2018-19 Player of the Year Discussion Thread

[TheGOATRises007]

I think Kawhi's the best player in the league.

And his playoffs have been incredible. #1 to me too.

[Jim Naismith]

Series proved Giannis is a borderline top-5 player, if that.

[cpower]

Kawhi needs another monster series against warriors to prove he is worth the no 1 spot. If he had a rs season like Joric, he may be my no 1

[Statlanta]

It's looking like Harden POY and Giannis MVP.

Harden was somewhat resilient against the two best playoff defenses.
Harden had probably the 2nd hardest playoff road of all he POY candidates.
Harden played almost all 82 and did some carrying and record breaking on the way.

[Ooduwa]

^
They're both overrated, as neither plays a style of basketball that is conducive with post season success. The same systems that inflate their regular season statistics are the same systems that cripple them against competent defenses come playoff time.

POY should go to Kawhi, Curry, or KD.

[TheGOATRises007]

^
They're both overrated, as neither plays a style of basketball that is conducive with post season success. The same systems that inflate their regular season statistics are the same systems that cripple them against competent defenses come playoff time.

POY should go to Kawhi, Curry, or KD.

Isolation systems are the systems that have given GS the most trouble during their run.

And Harden was pretty good this year vs GS.

[Ooduwa]

Isolation systems are the systems that have given GS the most trouble during their run.

And Harden was pretty good this year vs GS.

- Houston's iso heavy system is what had CP3 and James butting heads in the midst of another disappointing playoff exit.

- He played pretty good if you only watched his box score. In reality, he was lazy and ineffective off the ball, while failing to step up in pivotal moments of winnable games. No excuse to lose game 6 on his own court.

[eminence]

That pretty much put to rest any consideration for Giannis at #1 for me. Just don't see a good way to put him over Kawhi. Curry/Dray/Harden/Kawhi all still in contention depending on how the finals go.

[TheGOATRises007]

That pretty much put to rest any consideration for Giannis at #1 for me. Just don't see a good way to put him over Kawhi. Curry/Dray/Harden/Kawhi all still in contention depending on how the finals go.

Draymond still in it for you despite his poor RS?

[GSP]

Harden was somewhat resilient against the two best playoff defenses.

Harden didnt play the Raptors or Bucks

The Jazz/Warriors defense arent even clearly better playoff defense than the Sixers

[eminence]

That pretty much put to rest any consideration for Giannis at #1 for me. Just don't see a good way to put him over Kawhi. Curry/Dray/Harden/Kawhi all still in contention depending on how the finals go.

Draymond still in it for you despite his poor RS?

A) I don't think his RS was all that poor, ~20th best player in the league?

B) Yes, he/LBJ/other Warriors have earned a bit of a RS pass from me.

[Joey Wheeler]

Embiid should be somewhere in the top 5. Philly were clearly one of the best teams in the league, could easily be in the Finals with a couple bounces going the other way, and they totally implode without him on the court. He struggled offensively vs the Raptors but it didn't match much because his defensive impact is just monstrous. IMO, when on the court he's comfortably the best defensive player in the NBA.

[Statlanta]

POY should go to Kawhi, KD.

Kawhi missed a third of the season and KD missed a third of the playoffs.

Their contributions to this season is overrated.

[Ooduwa]

POY should go to Kawhi, KD.

Kawhi missed a third of the season and KD missed a third of the playoffs.

Their contributions to this season is overrated.

James played 5 more quarter than KD. Hardly enough to compensate for the gulf in their performances when they were both on the court. Meanwhile, Kawhi carried a franchise to their first ever finals appearance, defeating the 2nd and 3rd best teams in the East en route, and outplaying the league MVP h2h.

I look forward to the day when people remember the objective of the competition is to win. Not put up nice stats or look good in losses.

[Joey Wheeler]

POY should go to Kawhi, KD.

Kawhi missed a third of the season and KD missed a third of the playoffs.

Their contributions to this season is overrated.

Why does this matter? He showed up when it actually counts. All his RS cruising/resting meant is Toronto lost homecourt advantage against the Bucks, but then Kawhi went and dominated on the Bucks court to get the win so who cares really?

