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I personally think he wins 2 to 3 titles with those 1980's Buck teams.

coastalmarker99 wrote:I personally think he wins 2 to 3 titles with those 1980's Buck teams.

Who does he replace? Or are you just blindly adding him? And are we assuming coaches use him as they use him now, or are we assuming they look at a seven-footer like that and try to make him a low-post guy?

tsherkin wrote:

coastalmarker99 wrote:I personally think he wins 2 to 3 titles with those 1980's Buck teams.

Who does he replace? Or are you just blindly adding him? And are we assuming coaches use him as they use him now, or are we assuming they look at a seven-footer like that and try to make him a low-post guy?

I don't think he could play like he does now because his handle wasn't allowed back then. And at his height a legal handle would be too easy too pick off. Still obviously an ATG and I'm sure if he was born back then his skill set would be more aligned with the existing rules.

sp6r=underrated wrote:

tsherkin wrote:

coastalmarker99 wrote:I personally think he wins 2 to 3 titles with those 1980's Buck teams.

Who does he replace? Or are you just blindly adding him? And are we assuming coaches use him as they use him now, or are we assuming they look at a seven-footer like that and try to make him a low-post guy?

I don't think he could play like he does now because his handle wasn't allowed back then. And at his height a legal handle would be too easy too pick off. Still obviously an ATG and I'm sure if he was born back then his skill set would be more aligned with the existing rules.

He still could run the break (wonder if refs would allow the eurosteps tho) and face up against other bigs in isolation, exploit the ilegal D rules and just have giannis shot to the rim with his speed

His defensive value could be more monstrous than now as his lenght and mobility is hakeem esque

falcolombardi wrote:

sp6r=underrated wrote:

tsherkin wrote:
Who does he replace? Or are you just blindly adding him? And are we assuming coaches use him as they use him now, or are we assuming they look at a seven-footer like that and try to make him a low-post guy?

I don't think he could play like he does now because his handle wasn't allowed back then. And at his height a legal handle would be too easy too pick off. Still obviously an ATG and I'm sure if he was born back then his skill set would be more aligned with the existing rules.

He still could run the break (wonder if refs would allow the eurosteps tho) and face up against other bigs in isolation, exploit the ilegal D rules and just have giannis shot to the rim with his speed

His defensive value could be more monstrous than now as his lenght and mobility is hakeem esque

my understanding is eurosteps were called as travels but defer more to others who follow this closer.

I put 2016 Giannis on the 1980 Bucks and played a full season, with injuries. They reached the Finals against Philadelphia. In Game 6, Giannis made two mental errors in the last 30 seconds (took a jumper too early and went for a pump fake to give up a layup), but Brian Winters made two free throws with five seconds left to give Milwaukee a one-point win, sending the series to a Game 7. Milwaukee lost that game by about 25 points. Giannis played 31 minutes and scored 0 points. I'll do each season from here and post the results in this box.

In 1981, they win 66 games, get the 1 seed, and close out Houston in five games. Giannis puts up 17/18/3/1/2 on 7/17 from the field in the clincher. One championship so far.

1982, they win 64 and get 1 again. They defeat Denver 4-1 in the Finals. In the final game, they win by 38 and seven players score in double figures. Giannis gets Finals MVP (also regular season MVP) after averaging 26/9/4/2/2. Two titles so far.

1983 he won his second MVP, with DPoY, but they only got the 3 seed and New Jersey took 'em out easy in the second round. Then I went to bed.

In 1984 Bird wins MVP but gets injured in the first round and the Celtics lose to Atlanta. Unfortunately, Moncrief also goes down in the first round. The Bucks lose in the second round, in seven games, to Philadelphia.

In 1985 they lose 4-1 to Boston in the Conference Finals.

1986, they lose to Atlanta in the first round.

I'm done. Final count to date for Giannis would be three Finals appearances, two titles, two Finals MVP's, two MVP's, and one DPoY.

tsherkin wrote:

coastalmarker99 wrote:I personally think he wins 2 to 3 titles with those 1980's Buck teams.

Who does he replace? Or are you just blindly adding him? And are we assuming coaches use him as they use him now, or are we assuming they look at a seven-footer like that and try to make him a low-post guy?

I'd assume from what's given in the OP that they add him as a rookie without any serious subtraction (maybe signed in place of Richard Washington who was the end of bench PF).

The coach of the 80-87 Bucks was Don Nelson. If there was any coach of that era who was pretty flexible about how he used players it was Nelson, though whether Giannis would have developed equivalent skills in the Europe of that era might be more of an issue.

penbeast0 wrote:

tsherkin wrote:

coastalmarker99 wrote:I personally think he wins 2 to 3 titles with those 1980's Buck teams.

Who does he replace? Or are you just blindly adding him? And are we assuming coaches use him as they use him now, or are we assuming they look at a seven-footer like that and try to make him a low-post guy?

I'd assume from what's given in the OP that they add him as a rookie without any serious subtraction (maybe signed in place of Richard Washington who was the end of bench PF).

The coach of the 80-87 Bucks was Don Nelson. If there was any coach of that era who was pretty flexible about how he used players it was Nelson, though whether Giannis would have developed equivalent skills in the Europe of that era might be more of an issue.

Giannis came to usa at a really young age for the era, you could have him going to the ncaa with a scolarship and starting his nba career a few years older

I wonder if ballhandler giannis would be too out there for the 80's even for nelson? I think him being used and developed as a face up + midrange big who uses bully-ball in the post and is dominant on defense is more likely

Which all thinghs considered is not that different functionally to now except for starting closer to the hoop with less spacing

I imagine they would be a monster team if you added giannis, definetelt can see them winning a bunch of rings

coastalmarker99 wrote:I personally think he wins 2 to 3 titles with those 1980's Buck teams.

You are correct. (See my sim comment above.) With 2016 Giannis starting in 1980 and playing through 1986, I got two championships. However, that's with three more seasons left to play: 1987-1989 for the Bucks and 2023-2025 for Giannis.

Maybe I should've started with 2015 Giannis to get an extra year in, but it took me two or three days to sim everything, and I ain't doing it again!

Cool to read Scrabbarista's Simulation above.

At least 3, maybe 4 would be my hunch.
That Bucks team was so impressive, perfectly balanced, a consistent core, lacking only a transcendent star for when playoff pressure increases.
Giannis would have made an enormous difference to get through the last couple playoff rounds.

1988-89 Lost E. Conf. Semis
1987-88 Lost E. Conf. 1st Rnd.
1986-87 Lost E. Conf. Semis
1985-86 Lost E. Conf. Finals
1984-85 Lost E. Conf. Semis
1983-84 Lost E. Conf. Finals
1982-83 Lost E. Conf. Finals
1981-82 Lost E. Conf. Semis
1980-81 Lost E. Conf. Semis
1979-80 Lost W. Conf. Semis

And added bonus, we probably don't need to see Sikma's hair so much the last few seasons.