Better Player Right Now Today: Kevin Durant or Giannis

[CobraCommander]

Hard to pick against Giannis or KD....I’d go Giannis because he is good at everything he needs to be good at and his best won a title with Middleton and The defense of Holiday and KD couldnt with Harden, Westbrook and Chewbacca....so I gotta say Giannis did more with less....


But on the other hand...KD is the perfect player...size, athleticism and shooting....only thing is his mind is weak....again I’m going Giannis

[DreamTeam09]

If you take away game 5 were Gianni's went 4-11 from the ft line, then he would've shot 70% from the line in that series instead of 65%.

If Gianni's is hitting FTs at 70%, he's easily the best player in the league.

If he's at 65% then he's still probably the best player due to the amount of fouls and trips to the line he's going to accumulate.

Below 65% and he's top 4-5

[Packbuckman]

If you take away game 5 were Gianni's went 4-11 from the ft line, then he would've shot 70% from the line in that series instead of 65%.

If Gianni's is hitting FTs at 70%, he's easily the best player in the league.

If he's at 65% then he's still probably the best player due to the amount of fouls and trips to the line he's going to accumulate.

Below 65% and he's top 4-5

I agree with a lot of this Giannis is capable of shooting near 80% and if he does that this year he will lead the league in scoring and win his 3rd mvp I expect his best season coming up as he turns 27 in December.

[WRau1]

So can you explain any of this? i saw giannis getting better looks vs the suns. Better locations, better angles, locations, getting it deeper. Worse rotations by the suns ect.

Because the Suns insisted on guarding Giannis one on one for the most part. Nets were sending dbl and sometimes triple teams. Giannis also was playing a slower, post up style vs the Suns because he was on one leg. Giannis also calmed down a lot as the playoffs progressed, as has been very well documented.

So you're a fan of the bucks I see. I respect you're opinion. can you break down that difference for us so we can talk about it? To me the suns made it easier for him vs the nets. How do we evaluate him? I'm not great at team vs team breakdowns that go over so maybe you can do it? If not no big deal but that's the thing....I think it was easy to see that Gannis wasn't "better" but had a better matchup, but if you think he was better then I can't see that and would love to know and see some break down.

On the Bucks board you can find extremely detailed breakdowns of this exact conversation, we've had it many times. In the Giannis thread and the older Finals thread.

[CobraCommander]

I don't know if
KD with JRue and Middleton is capable of win all

I'm 101% sure that a
Curry-Klay-Giannis-Dray is capable of win all

This is a interesting argument...if you put Durant on Milwaukee do they win This year

[Hello Brooklyn]

This is Durant so easily it's not even funny. The dude is easy to hate on, and you would rather root for a guy like Giannis who did things the right way by sticking with his team and trying to work his way to a title.

But let's be honest, KD is flat out better and pretty much always has been. KD is arguably the most gifted scorer of all time and prior to his injury was also a helluva defender, so it's not like Giannis has a huge edge there. I mean he is just better, more complete.

This bold bit is **** funny

Its not funny at all.

Bucks fans act like Giannis is the best defender in the league. But he barely guarded KD the entire Nets series. Even though they NEEDED to stop him in Games 5 and 7.

And would have lost the series if KD's foot was half an inch back. They had Tucker guarding him on that play.

Giannis hardly ever guards the best player on the other team. Even in the closing minutes. Not KD. Not Trae Young. Not Devin Booker.

If hes supposed to be this world changing defender then why is he nothing more than a free safety. I don't see how KD does much less.

KD was the primary defender on the Nets and the only offensive creator. And he guarded Giannis in pivotal parts of the game.

Giannis is an all world defender. But hes not at the level of Kawhi or LeBron in his prime. Who could basically guard anyone when it mattered. So no the gap is not that big.

[AussieBuck]

This is Durant so easily it's not even funny. The dude is easy to hate on, and you would rather root for a guy like Giannis who did things the right way by sticking with his team and trying to work his way to a title.

But let's be honest, KD is flat out better and pretty much always has been. KD is arguably the most gifted scorer of all time and prior to his injury was also a helluva defender, so it's not like Giannis has a huge edge there. I mean he is just better, more complete.

This bold bit is **** funny

Its not funny at all.

Bucks fans act like Giannis is the best defender in the league. But he barely guarded KD the entire Nets series. Even though they NEEDED to stop him in Games 5 and 7.

And would have lost the series if KD's foot was half an inch back. They had Tucker guarding him on that play.

