NBA 2019-20 thread.

Giannis is having a great year.

We haven't hit the all-star break yet, and last year he got pantsed in the conference finals.

Maybe pump the brakes a wee bit.

 

Yeah. It's weird - Someone asked like a week or two ago, "WHY AREN'T WE TALKING MORE ABOUT THE BUCKS?!?" And the answer then, and the answer now, is that they're meeting expectations. They were widely expected to be the best team in the East, coming into the year, and they are, and Giannis is fantastic. I don't think anyone's ready to crown them though, because they played pretty damn well last year, and because most Budenholzer teams do good to great in the regular season and then disappoint in the playoffs.

 

Again I never said they WOULD win the title. But nobody thought the Bucks would be on pace for 70 fucking wins. And as far as being "pantsed" last year, Giannis was 24 years old. How many titles did MJ have at 24? How about Bronny (for the record I am a huge Bron fanboi)? The Bucks had more "wide open" 3's vs Raptors then they averaged during regular season but shot it like shit and Fred Fucking Van Vleet went 13-17 from 3 the last few games. The "pantsed" storyline is so fucking lazy.

Now let's look at Bud's post season talking point. He had the best record in east with Atlanta and lost to Lebron, who coasted in regular season, in conference finals. Oh the fucking horror. Did anyone consider that an upset? Who was his best player in Atl? Horford? Korver? Milsap? I feel pretty confident that Giannis is bit better than that crew.

I get that nobody cares about Milwaukee but watch this shit and enjoy. This kid will be in conversation for GOAT if he stays healthy. His work ethic is Bron, Kobe, MJ level. He is an asshole on the court like MJ and Kobe. And by the way he is probably the best all around defender on the league.

As my father used to tell me..."when you are right you are a majority of one". Come back at me in June.

 

Thanks for that. That was some wonderfully strange reading.

 

Ok, I’ll bite. We are 51 games in, well past halfway, so it’s enough of a sample size to have the discussion.

Giannis is having a fantastic year, but it may not be the best individual season this year, never mind “all-time.” Giannis would probably get my MVP vote for this season right now, but I’d have to think long and hard about it, because Harden is also having a great individual season.

Giannis’ one weakness this year is the one that I consider most glaring: Nobody who’s shooting less than 70 percent from the free-throw line gets to claim “best individual season of all time.” (Sorry, Wilt.) To be fair, Giannis’s 61.2 percent this year is well off his career percentage of 72.3, but it’s a gap in an otherwise stellar season.

Best individual season in Milwaukee Bucks history? Maybe, although Kareem was kind of a beast in 1971 and ’72, also.

Giannis is very likely the leading candidate for 2019-20 MVP. But somebody’s gonna vote for Harden, and probably a few somebodies. And I don’t think there’s an argument that Giannis’s year is even in the top 10 of “best individual seasons of all time.”

 

He will never be in that conversation.

 

It was brought up very briefly in the eruption of hosannas honoring Kobe's career, that it's a more accurate description to say the Lakers, I.e. petulant drama-queening young Kobe, threw the 2004 Finals than it is to say the Pistons won them.

A side effect of this misconception was that Larry Brown was suddenly nearly universally acclaimed as having ascended the pinnacle of coaching brilliance, finally winning a pro championship after 30 years in the wilderness, blah blah yadda yadda. Of course there were many many good reasons he hadn't won a championship in 30 years.

 

Basketball has more players recognized as certified immortals than any other sport. Yet even within that rarified group, the GOAT conversation realistically contains very few names. Russell, Jordan, Kareem, Magic, LeBron and maaaybe Bird. I mean, Wilt Chamberlain, who set records that are untouched for almost 60 years now, isn't in it. Don't put that boulder on Giannis's shoulders.

 

Fantastic uplifting story about Bam Adebayo (1st time All-Star):
Lowe: Bam Adebayo is the fiercest, best NBA player you don't know
Now this is why I enjoy sports and the athletes.

 

SacTown needs to promote their Social Media person to GM.

 

My new signature, especially pertinent in the political thread.

 

Aaron Gordon just got fucked big time in the slam dunk contest