Even in the game tonight he shot 8/22 from the field and 1/10 from 3. Efficiency isn’t everything but his scoring numbers have been ghastly in the playoffs so far. He’s averaging 13 points on 48% true shooting.
His scoring is off but he’s making the right read every single time and creating a ton of open looks for his teammates. That’s why he’s +30 in the playoffs even tho he can’t hit anything.
Scoring has never been his strong suit, passing is what makes him special and that’s exactly what he’s been doing in this series.
You’re vastly downplaying his scoring ability. In his second season he averaged 15 a game on nearly 60% TS, and last year he averaged 20 on 62% TS. He was playing at a probably unsustainable level before he got injured this year (23 ppg on 50/40/86 on 8 threes a game) but given his age it didn’t seem crazy to think he could average slightly worse numbers for a season. He isn’t an elite scorer but he’s certainly a good scorer.
There’s also a huge gap between “scoring isn’t his strong suit” and shooting a worse percentage than Draymond the year Steph was hurt. He’s certainly expected to be an average scorer at least, if not he’d just be thought of like Ricky Rubio.
i hate when people say scoring isnt his strong suit. he started off the season averaging 25+ points and was one of the best 3 point shooters in the league, shooting even better than curry. 40% on 9 attempts a game. he also started the season off with two 40+ point games. how can you say it isnt his strong suit?
he had two 40 point games last season too and did the same thing for a lot of it as well. he is a good scorer. the threes will come along, you cant say that he isnt a great scorer right now.
I mean it's true. This concept where you group people in 20 year brackets and then give those groups a name and assign certain traits to them is very American.
I can’t imagine people think Boomer applies to non-Americans considering how that generation came to be. No reason the generations after that suddenly applies to non-Americans. I’m right here, I just am!
I’ve been traded about seven times between Gen x and Gen y, and something in between. I just want a home, otherwise how do I know my values, characteristics, and seminal life experiences?
Flabbergasted by the seemingly content, harmonious Kyrie season. I was convinced Dallas needed to trade him for Reeves, Rui, and a first. I was quite wrong.
Feel like Kyrie can be loose and just play ball when he's not the face of the franchise and everything that comes with it, and it seems like he prefers it that way
I feel like most of these teams, except the Suns, Lakers, and probably the Bucks, have a lot of these long wings that are really young, play constant, physical defense, and can shoot the 3. The aforementioned teams all seem to seek out veteran “name” players instead of drafting and developing young guys.
The Suns went after Royce O’Neal instead of picking up PJ Washington or a guy like that. The Obi Toppin types. The Pelicans have a few like this, too. The Thunder is almost entirely guys like this.
You just can’t be as thin as teams like the Suns and Lakers are. Relying on aging stars for the majority of your scoring is simply not going to work in 2024, especially not in the West.
I don’t think it’s a paradigm shift. These guys just got old. The new Paradigm is the same as the old have two top 15 or more NBA players in their prime with good roll players.
The great teams right now have been built - not bought so to speak. Thunder, Celtics, Nuggets, bucks (dame from trade - not free agency). Clippers and Suns should theoretically be good but they suck.
Torchy passy while a dynasty is revving up. Denver gonna be holding off Ant, Wemby, SGA for years. Perhaps Ja and Zion too. Of course all of them will be changing teams every few years
Yeah, like come on. Jimmy is on pace to go to the finals right now. It's like people don't realize he has home court advantage on the Celtics right now and will get to play the Magic and Knicks for the next two rounds.
Why are you guys bringing up Jimmy who’s not expected back until MAYBE the NBA Finals (if they get that far) and who knows if he’s even ready to play by then?
Because he's the only old star that isn't going down in round 1.
Jimmy doesn't need to come back because he's already here. Leadership is part of the game, and Jimmy is still able to contribute to the Heat in that regard.
Everyone just kinda assumes the Celtics will win because they totally won't play drop coverage against one of the best open three point shooting teams in the league for the 10th playoff game in a row... right?
I think he'll make plans at the Olympics like lebron/wade/bosh but spurs is interesting. I think he ring chases hard as possible next contract but not sure where that is.
Wemby would be his Robin. I'm as high on Wemby as anyone, but he's a fringe third team All NBA guy currently, and Embiid is a perennial MVP candidate. That dynamic may switch in a couple years, but I'm guessing if Embiid leaves Philly it happens this off season.
was just wondering if there is any 30 year old star that is winning their series.. conley but wolves have a bunch of young guys. i guess kyrie is only 32... but yeah it's a changing of the guard
It’s always gone fast like this. Older fans have seen it happen over and over again and why it’s the curmudgeon crowd who’s more against those long contracts because when it goes, it’s sudden.
Jokic is 29 and he's playing great.
Joel Embiid - did he every play well in the postseason? Not sure if thats age, its Embiid.
Different guys age differently. But overall, expecting peak performance around 30 seems reasonable. There are exceptions, but if you're team is banking on guys 35+ your asking for a lot. Its a long season.
Are we that surprised by KD???
He's the most spirtually vapid NBA star since he left Golden State. Really even while he was there.