Giannis hardly ever guards the best player on the other team. Even in the closing minutes. Not KD. Not Trae Young. Not Devin Booker.

If hes supposed to be this world changing defender then why is he nothing more than a free safety. I don't see how KD does much less.

KD was the primary defender on the Nets and the only offensive creator. And he guarded Giannis in pivotal parts of the game.

Giannis is an all world defender. But hes not at the level of Kawhi or LeBron in his prime. Who could basically guard anyone when it mattered. So no the gap is not that big.

You've already had it explained to you in detail in an earlier thread about the difference and impact of man D versus help D but obviously this horse won't drink. I'm sorry that you don't understand the game you watch.

[MrPerfect1]

And we all know if Kyrie didn't twist his ankle, we wouldn't have been arguing about this topic.

This is not remotely true. The Bucks were in midst of a massive run in Game 3 even before Kyrie went down. The Bucks love playing vs Kyrie in the playoffs, check out the last yime he matched up against them in the playoffs with BOS.

Heck Kyrie going down might have helped BKn by improving their defense and shifting more of the shots to Durant.

Acting like it would have been a wrap even though MIL hadn't even played a Home game yet (only lost 1 the entire playoffs) is pretty wild. All this is without factoring in how MIL improved in each series as it went on.

[yannisk]

And we all know if Kyrie didn't twist his ankle, we wouldn't have been arguing about this topic.

This is not remotely true. The Bucks were in midst of a massive run in Game 3 even before Kyrie went down. The Bucks love playing vs Kyrie in the playoffs, check out the last yime he matched up against them in the playoffs with BOS.

Heck Kyrie going down might have helped BKn by improving their defense and shifting more of the shots to Durant.

Acting like it would have been a wrap even though MIL hadn't even played a Home game yet (only lost 1 the entire playoffs) is pretty wild. All this is without factoring in how MIL improved in each series as it went on.

Actually Irving played 45 minutes in game 3 and Nets lost. You are thinking about game 4 where Bucks were leading when Irving got injured.

[SecondTake]

I gotta laugh when people say winning a title doesn't make you the best ... when Durant has a superteam and has never achieved anything like Giannis did, and no one even had him CLOSE to LeBron before he joined the Warriors, who are you guys kidding? Yeah who knows if they were healthy, that still wouldn't mean he's ever actually led a team "the right way", seems to me that Giannis doesn't have to prove anything.

KD was this close to beating giannis while missing his second and third best players. If his shoe size is an inch smaller, are you saying the same thing?

Durant was not close to beating the bucks without his best players. He won a grand total of 1 game without Kyrie.

Sent from my SM-G950W using RealGM mobile app

[Mogul]

I do agree that Giannis is slightly worse defensively than he was when he first broke out into stardom.

[bearadonisdna]

What year is it ?
Durant hasn’t made All nba 1st team since 2017-18

[nikster]

This is Durant so easily it's not even funny. The dude is easy to hate on, and you would rather root for a guy like Giannis who did things the right way by sticking with his team and trying to work his way to a title.

But let's be honest, KD is flat out better and pretty much always has been. KD is arguably the most gifted scorer of all time and prior to his injury was also a helluva defender, so it's not like Giannis has a huge edge there. I mean he is just better, more complete.

This bold bit is **** funny

Its not funny at all.

Bucks fans act like Giannis is the best defender in the league. But he barely guarded KD the entire Nets series. Even though they NEEDED to stop him in Games 5 and 7.

And would have lost the series if KD's foot was half an inch back. They had Tucker guarding him on that play.

Giannis hardly ever guards the best player on the other team. Even in the closing minutes. Not KD. Not Trae Young. Not Devin Booker.

If hes supposed to be this world changing defender then why is he nothing more than a free safety. I don't see how KD does much less.

KD was the primary defender on the Nets and the only offensive creator. And he guarded Giannis in pivotal parts of the game.

Giannis is an all world defender. But hes not at the level of Kawhi or LeBron in his prime. Who could basically guard anyone when it mattered. So no the gap is not that big.

Yup, if you only understand man-to-man D you dont understand Defense. Beyond that, Giannis just made 3 consecutive all 1st team all Defense and Won a DPOY and came 2nd and 5th in voting the other 2 years. To claim he doenst have an edge on Durant is a joke.

And its not like this is a recent trend. The last 30 years Kawhi, Meta World Peace and Gary Payton are the only DPOYs that would spend most of their time guarding star perimeter players

[Hello Brooklyn]

This bold bit is **** funny

Its not funny at all.

