Giannis is having a crazy season

[Long Live The Kane]

It is a problem, because you're trying to make it seem as if he's having this great defensive impact inside the paint, when really the volume is too low to take anything meaningful out of it, given Lopez is the one anchoring that space of the floor for the team (whereas the shots Giannis defends inside the paint are more when he picks and chooses). In fact, Lopez defends the most shots in the entire league at 22 per game, and Giannis isn't even in top-80 in volume (12 per game), which is an even lower rate if you take into account he averages 33 minutes.

In terms of reps/volume, responsibility and impact he's behind both Lopez and Jrue. He has the luxury of coming and going as he pleases during defensive possessions. Jrue is the one who's typically guarding the best perimeter player, anchors their PnR defense, calls out coverages and is the centerpiece to all that they do on that end; Lopez takes care of everything inside the paint and works in unison with Jrue.

Giannis has the best defensive situation of any star player.

Now, that's not say he isn't great in his own right (most notably in weakside help defense and being a deterrent), but he doesn't have as much impact as most believe he does. It wouldn't make sense for the Bucks to put him in a position where he's anchoring that side of the floor because they need him to conserve his energy for offense, especially this season with Middleton out. It's not too dissimilar to Kawhi's defensive reps and responsibility diluting in SA once he became their #1 option - everyone was under the impression he was shouldering a heavy defensive load too, when those ended years ago, even before the injuries.

Now THIS is what you call “downplaying” @Thavoiceofthevoiceless

Son done spent untold man hours touting Draymond as one of the greatest rim protectors in basketball, defending the rim at more or less the same volume the same rate as Giannis this year over the course of the entire Warriors dynasty….


Dray’s rim protection numbers during Dubbs Dynasty

21-22 > 3.9 for -8.8%

20-21 > 5.1 for -12.8%

19-20 > 4.9 for -8.4%

18-19 > 5.3 for -2.2

17-18 > 5.7 for -5.6

16-17> 6.1 for -11.6

15-16> 5.6 for - 8.3

But when Giannis does it “the volume is too low to take anything meaningful out of it”

You got it dog, Giannis not one of the best defensive players in the league, he’s just coasting riding Jrue and Brook’s coattails…the best defensive situation for a star in the league that he has no part in…just enjoying the vibes

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

Now THIS is what you call “downplaying” @Thavoiceofthevoiceless

Son done spent untold man hours touting Draymond as one of the greatest rim protectors in basketball, defending the rim at more or less the same volume the same rate as Giannis this year over the course of the entire Warriors dynasty….


Dray’s rim protection numbers during Dubbs Dynasty

21-22 > 3.9 for -8.8%

20-21 > 5.1 for -12.8%

19-20 > 4.9 for -8.4%

18-19 > 5.3 for -2.2

17-18 > 5.7 for -5.6

16-17> 6.1 for -11.6

15-16> 5.6 for - 8.3

But when Giannis does it “the volume is too low to take anything meaningful out of it”

You got it dog, Giannis not one of the best defensive players in the league, he’s just coasting riding Jrue and Brook’s coattails…just enjoying the vibes

See now, this is the problem when you don't follow an argument properly.

I said, and I quote:

"The volume is too low to take anything meaningful out of it, given Lopez is the one anchoring that space of the floor for the team (whereas the shots Giannis defends inside the paint are more when he picks and chooses)"

Don't cut off my sentence midway to fight a strawman.

Important to read that I'm comparing Giannis' impact on his own team to Lopez. Dray doesn't have a Lopez on his team. If he did, I wouldn't be singing his praises on defense to the same degree. You have to ask yourself, if Dray had a big man on his team who was defending twice as many shots in the paint as he did, at relatively the same effectiveness, why would I try and put all the emphasis on his rim protection? He would merely be a subplot on his own team defending the paint.

Giannis isn't the main character in his team's paint defense, and that's a fact.

Dray has typically been the main rim protector and/or taking on the main reps defending the paint for the Warriors, which is why you'll see he defends more shots in the paint than any other Warriors player this season. He doesn't have the luxury of picking and choosing when to. Whereas Lopez is the main rim protector for the Bucks, and he defends nearly 2x as many shots in the paint as Giannis does. Furthermore, Dray has an extensive history of being one of the best rim protectors, anchoring championship defenses, so you must understand the context in which his defensive capabilities are spoken about in relation to someone that hasn't done the same on that end.

Dray is the main rim protector for his team and has the most defensive impact inside the paint on his team
Giannis is not the main rim protector for his team and he doesn't have the most defensive impact inside the paint on his team

It would be a different scenario if Giannis was the main rim protector for the Bucks, then it wouldn't necessarily matter about the volume, itself, because we could determine his impact on his team.

You also conveniently left out total defensive FGs defended over those years:

Dray in 2015 - #11 in the league
Dray in 2016 - #2 in the league
Dray in 2017 - #3 in the league
Dray in 2018 - #23 in the league
Dray in 2019 - #22 in the league
Dray in 2021 - #24 in the league
Dray in 2022 - #25 in the league.

Whereas Giannis has never ranked in the top-30 in his entire career.

And besides shots defended, most importantly, Dray leads the way in almost every single defensive role imaginable for the Warriors, where protecting the paint is only one part of all that he covers on that end. Giannis doesn't do that for his team, so you can't possibly compare their situations.

One guy is free to pop up on defense whenever he chooses. The other guy has to quite literally do everything for his team.

 

[TheNig]

We literally had people on this board trashing him a month or two ago. Wish I had the time or patience to find that stupid ass thread.

nikkas was killing him. I was like "The nikka tired"

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

Lopez defends 8.1 shots in the paint per game
Giannis defends 4.8 shots in the paint per game.

