Larry Bird led the league 4 times in Defensive Win shares. The only other players to do that are Ben Wallace, Tim Duncan, and Hakeem. Bird was Elite at defense because he used the muscle in between his ears.
@@alsorustybuckets said it once and again, Giannis is unguardable and only goes as far as his teammates will allow the team to go (barring recent injury) Raptors wall did absolutely nothing, Bledsoe couldn’t hit a 3, they had to play George Hill and we all know the Middleton cycle.
Hot take: the GOAT defender conversation is too focused on 2 way guys. Duncan and Hakeem are better players than dikembe mutombo but not inherently better defenders. I do still think they’re the top 2 but guys like Ben Wallace, Mutombo, and Gobert are often overlooked because they weren’t superstars
@@patrick05Morgan I agree. My point is just that them being better players doesn’t automatically make them better defenders, though I still think they are. I should have used Garnett as an example since I think he’s more comparable to the other guys
Hot Take: Max contracts are the reason the CBA is "too harsh". When players hit the open market they are usually given the most money possible. This offseason of rookie extensions would have been a great time to change that trend with the rookie max awarding guys like Scottie cade and Mobley 40 million a year. However the teams didn't think twice to offer these deals. Not to say that those guys aren't worth the deals they got but teams are not going to have flexibility if they give out max contracts at every chance they get. Nuggets would still have a solid group of role players if they didn't feel entitled to max out MPJ, 76ers would have been much better without maxing tobias.
It sucks that teams have to throw money at inconsistent players because someone else would pay that money for them, this trend is so annoying imo. Like if the player is good enough he knows he's set and can ask for much more than he might be worth generally, some of their flaws won't affect their market value which is really annoying, teams go over the cap and they can't fill their bench like they should. I wish more players had the Brunson mentality, I miss having overpowered teams that last for years because it generates hype. The convos of "Is someone going to beat them this year?" were so much fun. These last 6 years we'd say like "who could beat them this year" and at the end of the season we just go "oh, that's who..."
Hot take: James Harden’s playoff failures are overblown. I don’t think he’s an all time playoff performer or anything, but he consistently put up good numbers while in Houston and just got unlucky that his team’s championship window coincided with the KD Warriors.
My hot take: I think Harden being a better regular season player, he should’ve had 2 MVP and Nash who rises in the postszn, should’ve been a champion and fmvp in 07 if they didn’t suspended Amare and Diaw vs Spurs instead of b2b MVPs
Same kinda goes with Embiid tbh. With the way people talk about him, you would think he was just constantly shitting the bed time and time again but that isn’t really the case.
@@antichaos at least throughout Hardens prime he played well just didn’t win and even went on multiple deep playoff runs, Embiid completely wet the bed in 2019 and 2023 and lost to Trae Young and Clint Capela in 2021😂
Hot take: The reason the NBA has so many 'casual' isn't because it's the 'simplest' of the major North American team sports. While "throw ball into hoop" is simple, "kick ball into net", "use stick to hit puck into net" and "hit ball with stick and run around bases" are also simple. The NFL is the only one that takes more than a minute or so to explain the absolute basics. I'm not saying these sports aren't complex when analyzed. I'm just saying that being able to enjoy them in layman's terms with surface-level knowledge is easy. The reason the NBA has more casual fans is because its the one where you can tune out for 5-10 minutes mid-game, and be confident you won't miss a key moment. Goals, home runs, and touchdowns are all game-changing events. No single basket mid-game will make the game do a 180, meaning basketball is a super easy thing to have on in the background as you cook, do housework, engage in other hobbies, etc. while being confident you won't miss the defining moment of the game. This makes it very appealing to someone who's content with just enjoying the game and not analyzing it.
@@starwarsnewsandmemes8289 I hope Rudy reads all this and replies with that “I ain’t ready all that, or sorry that happened” picture 🤣 but then actually breaks down your hot take 🔥
Good take, but I also think the high pace of the sport has to do with it, that's why NFL and NBA are popular imo. I am from Serbia and I don't understand how someone watches baseball, I would fall asleep honestly, no offense. The NFL is generally not popular in this area and we don't have our own leagues, NBA has always been popular here especially since our players started joining the league. Football (soccer) is crazy popular here but I can't watch that to save my life, it has changed so much over the last 20 years. Now they just sit and wait for the other team to make a mistake and it's a snooze fest most of the time, I will only watch the playoff stage of major tournaments and that's the most I can take
While id say that at times, a single play (a block, dunk, three pointer, steal that leads to a fast break etc.) can change the dynamic/atmosphere of a game, i get what ur saying and actually like that take.
@@leonbrumett6155 my problems with the series is that the Suns lost game 5 by 3 points, adding Amare to the mix with Diaw contributing to the defense and little bit of scoring, it should’ve been a 7 game series and Nash is not shy of performing great in game 7’s… with a 4-0 record and avg 20/10/5 on 50/40/90… a game 5 win also possibly swings momentum into winning game 6 if they can… it’s not impossible for the suns to beat San Antonio, they already swept them in 2010… and that was when Marion & Diaw were off the team and Mike D’Antoni also left
Hot Take: I think the Raptors would have beaten the 2020 Lakers in the bubble if Kawhi hadn’t left. Raptors could have thrown Kawhi, Siakam, and Annunoby at Lebron to slow him down and Gasol and Ibaka on Anthony Davis. Also the Raptors had more depth as well with Vanvleet, OG Annunoby, Ibaka, and Norman Powell off the bench.
The issue with this comment is that it does what every What If does and it assumes health. I’m pretty sure Kawhi got hurt towards the end of the 2020 first round, there is no way of saying it will or won’t happen again
The 2020 Lakers also had a number of defenders they could've thrown right back at the Raptors: AD, LeBron, Caruso, Rondo, Dwight, JaVale, Danny Green, Avery Bradley, Kuzma, Markieff Morris.
@@amandswright2040Duncan was so consistently great defensively that none of his seasons must’ve stood out individually. Didn’t Bowen win over him once?
On Larry Bird: the *most* insane stat of his career was being top 4 in MVP his entire career until '89 when his back went out. Every good season of his career he was HIM.
Hot Take: the winner of the in season tournament should win the the 15th pick in the draft (only tradable on draft day) the pick is good enough to be worth fighting for but not good enough to be unfair and thus will incentivise every team to compete. fans will also show more interest as the stakes are higher and mean more to the fan base.
Hot take: In the “goat debate”, or when discussing how good a player is in general, we should differentiate more between greatness and skill. Greatness to me is the legacy a player leaves behind which consists of the impact on the game, accomplishments and skill. Therefore to me MJ is the “greatest” player of all time. However I think LeBron is clearly the best basketball player that has ever lived. In other words there is no linear correlation between how good you are as a player and what you are able to achieve in the sport. From there on it is everybody’s opinion which of the two aspects is more important to them…
I've said it before and I'll say it again.But this current collective bargaining agreement would not be an issue if the super max contract was not a thing and expected by everyone at their dog.
The reason MJ is seen as the template is because he checks every box whereas every other player in the GOAT convo either fails to check a box or has a major career flaw in comparison. & If you objectively apply the same level of scrutiny to everyone’s career, it just so happens Mj has the best & most solid argument for the NBA’s GOAT. & i’m saying that as a Shaq & Bron fan.
the whole point of that hot take is that the boxes that are being checked are made with his career in mind because of how idolized he became. He checks all the boxes because people made the boxes based off of him. That isnt to say he's perfect, its just to say the conversation is from a somewhat biased perspective. For example, MJ was without a doubt a sub-par 3 pt shooter yet no one brings it up. They'll just say "oh but he was winning without it anyways so it doesn't matter" People talk about how Bron dont got a killer instict or clutch gene and Jordan does but Bron is statistically the best clutch playoff performer in history (he literally has the most buzzer beaters)
@@ace6897 I think Jordan has by far the best case for indivdual dominance and talent combined with team success of any player. And that alone is enough to put him above anyone else. The all-time greats with the same amount (or more) championships has not been as individually dominant, or at least not for as long (Russell), or was debatably or simply not the best player on the team for a number of those rings (Kobe, Kareem). And anyone who was an anomaly of dominance either didn't sustain that without significant superstar help or didn't achieve quite the same level of team success (Wilt, Shaq, Lebron). Analytically he is the most dominant statistical player in the regular season and the playoffs still. The only one who really comes close is Lebron, and not a ton of players outside of recent history are even favored that highly when it comes to analytic stats, so the fact he's still at or near the top from nearly every metric to analyze a player's impact is pretty ridiculous. Also, the only player in or near anyone's top 10 who is even a good 3-point shooter is Bird and Steph. Being "good at 3's" has never made or broke someone being in a greatness discussion. And yes Lebron is the most clutch player of the stat tracking era "since 1997" so we don't have any data outside of that to be 100% sure. Buzzer beaters are a pretty simplistic way to define being clutch. Jordan's steal and shot in the '98 Finals is more clutch than anything Lebron has ever done aside from maybe his block in 2016 or the 48 special in Detroit '07. And there were no "buzzer beaters" involved in any of those situations lol. Ray Allen 2013 is maybe the most clutch shot of all time but it wasn't a buzzer beater.
@@BT405 I agree with you. In my opinion, no else really matches up with Jordan's success. But the problem is that he is viewed as the template and everyone else is framed up to his career 1:1. Most of the time, when people argue Jordan vs everyone else, they use Jordans career as the baseline instead of really comparing them at face value. As I mentioned in my take, Lebron going to 8 straight finals with a record of 4-10 is somehow viewed as a negative only because it's compared to Jordan being 6-0. I'm not arguing that 6-0 isn't better either, or that having a killer mentality isn't a good thing. I'm just saying that to look at it in this way is counter intuitive to the debate, especially with how much the game has changed since then. If we continue to view the debate in a 1:1 checklist for Jordan's achievements, then it's likely that no one from this era forward will ever come close, even if they have remarkable achievements of their own.
HOT TAKE: That wall shit doesn’t work, Giannis’s teammates have just failed him. Bledsoe against the Raptors is the most blatant example, look how terribly he shot the ball.
That is true, but you can't say that the wall defense didn't work. Giannis was not able to attack the rim as easily as he did in the regular season. There were times when he was hesitant to attack because he didn't have a lane to the hoop.
Hot take : Patrick Ewing is the most underrated player in aNba History he has 5 years with at least 24-12 with 2.5 blks and a stl went to 4 ECFs and a finals and only does not have a ring becuSe of Hakeem and Michael Jordan he should be higher ranked than Dwight who is overrated because of his era ..Dwight is not even better than Alonzo mourning
"A player taking less money doesnt make any sense it would never happen." *Meanwhile, Larry Bird had enough integrity he literally chose to retire to get the celtics out of his contract because he felt with his back injury he wouldn't be able to play up to that amount of money*
Hot take: Basketball IQ is probably the most valuable asset in the game. In a era where everybody has a opinion, I'm realizing how dumb alot NBA players and executives are and how much they sound just like the idiots on Twitter with their ideologies about the game. Which is sad because it's their job and they get paid millions to know better.