Bucks fans act like Giannis is the best defender in the league. But he barely guarded KD the entire Nets series. Even though they NEEDED to stop him in Games 5 and 7.

And would have lost the series if KD's foot was half an inch back. They had Tucker guarding him on that play.

Giannis hardly ever guards the best player on the other team. Even in the closing minutes. Not KD. Not Trae Young. Not Devin Booker.

If hes supposed to be this world changing defender then why is he nothing more than a free safety. I don't see how KD does much less.

KD was the primary defender on the Nets and the only offensive creator. And he guarded Giannis in pivotal parts of the game.

Giannis is an all world defender. But hes not at the level of Kawhi or LeBron in his prime. Who could basically guard anyone when it mattered. So no the gap is not that big.

You've already had it explained to you in detail in an earlier thread about the difference and impact of man D versus help D but obviously this horse won't drink. I'm sorry that you don't understand the game you watch.

You can attempt to explain it all you want.

If the Bucks rely on team defense, than Giannis's individual defense is not as valuable as you claim it to be.

But you could always attempt to use an absurd analogy about not getting a horse to drink instead

Sorry I have this crazy notion that the best defender in basketball should be able to guard the best opposing offensive player.

Thats what Jordan did. Thats what LeBron does. Thats what Kawhi does.

Yet somehow Giannis doesn't do it.

[Hello Brooklyn]

This bold bit is **** funny

Its not funny at all.

Bucks fans act like Giannis is the best defender in the league. But he barely guarded KD the entire Nets series. Even though they NEEDED to stop him in Games 5 and 7.

And would have lost the series if KD's foot was half an inch back. They had Tucker guarding him on that play.

Giannis hardly ever guards the best player on the other team. Even in the closing minutes. Not KD. Not Trae Young. Not Devin Booker.

If hes supposed to be this world changing defender then why is he nothing more than a free safety. I don't see how KD does much less.

KD was the primary defender on the Nets and the only offensive creator. And he guarded Giannis in pivotal parts of the game.

Giannis is an all world defender. But hes not at the level of Kawhi or LeBron in his prime. Who could basically guard anyone when it mattered. So no the gap is not that big.

Yup, if you only understand man-to-man D you dont understand Defense. Beyond that, Giannis just made 3 consecutive all 1st team all Defense and Won a DPOY and came 2nd and 5th in voting the other 2 years. To claim he doenst have an edge on Durant is a joke.

And its not like this is a recent trend. The last 30 years Kawhi, Meta World Peace and Gary Payton are the only DPOYs that would spend most of their time guarding star perimeter players

The Bucks were playing man to man on several plays towards the end of games. On the most crucial plays.

They put Tucker on KD. And Holiday on him. They almost never put Giannis on him. I wonder why?

I never said he doesn't have an "edge" on KD. Why don't you actually read what I wrote? I said that gap is not that big.

Thats because most DPOYs have been big men. Giannis guard perimeter players all the time. He just doesn't guard the best ones.

[Packbuckman]

Its not funny at all.

Bucks fans act like Giannis is the best defender in the league. But he barely guarded KD the entire Nets series. Even though they NEEDED to stop him in Games 5 and 7.

And would have lost the series if KD's foot was half an inch back. They had Tucker guarding him on that play.

Giannis hardly ever guards the best player on the other team. Even in the closing minutes. Not KD. Not Trae Young. Not Devin Booker.

If hes supposed to be this world changing defender then why is he nothing more than a free safety. I don't see how KD does much less.

KD was the primary defender on the Nets and the only offensive creator. And he guarded Giannis in pivotal parts of the game.

Giannis is an all world defender. But hes not at the level of Kawhi or LeBron in his prime. Who could basically guard anyone when it mattered. So no the gap is not that big.

Yup, if you only understand man-to-man D you dont understand Defense. Beyond that, Giannis just made 3 consecutive all 1st team all Defense and Won a DPOY and came 2nd and 5th in voting the other 2 years. To claim he doenst have an edge on Durant is a joke.

And its not like this is a recent trend. The last 30 years Kawhi, Meta World Peace and Gary Payton are the only DPOYs that would spend most of their time guarding star perimeter players

The Bucks were playing man to man on several plays towards the end of games. On the most crucial plays.

They put Tucker on KD. And Holiday on him. They almost never put Giannis on him. I wonder why?

I never said he doesn't have an "edge" on KD. Why don't you actually read what I wrote? I said that gap is not that big.

Thats because most DPOYs have been big men. Giannis guard perimeter players all the time. He just doesn't guard the best ones.