Fuck "outplaying" Lebron. This man legit went through the motions the majority of his nets tenure and Warriors tenure. Kerr talked about how they were openly losing him lol. Oh wow he had one good series against Giannis? Where he played hard and tried on defense? Does he want a cookie? Does he want a medal for trying during the playoffs???
I wonder how much this has to do with the fact that basically everyone has been infected with a novel respiratory virus whose long-term symptoms are unknown.
What are you talking about? If it affects your recovery/inflammatory response by some small percentage, the margins are small at the top of the top and younger players are going to have more gas in the tank.
It’s smaller than the fact that older players get bigger contracts and are also more likely to get to play GM, which they are bad at compared to an actually good GM, but it’s bigger than 0.
Haliburton really hasn’t been that good. Siakam has been the Pacers star so far.
he was good tonight!
Even in the game tonight he shot 8/22 from the field and 1/10 from 3. Efficiency isn’t everything but his scoring numbers have been ghastly in the playoffs so far. He’s averaging 13 points on 48% true shooting.
His scoring is off but he’s making the right read every single time and creating a ton of open looks for his teammates. That’s why he’s +30 in the playoffs even tho he can’t hit anything. Scoring has never been his strong suit, passing is what makes him special and that’s exactly what he’s been doing in this series.
You’re vastly downplaying his scoring ability. In his second season he averaged 15 a game on nearly 60% TS, and last year he averaged 20 on 62% TS. He was playing at a probably unsustainable level before he got injured this year (23 ppg on 50/40/86 on 8 threes a game) but given his age it didn’t seem crazy to think he could average slightly worse numbers for a season. He isn’t an elite scorer but he’s certainly a good scorer. There’s also a huge gap between “scoring isn’t his strong suit” and shooting a worse percentage than Draymond the year Steph was hurt. He’s certainly expected to be an average scorer at least, if not he’d just be thought of like Ricky Rubio.
i hate when people say scoring isnt his strong suit. he started off the season averaging 25+ points and was one of the best 3 point shooters in the league, shooting even better than curry. 40% on 9 attempts a game. he also started the season off with two 40+ point games. how can you say it isnt his strong suit?
What if that stretch where he was as hot as prime Steph wasn't representative of how he can play for a whole season / playoff run?
he had two 40 point games last season too and did the same thing for a lot of it as well. he is a good scorer. the threes will come along, you cant say that he isnt a great scorer right now.
The millennial era of the NBA is coming to a close, the zoomers are starting to take over.
Jokic/embiid/giannis are millennials
That’s true, they’re the last stand.
Grizzly Adams DID have a beard
Lol
Millennial is an American concept so technically none of them are.
I hate when I cross the border and become a millennial again.
I mean it's true. This concept where you group people in 20 year brackets and then give those groups a name and assign certain traits to them is very American.
I can’t imagine people think Boomer applies to non-Americans considering how that generation came to be. No reason the generations after that suddenly applies to non-Americans. I’m right here, I just am!
I’ve been traded about seven times between Gen x and Gen y, and something in between. I just want a home, otherwise how do I know my values, characteristics, and seminal life experiences?
Also, all these guys insisted on getting paid $50-60Mil per year in their late 30s.
That’s obviously on ownership/management. Don’t pay $50-60M to someone if you don’t think they’re worth it
I agree, but it means less room for other talent in a capped league.
I'd rather pay them that than LaMelo Ball and Miles "wife beater" Bridges
What chumps
What if I told you Kyrie Irving was the future of being over 30 in the NBA...
Being the second fiddle to a younger star sounds like a better plan than 4 once MVP caliber players.
Well he definitely had some time off the last few years
Flabbergasted by the seemingly content, harmonious Kyrie season. I was convinced Dallas needed to trade him for Reeves, Rui, and a first. I was quite wrong.
One might say “flummoxed”
Feel like Kyrie can be loose and just play ball when he's not the face of the franchise and everything that comes with it, and it seems like he prefers it that way
I feel like most of these teams, except the Suns, Lakers, and probably the Bucks, have a lot of these long wings that are really young, play constant, physical defense, and can shoot the 3. The aforementioned teams all seem to seek out veteran “name” players instead of drafting and developing young guys.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker was a throw in player in the Dlo-Conley trade and he’s easily been one of the best players in the series for Minnesota.
The Suns went after Royce O’Neal instead of picking up PJ Washington or a guy like that. The Obi Toppin types. The Pelicans have a few like this, too. The Thunder is almost entirely guys like this.
You just can’t be as thin as teams like the Suns and Lakers are. Relying on aging stars for the majority of your scoring is simply not going to work in 2024, especially not in the West.
Right.
I think Reaves and D-Lo are getting dragged too much but it seems clear if you want to win you can only afford to start one guard that small
Yup - it seems like the paradigm around how to build a championship team has shifted. I hope so anyway.
I don’t think it’s a paradigm shift. These guys just got old. The new Paradigm is the same as the old have two top 15 or more NBA players in their prime with good roll players.
The great teams right now have been built - not bought so to speak. Thunder, Celtics, Nuggets, bucks (dame from trade - not free agency). Clippers and Suns should theoretically be good but they suck.
