Giannis Antetokounmpo 20-21 Thread

[BobbyPortisFan]

Anchoring 2016 Finals arguments based on Warriors regular season prowess is hollow and unconvincing due to Steph and Bogut's injuries and Draymond's suspension. They were not the same team and we have to stop pretending like they were the same team that destroyed the league en route to 73 wins.

Lebron +2.2 rTS, 36.8 points per 100 vs. Warriors
Giannis +8.6 rTS, 43.5 points per 100 vs. Suns

Yes it's easier to score now and yes even with the injuries and suspension 2016 Warriors were probably better defensively than 2021 Suns. Giannis still has a big lead in scoring even after adjusting. And while Lebron arguably had a bit of an advantage in play making he also averaged almost twice as many turnovers (Giannis 2.9 per 100 vs. Lebron 5.5 per 100) so it's not exactly straight forward to just compare AST% and call it a day. Overall, Giannis was the more efficient player. Full stop. It's the same argument you guys were trying to make in Lebron's favor defensively only Giannis also wins on volume.

They were literally making the argument that help defense, LeBron's best defensive quality, wasn't even measured in the stats... and your retort is to snarkily compare box-score numbers that only measure scoring efficiency, assists and turnovers, which omits hockey assists and other ways playmaking/creation is not captured in the box score?

Regardless of what the answer to this debate is that strikes me as extremely disingenuous.

But giannis is a better help defender and rim protector than lebron is...

[DCasey91]

Giannis’s run was phenomenal especially in the finals.

Hard time ranking Holiday and Middleton. Then onto the all star thing can be misleading if course. Both supporting players are very much prime/peak age and exp.

I see Middleton as for sure All Star impact and his playoff resume is actually quite sound.

Giannis reign has begun buckle up ladies and gents I believe this is just the beginning. Yes the Suns were overmatched and young exp wise but there’s still huge question (durability massive concern) marks on the nearest contending teams (Nets/Lakers? or a sneaky back door GSW for the last hoorah run) next season.

[DCasey91]

Lebron is obviously the smarter more naturally gifted ball player early on but to even bring the two together for comparing finals runs I thought to be first unimaginable.

Giannis really does have the size diff though that’s saying something next to LBJ.

I pegged Giannis in the 10-15 all time trajectory point but jeez I love Hakeem (10th) but Giannis really could have a concrete argument for top ten all time with more seasons under his belt trajectory wise. Sounds weird to say that lol

But that’s years from now. His beginning peak (couple of seasons now) as accolades and impact suggests is ATG of course.

We all don’t know how his game will mature once the athleticism fades a bit as with all of the greatest players.

I mean Kawhi had an outlier development curve but it’s fair to say Giannis has even him beat.