Jordan LeBron and Durant are all perimeter players why would the bucks put Giannis on them when he’s their only rim protection and best rebounder out there when Durant is taking jump shots. Tucker and Middleton were during a good job Durant just was hitting tough outside shots.

[nikster]

Its not funny at all.

Bucks fans act like Giannis is the best defender in the league. But he barely guarded KD the entire Nets series. Even though they NEEDED to stop him in Games 5 and 7.

And would have lost the series if KD's foot was half an inch back. They had Tucker guarding him on that play.

Giannis hardly ever guards the best player on the other team. Even in the closing minutes. Not KD. Not Trae Young. Not Devin Booker.

If hes supposed to be this world changing defender then why is he nothing more than a free safety. I don't see how KD does much less.

KD was the primary defender on the Nets and the only offensive creator. And he guarded Giannis in pivotal parts of the game.

Giannis is an all world defender. But hes not at the level of Kawhi or LeBron in his prime. Who could basically guard anyone when it mattered. So no the gap is not that big.

Yup, if you only understand man-to-man D you dont understand Defense. Beyond that, Giannis just made 3 consecutive all 1st team all Defense and Won a DPOY and came 2nd and 5th in voting the other 2 years. To claim he doenst have an edge on Durant is a joke.

And its not like this is a recent trend. The last 30 years Kawhi, Meta World Peace and Gary Payton are the only DPOYs that would spend most of their time guarding star perimeter players

The Bucks were playing man to man on several plays towards the end of games. On the most crucial plays.

They put Tucker on KD. And Holiday on him. They almost never put Giannis on him. I wonder why?

I never said he doesn't have an "edge" on KD. Why don't you actually read what I wrote? I said that gap is not that big.

Thats because most DPOYs have been big men. Giannis guard perimeter players all the time. He just doesn't guard the best ones.

Bucks mostly play man-to man. They didnt put him on Durant because Giannis role is a rim protector. To do that you either guard bigs or players who dont have the ball in their hands as much. Yeah Most DPOYs have been big man, you think the athletic 250 pound 7 footer doesnt fit that category? Would you be asking Why Gasol, Ben Wallace, or Gobert arent guarding Durant?

[AussieBuck]

Its not funny at all.

Bucks fans act like Giannis is the best defender in the league. But he barely guarded KD the entire Nets series. Even though they NEEDED to stop him in Games 5 and 7.

And would have lost the series if KD's foot was half an inch back. They had Tucker guarding him on that play.

Giannis hardly ever guards the best player on the other team. Even in the closing minutes. Not KD. Not Trae Young. Not Devin Booker.

If hes supposed to be this world changing defender then why is he nothing more than a free safety. I don't see how KD does much less.

KD was the primary defender on the Nets and the only offensive creator. And he guarded Giannis in pivotal parts of the game.

Giannis is an all world defender. But hes not at the level of Kawhi or LeBron in his prime. Who could basically guard anyone when it mattered. So no the gap is not that big.

You've already had it explained to you in detail in an earlier thread about the difference and impact of man D versus help D but obviously this horse won't drink. I'm sorry that you don't understand the game you watch.

You can attempt to explain it all you want.

If the Bucks rely on team defense, than Giannis's individual defense is not as valuable as you claim it to be.

But you could always attempt to use an absurd analogy about not getting a horse to drink instead

Sorry I have this crazy notion that the best defender in basketball should be able to guard the best opposing offensive player.

Thats what Jordan did. Thats what LeBron does. Thats what Kawhi does.

Yet somehow Giannis doesn't do it.

Well done, you've managed to get every single point you attempted to make wrong. You really have the basketball understanding of a small child.

[WRau1]

You've already had it explained to you in detail in an earlier thread about the difference and impact of man D versus help D but obviously this horse won't drink. I'm sorry that you don't understand the game you watch.

You can attempt to explain it all you want.

If the Bucks rely on team defense, than Giannis's individual defense is not as valuable as you claim it to be.

But you could always attempt to use an absurd analogy about not getting a horse to drink instead

Sorry I have this crazy notion that the best defender in basketball should be able to guard the best opposing offensive player.

Thats what Jordan did. Thats what LeBron does. Thats what Kawhi does.

Yet somehow Giannis doesn't do it.

Well done, you've managed to get every single point you attempted to make wrong. You really have the basketball understanding of a small child.

It's actually pretty remarkable how he digs himself a bigger hole with every post.

[Run DLC]

KD is overall a better shooter and scorer, Giannis does everything else better.