2020-2021 NBA Season Thread : The James Harden Trade Simulator

[Deejay]

pretty sure we all agreed that he could be in the goat conversation whenever he decides to not shoot 19% from range


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[Deejay]

I know I’ve been memeing him all postseason but I literally just watched JULIUS go from a fledgling scorer to 2nd team all pro by just improving his outside shooting - the game completely opened up for him once defenders had to meet him at the top of the key

Not saying Giannis has to become a sharp shooter. Just the threat of him hitting an open jumper is enough to allow him to get easy positioning down low, or rumble to the basket whenever a slower defender is forced to meet him at the 3pt line

The dude would literally be unstoppable


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[kisada]

some people just don't got the talent to develop their shooting

[6souls]

https://niftys.com/events/spacejam

[archibaldcrane]

I know I’ve been memeing him all postseason but I literally just watched JULIUS go from a fledgling scorer to 2nd team all pro by just improving his outside shooting - the game completely opened up for him once defenders had to meet him at the top of the key

Not saying Giannis has to become a sharp shooter. Just the threat of him hitting an open jumper is enough to allow him to get easy positioning down low, or rumble to the basket whenever a slower defender is forced to meet him at the 3pt line

The dude would literally be unstoppable


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He would have to be an extremely efficient jumpshooter for it to be "worth it" for him to take jumpshots instead of drive to the basket, given that Giannis-within-5-feet-of-the-basket is the most efficient offense in the past 25 years of the NBA, maybe ever.

Antetokounmpo turns the best general shot in basketball — a layup — into the best specific offensive outcome of the past two decades in the NBA. He shot 78.8 percent on shots from 5 feet or fewer this year, the best percentage among players with at least 500 shots from that area in the NBA Advanced Stats database, which begins in 1996-97. For a player to score as efficiently from deep as Antetokounmpo at the rim, he’d have to shoot 52.5 percent. No one has ever come close to that accuracy from deep on the same frequency as Antetokounmpo’s attempts at the rim (9.5 per game).

[archibaldcrane]

Giannis doesn't need to develop diversity, he needs volume at his specific advantage. It's like how Steph Curry excels by getting as many good looks from 3 as possible, not working on his post game.

Whether it's in transition, attacking in iso, ball handling or screening in the pick and roll, posting up or hanging out at the dunker's spot, the key is volume of Giannis shots within 5 feet. Lots of ways to get there, get there more.

[Andalusian girls]

that is not how basketball works

[Andalusian girls]

and Curry truly unlocked his unstoppable offensive attack by leveraging his threat of shooting into becoming one of the most efficient finishers around the rim in the league, not simply by jacking as many 3's as humanly possible

[Andalusian girls]

i realize this stuff is hard to discern from a box score

[archibaldcrane]

Steph flying around past multiple off-ball screens to get that catch-and-shoot 3 is the Warriors creating his specific lethal offensive opportunity as often as possible.

And unlike years past where Giannis would get stopped in the playoffs because teams could build the wall and stop his iso plunges, the Bucks have gotten more creative at using him - but the point is the same, get him shots close to the basket.

[Krandor]

Archie has admitted time and again he basically doesn't watch basketball and just looks at box scores so this train of logic isn't surprising.

[archibaldcrane]

Ok

Giannis is putting up back to back 40s on low attempts some other way lol

[Andalusian girls]

Archie has admitted time and again he basically doesn't watch basketball and just looks at box scores so this train of logic isn't surprising.

the fact he brought up Curry who grew from a below-average rim finisher to an elite 1% rim finisher as he developed his offensive game as an example of how Giannis didn't need to evolve was just mwahchefskiss

[archibaldcrane]

I dunno homie the Suns defense is suggesting that just doing more of the same is extremely effective

[archibaldcrane]

Steph shot 62.4% from within 5 feet of the basket this season.

That's a perfectly good efficient shot, but for all players with at least 100 attempts from that range (240 players total) Steph was 115th in the league.

[archibaldcrane]

Rag on me for looking at stats all you want, but you won't catch me saying Curry is an elite 1% rim finisher in the league. He's just not.

[archibaldcrane]

And he shouldn't be! He's 6 foot 3 and skinny as a rail!

[Andalusian girls]

sorry i forget you're kinda slow, should've clarified for his position. no point guard is ever going to finish at the rate of a Rudy Gobert.

among points he was behind Fox, Holiday, and Doncic (and Simmons if you count him lawlz) this year. and ahead of noted finishers like Westbrook, Kyrie, and Morant.

[archibaldcrane]

sorry i forget you're kinda slow, should've clarified for his position. no point guard is ever going to finish at the rate of a Rudy Gobert.

among points he was behind Fox, Holiday, and Doncic (and Simmons if you count him lawlz) this year.

Ok

And how many starting point guards are in a 30 team league, would you say?

[archibaldcrane]

Or, to put it another way, even if you restrict by position

Could you be a top 1% rim finisher in the NBA if you weren't the best at it?