Hot take: Anthony Edwards has - over the past few months - become THE MOST overrated player in basketball. LITERALLY NO ONE except Ja Morant gets the efficiency pass that Edwards does, which is odd because Ant takes more bad shots. He is a good defender, but people pretend he's All-Defense level, which he simply is not. And even your tierlist had him on the level of Devin Booker and Donovan Mitchell. That is ridiculously false. Both of them have a +3 PER gap between them and ANT. There is a bigger gap between Devin Booker + Spida and Anthony Edwards than there is between Anthony Edwards and Darius Garland. Ant just IS NOT impacting the game as much as "the eye test" would lead you to believe. People - not the majority but enough to get hundreds of likes on any given post - put Ant over Jason Tatum. Embarrassing take for the community.
It's because of Ant's personality as a person, his game and his mentality as a player (similar to Jordan's), and his terrific playoff performances over the past couple of years that a lot of people elevated him above the likes of Tatum, Booker, Mitchell, and Ja, especially after this recent run.
Ja can get the pass because of his height/size and ANT steps up big time in the playoffs in efficiency while also being a very good defender so yes that’s the reasoning
10:35 kinda a weird argument considering even though they did that, AG shot 60% from three in the series. Using that strategy almost burned them big time since he hit some big ones. It was solely on Jamal and MPJ not doing nearly what they were supposed to from a production standpoint + the somewhat more minor issues of the Timberwolves double bigs making AG less of a lob/rim threat and putting the bug in Jokic's ear "shoot the three, you're open" even though his shot was broken😂. Interested to see whether they use Naz or Randle as the primary Jokic guy if Rudy stays on AG. I doubt they play at the same time as starters (or that Naz starts at all, even though he's the KAT replacement physically.)
The key to that series was Murray being hurt too. If they had to send more attention to murray the "offball drop coverage" they ran with rudy might not have been possible.
hot take(kinda): a lot of people act like curry is the only player with gravity when it comes to comparing him with other players, its like people just forget that other players. Esp those who are dominant in the paint have a extreme amount of gravity as well(ex.giannis). So its weird but i guess im saying that curry's gravity is overrated even though he's still got the most off-ball gravity in history
@@babystacks I don't think he did and I think he is right. People will say that Curry's gravity makes him the best player in the league, but then never use gravity to talk about any other player comparisons. Like if gravity is valuable, then why don't we use it to make any other comparisons?
The 2018 draft class will go down as top 5 of all time. Already it has multiple future first ballot hof players, a lot of all stars, and a crazy deep list of quality role players. It will be mentioned in the same conversations as 84, 96, 03, etc.
Extremely Hot Take: Lauri Markannen can be a number 1 on a championship team, he’s a 7fter that shoots 50/40/90 he’s a good defender and rebounder, if Utah ever puts a team around him or in a couple years he goes somewhere else it wouldn’t surprise if a Lauri led team won a couple playoff series
that doesn't make him a #1 option on a championship team. He's not a player you build around and for 2 reasons. As a big-man, you most probably have to be a good defender. He's just not, so if you're building around him.. you need 4 other great to elite defenders. But that's only worth it when building around markannen if he was generational like jokic offensively. Welp, not even close. Yes he can get buckets efficiently, but he's an awful playmaker. He's not gonna elevate his teammates, he's not gonna create easier opportunities for teammates. Also, he's not a great volume scorer. So you can't run through him defensively, no way he can lead a top 10 offense. So how are they gonna win a chip thru him?
@@clutchmoney33 he is a good defender idky you said that he isn’t, admittedly his playmaking is nowhere near the level it should be as a number 1, and offensively with how efficient he is he just has to shoot more, but like I said it is an extremely hot take
Hot Take: While many teams are forced to play double-big lineups with players to complement players like JJJ, ultimately the priority of the power forward position is to provide versatility with high-level bigplay (rebounding and rim protection.) Players like Lebron, Draymond, and Tatum will become the new meta for the position. Similarly, the shooting guard position will become the ‘bigger guard’ position as teams need all the guardplay (ball-handling, shot creation) they can get. As 99% of people are below average nba height, the issue in creating backcourts will be in balancing the statistically inevitable superior guard skills of short players without the backcourt getting punished for size. One of the reasons the Celtics are so successful is they’ve already adopted this futuristic position scheme, teams that try too hard to abide by traditional positioning will never work because they fail to abide by this system.
@@irishroo6939 I sort of agree, but I think the Celtics only play Tatum at the 4 due to having an abundance of guards for most of his time there and the Lakers best years were AD at the 4 double big lineups, also the cavs issues come post season don’t really stem from Mobley and Allen being an awkward fit but more from Garland being bad/injured
@@GetenIce Lebron playing the 4 in Miami revolutionised the position, and while the Laker might have benefited from AD at the 4 defensively, this is just an example of playing double bigs when necessary which works when you have someone who can play perimeter D and shoot which AD did for that run. Yes Tatum was put at the 4 circumstantially but it works really well and proves that him at the 4 is ideal defensively because he can block shots, rebound and is strong, and offensively because he’s an amazing off-the-dribble creator. Not every team can have a Tatum on offensive, but the fit is awesome in terms of the little stuff.
@@fortynights1513 Well the Celtics are one of few teams that can really comfortably play double bigs because of the generational shooting of Al and Porzingis but also their ability to play perimeter D. Ultimately though, two bigs on the floor oftentimes means you only have three players that can actually dribble the ball confidently, with usually one of them not being that good on offence. To balance this effect, the Cavs have to effectively have two point guards in a weird 1-1-3-5-5 kind of lineup. Luckily a team like the grizzlies have a competent creating 3 and two point guards in Marcus Smart and Ja that can play big enough to avoid the defensive issues and lack of offensive versatility that the Cavs have.
Hot take: Jokic is the most unstoppable offensive player ever but not in a traditional sense. He will always make the right move and he's too unpredictable, he can score on you if you give him a tiny bit of space and he can make a crazy good pass if you try to double. I feel like no defensive scheme works for Jokic specifically. The only way to stop Jokic is to stop the rest of the team which we saw last year in the playoffs. I don't think we've ever seen a player that has this many tools in the arsenal, crazy height, crazy playmaking, crazy touch, rebounding precision, surprisingly athletic and fast in transition, I even think his defense is underrated because it's not flashy blocks, but his steals and the sense for timing are insane as well
to me, to be in that category he would have to be an even better iso-scorer volume-wise. It's nice that he sees the open man, but it should mean he should create one of the best offenses in the league year after year after year. I would say he is the player were it makes the least sense of doubling him of all time, the least double-ble player ever so to say
Hot take: Pippen gets severely under appreciated bc of his career and media presence after the Bulls. He would be an amazing player in the modern nba with his playmaking and versatility on defense and acceptable offense would make him a top ten maybe even top 5 player right now.
Hot take: NBA fans can't distinguish between "carrying" and "leading", unless they're talking about a superteam. Just as an example, people love the narrative of Kawhi carrying the raptors to their first title, but the core of players that team had clinched the east 1st seed the year prior, and while they lacked true superstar power, had a deep bench. Kawhi wasn't even the only key addition the team made that season, they don't beat the 6ers without Marc Gasol's defense either. Kawhi was absolutely essential to leading the raptors to that title, and his story is amazing, but to say he carried is discrediting the efforts of everyone else who stepped up during that run. Behind most stories of a player "carrying" a team, is a squad of solid roleplayers who stepped up to the plate and did their part.
Personally, I don't believe that any superstar can truly carry a team. Even if they have to do more than necessary in order for their team to have a chance to win, they still need their teammates to contribute at some level to do it.
"Efficiency" is not "efficiency", you need to factor in what players you are playing. Referring to what you said about Gobert guarding Aaron Gordon in the playoffs and giving him open corner 3s. An open corner three might sound like the more efficient shot than a floater. But if Aaron Gordon is your corner shooter and Jokic is your floater-guy, the more efficient shot is easily the floater. You can't just look into shot location, the guy who takes the shot is also important if not more important. These are the nuances that make a difference in the playoffs because most teams don't read such things in the scouting report. Example 2: Cameron Johnson is a really good three point shooter and everyone knew it. However, back when he was still playing for the suns, it was shown that when he was not shooting from the corners but from top of the key, those shots from the left side were at a ridiculous percentage (I think 48% if I remember correctly) but from the right side, he shot "only" 38%. Good teams knew that and forced him away from his sweet spots.
Hot take- The criticisms Steph curry gets for using screens is one of the dumbest criticisms ever considering that he’s so often doubled or face guarded that he doesn’t get as many chances to isolate as any other perimeter superstar.
If someone argues that then they did not watch 2022 steph. Was such a refined ball handler in that run and had to create without screens way more than people might realize
Even more than that, it's stupid to criticize smart offense. Every single team and player use screens to generate open shots. That's the base of any action pretty much. Good teams have good process which leads to high quality shots, not fancy 1v1. A p&r is a screen. When big forwards hunt switches onto smaller defenders, they use screens. Are we really that impressed they are then able to *beat them 1v1* when they are basically twice their size? No, but it's smart offense. Every team and player should always try to get the best shot, and a Steph wide open 3 is one of the best shots ever. That doesn't mean he can't do other things, it means he understands where the value is. People are just mad because it worked.
@@KnowBallsPODCAST true he’s always been an elite shot creator and he’s easily one of the best ever. He’s just so dangerous that nba offenses aren’t dumb enough to allow him to consistently see single coverage.
@@patrick05Morgan Yes and no. Part of the reason he gets doubled/trapped so much is because of the screens. In isolation teams don’t double him much and that’s why when KD was there, defenses opted to put their best wing defender on KD instead of Steph.
@@tiredbasketballfan True but the counter argument is that part of the reason he’s so successful and able to get those shots is because of the system and the way you build around him whereas a Kevin Durant, you don’t have to build around him. You just plug him in and he fits in any offense.
Someone once said the following: Part of why Tatum is hated is because fans of players who didn’t win a title think their favorite player could have won more than Boston has with him. Could that be the case?
Those Nash Suns teams would have revolutionized basketball, they just didn’t commit to their style in the playoffs, they went to slower possessions and less threes than usual. They really could have done what the Warriors did years later.
Hot take: people get way too overhyped about a player having a single breakout year. Like a player having a single breakout year to me is a fluke until I see similar production for 2 straight years. Too many times we’ve seen a player take a big jump, only to lose a couple of steps the next year. In order for me to believe that you’re actually as good as the one breakout year makes itself out to be, I need to see very similar production replicated. (of course, the same does not apply for top prospects expecting to take huge leaps after their rookie year - i’m talking exclusively about role players or lesser known players having an MIP type year)
Hot take: If the Rockets didn't trade for Russ, they would have had a longer championship window around Harden, CP3 and Capela considering Paul's resurgence with OKC and the first years on the Suns.
Maybe, but I don't think so. Paul and Harden had apparently fallen out with each other, so even with Paul's resurgence, who know if their relationship would've lasted long? I believe that they replaced D'Antoni with a smarter coach who cared about defense, ran a more creative offensive system, and made adjustments. Their roster was pretty limited personnel-wise and financially, so that would've been a concern, too.
