₦airaland Forum

Patrick33:
Noted big bros..but i think they don’t give it based on blocks or miles turner would’ve won..AD is a good defensively player no doubt..but do you think he could’ve stopped that alley from book to ayton just like giannis did? I understand you my G but i just dey ask

AD very much would have blocked that shot. Don't you watch AD?

Ben Wallace, Dwight Howard, Dikembe Mutumbo, Rudy Gobert, Hakeem Olajuwon, Alonzo Mourning. Why do you think these guys all have multiple DPOY trophies? Their perimeter defense?

And yes, Myles Turner should have made All-defensive team at least once, but we all know these things are given in correlation to how well your team performs overall. And Myles is not a good rebounder for his size and that has affected his chances too.

Patrick33:
I’ll tip giannis and kd as the best players right now...giannis had one horrific injury and still played and won..without a bonafide superstar..everyone knows KD is a flamethrower with a shovel he’ll bury you..yes the bucks were a toe away from going home but who is destined to win will win..he has everything...giannis can’t shoot yes but the guy works hard and had 17-19 FT % in the finals..i was blown away..dude stepped up big time..I can’t compare giannis with AD..two very different kinds of players..skillset and shooting wise AD is better but speed,defensively and mindset..giannis is better and will certainly guarantee you 30 points plus..AD couldn’t take the pelicans anywhere and he had jrue and prime boogie...I’ll take giannis anyday anytime over AD..oscar robertson today said only AD is capable of guarding giannis..maybe,maybe not..they’ll still face each other more and we’ll see

You see ehn, this is one thing I'll never accept from anybody. Giannis is better than AD in many aspects but defending is not one of them. I know that Giannis has a DPOY trophy, but AD could easily have won it that year as well. You might not say AD is a better defender than Giannis but he's as good a defender. This is AD that's a 3× blocking champion in this league o. Can also guard 1 through 5 like Giannis. Make we dey fear God na

chic2pimp:
I no dey take una peeps fight o. All of una be my padi for this place .

Nah I still disagree. In terms of Talent and style of play, a much better comparison in my opinion would have been KD and Giannis. AD in this instance would be like a Neymar imo. Some or should I say many might disagree but I still have KD as the Best player in the League just slightly ahead of Giannis.

Lemme break it down for you. KD has a title in this league, but it's not best player.

Giannis = best player
KD = best scorer
Curry = best shooter
LeBron = GOAT player

joshboo:
I'm convinced Lebron has many of this guys in his payroll honestly, or he gets this guys to always talk about him trough that Rich Paul guy. Cos which kind stupid talk be this? Dude always wants to be in the media/News so bad. Now it's about giannis and the Bucks but someway somehow they must squeeze lefraud in.

Lol. You know LeBron is the sweetest topic on TV and radio when it comes to basketball. That's what people want to hear. It's a business decision, nothing serious

But did Stephen. A really say that? Stephen. A has been on record saying that there's nothing LeBron can do to surpass MJ. This one fit be misquote o

benji93:
You may want to be careful about your take on KD. It's quite complicated. Without Kyrie or James Harden, the Brooklyn Nets weren't good. Just a Superstar and some decent role players. The Bucks on the other hand were a Superstar+ 2 All-stars, with one of those two occasionally dropping superstar numbers.The problem is how to judge the contribution of Kyrie and James Harden. Some would say that although he had one other Superstar of 6.5 of those 7 games, one of them played through recovery, others like yourself would say, nope, he couldn't get it done, half-an-inch of his shoe away from the ECF or not. . We may have to wait till next season. Take it easy on KD abeg.

KD is the most gifted offensive player in the league today, but his one dimensional nature was the reason they couldn't beat the Bucks. Imagine if he could impact the game for the Nets on defense just as much as he did on the offensive end. Or in facilitating. I know he got that 10 assists in game 5, but he averaged 5.4 assists for that series. That can't happen if you're the only fit superstar available for your team. That was the time he most needed to get his teammates involved. I agree with Pippen when he said KD lost that series because he was only interested in scoring.

