Who is the better playoff performer? KD, Steph or Kawhi?

SharpyShuffle · Post #21 » by **SharpyShuffle** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 2:39 pm

Well it's definitely not Kawhi, he of one elite play off run, so basically this is just our weekly "Steph or KD?" thread, thinly disguised.

nikster · Post #22 » by **nikster** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 2:49 pm

iLLmatic860 wrote:Kawahis Raptors run is better than anything KD has done in his career

yeah but Kawhi only has a playoff run and a half playing at that level. And even in the Raptors run he came back down to earth in the finals

durka · Post #23 » by **durka** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 2:52 pm

SharpyShuffle wrote:Well it's definitely not Kawhi, he of one elite play off run, so basically this is just our weekly "Steph or KD?" thread, thinly disguised.

While I agree that Steph and KD obviously have larger track records, this is an incredibly overexagerated statement. Kawhi was having an epic run the year he got injured and was great the year before as well. He was also pretty damn good when he won his first FMVP, even if that was more based on his defense than his offense.

At the end of the day, though, his one epic playoff run was more memorable than any that Steph or KD had riding eachothers coattails. And the one Steph won without KD wasnt exactly a legendary individual performance.

There is still time for Steph and KD to keep building their resumes, though, while I have a hard time imagining Kawhi getting back to peak form after another season missed to injury.

WarriorGM · Post #24 » by **WarriorGM** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 3:28 pm

Steph's 2015 is more impressive than Kawhi's 2019 or Giannis' last year. I also don't think either has a series more impressive than the Warriors taking down the Thunder in 2016. I cannot think of any of them involved in an upset as large as the Warriors beating the 3rd seed Nuggets in 2013.

dhsilv2 · Post #25 » by **dhsilv2** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 3:41 pm

WarriorGM wrote:Steph's 2015 is more impressive than Kawhi's 2019 or Giannis' last year. I also don't think either has a series more impressive than the Warriors taking down the Thunder in 2016. I cannot think of any of them involved in an upset as large as the Warriors beating the 3rd seed Nuggets in 2013.

I'd take the thunders 2012 win over the spurs as a bigger upset. That spurs team looked like a sure thing. I get it was a 1 2 matchup but the spurs were on an insane streak and looked unbeatable, then even went up 2-0 and it seemed over.

CobraCommander · Post #26 » by **CobraCommander** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 3:45 pm

Kawhi has been one of the best playoff performers ever…when healthy he wins and wins big

Wolfgang630 · Post #27 » by **Wolfgang630** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 3:53 pm

Not sure why Steph is here. It’s between KD and Leonard.

mademan · Post #28 » by **mademan** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 3:55 pm

WarriorGM wrote:Steph's 2015 is more impressive than Kawhi's 2019 or Giannis' last year. I also don't think either has a series more impressive than the Warriors taking down the Thunder in 2016. I cannot think of any of them involved in an upset as large as the Warriors beating the 3rd seed Nuggets in 2013.

lol, in the playoffs? In what sense? By literally every metric created Kawhi's was better. And Kawhi actually played some legit teams while the Warriors didnt (injured opponent every round). You have to be a complete homer to think Steph's 2015 run was more impressive than Kawhi's

WarriorGM · Post #29 » by **WarriorGM** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 3:58 pm

mademan wrote:
WarriorGM wrote:Steph's 2015 is more impressive than Kawhi's 2019 or Giannis' last year. I also don't think either has a series more impressive than the Warriors taking down the Thunder in 2016. I cannot think of any of them involved in an upset as large as the Warriors beating the 3rd seed Nuggets in 2013.

lol, in the playoffs? In what sense? By literally every metric created Kawhi's was better. And Kawhi actually played some legit teams while the Warriors didnt (injured opponent every round). You have to be a complete homer to think Steph's 2015 run was more impressive than Kawhi's

Kawhi played with proven winners or the best bench in the league along with the best players from two other perennial playoffs teams. Curry played with 3rd year players and veterans who hadn't been past the first round without him.

mademan · Post #30 » by **mademan** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 4:01 pm

WarriorGM wrote:
mademan wrote:
WarriorGM wrote:Steph's 2015 is more impressive than Kawhi's 2019 or Giannis' last year. I also don't think either has a series more impressive than the Warriors taking down the Thunder in 2016. I cannot think of any of them involved in an upset as large as the Warriors beating the 3rd seed Nuggets in 2013.

lol, in the playoffs? In what sense? By literally every metric created Kawhi's was better. And Kawhi actually played some legit teams while the Warriors didnt (injured opponent every round). You have to be a complete homer to think Steph's 2015 run was more impressive than Kawhi's

Kawhi played with proven winners or the best bench in the league along with the best players from two other perennial playoffs teams. Curry played with 3rd year players and veterans who hadn't been past the first round.

and? Warriors faced an injured squad every round. It's not like they were up against a gauntlet. Kawhi faced 1 injured opponent but the Raps went up against legit healthy contenders in the Sixers and Bucks. Who did GSW face in 2015?

And again, by literally every measure created in basketball, Kawhi played better than Curry....which is usually the most important thing when we're discussing who played better, lol.

Post #31 » by **nate33** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 4:08 pm

If we're not penalizing Kawhi for getting hurt, then Kawhi wins this.

We all know about the remarkable run with Toronto that got him a title and a Finals MVP.

He was playing even BETTER in 2017 for 12 games until Zaza took him out. 28/8/5 with a TS% of .672 while playing DOPY caliber defense.

He was ridiculous last year, posting 30/8/5 on a TS% of .679, until he got hurt.

And we can't forget him being so critical in the Final Tim Duncan era championship runs where Kawhi contained and frustrated peak Lebron (particularly in 2013, Lebron was better in 2014).