I don't think that's a hot take. Trading for a terrible fit, forcing them to play small ball all the time was a bad decision. Paul and Harden could have worked out their problems, you don't have to be friends to play successful together. The Westbrook-trade doomed them
Hot take: I feel like Hakeem has gone under the radar for most NBA fans. One of the greatest defensive players of all time (all time block leader and high steals in his prime), extremely talented scorer with a skill set that I feel would translate well today (not a 3 pt shooter but still a great midrange shooter so some spacing there), and has the the accomplishments needed (MVP, 2 chips + finals MVPs, 2 DPOYS with one year being the triple crown). I have him as the second greatest center of all time behind Shaq and I feel I don’t see him getting that recognition
@@jaketerpening3284 yea idk I was struggling with that too when making the ranking, I just feel like the 60’s and 70’s we were still figuring out how basketball is played, and guys like Bill and Wilt should be praised for their insane dominance of an era, but I just feel like in context dominating the 90’s is much stronger than dominating the 70’s as the game is just significantly more developed then
@@adacunto7262 If their level of dominance were close, I could definitely see giving the nod to the more recent player. But at least in terms of Bill Russel, it is actually ridiculous how good he was at winning. The "stacked" team he had was did not make the conference finals before or after him, and had a .500 record in games where he missed. And he brought that team to 11 championships in 13 years, with one of his 2 losses being a year where he was injured and didn't play after game 3 of the finals. He is the definition of "great players make their teammates better." Other players didn't get as much respect in that time because no one could beat him.
Hot Take: the hyperfocus on superstars is very harmful to the reception of other players, so much so that average players are being disrespected on every level just because they arent talked about like superstars. People act like Tobias Harris isnt one of the best players in the world (as in: he plays meaningful minutes in the NBA) because he was overpayed or that going to the EuroLeague is similar to not playing basketball whatsoever.
The best stars build up their teammates, because their teammates will carry them at times. Ray Allen saved Lebron's career. Kyrie saved Lebron's career. It takes a whole team, especially when defenses can scheme and focus on a star to take away their game.
Hot take: Anthony Edwards is now the MVP favorite (or at least should be). The wolves will still be a 50 plus win team, and with the parity in the league that will probably be a top 3 record in the NBA, plus I think his numbers will take a decent boost without Towns. I also think the fact that towns left so close to the season will be a good narrative boost along with his playoff preformance
he has to put up MVP numbers and I doubt that. in the playoffs he also ran into a wall, but since the wolves already over-achieved, no one talks about his bad games against Dallas
Hot take the 1984 draft class maybe slightly over rather. While the 4 main names are great, i dont feel that the depth of this class matches that of 96 or 03
@@lezara4049 kyle korver, kendrick perkins, david west, boris diaw, leandro barbosa, josh howard, mo williams, kirk hinrich, chris kaman. they even drafted a future coach with willie green
@@gugga2745 IDK if people will remember those names 20 years from now. Like if you look at the stats of the 84 draft class, they have a decent numbers even lower down, and also a future coach in Rick Carlisle. I don't recognize the names looking at them, but I doubt kids who grow up in the 2020s will recognize any of these names with the exception of maybe Kendrick Perkins since he is a media personality.
@@jaketerpening3284 I wasn’t comparing it to the 84 or 96 draft I was just more tryna point out that saying the 03 draft got no depth is stupid and takes 3 seconds of fact checking to know that he’s wrong
Hot take: scouting and drafting is way harder now than let’s say back in the 70s or 80s. A player that was dominant at hs or uni then usually always translate into the league, Jordan, magic and bird, Kareem, and worthy, whereas now, even if you are super dominant in hs or uni there is still a good chance that you might be a bust/low potential role player, examples are Trey burkes, wiseman, Russ smith, Evan turner, Brandon Clark, even Jimmer Ferdette or Frank Kaminsky.
I would be interested to see a ref-score card like how MLB has the umpire score card. Not because I want to see how many calls they miss or how low the percentage is but just to see the average. Obviously people will complain about the egregious stuff but I feel like people in this MLB season have been way less nit picky now that umpire score card has become more prominent than last season because they know and can see how well an ump does on average
The only true outlier of the bubble was kawhi and pg being fully healthy for the entire postseason. Donovan and jamal were arguably just as good in their next postsaeson. Dame had a similar strech in 2020-21 where he went crazy. miami beat bucks with an injured giannis in and outside the bubble. the only other outlier was tj warren but to be fair he had a serious injury. looking back at it clippers benifited from the bubble the most by having kawhi and pg available.
Good point. I never though about that. However, another outlier was Bam and Tyler Herro. Neither one of them have been able to repeat their performances in the bubble, especially not Herro.
@@urbaindelva7869because Goran Dragic enabled them. Sure, Jimmy Butler was carrying most of the time, but the best team play bubble Heat had was Dragic-Bam pick and roll. Herro was great, but his numbered were inflated by having Duncan Robinson, great Dragic and playoff Jimmy Butler on the floor
@@hualchr6697 I meant more using hindsight cause we seen a healthy ad and lebron for 2 postseasons after meanwhile we seen 0 healthy pg and kawhi postseasons after so easily clippers benifited more with hindsight.
Hot take #1: I agree that it was shitty of the Bucks' organization to fire Coach Bud after his brother's death. However, that does not excuse the multiple times that he was a big reason why the Bucks failed in the postseason with his lack of adjustments, including the near-defeat to the injured Nets superteam. Idk why so many people ignore that. Hot take #2: A lot of factors come into play when debating a player's success or failure in a particular situation. A lot of people just claim that a player would succeed or fail in a certain setting without considering the circumstances they would be in and the effect that would have. Hot take #3: Robert Horry is not a HOFer. He does have the second-most titles individually next to Bill Russell, but it's fair to say that he was in the right place at the right time for every one of them. He is one of the most clutch players ever, but his clutch moments usually involved either an advantage being created for him or capitalizing on a breakdown. He was more so a fail-safe than the actual plan. Maybe he was always capable of more and willingly took a reduced role in the service of winning throughout his career, but even then, he still never stood out individually. I respect Horry a lot, but I disagree with Rudy Tomjanovic.
Hot Take: There is no such as a GOAT, only the guy you happen to like for whatever reason. Arguing that a 6'8 wing is better than a 7 foot center, who is better than a 6'3 guard, is ridiculous. They all have different bodies, different skill sets, different responsibilities. They all need each other to win. If you think MJ is the greatest 2 guard of all time, that's a valid conversation. There is no basis to say he's the greatest of all time. A team made up of 5 MJs would lose every game, as would a team of 5 Shaqs.
this is just false. the goat exists in everything and it's clearly michael jordan for the NBA. the NBA organization itself has Michael Jordan as their #1 player all-time, give me a break
@@jonathansykes4986 Don't compare apples to oranges. Shaq could do things MJ couldn't, and vice versa. If you prefer MJ, just say so. But you can't look at 2 players with completely different bodies, who played completely different styles, and say one is better. Feel free to compare MJ with Kobe or Wade.
@@nigelee you're just ignorant. the biggest reason jordan is the goat is because he revolutionized basketball and made the guard center comparison possible. why would you compare shaq and jokic by that same logic lol
Rusty I'm a superfan and I just want you to know that if you ever need a late night snack (think Taco Bell or Jimmy John's) I will be the one to grab it and deliver it to you
Hot Take: It’s time to stop valuing Kawhi as a top player, when he is never available when it matters. He’s just never available. We ridicule so many other players for always being injured. (Anthony Davis) for example. Yet he gets a Pass. A lot of people still talk about Kawhi as if he’s still in his prime. When he is healthy he’s an amazing player. But I always hear “when he’s healthy” but we haven’t seen that in years.
That's fair. I'm kind of tired of it, too. I got so annoyed when PG was getting criticized for wanting the same extension from the Clippers that Kawhi got, even though Kawhi was not worth that extension himself, either. Somehow, PG gets more blame for the Kawhi-PG era failing to this day than the guy who wanted PG as his co-star and was supposed to lead that era.
Hoy Take - A show or podcast with only knowledgeable/intelligent guys is very boring and not good for casual fans. The show need a eyetest or casual fan of the game to ask what they see in the game to make the show more fun/understandable for the audience because a casual fan has questions or thoughts similar to a the eyetest guy. So from outsideview a person in the show or the show itself may seems dumb because of the casual guy but it is more informative and fun because of him
The point you made about AG sitting in the corner and the coach not being about to do anything about it is exactly my point. Malone should’ve don’t something different rather than having AG stand in the corner and miss threes. AG can affect spacing in other ways, maybe involving him as a screener, cutter, and ball handler more
Aaron Gordan shot 59% (10 for 17) from 3 that series. They were getting good value out of it. Jokic shot an abysmal 23% (8 for 35), and they weren't even respecting it. I know Jokic a lot of time doesn't get the credit he deserves, but he certainly deserved a lot of blame that series.
Hot take: jj redick will be a near all time coach in terms of skill as a coach (schemes plays etc.) but because he almost certainly won’t win a title within 1~2 years he won’t be seen as a great coach and will probably be ridiculed out of coaching despite his ability.
He's never coached at any level (as fas as I know). Maybe he could surprise us all and prove to be a good one, but considering the circumstances around his hiring as a coach, he's on rough waters.
Hot Take: Pistons make the playoffs, it’ll be the same East teams as last year except Pistons will be the 8th seed and Miami will miss the playoffs, I love the fact they added veteran players that can space the floor and have also been in winning environments, I love Fontecchio, Sasser, Duren and Ivey and I expect Cade to take a leap also love the JB Bickerstaff hire they got a coach that’s actually serious
4:50 flip side to the "hate over contracts" hottake: If you're a superstar and have 150m contract you can't go out there and say "minimum guys" or "not enough help." If there's a big 2 or big 3 eating up most of the cap then all I wanna hear is "we did the best with the pieces we have. Next year we'll try to get better and keep improving." The biggest superstars have too much power to all the blame on the front office.
Efficiency isnt overrated. But it is over simplified. Like sometimes players have to take more shots and take more bad shots for their team to win and it's still a net positive. Plus others teams defense and defensive scheme on a certain player affects efficiency a lot. Or the nature of the game. A good example of this is g Kobe, gane 7, 2010 against the Celtics. People now like to talk abyhow inefficient he was in that gane but what they forget (if they ever watched the gane to begin with) is that EVERYONE was super inefficient in that game. It was that type of series. Rough as f. Offense got ugly for both teams. Plus the Lakers NEEDED Kobes points in that game. Sometimes points of any kind are what a team wins. Efficient or not. Another point is people get focused on certain players and narratives get built up. Again take Kobe. Yet Duncan was actually less efficient than Kobe and played much closer to the rim and took much easier shots and his team relied on his offense less. That brings up another point... Bigs SHOULD be more efficient than guards. They play closer to the rim. Anyway, point is that efficiency us misunderstood. But its not overrated. Efficiency is very important...
It's kind of understandable that Duncan would be more inefficient despite being closer to the basket. It's easier to defend a shot at the rim because the shorter distance between the shooter and the defender and shots closer to the rim require less power.
hot take: antawan jamison is one of the most underrated players ever. top 55 in scoring, had an amazing 7 year stretch from 03-09 averaging 20 and 8 on good efficiency. probably overlooked because of lack of awards but played in a time with stacked forwards (bron, pierce, melo, etc.)
HOT TAKE: - Players now days shouldn’t even be in the same conversation with old basketball players… players now days are miles ahead …and yet are disrespected by old heads for being too soft.. but almost 99% of the HOF players would be a role player in todays league - someone like Shaq would not be in the league as he is too slow and no outside skill set - just look at a player like Ben Simmons - doesn’t get respect cause he can’t play in todays league either !
