Yeah, Clippers will be a what if story.
I saw CP's quote doing rounds about him being addicted to playing in NBA finals.
NBA 2022-2023
- Thread starter charlton66
- Start date
I saw CP's quote doing rounds about him being addicted to playing in NBA finals.
On 2k, they cut that partYeah, Clippers will be a what if story.
I saw CP's quote doing rounds about him being addicted to playing in NBA finals.
That was set in stone long before Curry's 4th title. 2 MVPs, greater performances in the playoffs... Durant has had an excellent career but Curry over Durant has always been the case. Yes, even after Durant's 2 FMVPs.
props to CP3 he kicked that addiction real fast
If there's one thing you can count on without ever being let down it's a Doc led team bottling it when they have the chance to make Conference finals. It's one thing that is permanent. 86 points and not capitalizing on Tatum shooting 5-21 and virtually none of the Celtics other than Smart having a particularly good scoring game.
I'd like to think they have a chance in Boston considering they already won two games there but nah, Embiid has already started calling out his teammates so it's almost like they already folded.
I thought Nuggets may win that game but Suns making a habit out of crashing out of playoffs in home blowouts should be concerning for them.
I'd like to think they have a chance in Boston considering they already won two games there but nah, Embiid has already started calling out his teammates so it's almost like they already folded.
I thought Nuggets may win that game but Suns making a habit out of crashing out of playoffs in home blowouts should be concerning for them.
Well. Last time the Nuggets were healthy they made the WCF. Healthy again 2 years later, back to the WCF...
I think greater performances in playoffs came only last year. Mostly cause when they were playing in Curry’s team, it was KD who instantly became their best player.
After last year though, Curry has to be the better even if it is just for an inch (which would have sent Nets in East final and them were the best back then). And to be fair if Curry wins it again, he might claim a spot in top 5. While I think that Durant has considerably slowed down, so even if he manages to win it next year, it might be that he isn’t even the best player in his team.
Who would people consider as the best players in the NBA right now? I guess Curry, Jokic and Giannis in whatever order.
Giannis. He's best player on the planet, clearly so.
Behind him there's Embiid, Jokic and Curry, in whatever order you like. This the MVP tier
Below them are Doncic, Tatum, Booker, KD, Butler, LeBron, AD, in whatever order you like. The 1st team all-nba tier, or potential MVP candidate/future MVP tier
After that Ja, Fox, Trae, Murray, Brown, Harden, Kyrie, Shai, etc, etc...call this the all star tier
I'm ignoring Kawhi and George due to them being perma-crocked these days
Jokić is putting such insane numbers for a while now he has to be number one.
Jokic is better than Giannis at this point. Agree with the rest, although I would have Doncic in a tier by himself between the top 4 and others.
Jokic > Giannis
Eye test and the numbers agree with this.
However, he probably needs to win a ring before he gets that status (same as how Giannis needed to win a ring before dethroning LeBron/KD). And there is no better way doing it than this year: he totally outclassed KD and Booker in this tie, he will face either Curry who made him look like a fool in defense last year, or LeBron and AD in the conference final, and then either MVP Embiid or the best team in the league Boston in the finals. This has to be one of the hardest paths I can remember to win the ring, and if no injuries in the next two toes, pretty much as asterisk free as it can be.
Of course, there is always the chance that Curry decides to go ballistic again and win his fifth ring.
It is really crazy that the two best players (or two out of three) in the league are two second round picks that came from Europe. How did this happen? What the scouts missed or what did these guys eat since coming to NBA? Jokic is even weirder cause i didn’t remember as much noise on his path up as for Giannis (who 1-2 years on NBA looked together with AD to become LeBron/KD’s heir).
Yeah, I agree. If he does it it will be immse really. Its now or never kind of feel.
Would be funny if Jokic won a ring the same season Embiid cried his way to become MVP.
It is a depthy team and Jokic seems to improve every year. LeBron and KD will continue regressing which makes Lakers and Suns not a threat going forward, Curry at some stage will follow them, and Philly is Philly. Essentially leaving Nuggets, Celtics and Bucks as the main contenders going forward. So I think Jokic will get his chance even if he misses it this year.
Giannis won back to back MVPs, then won the ring. Jokic might do the same? That would mean bet your house on the sixers title in 2025
I have Giannis above Jokic because Giannis is a far better defender. Both are pretty much unstoppable offensively.
Trust the Process.