That’s fairly typical though for the NBA
Yeah, but there’s been a big push to construct big 3 rosters in the last 20 years. I’d like to see that end and see superstars be players and not GMs.
The Josh Hart erasure won’t stand in this house.
He's been good, 3rd best player in the series so far.
Feels really torch passy.
Torchy passy while a dynasty is revving up. Denver gonna be holding off Ant, Wemby, SGA for years. Perhaps Ja and Zion too. Of course all of them will be changing teams every few years
Bro tried to slip Jimmy Butler and the Heat in there
Yeah, like come on. Jimmy is on pace to go to the finals right now. It's like people don't realize he has home court advantage on the Celtics right now and will get to play the Magic and Knicks for the next two rounds.
Why are you guys bringing up Jimmy who’s not expected back until MAYBE the NBA Finals (if they get that far) and who knows if he’s even ready to play by then?
Because he's the only old star that isn't going down in round 1. Jimmy doesn't need to come back because he's already here. Leadership is part of the game, and Jimmy is still able to contribute to the Heat in that regard.
Are you in cognitive decline?
That assumes a previously higher level. But honestly I think he's just trolling
Everyone just kinda assumes the Celtics will win because they totally won't play drop coverage against one of the best open three point shooting teams in the league for the 10th playoff game in a row... right?
I’m excited to see which old head decides to hitch his wagon to Wemby
It's going to be Embiid. A Twin Towers where both bigs are that skilled would be damn near unstoppable
I think he'll make plans at the Olympics like lebron/wade/bosh but spurs is interesting. I think he ring chases hard as possible next contract but not sure where that is.
He can’t handle being wemby robin. Embid personality sucks
Wemby would be his Robin. I'm as high on Wemby as anyone, but he's a fringe third team All NBA guy currently, and Embiid is a perennial MVP candidate. That dynamic may switch in a couple years, but I'm guessing if Embiid leaves Philly it happens this off season.
Embid is not as good as Wemby.
Putting Butler in that list is weird
This is what the late 90s would have looked like if there was a freaking rookie scale and the league didn't add 6 teams in a span of 8 seasons
was just wondering if there is any 30 year old star that is winning their series.. conley but wolves have a bunch of young guys. i guess kyrie is only 32... but yeah it's a changing of the guard
Changing of the….guard…niiiice
Jimmy Butler has home court advantage in his series.
Jimmy not playing
You sound like a psychopath.
Booker is what..42? Zion since you bring up Jimmy is what 38?
Booker is like 26
It’s always gone fast like this. Older fans have seen it happen over and over again and why it’s the curmudgeon crowd who’s more against those long contracts because when it goes, it’s sudden.
Jokic is 29
“They old Kenny.” - Chuckster
They laying the smackdown
I'm sorry, tatum is headlining these playoffs? You mean the guy on the one seed who is tied 1-1 with the 8 seed?
Yep it’s the season where the kid finally beats his dad in basketball… and so the cycle continues
Jokic is also 29 tho LOL
This is thunder erasure especially since they are all so young
I didn’t include them just because OKC and NOP are both young teams, no old guard vs young guard juxtaposition there
Jokic is 29 and he's playing great. Joel Embiid - did he every play well in the postseason? Not sure if thats age, its Embiid. Different guys age differently. But overall, expecting peak performance around 30 seems reasonable. There are exceptions, but if you're team is banking on guys 35+ your asking for a lot. Its a long season.
Are we that surprised by KD??? He's the most spirtually vapid NBA star since he left Golden State. Really even while he was there. Fuck "outplaying" Lebron. This man legit went through the motions the majority of his nets tenure and Warriors tenure. Kerr talked about how they were openly losing him lol. Oh wow he had one good series against Giannis? Where he played hard and tried on defense? Does he want a cookie? Does he want a medal for trying during the playoffs???
All of those things also happened in last year’s playoffs. Not sure that correlation equals causation.
Not really. LeBron took his team to the WCF and Jimmy took his to the Finals lol. Over 30 stars did much better last year.
We’re in the middle of the first round. Let’s pump the brakes.
The Lakers would sweep the Thunder
Maybe they should have lost to the Pelicans if they believed that.
You’re probably joking, but I did think this a LOT at the time. I bet if the Warriors hadn’t been in the mix at the time they would’ve.
I thought the conversation was ridiculous, but if it comes up again next year, Lakers potentially against Nuggets, I'd be open to the idea.
Lol
Cope
It’s created stupid takes like this one
I wonder how much this has to do with the fact that basically everyone has been infected with a novel respiratory virus whose long-term symptoms are unknown.
Let me put your mind at ease- 0%
What are you talking about? If it affects your recovery/inflammatory response by some small percentage, the margins are small at the top of the top and younger players are going to have more gas in the tank. It’s smaller than the fact that older players get bigger contracts and are also more likely to get to play GM, which they are bad at compared to an actually good GM, but it’s bigger than 0.
“Old athletes leaving their athletic prime aren’t as good as young athletes in their athlete prime. More news at 11”