I'm sorry but Shaq was putting up great numbers against the best big men of all time. He would eat up any team trying to play small ball. He is bigger and faster than Jokic. If Denver can make a defensive system that makes Jokic look good defensively, they can do it even easier with Shaq. Also, players are softer today. Look at the amount of flopping, complaining, and load management. Like, I don't care if Kawhi has the skillset to be the greatest player ever if he won't tough it out for his team. When we get stories of the older times, they just fought through injuries way more frequently. No one was sitting out for "right calf soreness". Players are also not significantly better. The game has changed to make them look better. Handchecking being removed, the gather step being added, looser definitions of carry overs, if we want to go back further, the introduction of the 3 point line. These things allow players to do things that they couldn't do in the past not because they didn't have the ability, but because the rules were different.
Hot take: threes are both more necessary and less valuable in today's game. Today, you're the exception if you have a 3 year career and can't shoot the 3 at least close to 35% on 2-4 a game. Back in the 90s, they were less frequent and you were basically a superstar or specialist if you shot anything above 35%. This is one of the major reasons that the triangle worked so well during the illegal defense era. A specialist's defender had to choose, and a 3 point lead might as well have been a 2 possesion game back then, at least compared to today.
Hot take: the nba should consider reducing the amount of games in a regular season because it will make the regular season games more significant, reduce injuries, and you might even have room to make the playins best of 3
That will never happen on the simple fact it would make them less $. It’s a business so it wouldn’t make sense to reduce the amount of games for them because it would lower the total amount of ppl that would be at their games spending $.
The obvious issue with that is in order to make up for the financial loss, the fans end up suffering as tickets become more expensive and the NBA as a league would have to pander to a status driven high class that care little for the sport even more.
Hot take: basketball is the easiest sport to build a good team in by FAR. I am not a fan of franchises putting money and talent into a team and expecting great results. You need chemistry and homegrown talent.
Stacey King may be an old man yelling at clouds now, but that man was a different breed in his heyday, most entertaining commentator in the league from Rose's MVP season to about 2015. Rose's dunk on Dragic, Kyle Korver's "hot sauce" threes, Secretary of Defense Taj Gibson, the hype for Nate and DJ, none of it hits nearly as hard if he's not the one making the call
SCORCHING HOT TAKE ALERT🚨🚨🚨: Wemby is BY FAR the best player under 25 going into next season and it isn't even close (yes he is significantly better than Ant). Not only is he going to be by far be the best defensive player in the league. He is going to be a nightmare matchup on offence. I see him averaging 25-12-3 with 4.5 blks and 1.5 steals and good efficiency maybe something like 51%-35%-82% splits in like 33 mins of play it is genuinely going to be ridiculous and best center in the world discussions might even start (NO GLAZE)!!!!!
Hot take: Shai gilgeous Alexander is a better modern day comparison to Michael Jordan than ant man. Shai had the most efficient 30 ppg season by a guard since MJ and their play styles fit well. Clutch gene for shai and mj are so similar it’s crazy
@@Johnboat76766 MJ has the 10th highest ts% by a guard in a season averaging 30ppg. There have already been 7 seasons surpassing that before last season, and another 2 last season with SGA & Luka. SGA's last season ranks 4th all time for guards behind Curry '16, Curry '21, and Lillard '23. I didn't easily find an efg% ranking, but both those Curry seasons have higher efg% as well. In fact, those 2 Curry seasons are the top 2 all time of all positions (min 23 games played, there's a 22-game season in between them which obviously is a very small sample)
Hot take: Josh Giddey will be an All-Star one day! I’m a Thunder fan and was very shocked to see you put him in F tier on your SG tier list. He won us several games during the regular season, the potential is there. He had an off year for obvious reasons, and he will grow from them
Hot Take: The celtics lakers rivalry has become more of a detriment to both teams in recent years. The teams are basically interlocked to the point where that matchup is the only one people care about for each team when they both have great rivalries with inter conference opponents like the Heat or Spurs. Its why I think no one really cared about the 2024 finals despite both teams being bigger market talent and history (Dallas more so in the 2000s)
Seeing so many people hear my take and proceed to turn it into a MJ vs. Bron debate is actually hilarious. Comprehensive reading has entirely left the chat and school system.
Hot take: Using the clock and running the other team down is still a good basketball strategy, especially now that we punish some sluffin defense with 3, not 2.
Hot take to rusty only: Boston is likely not going to repeat, but Boston is still the most likely to win in teams power ranking. There is no contradiction. ChangeOfWinning (COW) of boston > COW of any one team. COW of boston < COW of all teams combined.
In basketball yes, efficiency is mildly overrated. The sheer amount of possessions and potential difference in possession between teams somewhat dilutes impact of efficiency. Mathematically speaking, less possessions=more important efficiency is.
Hot take: I think that if a player intentionally makes a dirty play/dangerous play and injures a player they should be suspended for the amount of time the player is injured for.
I like the idea of the second apron, but at this point it seems more punitive than restrictive. I’d like to see them dial it back just a tiny bit, say no impact to their draft position.
Hot take: Anthony Davis is extremely under appreciated especially defensively! imo, the greatest defender of his generation, can literally win a game with just his defense alone and or even a series take the 2023 conference semis against the warriors for example. i think the media just doesn’t like him and you don’t get appreciated enough if you’re a lebron teammate
OKC / Dallas was also a good example. OKC was the best 3pt shooting team in the league. Dallas contested every shot they could and OKC had a bad series shooting 3s. What's ironic is that SGA proved they could score inside against Dallas but because they continued to try to make those "efficient" shots they loved so much, Dallas was able to control the series and not just win in 6 games, but had an opportunity to win in 5. Wow Rusty, this is the first time we are on the same page in weeks. I have to stop drinking.....
I would argue that the most efficient and best shot in basketball has always been a layup or dunk. 3pt spacing is important, but getting to the rim is the most important. You can get fouls and rebounds way easier in the paint. And 3pt shots are high variance, so you can have a great night and blow a team out, or you can have a cold night and lose to a team you should have beat. To me, 3pters and layups are constraints on each other. One helps the other be open. But I think the scoring attempts should be weighted towards inside. You need both though.
Hot take: the pistons will be the ten seed … the buttom six of the east; nets, pistons, charlotte, raptors, wizzard and the bulls all going to be terrible, but one of this teams will make the play in mathematically.
Hot take: Nikola Jokić is a more skilled and versatile player than Shaquille O’Neal ever was, and would dominate Shaq in a head-to-head matchup. While Shaq was an unstoppable force physically, Jokić’s combination of passing, shooting, and basketball IQ make him a far more complete player. Shaq relied on size and power, but in today’s game, his inability to shoot or facilitate at an elite level would make him one-dimensional compared to Jokić. In a matchup, Jokić would exploit Shaq’s weaknesses on defense, stretch the floor, and create opportunities for his teammates in ways Shaq never could. In today’s era, Jokić would have the upper hand, leaving Shaq struggling to keep up.
Hot take: It shouldnt be crazy to say that Harden is slightly a greater SG than Wade, and yeah the 2 things that people always mention is “Wade won in the Playoffs and also plays Defence” well if his defence was so elite why doesnt he have a 1st team all defensive nod? Harden did not have the fortune of going to the Finals coming out of the EAST and having more FTM than a whole opposing finals team (2006 Finals) and wasnt lucky to play with a healthy prime lebron and not get injured throughout that whole superteam run
hot take: Tom Thibodeau is a top 3 coach in the league (top 5 at WORST) but doesn't get the respect for it because people are too hung up on the Drose injury narrative & mistaken belief he still overplays his players, which he only had to do to this last season because of injuries to Randle and OG
Hot take: they way the league is evolving we are going towards the direction where we will have 5 SF on every rotation lineups. As the time goes we are seeing more and more of 7footers with guard skills and I think that is the future of NBA. 5 versatile SF that can create offense solid defense, hitting 3s and good passers would be the blueprint of success
i get the new cba might seem too harsh now, but i think it was done that way due to the anticipation of expansion teams. I think these rules were set in place that way they would be there in a few years when we get those new teams. When those teams come into the league, really big contracts will spread throughout the league, lowering every teams salary by a bit. Essentially taking the same amount of high level talent and spreading it across 32 teams instead of 30 will ease all teams salary woes
Exactly. You shouldn't hate players for their bad contracts. But you can like point out the reality of the situation. Sort of like, "Youre over paid. Good for you. But you ARE over paid..."
Yeah. People just take it too far. They act like some guys like Lavine are scrubs or something that have no place in the league. The fact that they even got that contract proves they have more than enough talent to play major roles, they just don't have quite enough to occupy so much salary for a serious team. So as an asset to a roster they're a problem, but that doesn't mean they don't know how to play basketball anymore
22:53 I think it’s crazy to not mention Giannis in terms of gravity because he’s literally shaq level of interior dominance with better isolation scoring and a far better passer than shaq. He’s easily top 3 in terms of gravity. The entire defensive scheme created for him (the wall) is basically just a triple/ quadruple in the paint. No one created more open threes in the league than him too at his peak.
1:45 Simple... Just raise the salary cap. These teams have more than enough money. Theyre raking it in. Believe it or not but based on their value and how much money they bring in, NBA players are under paid. They make a lot sure but owners make way more.
Hot Take Not all good NBA playoff series have to go the distance. 2005 Spurs/Pistons was an unwatchable 7 game brickfest that gets misinterpreted as a classic. Conversely not all playoff series that don’t go the distance can’t be great A well contested series can go 6 games and still be memorable See: 1993 Suns/Bulls
Hot take: People are crying about the CBA cause their teams just don't wanna pay. You can ALWAYS keep your own players. Your front office just needs to be willing to.
Drop your hot take in the comments to be on next episode!!
Larry Bird led the league 4 times in Defensive Win shares. The only other players to do that are Ben Wallace, Tim Duncan, and Hakeem. Bird was Elite at defense because he used the muscle in between his ears.
@@alsorustybuckets said it once and again, Giannis is unguardable and only goes as far as his teammates will allow the team to go (barring recent injury)
Raptors wall did absolutely nothing, Bledsoe couldn’t hit a 3, they had to play George Hill and we all know the Middleton cycle.
Hot take: people saying efficiency is overrated are just defending their players who are inefficient with high volume that are hard to build around
@SkodenMOC okay Stat padding watcher
@@malikwilson7387what 😂 did you read my comment
Do those players provide much without the ball in their hands?
@@MOCskoden you're a casual
@@malikwilson7387 says the stat pad enjoyer 😂
Hot take: the GOAT defender conversation is too focused on 2 way guys. Duncan and Hakeem are better players than dikembe mutombo but not inherently better defenders. I do still think they’re the top 2 but guys like Ben Wallace, Mutombo, and Gobert are often overlooked because they weren’t superstars
Bro Duncan and Hakeem are both better defenders than dikembe. They were both smarter defenders, better perimeter defenders, had better switchability.
@@patrick05Morgan I agree. My point is just that them being better players doesn’t automatically make them better defenders, though I still think they are. I should have used Garnett as an example since I think he’s more comparable to the other guys
@@kirbstomp8666 yeah but garnett peaked higher so it wouldn't have worked. you would have to bring up scottie russell or kawhi
@@bboywolf you think Garnett’s defensive peak is higher than Ben Wallace?
