Everything Blake does and did well Giannis can do better tho. There is little doubt in my mind he’ll reach a higher level even without jumpshot. Plus unlike Blake he is a proper defender.
There are a lot of different seasons why he might not lead a team to a championship rather than a jumpshot; a potential dynasty in Philadelphia or Milwaukee not creating a really good team with proper coaching etc etc.
Massive win for the Blazers tonight in OKC, given we dropped back to the pack a bit with consecutive home losses to Houston & Boston.
If Utah is going to beat Golden State, even they the big 4 weren’t playing, play-offs are going to remain very hard for Denver. But at this point I think they should pick up a good point guard of 3-and-D guy in the lottery anyway.
It’s just NBA history. If you can think of a guy that has taken his team to the finals and won chips, with a skill set like Yannis, let me know because I can’t. Through the history of the NBA it’s either an elite wing player that can shoot or a dominant big man that has elite back to the basket offense. It’s one thing to fill the stat sheet during the regular season, and another thing to be able to dominate in the playoffs when teams are coached to take your strengths away from you. Curry has really been the only one that has broken that mold, and even then not so much because he’s a 6 foot 4 PG who plays like a small wing, and he’s the best shooter in the history of the game.
The thing about Giannis is he can be both an elite wing player (without the shot) or an elite big on any given night. That’s why he is a beast.
It wouldn’t surprise me if he never won a Championship. But that wouldn’t be because his skillset I would say. He has slightly improved his 3P% this season btw. Let’s not forget we’re talking about a player from the Greek 2nd division who still needs to find a proper head coach on this level.
A jump shot is something that can be worked on and fixed. So there’s still time. I think he’s a beast but even Lebron, who is a similar player and skill set, had to develop a jump shot to take his game to the next level in Miami.
Dame with 20 of his 41 in the 4th as the blazers record a big road win in New Orleans.
Denver lost again and the Clippers won. They have dropped to the 10th seed. There is a very small chance on the play offs but they might aswell do a mini-tank to draft in the low 10s in what is supposed to be a loaded draft class.
Even if Denver lose every game though will only be in line for an expected 13th pick in the lottery.
Looking at the standings they are indeed out of reach for Los Angeles, Detroit and Charlotte…let’s hope they can find another Donovan Mitchell.
Do the Golden State Warriors have any concerns ? Players injured and out of sorts just so close to the post season, or is it just going to all click for them once the playoffs start ?
Their concern is Houston that’s it. It’s a pretty big concern though. Houston has home court for the entire playoffs. I could see that series going 7 games, I don’t think GSW can lose though, Houston will make it hard, but in the end I still think GSW will be in the finals.
I think GSW vs OKC could be interesting in the 1st round if the Thunder slip to 7th and the Warriors don’t have Steph.
True, Russ usually dominates steph head to head anyways.
The Blazers are looking like we will finish 3rd, I’m trying to work out who I want to finish 6th lol.
I can’t see the Raptors making the conf finals despite their regualr season form, They might choke again if they ever face LBJ and the Cavs in the way.
If the Cavs remain 3rd in the standings they won’t meet them until the conference finals. If they beat the Celtics that is. Btw it’s not a choke if Boston or Cleveland beats them. Boston doesn’t have that much less of a roster, you could argue Boston’s roster is better, and the gap at this point is only three games. LeBron James will LeBron James in the East play-offs. If not for the inexperience Philadelphia also has a better roster than Toronto or at least a way higher ceiling.
^^^ only issue for Boston is injuries. Not sure how long Kyrie is out for tbh, but Boston won’t beat Toronto without him. Boston keep winning in the regular season regardless, but that’s more down to Brad Stevens probably being the best coach in the league rt now.
Edit: yup, literally breaking news. Kyrie out for the rest of the season, having surgery on his knee. No way it’s not Cavs vs Raptors in the East semis now.
Poor Celtics, they would have won the East with healthy Kyrie & Hayward.
Yeah they woulda been good, I still think LBJ woulda been LBJ and made the finals but yeah at least it woulda been a lot more interesting. The 76ers are a decent shout to make the eastern finals too. We’ll see.