[Timmyyy]

I am a little sad that Giannis wasn't able to have as much impact on the series vs the Raptors as i hoped he could. Don't think he was completely bad but definitely not on his usual level of impact. I believed in him until the end but it looks like in that series he couldn't deliver what his team needed him to.

My takeaways from that is that i have to rethink the final ranking of Giannis, Harden and Jokic as i had Giannis on top of that group until yesterday but was aware that if he can't elevate his game to his normal level during the series the group gets more fluid (so basically i do not overreact because of one game but tried to not overreact during the series and adjust now).

For the 2nd tier in my ranking nothing changed for now. I will sit back until the end of the finals and reevaluate if i will put them in the top group then.

What Kawhi is doing this playoffs is really amazing. But seeing some guys talking about him I get the feeling I'm not quite on the same hype train as others. Maybe I took the wrong one

[Statlanta]

POY should go to Kawhi, KD.

Kawhi missed a third of the season and KD missed a third of the playoffs.

Their contributions to this season is overrated.

Why does this matter? He showed up when it actually counts. All his RS cruising/resting meant is Toronto lost homecourt advantage against the Bucks, but then Kawhi went and dominated on the Bucks court to get the win so who cares really?

Player of the Year means the player should play in the games during the year.

It's not like he had a debilitating injury during the year.

[Doctor MJ]

Clearly anointing Giannis as the best in the world is premature as his game has flaws that can be exposed deep in the playoffs.

That's always the thing. Young superstar hasn't seen all counters to his game yet so eventually stumbles against the right opponent in the playoffs. I don't see it as "premature anointing" so much as it's just a new hero stumbling at the part of the journey most of them stumble on.

But yeah, unless something changes in this series, Kawhi will definitely be above him on my list.

Any superstar would 'stumble' to some degree against the Raptors, that includes the likes of Lebron James or Kevin Durant, who will almost certainly have the worst Finals of his career if he's even fit to play. They have insane defense. Don't think there's any other team in the playoffs that could slow down Giannis to a comparable extent.

Reading your post I had simply assumed it was someone other than person I was responding to. Then I looked at the name and saw it was you, Joey, both times, and now i'm not sure what your point is.

I was defending him against what I saw from you, and now it seems like you believe you're defending him against me.

[Doctor MJ]

Kawhi missed a third of the season and KD missed a third of the playoffs.

Their contributions to this season is overrated.

Why does this matter? He showed up when it actually counts. All his RS cruising/resting meant is Toronto lost homecourt advantage against the Bucks, but then Kawhi went and dominated on the Bucks court to get the win so who cares really?

Player of the Year means the player should play in the games during the year.

It's not like he had a debilitating injury during the year.

I think it's fine for you to use this criteria, just keep in mind that if Kawhi wins the title while being the best player in the playoffs, if you dismiss Kawhi based on missed time in the regular season, anyone who looks at your posts a year from now is going to find your perspective silly.

Again, I respect if you go this route, but there is a well-established way by which players and analysts evaluating player legacy, and the rule is always that the playoffs are what really matter. I frankly wish it weren't, but it is what it is.

[Doctor MJ]

I am a little sad that Giannis wasn't able to have as much impact on the series vs the Raptors as i hoped he could. Don't think he was completely bad but definitely not on his usual level of impact. I believed in him until the end but it looks like in that series he couldn't deliver what his team needed him to.

My takeaways from that is that i have to rethink the final ranking of Giannis, Harden and Jokic as i had Giannis on top of that group until yesterday but was aware that if he can't elevate his game to his normal level during the series the group gets more fluid (so basically i do not overreact because of one game but tried to not overreact during the series and adjust now).

For the 2nd tier in my ranking nothing changed for now. I will sit back until the end of the finals and reevaluate if i will put them in the top group then.

What Kawhi is doing this playoffs is really amazing. But seeing some guys talking about him I get the feeling I'm not quite on the same hype train as others. Maybe I took the wrong one

I would be really careful about dropping Giannis below guys you rated him above based on his play against Kawhi, when those other guys didn't have to play against Kawhi.