@@kirbstomp8666 yes, kg was bringing similar rim protection numbers in terms of team improvement as tim duncan while being 100x more switchable.
Hot Take: Max contracts are the reason the CBA is "too harsh".
When players hit the open market they are usually given the most money possible. This offseason of rookie extensions would have been a great time to change that trend with the rookie max awarding guys like Scottie cade and Mobley 40 million a year. However the teams didn't think twice to offer these deals. Not to say that those guys aren't worth the deals they got but teams are not going to have flexibility if they give out max contracts at every chance they get. Nuggets would still have a solid group of role players if they didn't feel entitled to max out MPJ, 76ers would have been much better without maxing tobias.
It sucks that teams have to throw money at inconsistent players because someone else would pay that money for them, this trend is so annoying imo. Like if the player is good enough he knows he's set and can ask for much more than he might be worth generally, some of their flaws won't affect their market value which is really annoying, teams go over the cap and they can't fill their bench like they should. I wish more players had the Brunson mentality, I miss having overpowered teams that last for years because it generates hype. The convos of "Is someone going to beat them this year?" were so much fun. These last 6 years we'd say like "who could beat them this year" and at the end of the season we just go "oh, that's who..."
Hot take: James Harden’s playoff failures are overblown. I don’t think he’s an all time playoff performer or anything, but he consistently put up good numbers while in Houston and just got unlucky that his team’s championship window coincided with the KD Warriors.
My hot take: I think Harden being a better regular season player, he should’ve had 2 MVP and Nash who rises in the postszn, should’ve been a champion and fmvp in 07 if they didn’t suspended Amare and Diaw vs Spurs instead of b2b MVPs
Same kinda goes with Embiid tbh. With the way people talk about him, you would think he was just constantly shitting the bed time and time again but that isn’t really the case.
@@antichaosEmbiid is one of the biggest playoff droppers of all time stop it.
0-27.............
@@antichaos at least throughout Hardens prime he played well just didn’t win and even went on multiple deep playoff runs, Embiid completely wet the bed in 2019 and 2023 and lost to Trae Young and Clint Capela in 2021😂
Hot take: The reason the NBA has so many 'casual' isn't because it's the 'simplest' of the major North American team sports. While "throw ball into hoop" is simple, "kick ball into net", "use stick to hit puck into net" and "hit ball with stick and run around bases" are also simple. The NFL is the only one that takes more than a minute or so to explain the absolute basics. I'm not saying these sports aren't complex when analyzed. I'm just saying that being able to enjoy them in layman's terms with surface-level knowledge is easy. The reason the NBA has more casual fans is because its the one where you can tune out for 5-10 minutes mid-game, and be confident you won't miss a key moment. Goals, home runs, and touchdowns are all game-changing events. No single basket mid-game will make the game do a 180, meaning basketball is a super easy thing to have on in the background as you cook, do housework, engage in other hobbies, etc. while being confident you won't miss the defining moment of the game. This makes it very appealing to someone who's content with just enjoying the game and not analyzing it.
@@starwarsnewsandmemes8289 I hope Rudy reads all this and replies with that “I ain’t ready all that, or sorry that happened” picture 🤣 but then actually breaks down your hot take 🔥
Not a bad take
Good take, but I also think the high pace of the sport has to do with it, that's why NFL and NBA are popular imo. I am from Serbia and I don't understand how someone watches baseball, I would fall asleep honestly, no offense. The NFL is generally not popular in this area and we don't have our own leagues, NBA has always been popular here especially since our players started joining the league. Football (soccer) is crazy popular here but I can't watch that to save my life, it has changed so much over the last 20 years. Now they just sit and wait for the other team to make a mistake and it's a snooze fest most of the time, I will only watch the playoff stage of major tournaments and that's the most I can take
While id say that at times, a single play (a block, dunk, three pointer, steal that leads to a fast break etc.) can change the dynamic/atmosphere of a game, i get what ur saying and actually like that take.
I'm a filthy casual and I approve of this message.
Hot take: The Run n Gun Suns win a championship in 2007 if Amare and Diaw weren’t suspended in the series from the Horry hipcheck
They weren’t better than the Spurs. They were good, but even with Amare’e and Borris they were very good, not great. The 2007 spurs were great.
@@leonbrumett6155 my problems with the series is that the Suns lost game 5 by 3 points, adding Amare to the mix with Diaw contributing to the defense and little bit of scoring, it should’ve been a 7 game series and Nash is not shy of performing great in game 7’s… with a 4-0 record and avg 20/10/5 on 50/40/90… a game 5 win also possibly swings momentum into winning game 6 if they can… it’s not impossible for the suns to beat San Antonio, they already swept them in 2010… and that was when Marion & Diaw were off the team and Mike D’Antoni also left
@@MOCskodenthere’s certainly a shot but you also can’t be sure that Pop and Duncan don’t find a scheme to minimize the Suns athleticism
@@ethanbaileylol2283
Schemes don’t tend to come that late in the series
Hot Take: I think the Raptors would have beaten the 2020 Lakers in the bubble if Kawhi hadn’t left. Raptors could have thrown Kawhi, Siakam, and Annunoby at Lebron to slow him down and Gasol and Ibaka on Anthony Davis. Also the Raptors had more depth as well with Vanvleet, OG Annunoby, Ibaka, and Norman Powell off the bench.
The issue with this comment is that it does what every What If does and it assumes health. I’m pretty sure Kawhi got hurt towards the end of the 2020 first round, there is no way of saying it will or won’t happen again
By this same token the 2019 Raptors wouldn't have won had the Warriors not crumbled health wise.
The 2020 Lakers also had a number of defenders they could've thrown right back at the Raptors: AD, LeBron, Caruso, Rondo, Dwight, JaVale, Danny Green, Avery Bradley, Kuzma, Markieff Morris.
@@1994khalid24 Kawhi was healthy the entire 2020 playoffs
@@urbaindelva7869 "Kuzma, Markieff Morris" lmao
Hot Take: Head Coaches should have to go back to wearing suits.
But why
It’s not like they are Finance Analysts lol
@@rafikz77 It just looks more professional, and stuff like that absolutely matters. Right now the NBA looks like it doesn't take itself seriously.
Hot take: a large part of basketball discourse can be boiled down to basketball fans arguing around the fact that it is a team sport.
True.
Hot take: Felton > Curry
This ain’t even a hot take, straight rage bait🤣
Yeah, he's better than Seth. Maybe.
he asked for a hot take not a fact
Super cold take. If everyone agrees then it’s not “Hot” 🤷🏾♂️
New cba seems too harsh until you see Celtics and realize it’s still possible to get around it
Celtics haven’t gotten around anything, the owner is actively trying to sell the team to get out of the drawbacks of the new CBA
@@mingloff yeah Brad Stevens paid everybody lmao their tax bill is gonna be insane
It just aint hit the celtics yet. They got 1 more year then they'll feel it. But they already won so it was worth it
I’m ready to agree with this but I can’t unless they at least get to the finals this year
@@mingloff He's trying to get out of the price of the team not the cba restrictions.
Anthony Davis is arguably the greatest defensive player of this generation. It’s a shame he doesn’t have a DPOY
Neither does Tim Duncan, for no good reason
@@amandswright2040 completely agree 👍
@@amandswright2040Duncan was so consistently great defensively that none of his seasons must’ve stood out individually.
Didn’t Bowen win over him once?
Draymond is our generations best defender
Bam guards 1-5 it’s crazy to see
On Larry Bird: the *most* insane stat of his career was being top 4 in MVP his entire career until '89 when his back went out. Every good season of his career he was HIM.
Hot Take: the winner of the in season tournament should win the the 15th pick in the draft (only tradable on draft day)
the pick is good enough to be worth fighting for but not good enough to be unfair and thus will incentivise every team to compete. fans will also show more interest as the stakes are higher and mean more to the fan base.
With how transitory players are now a days, I don't think they'd care about the extra draft pick for a team they may or may not be on the next year.
"LeBron never makes the wrong decision"
*is the all time leader in turnovers and missed shots*
Hot take: In the “goat debate”, or when discussing how good a player is in general, we should differentiate more between greatness and skill. Greatness to me is the legacy a player leaves behind which consists of the impact on the game, accomplishments and skill. Therefore to me MJ is the “greatest” player of all time. However I think LeBron is clearly the best basketball player that has ever lived. In other words there is no linear correlation between how good you are as a player and what you are able to achieve in the sport. From there on it is everybody’s opinion which of the two aspects is more important to them…
I've said it before and I'll say it again.But this current collective bargaining agreement would not be an issue if the super max contract was not a thing and expected by everyone at their dog.
I agree the extra 5% makes a difference when theres 20 or so players who qualify for it every year
The reason MJ is seen as the template is because he checks every box whereas every other player in the GOAT convo either fails to check a box or has a major career flaw in comparison.
& If you objectively apply the same level of scrutiny to everyone’s career, it just so happens Mj has the best & most solid argument for the NBA’s GOAT.
& i’m saying that as a Shaq & Bron fan.
the whole point of that hot take is that the boxes that are being checked are made with his career in mind because of how idolized he became. He checks all the boxes because people made the boxes based off of him. That isnt to say he's perfect, its just to say the conversation is from a somewhat biased perspective.
For example, MJ was without a doubt a sub-par 3 pt shooter yet no one brings it up. They'll just say "oh but he was winning without it anyways so it doesn't matter"
People talk about how Bron dont got a killer instict or clutch gene and Jordan does but Bron is statistically the best clutch playoff performer in history (he literally has the most buzzer beaters)
@@ace6897Could it be said that the GOAT debate started in MJ’s generation?
@@ace6897exactly!!
@@ace6897 I think Jordan has by far the best case for indivdual dominance and talent combined with team success of any player. And that alone is enough to put him above anyone else. The all-time greats with the same amount (or more) championships has not been as individually dominant, or at least not for as long (Russell), or was debatably or simply not the best player on the team for a number of those rings (Kobe, Kareem). And anyone who was an anomaly of dominance either didn't sustain that without significant superstar help or didn't achieve quite the same level of team success (Wilt, Shaq, Lebron).
Analytically he is the most dominant statistical player in the regular season and the playoffs still. The only one who really comes close is Lebron, and not a ton of players outside of recent history are even favored that highly when it comes to analytic stats, so the fact he's still at or near the top from nearly every metric to analyze a player's impact is pretty ridiculous.
Also, the only player in or near anyone's top 10 who is even a good 3-point shooter is Bird and Steph. Being "good at 3's" has never made or broke someone being in a greatness discussion. And yes Lebron is the most clutch player of the stat tracking era "since 1997" so we don't have any data outside of that to be 100% sure. Buzzer beaters are a pretty simplistic way to define being clutch. Jordan's steal and shot in the '98 Finals is more clutch than anything Lebron has ever done aside from maybe his block in 2016 or the 48 special in Detroit '07. And there were no "buzzer beaters" involved in any of those situations lol. Ray Allen 2013 is maybe the most clutch shot of all time but it wasn't a buzzer beater.
@@BT405 I agree with you. In my opinion, no else really matches up with Jordan's success. But the problem is that he is viewed as the template and everyone else is framed up to his career 1:1. Most of the time, when people argue Jordan vs everyone else, they use Jordans career as the baseline instead of really comparing them at face value.
