Giannis Sina Ugo Antetokounmpo is Still the Best Player in the World
- Thread starter I AM WARHOL
- Start date
Stromile Swift with the green light
Nokids
Promise if I have a seed imma guide him right
ALonelyDad
Veteran
I will still go with Jokic, Giannis is starting to get underrated though
I AM WARHOL
Veteran
OP REALLY TRIED TO SLIP EMBIID IN THERE.
HE MUST BE AFRICAN TOO BECAUSE
THAT MADE NO SENSE.
THIS IS A GREAT LIST BTW.
ILL REFERENCE IT EVERYTIME
I WANNA POINT OUT SOMEONES
LACK OF IN BETWEEN GAME.
TATUM IS RIGHT THERE AS EXPECTED.
At making a shot that isn’t a dunk or layup? Yes.Does this mean Vuc is better then Giannis?
I don’t even dislike Giannis. And was happy when he won his ring - in legendary fashion. But no need to gloss over his deficiencies.
League-average eFG% is around 54% since 2020 (closer to 55% the last two years). So there's only 5-6 players in the entire league who are hitting that 5-10 foot range more efficiently than the league average field goal.
Vucevic has played ~400 games since 2020. So he's taking literally just 1 of those shots per game. Same with everyone to the left of him. KD (who has played fewer games) shoots about 2 of those shots a game, Jokic is the wild outlier shooting 4 of them a game at high efficiency.
If you're shooting a midrange shot in the 12-15 range or further, then you have a couple advantageous tradeoffs: you spread the floor, and you are less likely to turn the ball over cause you're not driving into the teeth of the defense. But shooting from the 5-10 range hardly spreads the floor because the rim protector doesn't need to move away from the rim until the last second, and you're still driving into the teeth of the defense so you're not limiting turnovers. Another drawback is that you're less likely to draw fouls shooting those little floaters and shyt than if you take the ball all the way to the rim. The ONLY reason to take that shot frequently is if you can make it at a high percentage......and Durant/Jokic seem to be the only two guys in the league who can take it several times a game and still make it at above-average FG efficiency.
That clump of players shooting around 50%, it's adding to the versatility of their game and not really hurting them, but a smart defense doesn't need to worry about it that much. If the other team's star is going to drive into the key only to throw up a 50-50 shot a few times a game....they'll take that. Better than him hitting threes or getting to the rim for high-efficiency shots and/or free throws.
Dwight was an MVP candidate who led his team to the Finals, "more gifted Dwight Howard" is an incredible player.
And Giannis is a LOT more gifted than Dwight.
That would cover 1963 Wilt, 1977 Kareem, 1988 Jordan, and 2007 Kobe.
Normally I would agree with you, but it's not like anyone has been setting the league on fire. Besides Tatum (who has had a stacked roster and generally easy paths), pretty much every "superstar" has had just 1-2 good runs the last five years and been hurt or disappointing in the other years.
Playoff series wins since 2020:
Giannis: 6
2020: 1
2021: 4
2022: 1
2023: 0
2024: 0
Embiid: 3
2020: 0
2021: 1
2022: 1
2023: 1
2024: 0
Jokic: 8
2020: 2
2021: 1
2022: 0
2023: 4
2024: 1
Luka: 5
2020: 0
2021: 0
2022: 2
2023: 0
2024: 3
Curry: 5
2020: 0
2021: 0
2022: 4
2023: 1
2024: 0
LeBron: 6
2020: 4
2021: 0
2022: 0
2023: 2
2024: 0
Tatum: 11
2020: 2
2021: 0
2022: 3
2023: 2
2024: 4
Butler: 8
2020: 3
2021: 0
2022: 2
2023: 3
2024: 0
So in the past five years, only Tatum, Butler, and Jokic have more playoff series wins than Giannis. Jokic/Butler only have a couple more series wins and Tatum/Butler both lack a single Finals MVP.
"Best player in the world" has been very much up for grabs.
That would cover 1988 Jordan, and 2007 Kobe.
I mean we gotta consider rosters and talent too... 88 Bulls minus MJ was trash and Pippen was just a rook. Same wit 06 and 07 Lakers minus Kobe. They had Odom who was good but missed 30 games in 07 and then arguably the worst roster in the league behind em 2. LA was projected to be a .500 team and wasn't even in anywhere near title convos in 07 because of how bad roster was. Even 07 Clippers had better title odds. 88 Bulls wasn't expected to do shyt either.
Giannis had 2 star level players in Jrue (or Dame this season) and Middleton, a top 10 center who is one of the best shooting bigs and been in DPOY convos was even runnerup last season. Then some great role players like Bobby, Grayson, Connaughton, Beasley... It not the same situation in any way to 88 MJ or 07 Kobe who wasn't expected to do shyt wit they trash rosters but Giannis in this 3 year span was a top title favorite wit great talent around him.
I agree wit your other point tho no one really got a vice grip on BITW but it objectively probably gotta be Jokac overall wit Giannis disappointment and Embiid injury. I think SGA might be the BITW honestly but he only just got some talent so we'll see.
I'd take Giannis over Vuc even if Vuc is better at shooting. He'd give the Bulls a little hope of being good. Vuc is not a winner.
DTXwavey_02
All Star
Joker is probably the safe if not correct choice. That said, I think Shai wins MVP next year and will be perceived no worse than #3.
Jokic and Luka have their defensive limitations, Giannis has his offensive limitations, but Shai is the most balanced/well-rounded. Technically, Embiid is tbh... but he fumbles too much in the playoffs.
Also... availability... win lose or draw Joker, Shai, Luka are gonna be available and will likely ball out. You don't really know where Giannis will be or what you'll get from Joel.
Jokic and Luka have their defensive limitations, Giannis has his offensive limitations, but Shai is the most balanced/well-rounded. Technically, Embiid is tbh... but he fumbles too much in the playoffs.
Also... availability... win lose or draw Joker, Shai, Luka are gonna be available and will likely ball out. You don't really know where Giannis will be or what you'll get from Joel.