AD hasn’t been the same player since the chip year, and it concerns me if he’ll ever get back to that level while dealing with that degenerative Achilles…doesn’t change the fact that AD was better than Jokic in the playoffs that year they were bounced by the lakers in route to a ring…
He's the
exact same player as he was during the Bubble playoff run. He benefited from essentially having an offseason period between the regular season and postseason to rest up, and didn't need to travel during the playoffs, which gave him a greater platform to stay healthy. Along with the context of an
empty gym, which undoubtedly helped his performances, most notably his shooting percentages: there's a reason why his shooting splits that playoff run read as an anomaly compared to every other year.
He had ideal conditions to perform, along with a near-absolute support cast: playing
sidekick to one of the GOATs who was the #1 option, who handled all the game managing and orchestration of the offense, had the luxury of Dwight and McGee handling all the donkey defensive work against centers and big men (allowing him to play a free safety role and guarding smaller players), and a litany of players that fulfilled every other role in the team, almost all of which at a high level.
But when everything is NOT in his favor, he underperforms; he can't live off
one playoff run where he had everything set up for him. Not when someone like Jokic has proven year in, year out in the playoffs, that he rises to an all-time great level no matter the circumstances, all with a greater role within his team.
and while he’s better than current AD,
Ever since he rose to superstardom, Jokic has always been better. The fact you're even acknowledging he's better currently, tells me deep down you know he was when this thread was made, which was only a year ago.
he’ll be bounced again and again in the playoffs because despite the novelty of being an offensive engine as a center….the nuggets will always struggle to put together a championship level defense with him as the anchor
You keep on bringing up the "novelty" of the role he plays, as if it's something that's not built to last or break at the first sign of adversity. No player has done more with less in the playoffs over the last three postseasons. Just because you view AD's athleticism and length as a greater commodity, doesn't mean he's a better player.
This is where the problem lies: you misconstrue Denver not being able to put a championship-level support cast around Jokic as a fault of his, relaying this conventional wisdom that a big man who's average on defense can't be the anchor of championship-success, when you fail to identify and acknowledge that AD had arguably more help in New Orleans, but had considerably less success and didn't perform to the standard that Jokic has in Denver.
…that’s been my point the whole thread, those type of players are more scarce than guards and wings that can be offensive engines ….
Vanity Thread at This Point