As I mentioned in my take, Lebron going to 8 straight finals with a record of 4-10 is somehow viewed as a negative only because it's compared to Jordan being 6-0. I'm not arguing that 6-0 isn't better either, or that having a killer mentality isn't a good thing. I'm just saying that to look at it in this way is counter intuitive to the debate, especially with how much the game has changed since then. If we continue to view the debate in a 1:1 checklist for Jordan's achievements, then it's likely that no one from this era forward will ever come close, even if they have remarkable achievements of their own.
HOT TAKE: That wall shit doesn’t work, Giannis’s teammates have just failed him.
Bledsoe against the Raptors is the most blatant example, look how terribly he shot the ball.
Yep this exactly
That is true, but you can't say that the wall defense didn't work. Giannis was not able to attack the rim as easily as he did in the regular season. There were times when he was hesitant to attack because he didn't have a lane to the hoop.
Hot take : Patrick Ewing is the most underrated player in aNba History he has 5 years with at least 24-12 with 2.5 blks and a stl went to 4 ECFs and a finals and only does not have a ring becuSe of Hakeem and Michael
Jordan he should be higher ranked than Dwight who is overrated because of his era ..Dwight is not even better than Alonzo
mourning
The only reason Ewing doesn't have a ring is John Starks
"A player taking less money doesnt make any sense it would never happen."
*Meanwhile, Larry Bird had enough integrity he literally chose to retire to get the celtics out of his contract because he felt with his back injury he wouldn't be able to play up to that amount of money*
Hot take: Basketball IQ is probably the most valuable asset in the game. In a era where everybody has a opinion, I'm realizing how dumb alot NBA players and executives are and how much they sound just like the idiots on Twitter with their ideologies about the game. Which is sad because it's their job and they get paid millions to know better.
Hot take: Anthony Edwards has - over the past few months - become THE MOST overrated player in basketball. LITERALLY NO ONE except Ja Morant gets the efficiency pass that Edwards does, which is odd because Ant takes more bad shots. He is a good defender, but people pretend he's All-Defense level, which he simply is not. And even your tierlist had him on the level of Devin Booker and Donovan Mitchell. That is ridiculously false. Both of them have a +3 PER gap between them and ANT. There is a bigger gap between Devin Booker + Spida and Anthony Edwards than there is between Anthony Edwards and Darius Garland. Ant just IS NOT impacting the game as much as "the eye test" would lead you to believe.
People - not the majority but enough to get hundreds of likes on any given post - put Ant over Jason Tatum. Embarrassing take for the community.
But but his aura😭
It's because of Ant's personality as a person, his game and his mentality as a player (similar to Jordan's), and his terrific playoff performances over the past couple of years that a lot of people elevated him above the likes of Tatum, Booker, Mitchell, and Ja, especially after this recent run.
@@urbaindelva7869 They are trying to manufacture an American Superstar. Tatum isn't it, so they are moving onto ANT, and ignoring Luka and Shai.
Ja can get the pass because of his height/size and ANT steps up big time in the playoffs in efficiency while also being a very good defender so yes that’s the reasoning
10:35 kinda a weird argument considering even though they did that, AG shot 60% from three in the series. Using that strategy almost burned them big time since he hit some big ones.
It was solely on Jamal and MPJ not doing nearly what they were supposed to from a production standpoint + the somewhat more minor issues of the Timberwolves double bigs making AG less of a lob/rim threat and putting the bug in Jokic's ear "shoot the three, you're open" even though his shot was broken😂.
Interested to see whether they use Naz or Randle as the primary Jokic guy if Rudy stays on AG. I doubt they play at the same time as starters (or that Naz starts at all, even though he's the KAT replacement physically.)
Thank you. Unreal blaming AG's shooting for that series when Jokic took twice as many threes and made 2 less.
The key to that series was Murray being hurt too. If they had to send more attention to murray the "offball drop coverage" they ran with rudy might not have been possible.
hot take(kinda): a lot of people act like curry is the only player with gravity when it comes to comparing him with other players, its like people just forget that other players. Esp those who are dominant in the paint have a extreme amount of gravity as well(ex.giannis). So its weird but i guess im saying that curry's gravity is overrated even though he's still got the most off-ball gravity in history
You literally contradicted yourself
@@babystacks I don't think he did and I think he is right. People will say that Curry's gravity makes him the best player in the league, but then never use gravity to talk about any other player comparisons. Like if gravity is valuable, then why don't we use it to make any other comparisons?
@@babystacks overrated isnt contrary to best
The 2018 draft class will go down as top 5 of all time. Already it has multiple future first ballot hof players, a lot of all stars, and a crazy deep list of quality role players. It will be mentioned in the same conversations as 84, 96, 03, etc.
Extremely Hot Take: Lauri Markannen can be a number 1 on a championship team, he’s a 7fter that shoots 50/40/90 he’s a good defender and rebounder, if Utah ever puts a team around him or in a couple years he goes somewhere else it wouldn’t surprise if a Lauri led team won a couple playoff series
💀💀💀💀💀
@@jordandiaz7605 I feel like the only reason this seems crazy is bc of his age if his career started in Utah this wouldn’t sound as crazy as it seems
@@GetenIceHow do you know that he would've developed the same way in Utah?
that doesn't make him a #1 option on a championship team. He's not a player you build around and for 2 reasons.
As a big-man, you most probably have to be a good defender. He's just not, so if you're building around him.. you need 4 other great to elite defenders. But that's only worth it when building around markannen if he was generational like jokic offensively. Welp, not even close. Yes he can get buckets efficiently, but he's an awful playmaker. He's not gonna elevate his teammates, he's not gonna create easier opportunities for teammates.
Also, he's not a great volume scorer. So you can't run through him defensively, no way he can lead a top 10 offense. So how are they gonna win a chip thru him?
@@clutchmoney33 he is a good defender idky you said that he isn’t, admittedly his playmaking is nowhere near the level it should be as a number 1, and offensively with how efficient he is he just has to shoot more, but like I said it is an extremely hot take
Hot Take: While many teams are forced to play double-big lineups with players to complement players like JJJ, ultimately the priority of the power forward position is to provide versatility with high-level bigplay (rebounding and rim protection.) Players like Lebron, Draymond, and Tatum will become the new meta for the position.
Similarly, the shooting guard position will become the ‘bigger guard’ position as teams need all the guardplay (ball-handling, shot creation) they can get. As 99% of people are below average nba height, the issue in creating backcourts will be in balancing the statistically inevitable superior guard skills of short players without the backcourt getting punished for size.
One of the reasons the Celtics are so successful is they’ve already adopted this futuristic position scheme, teams that try too hard to abide by traditional positioning will never work because they fail to abide by this system.
In a double big lineup on the Celtics, what would the power forward and center do that separates the position?
@@irishroo6939 I sort of agree, but I think the Celtics only play Tatum at the 4 due to having an abundance of guards for most of his time there and the Lakers best years were AD at the 4 double big lineups, also the cavs issues come post season don’t really stem from Mobley and Allen being an awkward fit but more from Garland being bad/injured
@@GetenIce Lebron playing the 4 in Miami revolutionised the position, and while the Laker might have benefited from AD at the 4 defensively, this is just an example of playing double bigs when necessary which works when you have someone who can play perimeter D and shoot which AD did for that run.
Yes Tatum was put at the 4 circumstantially but it works really well and proves that him at the 4 is ideal defensively because he can block shots, rebound and is strong, and offensively because he’s an amazing off-the-dribble creator. Not every team can have a Tatum on offensive, but the fit is awesome in terms of the little stuff.
@@fortynights1513 Well the Celtics are one of few teams that can really comfortably play double bigs because of the generational shooting of Al and Porzingis but also their ability to play perimeter D.
Ultimately though, two bigs on the floor oftentimes means you only have three players that can actually dribble the ball confidently, with usually one of them not being that good on offence. To balance this effect, the Cavs have to effectively have two point guards in a weird 1-1-3-5-5 kind of lineup. Luckily a team like the grizzlies have a competent creating 3 and two point guards in Marcus Smart and Ja that can play big enough to avoid the defensive issues and lack of offensive versatility that the Cavs have.
Basically: have tall players
Hot take: Jokic is the most unstoppable offensive player ever but not in a traditional sense. He will always make the right move and he's too unpredictable, he can score on you if you give him a tiny bit of space and he can make a crazy good pass if you try to double. I feel like no defensive scheme works for Jokic specifically. The only way to stop Jokic is to stop the rest of the team which we saw last year in the playoffs. I don't think we've ever seen a player that has this many tools in the arsenal, crazy height, crazy playmaking, crazy touch, rebounding precision, surprisingly athletic and fast in transition, I even think his defense is underrated because it's not flashy blocks, but his steals and the sense for timing are insane as well
to me, to be in that category he would have to be an even better iso-scorer volume-wise. It's nice that he sees the open man, but it should mean he should create one of the best offenses in the league year after year after year. I would say he is the player were it makes the least sense of doubling him of all time, the least double-ble player ever so to say
Hot take: Pippen gets severely under appreciated bc of his career and media presence after the Bulls. He would be an amazing player in the modern nba with his playmaking and versatility on defense and acceptable offense would make him a top ten maybe even top 5 player right now.
You’re gonna see modern day Scottie pippen soon, it’s Cooper Flagg.
Hot take: you cant win MVP and a championship in the same season anymore
? What the heck are you talking about lmao.
It's only been 3 years since that last happened
Jokic could’ve done that if Kendrick wasn’t racist to Jokic 😂
@@shepardice3775no the last time that happened was 2015
@@MOCskoden Embiid averaged 34ppg he wasn’t winning that, plus I don’t even think KP has ever had a vote
@@shepardice3775 It’s been 10 seasons since we saw this happen. Last to do it was 14/15 Curry.
Hot take: NBA fans can't distinguish between "carrying" and "leading", unless they're talking about a superteam. Just as an example, people love the narrative of Kawhi carrying the raptors to their first title, but the core of players that team had clinched the east 1st seed the year prior, and while they lacked true superstar power, had a deep bench. Kawhi wasn't even the only key addition the team made that season, they don't beat the 6ers without Marc Gasol's defense either. Kawhi was absolutely essential to leading the raptors to that title, and his story is amazing, but to say he carried is discrediting the efforts of everyone else who stepped up during that run.
Behind most stories of a player "carrying" a team, is a squad of solid roleplayers who stepped up to the plate and did their part.
Personally, I don't believe that any superstar can truly carry a team. Even if they have to do more than necessary in order for their team to have a chance to win, they still need their teammates to contribute at some level to do it.
"Efficiency" is not "efficiency", you need to factor in what players you are playing. Referring to what you said about Gobert guarding Aaron Gordon in the playoffs and giving him open corner 3s. An open corner three might sound like the more efficient shot than a floater. But if Aaron Gordon is your corner shooter and Jokic is your floater-guy, the more efficient shot is easily the floater. You can't just look into shot location, the guy who takes the shot is also important if not more important. These are the nuances that make a difference in the playoffs because most teams don't read such things in the scouting report. Example 2: Cameron Johnson is a really good three point shooter and everyone knew it. However, back when he was still playing for the suns, it was shown that when he was not shooting from the corners but from top of the key, those shots from the left side were at a ridiculous percentage (I think 48% if I remember correctly) but from the right side, he shot "only" 38%. Good teams knew that and forced him away from his sweet spots.
