and his team looks like they could get 65+ wins..

He'll win but it's an all time great season for Jokic

[RB34]

Joker got a taste of the sweet life with 8 free throws tonight. Almost a 40 point triple double.

Would love to see what he could do if he regularly shot 10-15 like some others. God knows he gets fouled enough.

[Andri]

Give SGA the MVP, but I think Jokic is without discussion the best player

[QPR]

Give SGA the MVP, but I think Jokic is without discussion the best player

It's just a privilege to be a basketball fan during his prime.

[lethalizer]

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If Embiid or SGA did this ofc it would have counted....and it happend 2 times this game..

I'm actually curious, do you watch any Thunder games at all? Shai had 5-6 of these dismissed in the past few games only.

They're obviously calling these kinda plays on the ground as a general rule now. No need to act like this when you don't look at the other players and games altogether.

[scrabbarista]

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If Embiid or SGA did this ofc it would have counted....and it happend 2 times this game..

Definitely should've counted by rule. As someone who didn't watch the game, I assume Jokic scored later on in the possession anyway.

[QPR]

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If Embiid or SGA did this ofc it would have counted....and it happend 2 times this game..

Definitely should've counted by rule. As someone who didn't watch the game, I assume Jokic scored later on in the possession anyway.

He also scored one that did count later on, and another ridiculous fadeaway three in the corner over Ayton.

[scrabbarista]

Since hitting the highest PER and BPM of all-time, Jokic has continued to push those numbers even higher with outrageous efficiency. He currently sits at 33.6 and 14.5, respectively.

He's even been moving closer to what seems to be an unbreakable record, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's WS/48 in 1971-72. He is second for now.

And he's the most fun player to watch in the league.

On Denver's current 7 game win streak, Jokic:

29/11/12/2/1/3 on 64/41/83 in 34 minutes per game.

That TS% is .736; he seems to have found his unworldly touch in the paint again.

MVP.

[scrabbarista]

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If Embiid or SGA did this ofc it would have counted....and it happend 2 times this game..

Definitely should've counted by rule. As someone who didn't watch the game, I assume Jokic scored later on in the possession anyway.

He also scored one that did count later on, and another ridiculous fadeaway three in the corner over Ayton.

Yeah, the highlight video for the game was great.

[Peregrine01]

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If Embiid or SGA did this ofc it would have counted....and it happend 2 times this game..

This dude has the worst whistle I’ve ever seen of any superstar. I get he’s not super marketable in the NBA’s eyes but jeez it’s patently ridiculous the double standards that the NBA has with its officiating.

[MoneyTalks41890]

If OKC spotted the other team 10 points in all their games this season, they would still be 35-17.

[scrabbarista]

Real talk, I don't think the top two candidates, combined, have ever been this good. I'd have to do a deep dive to be sure, but my NBA history is pretty good, and I think this is the tops.

One guy is having possibly the greatest season ever, and the other is probably in the top 10 or 15 range at worst.

That means both guys' seasons are in like the top 0.0005% historically. That's a real number. Nuts.

I still think Jokic has a good lead, though: well within range with 30 games left, but I think, at present, there is a clear separation.

A couple of possible rivals: Oscar and Wilt in '64. Robinson and Olajuwon in '94; Jokic and SGA are in the top handful of MVP-quality duos.

[Mrakar]

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If Embiid or SGA did this ofc it would have counted....and it happend 2 times this game..

I'm actually curious, do you watch any Thunder games at all? Shai had 5-6 of these dismissed in the past few games only.

They're obviously calling these kinda plays on the ground as a general rule now. No need to act like this when you don't look at the other players and games altogether.

Of course, I watch the best team in the NBA, and at the same time, a young team. These kinds of calls happen daily for SGA:

https://youtube.com/shorts/Oy9UGr2dMZ4?si=gIy3G92HJqeXzAFp

[Exp0sed]

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If Embiid or SGA did this ofc it would have counted....and it happend 2 times this game..

This dude has the worst whistle I’ve ever seen of any superstar. I get he’s not super marketable in the NBA’s eyes but jeez it’s patently ridiculous the double standards that the NBA has with its officiating.

the full-court rip-through move is Jokic's white whale, he's tried to get that call dozens of times and has never gotten it yet haha. that's when he expects a swipe in the back-court and gathers to shoot at the same time


as for the SGA\Embiid vs. Jokic argument, here are some facts:
Kobe popularized the rip-through and back in the Harden days, the rip-through move was abused. refs used to call it a shooting foul (or an and 1 if it went it). that rule has changed a few years ago to make it so the rip-through isn't a shooting foul but it's called to be on the floor

there was alot of emphasis from the league to the refs for a while to enforce it as such but this season there has def been some slippage and i've seen it called a shooting foul occasionaly, for alot of players including SGA and Jokic. so that's one thing the league has got to clean up, you can't call it on the floor some of the time and a shooting foul other times...

during yesterday's Nuggets game broadcast the broadscasters actually talked about the league having to clarify the current rule to the fans because it's very unlcear. what i mean is, there are the classic Harden rip-throughs where he sees a little reach or the defenders arm too close and he goes up to take an unatural basketball shot that he hadn't intended to really take. just a foul bait basically - those are by the current rules called on the floor

however, there are instances that are more grey and less black&white where a player is already in the beginning of an actual gather that leads to a shooting motion when the illegal contact occurs - those get called shooting fouls sometimes and rightfully so

SGA has gotten plenty of these calls this season (Jokic has too) and Embiid is probably the goat of getting that type of call be called a shooting foul, it was a big part of his offense these last couple of years. just spamming face-up, jab stabs and an array of foul baits designed to get that call (and have space for his face-up jumpers)

p.s, yesterday was a real outlier because Jokic hit 3 of those shots and all of them were very natural. the refs even gave him the 3rd one, after calling the first two on the floor. league has to clarify this, the incosistency is weird

one last thing - Jokic gets calls on jumpshots the same as SGA (and others), it's when he's driving and\or finishing that he gets a drastically worse whistle than someone like SGA. Jokic having 6 FTA is laughable, anyone who watches the games sees on average 4,5 and sometimes more, blatant uncalled fouls every game. Deni Avdija has about the same FTA as Jokic