He's only had one bad playoff run in his career (vs. the Clippers in 2015). All the others have been truly exceptional.

nikster · Post #32 » by **nikster** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 4:10 pm

CobraCommander wrote:Kawhi has been one of the best playoff performers ever…when healthy he wins and wins big

Kawhi was a star player for 4 playoff runs, and only stayed healthy for 2 of them. won a title in one, and flamed out in embarrassing fashion the other

WarriorGM · Post #33 » by **WarriorGM** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 4:17 pm

mademan wrote:
WarriorGM wrote:
mademan wrote:
lol, in the playoffs? In what sense? By literally every metric created Kawhi's was better. And Kawhi actually played some legit teams while the Warriors didnt (injured opponent every round). You have to be a complete homer to think Steph's 2015 run was more impressive than Kawhi's

Kawhi played with proven winners or the best bench in the league along with the best players from two other perennial playoffs teams. Curry played with 3rd year players and veterans who hadn't been past the first round.

and? Warriors faced an injured squad every round. It's not like they were up against a gauntlet. Kawhi faced 1 injured opponent but the Raps went up against legit healthy contenders in the Sixers and Bucks. Who did GSW face in 2015?

And again, by literally every measure created in basketball, Kawhi played better than Curry....which is usually the most important thing when we're discussing who played better, lol.

Curry faced the All-NBA First Team. He averaged a +/- of 7.9 in the 2015 playoffs. Kawhi averaged 6.5 in 2019. So no, not all stats.

whocurrz · Post #34 » by **whocurrz** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 5:03 pm

I’m a Warriors fan and Curry is my favorite player of all time but based on results I gotta go Kawhi. I think his 2017 run was actually his most impressive due to the load on his shoulders combined with his stats. But there is context like how he takes so much time off that he really is preserved for the playoffs. And still struggles with health there. As great as he was in 2019 on the road to the finals, and was huge in the game 4 that really decided the series, I thought his defense was average at best and the Raps team as a whole stepped up throughout the series.

So if you ask me who I take for a playoff run I go KD. As much as I love Steph, and think his playoff struggles are grossly exaggerated based on a poor 2016 finals, refs just don’t call off ball fouls and teams maul him. KD just has the physical gifts to impose his will and be a walking bucket who can step up and play great D too. His health has usually held up best of the three too.

JujitsuFlip · Post #35 » by **JujitsuFlip** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 5:05 pm

mademan wrote:
WarriorGM wrote:
mademan wrote:
lol, in the playoffs? In what sense? By literally every metric created Kawhi's was better. And Kawhi actually played some legit teams while the Warriors didnt (injured opponent every round). You have to be a complete homer to think Steph's 2015 run was more impressive than Kawhi's

Kawhi played with proven winners or the best bench in the league along with the best players from two other perennial playoffs teams. Curry played with 3rd year players and veterans who hadn't been past the first round.

and? Warriors faced an injured squad every round. It's not like they were up against a gauntlet. Kawhi faced 1 injured opponent but the Raps went up against legit healthy contenders in the Sixers and Bucks. Who did GSW face in 2015?

And again, by literally every measure created in basketball, Kawhi played better than Curry....which is usually the most important thing when we're discussing who played better, lol.

WaTcH tHe FiLm, EyE tEsT

BenoUdrihFTL · Post #36 » by **BenoUdrihFTL** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 5:18 pm

Durant
Curry
Kawhi

Kawhi when healthy just might be the most unstoppable of the 3 but yes, I'm knocking him for his propensity to get injured (3 of the past 5 postseasons, and honestly I wouldn't be surprised if his degenerative knee/quad was affecting him towards the end of that Denver series in the bubble). It would be the same if I was evaluating CP3 as a playoff performer

JujitsuFlip · Post #37 » by **JujitsuFlip** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 5:24 pm

Blazingstorm wrote:
dhsilv2 wrote:Are you just talking scoring efficiency?

No I’m talking about who’s the better playoffs performer in general.

Why mention efficiency twice then? Seems like you were asking 2 separate questions.

dhsilv2 · Post #38 » by **dhsilv2** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 5:51 pm

BenoUdrihFTL wrote:Durant
Curry
Kawhi

Kawhi when healthy just might be the most unstoppable of the 3 but yes, I'm knocking him for his propensity to get injured (3 of the past 5 postseasons, and honestly I wouldn't be surprised if his degenerative knee/quad was affecting him towards the end of that Denver series in the bubble). It would be the same if I was evaluating CP3 as a playoff performer

I think we've seen more CP3 healthy playoff runs as a star than Leonard. And to be fair Curry often misses games early and then is limping late. Oddly...this double skews his stats. He doesn't get the big stat blowout games in earlier rounds and then against the best teams, he's hurt but playing.

dhsilv2 · Post #39 » by **dhsilv2** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 5:53 pm

nikster wrote:
CobraCommander wrote:Kawhi has been one of the best playoff performers ever…when healthy he wins and wins big

Kawhi was a star player for 4 playoff runs, and only stayed healthy for 2 of them. won a title in one, and flamed out in embarrassing fashion the other

I'm not fan of Leonard but that seems a BIT harsh to my memory.

nikster · Post #40 » by **nikster** » Tue Dec 7, 2021 5:55 pm

dhsilv2 wrote:
nikster wrote:
CobraCommander wrote:Kawhi has been one of the best playoff performers ever…when healthy he wins and wins big

Kawhi was a star player for 4 playoff runs, and only stayed healthy for 2 of them. won a title in one, and flamed out in embarrassing fashion the other

I'm not fan of Leonard but that seems a BIT harsh to my memory.

Yeah probably for the series as a whole it is, but game 7 was pretty bad. And Clippers were the joke of these forums that entire off season

Masters of efficiency. Who is the better playoff performer? KD, Steph or Kawhi?