Kevin Durant Believes The Greek Freak Can Become The GOAT

[Great Dayne]

Simmons and Giannis are guards. Big guards, but guards all the same.

As for the contender question, I guess my most liberal answer would be 6 teams, but we all know there are far fewer than that.

Number of games? I think we need to get to the season's quarter pole before we can make any judgements on whether stats are sustainable.

They're big players and the big players are taking over at various positions.

The team success doesn't mean anything when judging the talent level of an individual since it's a team sport.

Ok, I'll hold you to this quarter of games which would be 20 games and I assume that's right around the end of this 2017 year. We will revisit this thread at that time to check the statistics and see if the trend has continued.

 

[tlance]

They're big players and the big players are taking over at various positions.

The team success doesn't mean anything when judging the talent level of an individual since it's a team sport.

Ok, I'll hold you to this quarter of games which would be 20 games and I assume that's right around the end of this 2017 year. We will revisit this thread at that time to check the statistics and see if the trend has continued.

Consensus 3 best players in the league:

LeBron James
Kevin Durant
KAwhi Leonard

All big wing type players. Giannis and Simmons could be the next 2 great ones. That is a very important distinction to make though. Big wings have clearly dominated the last 10 years. Big men? Not so much.

Giannis and Simmons are similar in style to LeBron. Both fit the NBA's perimeter movement even though neither are shooters. Big men definitely not taking over.

 

[tlance]

They're big players and the big players are taking over at various positions.

The team success doesn't mean anything when judging the talent level of an individual since it's a team sport.

Ok, I'll hold you to this quarter of games which would be 20 games and I assume that's right around the end of this 2017 year. We will revisit this thread at that time to check the statistics and see if the trend has continued.

ALso, While LeBron has been the best player and Giannis may be next, small PGs have won the last 3 MVPs. So your entire point is just wrong.

 

[Great Dayne]

Consensus 3 best players in the league:

LeBron James
Kevin Durant
KAwhi Leonard

All big wing type players. Giannis and Simmons could be the next 2 great ones. That is a very important distinction to make though. Big wings have clearly dominated the last 10 years. Big men? Not so much.

Giannis and Simmons are similar in style to LeBron. Both fit the NBA's perimeter movement even though neither are shooters. Big men definitely not taking over.

That's last year's 3 best in the game. The game is changing fast and now big men are what's hot. You watch by 20 games the same thing will be happening with 6+ of the leading scores being big men.

 

[CitySushi]

ALso, While LeBron has been the best player and Giannis may be next, small PGs have won the last 3 MVPs. So your entire point is just wrong.

Clearly you're out of touch with basketball. Zaza Pachulia will be the leading scorer of the Warriors when it's all said and done.

 

[Wamu]

Clearly you're out of touch with basketball. Zaza Pachulia will be the leading scorer of the Warriors when it's all said and done.

No way. I say Swappy P will the Warriors leading scorer this year.

 

[Wamu]

 

[Wamu]

 

[Wamu]

 

[Wamu]

 

[tlance]

That's last year's 3 best in the game. The game is changing fast and now big men are what's hot. You watch by 20 games the same thing will be happening with 6+ of the leading scores being big men.

And it won't matter a bit!

The Pelicans missed the playoffs last year and are off to a 1-3 start this year despite having 2 of the 3 best big men on your list.

Fact is, in 2017 success in the NBA is all about perimeter play. You need players who can create off the bounce and you need guys who can shoot. If you don't have that, your team will suck no matter how good the bigs are.

 

[tlance]

That's last year's 3 best in the game. The game is changing fast and now big men are what's hot. You watch by 20 games the same thing will be happening with 6+ of the leading scores being big men.

And I don't care who the leading scorers are. That means very little if the teams aren't winning.

 

[ManuForever]

Even the most respected posters on this site, whose opinions are usually well backed up, can't persuade this guy that he's wrong.

Think that says a lot about OP.

 

[Great Dayne]

Even the most respected posters on this site, whose opinions are usually well backed up, can't persuade this guy that he's wrong.

Think that says a lot about OP.

Wrong about what exactly? Not a single person has proven I was wrong about Giannis being a legitimate MVP candidate as I predicted. I said he has the potential to be the GOAT but never said he will become the GOAT. I predicted his numbers before the season started and what do you know I was right on. Meanwhile people on here lack reading comprehension and believe I said he was the GOAT or will be the GOAT.

Most respected posters on sportshoopla NBA boards, that made me laugh. Thanks for the comic relief though.