Hot take- The criticisms Steph curry gets for using screens is one of the dumbest criticisms ever considering that he’s so often doubled or face guarded that he doesn’t get as many chances to isolate as any other perimeter superstar.
If someone argues that then they did not watch 2022 steph. Was such a refined ball handler in that run and had to create without screens way more than people might realize
Even more than that, it's stupid to criticize smart offense. Every single team and player use screens to generate open shots. That's the base of any action pretty much. Good teams have good process which leads to high quality shots, not fancy 1v1. A p&r is a screen. When big forwards hunt switches onto smaller defenders, they use screens. Are we really that impressed they are then able to *beat them 1v1* when they are basically twice their size? No, but it's smart offense. Every team and player should always try to get the best shot, and a Steph wide open 3 is one of the best shots ever. That doesn't mean he can't do other things, it means he understands where the value is. People are just mad because it worked.
@@KnowBallsPODCAST true he’s always been an elite shot creator and he’s easily one of the best ever. He’s just so dangerous that nba offenses aren’t dumb enough to allow him to consistently see single coverage.
@@patrick05Morgan Yes and no. Part of the reason he gets doubled/trapped so much is because of the screens. In isolation teams don’t double him much and that’s why when KD was there, defenses opted to put their best wing defender on KD instead of Steph.
@@tiredbasketballfan True but the counter argument is that part of the reason he’s so successful and able to get those shots is because of the system and the way you build around him whereas a Kevin Durant, you don’t have to build around him. You just plug him in and he fits in any offense.
hot take: the 2024 draft class will have at least 3 all star players drafted in the top 15
Hot take Jayson Tatum hate has gone so far to the point where he is actually underrated now
ive seen way too much tatum hate people picking players much worse than him because hes "corny"
Someone once said the following: Part of why Tatum is hated is because fans of players who didn’t win a title think their favorite player could have won more than Boston has with him.
Could that be the case?
Those Nash Suns teams would have revolutionized basketball, they just didn’t commit to their style in the playoffs, they went to slower possessions and less threes than usual. They really could have done what the Warriors did years later.
Hot take: people get way too overhyped about a player having a single breakout year.
Like a player having a single breakout year to me is a fluke until I see similar production for 2 straight years. Too many times we’ve seen a player take a big jump, only to lose a couple of steps the next year. In order for me to believe that you’re actually as good as the one breakout year makes itself out to be, I need to see very similar production replicated. (of course, the same does not apply for top prospects expecting to take huge leaps after their rookie year - i’m talking exclusively about role players or lesser known players having an MIP type year)
The Jordan-Poole-Paradoxon
Hot take: If the Rockets didn't trade for Russ, they would have had a longer championship window around Harden, CP3 and Capela considering Paul's resurgence with OKC and the first years on the Suns.
Maybe, but I don't think so. Paul and Harden had apparently fallen out with each other, so even with Paul's resurgence, who know if their relationship would've lasted long? I believe that they replaced D'Antoni with a smarter coach who cared about defense, ran a more creative offensive system, and made adjustments. Their roster was pretty limited personnel-wise and financially, so that would've been a concern, too.
I don't think that's a hot take. Trading for a terrible fit, forcing them to play small ball all the time was a bad decision. Paul and Harden could have worked out their problems, you don't have to be friends to play successful together. The Westbrook-trade doomed them
Hey how are ya? Wonderful weather we're having.
Hot take: I feel like Hakeem has gone under the radar for most NBA fans. One of the greatest defensive players of all time (all time block leader and high steals in his prime), extremely talented scorer with a skill set that I feel would translate well today (not a 3 pt shooter but still a great midrange shooter so some spacing there), and has the the accomplishments needed (MVP, 2 chips + finals MVPs, 2 DPOYS with one year being the triple crown). I have him as the second greatest center of all time behind Shaq and I feel I don’t see him getting that recognition
You era tax too highly, but he is definitely top 5 and in the same tier as Shaq.
@@jaketerpening3284 yea idk I was struggling with that too when making the ranking, I just feel like the 60’s and 70’s we were still figuring out how basketball is played, and guys like Bill and Wilt should be praised for their insane dominance of an era, but I just feel like in context dominating the 90’s is much stronger than dominating the 70’s as the game is just significantly more developed then
@@adacunto7262 If their level of dominance were close, I could definitely see giving the nod to the more recent player. But at least in terms of Bill Russel, it is actually ridiculous how good he was at winning. The "stacked" team he had was did not make the conference finals before or after him, and had a .500 record in games where he missed. And he brought that team to 11 championships in 13 years, with one of his 2 losses being a year where he was injured and didn't play after game 3 of the finals. He is the definition of "great players make their teammates better." Other players didn't get as much respect in that time because no one could beat him.
Extremely talented scorer. with a ts% of 55.3% as a big. Okay.
Also not even top 100 in OBPM.
@@jaketerpening3284 Hakeem is nowhere close to top5
Day 415 of demanding Rusty make a documentary on the underrated greatness of Raymond Felton!!
Hot Take: the hyperfocus on superstars is very harmful to the reception of other players, so much so that average players are being disrespected on every level just because they arent talked about like superstars. People act like Tobias Harris isnt one of the best players in the world (as in: he plays meaningful minutes in the NBA) because he was overpayed or that going to the EuroLeague is similar to not playing basketball whatsoever.
I feel like Tobias's role in the Sixers's offense reduced as the years went on. He is still a very solid player.
The best stars build up their teammates, because their teammates will carry them at times. Ray Allen saved Lebron's career. Kyrie saved Lebron's career. It takes a whole team, especially when defenses can scheme and focus on a star to take away their game.
Hot take: Anthony Edwards is now the MVP favorite (or at least should be). The wolves will still be a 50 plus win team, and with the parity in the league that will probably be a top 3 record in the NBA, plus I think his numbers will take a decent boost without Towns. I also think the fact that towns left so close to the season will be a good narrative boost along with his playoff preformance
he has to put up MVP numbers and I doubt that. in the playoffs he also ran into a wall, but since the wolves already over-achieved, no one talks about his bad games against Dallas
Hot take the 1984 draft class maybe slightly over rather. While the 4 main names are great, i dont feel that the depth of this class matches that of 96 or 03
03 and depth ?😂
@@lezara4049 kyle korver, kendrick perkins, david west, boris diaw, leandro barbosa, josh howard, mo williams, kirk hinrich, chris kaman. they even drafted a future coach with willie green
@@gugga2745 buddy listed off 9 players that all played meaniful basketball so yes
@@gugga2745 IDK if people will remember those names 20 years from now. Like if you look at the stats of the 84 draft class, they have a decent numbers even lower down, and also a future coach in Rick Carlisle. I don't recognize the names looking at them, but I doubt kids who grow up in the 2020s will recognize any of these names with the exception of maybe Kendrick Perkins since he is a media personality.
@@jaketerpening3284 I wasn’t comparing it to the 84 or 96 draft I was just more tryna point out that saying the 03 draft got no depth is stupid and takes 3 seconds of fact checking to know that he’s wrong
Hot take: scouting and drafting is way harder now than let’s say back in the 70s or 80s. A player that was dominant at hs or uni then usually always translate into the league, Jordan, magic and bird, Kareem, and worthy, whereas now, even if you are super dominant in hs or uni there is still a good chance that you might be a bust/low potential role player, examples are Trey burkes, wiseman, Russ smith, Evan turner, Brandon Clark, even Jimmer Ferdette or Frank Kaminsky.
awful take
Lol, you just don't remember the busts from the old drafts. That is perception, not reality.
Restricting from making trades is a good thing! Player mobility and player empowerment is a cancer.
Depends on who you're talking about. For players like LeBron, KD, or Harden? Sure. For players like Dame and Beal? No.
I would be interested to see a ref-score card like how MLB has the umpire score card. Not because I want to see how many calls they miss or how low the percentage is but just to see the average. Obviously people will complain about the egregious stuff but I feel like people in this MLB season have been way less nit picky now that umpire score card has become more prominent than last season because they know and can see how well an ump does on average
The only true outlier of the bubble was kawhi and pg being fully healthy for the entire postseason. Donovan and jamal were arguably just as good in their next postsaeson. Dame had a similar strech in 2020-21 where he went crazy. miami beat bucks with an injured giannis in and outside the bubble. the only other outlier was tj warren but to be fair he had a serious injury. looking back at it clippers benifited from the bubble the most by having kawhi and pg available.
Good point. I never though about that. However, another outlier was Bam and Tyler Herro. Neither one of them have been able to repeat their performances in the bubble, especially not Herro.
@@urbaindelva7869because Goran Dragic enabled them. Sure, Jimmy Butler was carrying most of the time, but the best team play bubble Heat had was Dragic-Bam pick and roll. Herro was great, but his numbered were inflated by having Duncan Robinson, great Dragic and playoff Jimmy Butler on the floor
@@urbaindelva7869bams been good
Lakers benefitted the most, LeBron and AD both were very injury prone and had months to recover before the post-season started
@@hualchr6697 I meant more using hindsight cause we seen a healthy ad and lebron for 2 postseasons after meanwhile we seen 0 healthy pg and kawhi postseasons after so easily clippers benifited more with hindsight.
Hot take #1: I agree that it was shitty of the Bucks' organization to fire Coach Bud after his brother's death. However, that does not excuse the multiple times that he was a big reason why the Bucks failed in the postseason with his lack of adjustments, including the near-defeat to the injured Nets superteam. Idk why so many people ignore that.
Hot take #2: A lot of factors come into play when debating a player's success or failure in a particular situation. A lot of people just claim that a player would succeed or fail in a certain setting without considering the circumstances they would be in and the effect that would have.
Hot take #3: Robert Horry is not a HOFer. He does have the second-most titles individually next to Bill Russell, but it's fair to say that he was in the right place at the right time for every one of them. He is one of the most clutch players ever, but his clutch moments usually involved either an advantage being created for him or capitalizing on a breakdown. He was more so a fail-safe than the actual plan. Maybe he was always capable of more and willingly took a reduced role in the service of winning throughout his career, but even then, he still never stood out individually. I respect Horry a lot, but I disagree with Rudy Tomjanovic.
Hot Take: There is no such as a GOAT, only the guy you happen to like for whatever reason. Arguing that a 6'8 wing is better than a 7 foot center, who is better than a 6'3 guard, is ridiculous. They all have different bodies, different skill sets, different responsibilities. They all need each other to win. If you think MJ is the greatest 2 guard of all time, that's a valid conversation. There is no basis to say he's the greatest of all time. A team made up of 5 MJs would lose every game, as would a team of 5 Shaqs.
this is just false. the goat exists in everything and it's clearly michael jordan for the NBA. the NBA organization itself has Michael Jordan as their #1 player all-time, give me a break
Prime MJ is better than Prime Shaq though
@@jonathansykes4986 Don't compare apples to oranges. Shaq could do things MJ couldn't, and vice versa. If you prefer MJ, just say so. But you can't look at 2 players with completely different bodies, who played completely different styles, and say one is better. Feel free to compare MJ with Kobe or Wade.
@@nigelee you're just ignorant. the biggest reason jordan is the goat is because he revolutionized basketball and made the guard center comparison possible. why would you compare shaq and jokic by that same logic lol
Rusty I'm a superfan and I just want you to know that if you ever need a late night snack (think Taco Bell or Jimmy John's) I will be the one to grab it and deliver it to you
Hot Take: It’s time to stop valuing Kawhi as a top player, when he is never available when it matters.