Khanben:
I disagree with KD, you put him in this Bucks side and they still probably the chip. The other guys I agree.
After last season win, AD was talked about as if he would not only be the number 1 option for the Lakers but also the best player in the league, but he simply went the other route and it can be argued that this season he was not a top 10 player

No be only KD. KD was with MVP calibre Westbrook for several seasons yet nothing to show for it. When his sidekicks went down in the Bucks series it was one superstar apiece on either team. Yet Giannis prevailed. There's no proof whatsoever that KD would have led this Bucks team to a championship.

As for your comments on AD, he was injured, and that's just the bottom line. It's unfair to cast judgement on a player when he barely even had a chance to prove himself.

joshboo:
Simple question. Swap AD and giannis in this playoffs run/win, would the bucks have won the Championship?

I can name so many people who wouldn't have won. KD wouldn't have won. Steph wouldn't have won. Harden wouldn't have won. Embiid wouldn't have won. So what exactly is your point?

lordbeans:
Yet an Eastern team won the championship. Guy read carefully what you have written and tell me if strong headache no go catch you.

Who be this one? Move one side jare

Khanben:
AD'S mentality is seriously suspect, he wins a chip after which he should have played with more freedom and less pressure, which would have resulted in him dominating the league. But what happens he has a huge slump and cannot even stay fit, he is very talented and his skillset is up there but the guy is a settler. He is easily satisfied and enjoys the comfort zone too much to be an all time great.

Lol. Players are now being blamed for getting injured?

joshboo:
Honestly I don't think the result would be different, AD is very talented more than Giannis but I don't think he challenges himself hard to be very great.

Nobody is comparing AD to Giannis at this point. We all agree Giannis is greater than him.

But we know in this league everything has to fall in place for you to be successful. There's a thin line between failure and success. You're saying AD had Jrue Holiday and didn't achieve anything with him. Really? Did you see how Jrue was unreliable in these playoffs? The only year AD had Rondo he made the second round of the playoffs, sweeping Dame in the first round. That was a taste of what you get when you give AD a decent player. That was the same season he had Cousins but obviously he didn't play in the playoffs due to injury.

I asked you if you think AD would have had more playoff success in the East and you said no. But you're not being fair. The west is a different beast. It's almost impossible to make the playoffs as a lone superstar, let alone do well in it, especially if your sidekick is average or below average, or if you have a shitty team. Ask Curry this season. Ask KAT. Heck ask Zion who's a generational talent. Believe you me, as the west is presently constructed, if Zion doesn't get a decent sidekick, he wouldn't make the playoffs until his rookie contract expires. And AD never even dreamt of having the kind of team Zion has now. Look at Luka, he can't make it out of the first round.

No one is exonerating AD, he probably could have done better, but his situation at New Orleans was undesirable.

joshboo:
You no even talk first round.dude never carried his team past the first round till he joined the Lakers.

He did actually. Swept Dame a few years ago. But that's by the way. Quick question: do you think AD would have had more playoff success if he played in the East?

He got his wish after all

Khanben:
KP might not leave, because if you read what he said about the Clippers series recently it seems him just sitting around the 3pt line and not receiving any low post touches was actually the game plan. If Jkidd can get both Luka and KP into their bubble symmetry with the caveat that KP stays healthy, then with the right 6th man the Mavs can make some noise next season

Naah, Luka ain't winning jack with Porzingis as his sidekick. I don't know whether that guy don tire for basketball. Abi na the fat salary dey cause am? Could be the injury setback but still, it looks as though 21-22 ppg is his peak. Normally that would be enough for a big man but he offers almost nothing on the defensive end. He's not a 12+ rebounder even for his size. Rim protecting seems to be getting worse. Man has refused to enter the gym and bulk up a bit. This is the NBA, that skinny frame won't do you any good.

joshboo:
Omo can't wait for next season sha, God willing all the big boys come back healthy let's enjoy the game of hoops again.
Make Dame go team up with Embiid, that should be a perfect fit, but na coach go kill that Philly team again though.

Lets see who the mavericks would recruit to pair Luka since kristap wan commot, let's also see of zion can start living up to this tag as the next big thing since LBJ.

For real.

