Giannis Thread - "The Finals are different, I hope to be back soon with the Bucks"

[Licensed to Il]

Giannis' career arc so far is basically "what if KG actually won in Minnesota?" The more years we see him drop these casual 30/11/6 stat lines while somehow getting snubbed from All-Defense teams (despite getting DPOTY votes every year), the more I'm becoming convinced that he might be the most under-appreciated/dis-respected superstar ever. PP's explanation is probably the right one though. His career isn't close to done yet so they feel the need to handicap him for the time being in these all-time lists. I'm just saying it's a stupid rationale if that's the case. It's about "who was the better/more dominant player?", not "who was a good/great player for the longest?"

Giannis’ career ark is “what if KG could dribble like a guard and break down any defense?”

KG is one of my all time faves, people don’t realize what a great mid range shooter he was. But no big has ever been able to dribble, penetrate, and attack the rim like Giannis. They both were equally dominant on defense. Do you want them to switch on PnR? How do you exploit a big that can guard 1-5? How do you score at the rim? How do you post up?

As good as KG was, Giannis simply has more to beat you with.

[ReasonablySober]

Giannis' career arc so far is basically "what if KG actually won in Minnesota?" The more years we see him drop these casual 30/11/6 stat lines while somehow getting snubbed from All-Defense teams (despite getting DPOTY votes every year), the more I'm becoming convinced that he might be the most under-appreciated/dis-respected superstar ever. PP's explanation is probably the right one though. His career isn't close to done yet so they feel the need to handicap him for the time being in these all-time lists. I'm just saying it's a stupid rationale if that's the case. It's about "who was the better/more dominant player?", not "who was a good/great player for the longest?"

Giannis’ career ark is “what if KG could dribble like a guard and break down any defense?”

KG is one of my all time faves, people don’t realize what a great mid range shooter he was. But no big has ever been able to dribble, penetrate, and attack the rim like Giannis. They both were equally dominant on defense. Do you want them to switch on PnR? How do you exploit a big that can guard 1-5? How do you score at the rim? How do you post up?

As good as KG was, Giannis simply has more to beat you with.

Giannis's arc is closer to "What if Russell Westrook but 6'11?"

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

Giannis' career arc so far is basically "what if KG actually won in Minnesota?" The more years we see him drop these casual 30/11/6 stat lines while somehow getting snubbed from All-Defense teams (despite getting DPOTY votes every year), the more I'm becoming convinced that he might be the most under-appreciated/dis-respected superstar ever. PP's explanation is probably the right one though. His career isn't close to done yet so they feel the need to handicap him for the time being in these all-time lists. I'm just saying it's a stupid rationale if that's the case. It's about "who was the better/more dominant player?", not "who was a good/great player for the longest?"

There's a balance. Obviously no one has bill Walton in there top 25 despite him being a monster the one year he was healthy. But if a guy has an extra ten years with more hardware and stats, sure that should be the tie breaker. You even alluded to it in another post saying his he has been MVP-level for 6 straight years so you do value longevity to some extent. I think most of the time he is in the appropriate 16-23 tier. You could make chases for all those guys and nitpick teammates, competition, luck, era etc.

I do think his style of play (same with Shaq) hurts him because people prefer the offensive style of KD, Dirk, Wade, etc.

[soxperry]

Giannis' career arc so far is basically "what if KG actually won in Minnesota?" The more years we see him drop these casual 30/11/6 stat lines while somehow getting snubbed from All-Defense teams (despite getting DPOTY votes every year), the more I'm becoming convinced that he might be the most under-appreciated/dis-respected superstar ever. PP's explanation is probably the right one though. His career isn't close to done yet so they feel the need to handicap him for the time being in these all-time lists. I'm just saying it's a stupid rationale if that's the case. It's about "who was the better/more dominant player?", not "who was a good/great player for the longest?"

Giannis’ career ark is “what if KG could dribble like a guard and break down any defense?”

KG is one of my all time faves, people don’t realize what a great mid range shooter he was. But no big has ever been able to dribble, penetrate, and attack the rim like Giannis. They both were equally dominant on defense. Do you want them to switch on PnR? How do you exploit a big that can guard 1-5? How do you score at the rim? How do you post up?

As good as KG was, Giannis simply has more to beat you with.

I wonder which animals Giannis would have picked for his ark. You know he's not doing two of every animal he's going to have his favorites. There's going to be like 30 hippos

[Licensed to Il]

Giannis' career arc so far is basically "what if KG actually won in Minnesota?" The more years we see him drop these casual 30/11/6 stat lines while somehow getting snubbed from All-Defense teams (despite getting DPOTY votes every year), the more I'm becoming convinced that he might be the most under-appreciated/dis-respected superstar ever. PP's explanation is probably the right one though. His career isn't close to done yet so they feel the need to handicap him for the time being in these all-time lists. I'm just saying it's a stupid rationale if that's the case. It's about "who was the better/more dominant player?", not "who was a good/great player for the longest?"

