I just looked it up to see if I misremembered, but Kerry Kittles wasn’t that bad. He was the best 3pt shooter on that team in 2001 and looking at advanced stats, his VoRP(value over replacement player) was second on the team, behind Jason Kidd.

Looking at the other finals season, he’s again their top shooter, and his…

Neither Steph nor Durant played out of their mind though. Curry had a normal Curry game, and Durant’s stats were inflated by about 4-5 dunks where no one protected the rim because they were so scared of Curry

Durant didnt hit a bunch of crazy shots. Steph didnt go for 40 with 10 3s. If the Cavs play D like that, they…

to be fair to him, look at the previous deadspin article that showed how over and over the Cavs over-corrected to guard Curry, giving Durant wide open paths to the basket.

I understand why JR did it, because Lue had clearly been coaching them all week that 2s were better than 3s, and to cover Curry no matter what.…

and steph shouldve had like 6 more fts

It wasnt unbalanced.

Jordan’s opponents werent as good as the Spurs teams LeBron faced, let alone GS. Jordan had competition, but he went undefeated in the finals because his opponents were weak. Here’s a long thing I wrote last year in the comments here. It’s dated, though now I stand behind it even more strongly, because LeBron faced…

But put LeBron in a league without zone defenses, and he becomes way more dominant. Jordan benefited from that too. I generally think they cancel out

Also Jordan’s higher FG% is completely a function of shooting less 3s.

When his career is over, I think the best argument for LeBron will be that he was the smartest player ever. He’s basically the player-coach on that team, and his team is actually better-off for it. He actually takes Lue’s gameplans and adjusts them.

…

As you said, you’re not a hardcore fan. What you’re talking about is something that makes the entire season irrelevant. Yes, this is fine—even preferable—if you don’t intend to care until the finals. But you’ve created a sport with an irrelevant regular season and no parity. If you’re a fan of your local team, there’s…

Dude, this is exactly like Pete Maravich and his dad, and that turned Pistol Pete into a style-over-substance gunning basketball robot who still had a disappointing career (for his otherworldly skills) and was dead by 40

I agree with you about Barkley being wrong with his Shaq take, but that doesnt take away from the larger point that Shaq sucks and is terrible at everything except basketball

I doubt barkley even believes it, he just knows shaq is dumb and insecure enough to actually get trolled. Watch the video, barkley is trying not…

i do think he’s declined, but I think it’s exacerbated by the decline in the show in general, which is mostly shaq’s fault.

As opposed to who? Kenny’s bland status quo boilerplate? Or Shaq? Who is more ignorant than Chuck? Chuck might not be educated, but he’s not dumb. And he fucking knows basketball— “Ginobli!” was something that started Manu’s rookie season, before anyone besides Chuck believed he could be a star. I remember Chuck alone…

barkley rules, is a legitimately funny person, and has good insight. Shaq sucks, is tremendously unfunny, and just really, really sucks

As a nets fan in NJ, I bought my Diaw spurs jersey shirt after that series

I’ve loved Diaw since the suns days, and still I love playing pick up ball in my diaw shirt, just to let the people know what’s up

But GS has built a team around him. It’s him and Steph.

I understand that, but I also think sheer effectiveness in a role matters. Carmelo Anthony has never been as effective as Green is right now, even if he’d be a better player to drag a lottery team to the 9th seed.

Steph Curry is worse than a whole bunch of guys in most contexts, but in the context we actually live in,…

Jesus christ. Yeah, and Steph Curry was a mere all-star playing under Mark Jackson. Draymond was a bench player. Since Steve Kerr liberated the team from a moron, they’ve averaged 69 wins the last three years. Again, since Draymond has been a starter: 67, 73, 67. I should have said 69 wins every year, my bad.

Cousins…

I agree with you, though I think in his perfect role, Green is in the top group. Much like I think Steph is the best offensive player in the NBA, playing in the perfect system for him. Ultimately the other stuff will become irrelevant and all that matters is what-you-did, perfect circumstances or not. Give Peyton…

You really really underrate how good this Warriors team is. They win 68 games every year because of Steph and Green. The best pure offensive and defensive player on the same team. Demarcus isn’t even close.

Thing is, I don’t think Lowry is any worse than Kyrie. The advanced stats are certainly all in his favor.

The thing is LeBron James, full stop. Besides him, every other superstar plays in the west. Maybe John Wall or IT (if he sustains this level) could get there. Maybe Giannis gets there soon.

Right now though—as…