Bu-bu-but Giannis' defense in the paint!

Yeah, lets just gloss over the guy who's actually anchoring the paint for the Bucks and who's one of the favorites for DPOY. That's just focus on the guy who does it part-time on his own team.

 

[Easy-E]

Jokic three peating in the middle of the type of seasons giannis and embiid are having make no sense to me. Especially with giannis leading his team far each year and being a DPOY candidate.

Another thing about giannis is he's so easy to build around unlike some stars.

Jokic is averaging less points...and that's it. He's literally doing everything for his team. He's averaging more blocks, assists AND steals per 36 mins than Giannis.

Joel averaging more blocks, but, still; Jokic shoots a better percentage and has better numbers on everything else.

Ya'll gotta stop playing Joker like he's a white bum propped up by the media.

The media don't like him anymore than Giannis.

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

You got it dog, Giannis not one of the best defensive players in the league, he’s just coasting riding Jrue and Brook’s coattails…the best defensive situation for a star in the league that he has no part in…just enjoying the vibes

And it's not that he's riding their coattails on defense, he just doesn't have as an important role on defense as they do. He's still an integral part to their defense. That's not what's up for debate here.

You ran up in here with stats making him out to be their main/best paint protector, and I debunked that shyt.

And as I stated to you, why would the Bucks possibly put him in a position where he would need to anchor them on offense and defense? That's what the rest of the team is for. The coaching staff and the organization wouldn't be doing their jobs properly if they put him in a position where he had to be that guy on both ends of the floor.

Leave all the donkey work to the lesser players, and have Giannis save his energy for actions where he can be at his best.

 

[stepbackj34spud]

How am I crazy you stupid fukk? I said people don’t rate that title run up there with other people’s runs due to injuries. I said the nikka is the best in the league, you mad that I won’t suck his dikk like you? I’m having a bad morning, fukk off.

Hilarious response.

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

Now THIS is what you call “downplaying” @Thavoiceofthevoiceless

Son done spent untold man hours touting Draymond as one of the greatest rim protectors in basketball, defending the rim at more or less the same volume the same rate as Giannis this year over the course of the entire Warriors dynasty….

Here's some stats for you @Long Live The Kane:

In the 2015 playoffs - Dray defended 6.8 shots in the paint (11th in volume), holding opponents -6.8% under their average
In the 2016 playoffs - Dray defended 8.7 shots in the paint (1st in volume), holding opponents -16.1% under their average.
In the 2017 playoffs - Dray defended 6.7 shots in the paint (4th in volume), holding opponents -11.6% under their average
In the 2018 playoffs - Dray defended 7.5 shots in the paint (6th in volume), holding opponents -11% under their average
In the 2019 playoffs - Dray defended 6.9 shots in the paint (11th in volume), holding opponents -12.8% under their average
In the 2022 playoffs - Dray defended 5.1 shots in the paint (22nd in volume), holding opponents -16.6% under their average.

Keep in mind too that these are per game averages, and Dray played more games than almost every single player in each of those playoffs, so it makes his numbers that more impressive that he was able to sustain that level of paint protection for six Finals runs. It's why he is the best defensive player of his generation.

Dray led the league in total shots defended in the paint in five of the six of those postseasons. Is that enough volume for you?

Now dig, Giannis has been to the playoffs seven times and the highest he's ranked in volume was 36th at 4.4 shots defended in the paint.

Marinate on that.

I bet you ain't gonna be tagging @Thavoiceofthevoiceless after this.

 

[JYoung24]

That's fair, but I mean all great players struggle. Until that happens for a full season it's an anomaly not a trend

This guy averaged 30, 14, 11 last year in the playoffs and we got folks in here talking about "Do it in the playoffs"

Comon folks, I know he's the best player in the NBA but we're getting a bit absurd with our expectations for him are we not?

Him and curry are the best players in the nba

 

[VegetasHairline]

 

[No1]

Hilarious response.

It’s the only type of response worthy of someone like you.

 

[No1]

He’d be injured playing for them.

 

[SuburbanPimp]

He is, for sure. But if the Nuggets end up with best record in the league or the west. They gonna gift wrap it Jokic. Which I understand but Jokic just doesn’t feel dominant to me and the Nuggets will fold in the playoffs again

 

[Sccit]

Do it in the playoffs.

@KingBenji

COME PEEP THIS ANALYTICAL GENIUS

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

Here's some stats for you @Long Live The Kane:

In the 2015 playoffs - Dray defended 6.8 shots in the paint (11th in volume), holding opponents -6.8% under their average
In the 2016 playoffs - Dray defended 8.7 shots in the paint (1st in volume), holding opponents -16.1% under their average.
In the 2017 playoffs - Dray defended 6.7 shots in the paint (4th in volume), holding opponents -11.6% under their average
In the 2018 playoffs - Dray defended 7.5 shots in the paint (6th in volume), holding opponents -11% under their average
In the 2019 playoffs - Dray defended 6.9 shots in the paint (11th in volume), holding opponents -12.8% under their average
In the 2022 playoffs - Dray defended 5.1 shots in the paint (22nd in volume), holding opponents -16.6% under their average.

Keep in mind too that these are per game averages, and Dray played more games than almost every single player in each of those playoffs, so it makes his numbers that more impressive that he was able to sustain that level of paint protection for six Finals runs. It's why he is the best defensive player of his generation.

Dray led the league in total shots defended in the paint in five of the six of those postseasons. Is that enough volume for you?

Now dig, Giannis has been to the playoffs seven times and the highest he's ranked in volume was 36th at 4.4 shots defended in the paint.

Marinate on that.

I bet you ain't gonna be tagging @Thavoiceofthevoiceless after this.

This is still being ignored.