 

[ManuForever]

Wrong about what exactly? Not a single person has proven I was wrong about Giannis being a legitimate MVP candidate as I predicted. I said he has the potential to be the GOAT but never said he will become the GOAT. I predicted his numbers before the season started and what do you know I was right on. Meanwhile people on here lack reading comprehension and believe I said he was the GOAT or will be the GOAT.

Most respected posters on sportshoopla NBA boards, that made me laugh. Thanks for the comic relief though.

In other words, you're not backing down until he slows down (and he will)

By most respected, i mean they know the game. Way better than you ever will or ever did. I tend to value people's opinions when they talk right and don't overreact to 4 games at the start of a season.

Its only gonna get worse. Cant believe i want a player to do horribly just to shut you up.

 

[Great Dayne]

In other words, you're not backing down until he slows down (and he will)

By most respected, i mean they know the game. Way better than you ever will or ever did. I tend to value people's opinions when they talk right and don't overreact to 4 games at the start of a season.


Its only gonna get worse. Cant believe i want a player to do horribly just to shut you up.

"Talk right" there you go again with agree with me is talking right. I never said he was the GOAT after four games I never said he would be MVP after four games. I clearly stated that he is the MVP leading candidate so far until proven otherwise.

Meanwhile you believe he will magically slow down for some reason? Do you have an explanation of this? Is there anything to justify why he will just all of a sudden slow down? No there isn't, as I've all ready proven when he made a significant improvement last year the first four game averages were nearly identical to his season totals. Now that doesn't mean that will happen again but the beginning of the season and preseason are very good indicators of how he will play for the duration of the season.l

So far you've been very hypocritical by saying he will slow down based on nothing while I have last year as proof his first four games are an indicator of his seasonal averages.

Again, don't hate the player hate the game.

 

[ManuForever]

"Talk right" there you go again with agree with me is talking right. I never said he was the GOAT after four games I never said he would be MVP after four games. I clearly stated that he is the MVP leading candidate so far until proven otherwise.

Meanwhile you believe he will magically slow down for some reason? Do you have an explanation of this? Is there anything to justify why he will just all of a sudden slow down? No there isn't, as I've all ready proven when he made a significant improvement last year the first four game averages were nearly identical to his season totals. Now that doesn't mean that will happen again but the beginning of the season and preseason are very good indicators of how he will play for the duration of the season.l

So far you've been very hypocritical by saying he will slow down based on nothing while I have last year as proof his first four games are an indicator of his seasonal averages.

Again, don't hate the player hate the game.

You say the best players in the league are "last year's best" but want to use Giannis' stats from last year to prove a point this year? Once again, these things only apply when they support your claim. You're doing literally nothing but saying you're right and that you can predict the future. You have NO CLUE how he will play the rest of the season. All you have is predictions. Your predictions for 4 games has come true and suddebly you believe they will hold over an 82 game span. You cant say "that was last year" and then use shit from last year to support your claims. Its weak.

Its an 82 game season. His averages are going to drop. It's common sense and happens MUCH more often than those kinds of stats keeping up. I want you to go find how many players have averaged 38 points per game while nearly averaging a triple double. I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's much, MUCH less likely than his averages dropping. History is kind of important.

 

[gohusk]

Why do people have to argue like this? It's been a long time since I've seen a player like him where I look at his game and say 'holy shit!' His footwork and handles are super-polished and you can tell he put a shit-load of work into developing his game even with his freakish athleticism. I don't care where that puts him in people's top 10 lists because I'd pay NBA ticket prices to watch him.

 

[ManuForever]

Why do people have to argue like this? It's been a long time since I've seen a player like him where I look at his game and say 'holy shit!' His footwork and handles are super-polished and you can tell he put a shit-load of work into developing his game even with his freakish athleticism. I don't care where that puts him in people's top 10 lists because I'd pay NBA ticket prices to watch him.

Nobody is discrediting how great he is. We are simply saying people (OP) need to slow down on what they're saying. He's a top 10 player, absolutely. However, OP seems to believe he's basically already won MVP and is the best player in the NBA. That's going a bit far.

 

[gohusk]

Nobody is discrediting how great he is. We are simply saying people (OP) need to slow down on what they're saying. He's a top 10 player, absolutely. However, OP seems to believe he's basically already won MVP and is the best player in the NBA. That's going a bit far.

I totally agree with you. I don't like getting sucked into arguments with people who think they need to diminish other guys accomplishments to pump up their guy. But he's a joy to watch.