I hope we’re going after Nick Nurse this summer.
They gave Embiid the MVP this year just to shut his whining.
You are a Suns fan, right?
Jokic’s path was blocked by Nurkic in his rookie year but his stats were already looking promising. It took Nurkic’s injury before the Nuggets started him and once he started, he was basically a triple double threat
Yeah
Same even if overall, there isn't much between them
Heard Nick Wright mention this so went & checked it myself but the Warriors haven’t beaten a decent team(apart from the kings) on the road since January
Nick Wright always tries to find stats to show the Warriors and Steph in a bad light. "Except the Kings" he says, when the only road games that really mattered since January are against the Lakers and Kings.
My favorite is "Did you know LeBron ihas a winning record against Steph in the playoffs?"
Then you get the caveat. All the games with KD don't count."
Impressive thing about Jokic is when he has those easy midlane floaters and he just dishes it to the side to a cutter for a dunk or an easy lay up. Just like grandmasters - always finds the best move.
KD scoring more because Steph was the one who was getting double teamed as per Cavs’ strategy didn’t make him the better player.
There were all these inane arguments that it was because KD couldn’t be guarded but those should have been put to bed now.
That’s fair and I know that there were a lot of injuries but the road record is just insanely bad. Like since Feb on the road they lost to Memphis twice,Lakers twice, Denver twice,OkC,Clippers twice,Minnesota and Atalanta. That’s brutal
To be fair, peak KD was not guardable. Only last year and this year in playoffs he was possible to be guarded, while playing against very deep teams (and still having multiple 30+ point games). Even after leaving Dubs, he was pretty much unguardable and almost single handed eliminated eventual champions Bucks.
He has clearly slowed down though (like LeBron still a great player but not at the very top). Curry somehow is still playing as good as ever at 35. And while he didn’t have a potential career ending injury like KD, he is playing in an extremely demanding physical manner. The fecker is making sprints all night long with or without the ball, like is is in his early 20ties.
Difference between peak KD and Steph is the same as Giannis and Jokic. One guy is dominant at one end of the floor and plays his arse off at the other, the other is dominant at both ends of the floor. You could argue Curry and Jokic are more dominant on offence than KD/Giannis, but those two are still incredibly dominant offensive players and when you add up the defence...they're simply better players
Other thing is building a contender around them. In that regard yeah, Steph always was the more impactful player
Other thing is building a contender around them. In that regard yeah, Steph always was the more impactful player
Let's ignore the ankle injuries back in 2012 which were so bad that when the Dubs tried to trade him to the Bucks, their doctors wouldn't sign off on his physical. Or because of said ankles and the contract he was offered because of them, he was the 4th highest paid player on the team when he won his unanimous MVP in 2016
Just checked. 5th highest.
That was when he was early twenties. Injuries back then heal faster and better than to people in their thirties. And correct me if I am wrong, but as bad as they were, they were nowhere as bad as KD’s 2019 injury, which was pretty much as bad as an injury can be.
Your last statement is why Steph will go down as an all time better player than KD. Bottom line is you win with Steph because of all the intangibles he brings to the table.
For context, in the 3 years KD was at the Dubs. If Steph played and KD didn't they were 27-4. If KD played and Steph didn't, they were 23-17.
At the time, there were thoughts that they might end his career.
Giannis was the 15th pick. still late in retrospect, but not second round.
Jokic, Giannis, Embiid, Luka, Curry probably (not in order).
Luka might seem odd in that group given he isn't an MVP but I do think he's at their level. If Mavs continued with the team they had last season, i.e resigning Brunson, they would've been a top 3 team in the West and Luka would've been in contention for an MVP.
Even this season before the trade they were 6th I think and comfortably qualifying for the playoffs.
Now next season it will be Anthony Edwards.
Luka is arguably my favorite player to watch but I think that he is just too ball dominant. I think you can combine any of the other two players and they would work well with each other, while I do not see how Luka works well with another superstar. He needs the ball all the time to be effective.
I actually think that it makes things easier for Doncic and the Mavs, they just botched it for some strange reason. The players that are difficult to build around are non-playmaking but high usage players, players like Booker or Tatum. but with Doncic you can pair him with a few sharp shooters and 3 and Ds. The most difficult thing to find is someone that is a great distributor and scorer.
As an example if you swap the current Nets and Mavs rosters you have a team built for Doncic and not so much for Simmons. The same could be said about the Heats if you swap Butler and Doncic.