Especially that Luka and Dame. Portland looked like a good team going into the playoffs, only to get ousted by the weakest link in the west who were without their second best player. Whatever they're trying to build there in not working. Dame needs a solid big or forward. Luka too.

benji93:
So the question is what percentage of greatness goes to mental toughness? Surely greatness doesn't come only from talent/skillset.

A lot. In fact in this league mental toughness is regarded over skill. A lot of people have skill/ability in this league, but it's the tough ones that separate themselves.

Khanben:
But the real difference is Giannis is way way tougher mentally

I agree 100%. And that's why AD might never be the alpha on a championship team. But based on skillset, AD is on another level.

AD vs Giannis is kind of like the LeBron vs KD comparison. One is extremely skilled especially in putting the ball in the basket while the other is just a flat out Dawg and a leader. That's why KD has never been considered better than Bron in this league even though he had the skillset to be better. We've seen that he needs someone to be the leader while he just does his thing lowkey. Even in OKC he was clearly the best player but Westbrook was the alpha, even finishing higher in MVP rankings a couple of times when they were together.

Stephen A was taking Ls left, right and center today trying to defend KD. Max smoked him

joshboo:
The media dey make casuals see wetin dem wan see, but the real ones have always known who's better. The only thing AD has over him is shooting, asides that...... nothing

Guy calm down na. Don't let one season of mediocrity make you belittle AD. In prime form AD was better than Giannis. He was as good a rebounder. As good a defender. A better rim protector. A more dynamic scorer. Giannis is s better passer, he's more aggressive and quicker. Recency bias is a thing man

Khanben:
This year's finals just reiterates Olajuwon quote, a good big guy will always be better than a good small guy. If we match the starting 5s of both teams by postion, all of the Bucks players except for one had the height advantage.
Lopez>Ayton
Giannis>Crowder
Middleton>Booker
Jrue > CP3
The only match up where the Suns had the height advantage was Bridges vs Tucker, but even in that instance the Bucks player was the natural better rebounder.
The height differential can be see in the rebounding number and points scored in the paint. Sometimes old fashion, bigger is just better is just true.

P. J. is even still about 35 pounds heavier than Bridges, so he's still bigger overall.

etidy:
i am glad those giannis vs ad debate are dead. AD won one nba title has robin to lebron's batman and suddenly he was ranked as number 2 player in the league. person whey no win pass 1 playoff series on his own. iranu

I thought you people were advocating for AD to be Finals MVP. So why the sudden turnaround?

I wrote a piece on the NBA Finals.

https://candidbasketball.home.blog/2021/07/21/champions-at-last/

Khanben:
Nice

Thanks

I say Giannis is currently the best player in the league, even better than LeBron, and it's AD they're concerned about

birdman:
Probably. BUT I didnt like when he said that. The press will help make that this big, negative argument that overshadows the win.

After career is over, nba cats are going to be your number 1 support structure. Dont sh** where you eat. Contract money will only get you so far. At some point you will need older players who are successful in business and non profits. Lebron, magic, shaq etc

Im sure he will learn this sooner or later. Dont make enemies just for sound bite sake

Lol. The only people that will get offended by this are the people who have won championships only by forming super teams. And dem no plenty so Giannis is in good hands

I wrote a piece on the NBA Finals

https://candidbasketball.home.blog/2021/07/21/champions-at-last/

Ehen, these are Giannis' exact words. Tell me this wasn't aimed at KD

joshboo:
Laker fans Don dey talk sey dem no want cp3 . Dude is just a sore loser

Lol. If e go collect 60m for 3 years then no wahala.

benji93:
Your wahala too much. . Leave the man alone, Ah.

Funny enough Giannis said something in the lines of "I could easily have gone and formed a superteam and won a championship. But it feels special to do it this way" Make I go find the quote.

birdman:
No mention of Giannis. Its subtle disrespect. As bald headed as Durant is, he will never grow up. Always petty

Na sidon look we dey o

This could be a cryptic message from KD

joshboo:
.

No worry next season dame coming to the bucks, we go run am back

Holiday has a seemingly untradable contract.

I dey sure say KD dey em parlour dey look Giannis like "damn ,this dude really led a team to a championship"