Giannis’ career ark is “what if KG could dribble like a guard and break down any defense?”

KG is one of my all time faves, people don’t realize what a great mid range shooter he was. But no big has ever been able to dribble, penetrate, and attack the rim like Giannis. They both were equally dominant on defense. Do you want them to switch on PnR? How do you exploit a big that can guard 1-5? How do you score at the rim? How do you post up?

As good as KG was, Giannis simply has more to beat you with.

I wonder which animals Giannis would have picked for his ark. You know he's not doing two of every animal he's going to have his favorites. There's going to be like 30 hippos

He would pick Thanasis

[CharityStripe34]

Giannis' career arc so far is basically "what if KG actually won in Minnesota?" The more years we see him drop these casual 30/11/6 stat lines while somehow getting snubbed from All-Defense teams (despite getting DPOTY votes every year), the more I'm becoming convinced that he might be the most under-appreciated/dis-respected superstar ever. PP's explanation is probably the right one though. His career isn't close to done yet so they feel the need to handicap him for the time being in these all-time lists. I'm just saying it's a stupid rationale if that's the case. It's about "who was the better/more dominant player?", not "who was a good/great player for the longest?"

Careful, KG is a sacred cow at RGM. Especially in the Players Comp section. Some guys have him Top 10 (or even top 5!) all-time. And I love KG I think he was awesome in his heyday and completely changed the culture in Boston when he was gift-wrapped for Ainge by McHale.

But yea, Freak getting snubbed from All-Defense nods is bizarre. I'll freely admit that in 2024 & 2025 he has been focusing more of his game on improving offensively and has trimmed his effort on defense by about 25% or so. But I'll take Giannis giving 65-70% on defense over the majority of the league.

[humanrefutation]

The lack of respect for Giannis effectively boils down to him playing in Milwaukee and three consecutive first round exits. And I think it's the former waaaaaay more than the latter, but if he was winning multiple rings or at least making deep playoff runs, I imagine he would get less disrespect than he does currently.

[Ron Swanson]

Giannis' career arc so far is basically "what if KG actually won in Minnesota?" The more years we see him drop these casual 30/11/6 stat lines while somehow getting snubbed from All-Defense teams (despite getting DPOTY votes every year), the more I'm becoming convinced that he might be the most under-appreciated/dis-respected superstar ever. PP's explanation is probably the right one though. His career isn't close to done yet so they feel the need to handicap him for the time being in these all-time lists. I'm just saying it's a stupid rationale if that's the case. It's about "who was the better/more dominant player?", not "who was a good/great player for the longest?"

Careful, KG is a sacred cow at RGM. Especially in the Players Comp section. Some guys have him Top 10 (or even top 5!) all-time. And I love KG I think he was awesome in his heyday and completely changed the culture in Boston when he was gift-wrapped for Ainge by McHale.

But yea, Freak getting snubbed from All-Defense nods is bizarre. I'll freely admit that in 2024 & 2025 he has been focusing more of his game on improving offensively and has trimmed his effort on defense by about 25% or so. But I'll take Giannis giving 65-70% on defense over the majority of the league.

Oh, you don't have to remind me. I stopped posting there even though I get invited to participate in the peaks project every year, and one of the reasons is precisely because KG is treated by the spreadsheet contrarian crowd as having an actual GOAT case. It's wild.

[CharityStripe34]

Giannis' career arc so far is basically "what if KG actually won in Minnesota?" The more years we see him drop these casual 30/11/6 stat lines while somehow getting snubbed from All-Defense teams (despite getting DPOTY votes every year), the more I'm becoming convinced that he might be the most under-appreciated/dis-respected superstar ever. PP's explanation is probably the right one though. His career isn't close to done yet so they feel the need to handicap him for the time being in these all-time lists. I'm just saying it's a stupid rationale if that's the case. It's about "who was the better/more dominant player?", not "who was a good/great player for the longest?"

Careful, KG is a sacred cow at RGM. Especially in the Players Comp section. Some guys have him Top 10 (or even top 5!) all-time. And I love KG I think he was awesome in his heyday and completely changed the culture in Boston when he was gift-wrapped for Ainge by McHale.

But yea, Freak getting snubbed from All-Defense nods is bizarre. I'll freely admit that in 2024 & 2025 he has been focusing more of his game on improving offensively and has trimmed his effort on defense by about 25% or so. But I'll take Giannis giving 65-70% on defense over the majority of the league.

Oh, you don't have to remind me. I stopped posting there even though I get invited to participate in the peaks project every year, and one of the reasons is precisely because KG is treated by the spreadsheet contrarian crowd as having an actual GOAT case. It's wild.

I did participate one year (I think in 2022) and the mustache-twirling spreadsheet geek crowd scoffed at the mere suggestion Giannis (or anyone else) is better than KG. I think I even read people making a case for Reggie as Top 20 or something because of some abstract "gravity" argument.

[ReasonablySober]

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[German Athens]

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[BUCKnation]

Hope Thanasis can play