The mods locked two of my old Giannis threads yesterday. It's funny how selective these dudes are...
My mantra is this, are you a superstar? If you are, superstars get graded the same in my book. When it comes to injuries, if you're well enough to be out there, you gotta perform. If you can't perform, you shouldn't be out there...
When it comes to youth vs age, the expectation is that superstars in the thick of their physical primes should perform to a level at least as high as guys on the downswing of their primes. I'm not treating a guy who has 16 years in, and closer to the exit of his prime, the same way as a guy 8 years in right in the middle of his...
We're 10 years in with Giannis. He's 28 years old. He's not a "baby", we not about to coddle him as if he is...
He's been in the discussion for "best player in basketball" for a half-decade now, dating to his 2018-19 MVP year. I personally think he's the best player in ball..
I've been paying attention to him since he began his ascent. I'm not even going to go pre-prime with him, in his prime his playoff resume is mostly injuries and meltdowns. I've been saying for two years, since he win his title, let me see it again, because the title run is the anomaly of his career so far. It's not the standard, it isn't the norm...
He's playing hurt but he wasn't bad yesterday. It was more of what a typical Giannis postseason has been like---->inability to stop the bleeding offensively when his team needs him to be the best player on the court; unwillingness to take the defensive assignment in the clutch of the hot hand on the opp...
This is what his career has normally looked like. Like KG and Dirk, he's gonna eat off that '21 title forever, and rightfully so. He was great that postseason and closed that Finals in dominant form. He has plenty of time to win more chips, I'd bank on him getting another one rather than not, but I don't see him as a 3+ championships guy, and if he fails to cash in each postseason at some point we have to grade him on who he actually is, rather than what we project he "could" be...
2017
the first year he was Milwaukee's best player. Took a 2-1 lead over perennial pretenders Toronto as an underdog, and ended up losing three straight to drop the series. This is the "well he's young" pass, Y4, first year as his team's guy...
2018
took another perennial pretender, the 55-win C's, to 7. Not a great Game 7 but he was on the road and it was an overall strong series performance. It's the last "okay, he's young" pass he can get...
2019
Opened the postseason in dominant form after a regular season that saw him ascend to arguably the best player alive. First MVP, first ECF run, started his postseason 10-3 stomping thru Detroit, Boston, and Toronto. Those Bucks were 60-22 and the #1 overall seed...
The backdoor sweep was embarrassing. 5-16 with 12 points in dropping G3 on the road, but okay, it's just one game. G4, down 13 heading into the 4th, only scores 3 points. G5 back at home, Milwaukee has a 3-point lead going into the 4th and he only scores 6 points to Kawhi's 15. G6, #1 overall seed down 2-3, he goes 7-18 for 21 with only 3 points in the 4th of a game Milwaukee was ahead by 5 heading into the 4th. And lost by 6...
Watching Toronto build that wall and flummox Giannis isnt the first time we've seen superstars get bottled like that. His inability to do anything outside the paint was something though, his decision making was awful, Kawhi took the assignment several times late and stonewalled him, everyone from Gasol to Siakam to Ibaka took turns running a train on him...
Two Rd1 exits and a dreadful ECF collapse are his playoff record to this point...
2020
63-win Bucks, b2b MVP, #1 overall seed, crowned himself over LeBron after a December win in LA...
Misses the elimination G5 but was only 21.8 fir the series first 4 games, Miami built the wall that stumped him again. Outplayed by Kawhi and Jimmy in b2b years as arguably basketball's best player...
2021
The anomaly of his career. Stomp thru Miami in Rd1. Draw Brooklyn in Rd2 and played great mostly but Durant outplayed him individually and there were a couple bail out moments where he was getting nothing and Middleton and Jrue came thru for him...
Light work of a weak Hawks team that he didn't even need to play the whole series for. Then backdoored an overrated Suns team, though his Finals production was amazing...
Noticing a trend here where Giannis is hurt come playoff time?
2022
This guy was great in The first 6 games of the Boston series. G7 he got this strange "he's gassed" pass even though it's only the ECSF, he's only 27, he'd outplayed Tatum to this point and carried his Bucks sans Middleton. Was awful in G6 abd was a repeat showing of his inability to lift his team thru adversity, sans the '21 anomaly...
2023
Son is hurt at playoff time yet again. Hes played in only 2 of 4 games but yesterday was the normal "Giannis cant stop the bleeding" shyt again...
....
One of these years of his career is not like the other. We'll see how he responds moving forward. Bit he's well enough to not just play, but put up a triple double. We'll see how he responds but at some point you gotta see fam for who he is rather than who we want him to be. Maybe he's really just Black Dirk...