He’s just never available. We ridicule so many other players for always being injured. (Anthony Davis) for example. Yet he gets a Pass. A lot of people still talk about Kawhi as if he’s still in his prime. When he is healthy he’s an amazing player. But I always hear “when he’s healthy” but we haven’t seen that in years.
That's fair. I'm kind of tired of it, too. I got so annoyed when PG was getting criticized for wanting the same extension from the Clippers that Kawhi got, even though Kawhi was not worth that extension himself, either. Somehow, PG gets more blame for the Kawhi-PG era failing to this day than the guy who wanted PG as his co-star and was supposed to lead that era.
Hoy Take - A show or podcast with only knowledgeable/intelligent guys is very boring and not good for casual fans. The show need a eyetest or casual fan of the game to ask what they see in the game to make the show more fun/understandable for the audience because a casual fan has questions or thoughts similar to a the eyetest guy.
So from outsideview a person in the show or the show itself may seems dumb because of the casual guy but it is more informative and fun because of him
NBA fans vs basketball fans
The point you made about AG sitting in the corner and the coach not being about to do anything about it is exactly my point. Malone should’ve don’t something different rather than having AG stand in the corner and miss threes. AG can affect spacing in other ways, maybe involving him as a screener, cutter, and ball handler more
Aaron Gordan shot 59% (10 for 17) from 3 that series. They were getting good value out of it. Jokic shot an abysmal 23% (8 for 35), and they weren't even respecting it. I know Jokic a lot of time doesn't get the credit he deserves, but he certainly deserved a lot of blame that series.
Hot take: jj redick will be a near all time coach in terms of skill as a coach (schemes plays etc.) but because he almost certainly won’t win a title within 1~2 years he won’t be seen as a great coach and will probably be ridiculed out of coaching despite his ability.
He's never coached at any level (as fas as I know). Maybe he could surprise us all and prove to be a good one, but considering the circumstances around his hiring as a coach, he's on rough waters.
@@urbaindelva7869 he’s coached his kids rec league if you count that, but I’m mostly basing off the (small) sample size of preseason
Love the daily uploads please don’t stop
Hot Take: Pistons make the playoffs, it’ll be the same East teams as last year except Pistons will be the 8th seed and Miami will miss the playoffs, I love the fact they added veteran players that can space the floor and have also been in winning environments, I love Fontecchio, Sasser, Duren and Ivey and I expect Cade to take a leap also love the JB Bickerstaff hire they got a coach that’s actually serious
Miami will not miss the playoffs. However, I'm excited for the Pistons this year.
Miami ain’t missing playoffs
4:50 flip side to the "hate over contracts" hottake: If you're a superstar and have 150m contract you can't go out there and say "minimum guys" or "not enough help." If there's a big 2 or big 3 eating up most of the cap then all I wanna hear is "we did the best with the pieces we have. Next year we'll try to get better and keep improving."
The biggest superstars have too much power to all the blame on the front office.
1 minute ago is crazy never been this earllyyy I like ur vids tho rusty man
crazy fr fr
Hot take: people forgot what a hot take is and give you the most lukewarm takes
Efficiency isnt overrated. But it is over simplified. Like sometimes players have to take more shots and take more bad shots for their team to win and it's still a net positive. Plus others teams defense and defensive scheme on a certain player affects efficiency a lot. Or the nature of the game. A good example of this is g
Kobe, gane 7, 2010 against the Celtics. People now like to talk abyhow inefficient he was in that gane but what they forget (if they ever watched the gane to begin with) is that EVERYONE was super inefficient in that game. It was that type of series. Rough as f. Offense got ugly for both teams. Plus the Lakers NEEDED Kobes points in that game. Sometimes points of any kind are what a team wins. Efficient or not. Another point is people get focused on certain players and narratives get built up. Again take Kobe. Yet Duncan was actually less efficient than Kobe and played much closer to the rim and took much easier shots and his team relied on his offense less. That brings up another point... Bigs SHOULD be more efficient than guards. They play closer to the rim.
Anyway, point is that efficiency us misunderstood. But its not overrated. Efficiency is very important...
It's kind of understandable that Duncan would be more inefficient despite being closer to the basket. It's easier to defend a shot at the rim because the shorter distance between the shooter and the defender and shots closer to the rim require less power.
The more I watch Duncan, the more overrated he looks as a scorer
Hot Take: The Rudy trade has single handily lead to the inflation in trades and has set unprecedented stakes for a bad trade.
hot take: antawan jamison is one of the most underrated players ever. top 55 in scoring, had an amazing 7 year stretch from 03-09 averaging 20 and 8 on good efficiency. probably overlooked because of lack of awards but played in a time with stacked forwards (bron, pierce, melo, etc.)
HOT TAKE: - Players now days shouldn’t even be in the same conversation with old basketball players… players now days are miles ahead …and yet are disrespected by old heads for being too soft.. but almost 99% of the HOF players would be a role player in todays league - someone like Shaq would not be in the league as he is too slow and no outside skill set - just look at a player like Ben Simmons - doesn’t get respect cause he can’t play in todays league either !
There are a lot factors involved in that that you are ignoring.
I'm sorry but Shaq was putting up great numbers against the best big men of all time. He would eat up any team trying to play small ball. He is bigger and faster than Jokic. If Denver can make a defensive system that makes Jokic look good defensively, they can do it even easier with Shaq.
Also, players are softer today. Look at the amount of flopping, complaining, and load management. Like, I don't care if Kawhi has the skillset to be the greatest player ever if he won't tough it out for his team. When we get stories of the older times, they just fought through injuries way more frequently. No one was sitting out for "right calf soreness".
Players are also not significantly better. The game has changed to make them look better. Handchecking being removed, the gather step being added, looser definitions of carry overs, if we want to go back further, the introduction of the 3 point line. These things allow players to do things that they couldn't do in the past not because they didn't have the ability, but because the rules were different.
Yep
This is the worst take ever
Hot take: threes are both more necessary and less valuable in today's game.
Today, you're the exception if you have a 3 year career and can't shoot the 3 at least close to 35% on 2-4 a game. Back in the 90s, they were less frequent and you were basically a superstar or specialist if you shot anything above 35%. This is one of the major reasons that the triangle worked so well during the illegal defense era. A specialist's defender had to choose, and a 3 point lead might as well have been a 2 possesion game back then, at least compared to today.
Hot take: the nba should consider reducing the amount of games in a regular season because it will make the regular season games more significant, reduce injuries, and you might even have room to make the playins best of 3
I would agree but I don’t think this is that hot of a take at this point.
cold take
That will never happen on the simple fact it would make them less $. It’s a business so it wouldn’t make sense to reduce the amount of games for them because it would lower the total amount of ppl that would be at their games spending $.
The obvious issue with that is in order to make up for the financial loss, the fans end up suffering as tickets become more expensive and the NBA as a league would have to pander to a status driven high class that care little for the sport even more.
Reducing the amount of games is pointless because the players of today rarely play a full season. We have to be honest about that.
Hot take: basketball is the easiest sport to build a good team in by FAR. I am not a fan of franchises putting money and talent into a team and expecting great results. You need chemistry and homegrown talent.
I feel u need a combo of both
Stacey King may be an old man yelling at clouds now, but that man was a different breed in his heyday, most entertaining commentator in the league from Rose's MVP season to about 2015. Rose's dunk on Dragic, Kyle Korver's "hot sauce" threes, Secretary of Defense Taj Gibson, the hype for Nate and DJ, none of it hits nearly as hard if he's not the one making the call
SCORCHING HOT TAKE ALERT🚨🚨🚨:
Wemby is BY FAR the best player under 25 going into next season and it isn't even close (yes he is significantly better than Ant). Not only is he going to be by far be the best defensive player in the league. He is going to be a nightmare matchup on offence. I see him averaging 25-12-3 with 4.5 blks and 1.5 steals and good efficiency maybe something like 51%-35%-82% splits in like 33 mins of play it is genuinely going to be ridiculous and best center in the world discussions might even start (NO GLAZE)!!!!!
Hot take: Shai gilgeous Alexander is a better modern day comparison to Michael Jordan than ant man. Shai had the most efficient 30 ppg season by a guard since MJ and their play styles fit well. Clutch gene for shai and mj are so similar it’s crazy
Define 'efficient'... I assume you mean by FG%?
By any metric you want. Ts% or efg or fg%
@@Johnboat76766 MJ has the 10th highest ts% by a guard in a season averaging 30ppg. There have already been 7 seasons surpassing that before last season, and another 2 last season with SGA & Luka. SGA's last season ranks 4th all time for guards behind Curry '16, Curry '21, and Lillard '23. I didn't easily find an efg% ranking, but both those Curry seasons have higher efg% as well. In fact, those 2 Curry seasons are the top 2 all time of all positions (min 23 games played, there's a 22-game season in between them which obviously is a very small sample)
Hot take: Josh Giddey will be an All-Star one day! I’m a Thunder fan and was very shocked to see you put him in F tier on your SG tier list. He won us several games during the regular season, the potential is there. He had an off year for obvious reasons, and he will grow from them
There should be a separate cap sheet for players who make an all nba team in the last 3 years to make it more rounded
Hot Take: The celtics lakers rivalry has become more of a detriment to both teams in recent years. The teams are basically interlocked to the point where that matchup is the only one people care about for each team when they both have great rivalries with inter conference opponents like the Heat or Spurs. Its why I think no one really cared about the 2024 finals despite both teams being bigger market talent and history (Dallas more so in the 2000s)
Seeing so many people hear my take and proceed to turn it into a MJ vs. Bron debate is actually hilarious. Comprehensive reading has entirely left the chat and school system.
Hot take: Using the clock and running the other team down is still a good basketball strategy, especially now that we punish some sluffin defense with 3, not 2.
Hot take to rusty only: Boston is likely not going to repeat, but Boston is still the most likely to win in teams power ranking. There is no contradiction.
ChangeOfWinning (COW) of boston > COW of any one team.
COW of boston < COW of all teams combined.
Hot take: If both players are healthy, Middleton is more valuable than Paul George on a contending team.
7:37-8:30 Rusty: “Is this a goalpost? This shouldn’t be here let me just move it real quick” 😂box score watching at its finest 😭p
In basketball yes, efficiency is mildly overrated. The sheer amount of possessions and potential difference in possession between teams somewhat dilutes impact of efficiency. Mathematically speaking, less possessions=more important efficiency is.
Hot take: PJ Tucker was the ultimate role player in Houston and Milwaukee. Strong af so he could guard bigs and could shoot threes.
Hot take: I think that if a player intentionally makes a dirty play/dangerous play and injures a player they should be suspended for the amount of time the player is injured for.
That sounds fair.
I like the idea of the second apron, but at this point it seems more punitive than restrictive.
I’d like to see them dial it back just a tiny bit, say no impact to their draft position.
Hot take: Anthony Davis is extremely under appreciated especially defensively! imo, the greatest defender of his generation, can literally win a game with just his defense alone and or even a series take the 2023 conference semis against the warriors for example. i think the media just doesn’t like him and you don’t get appreciated enough if you’re a lebron teammate
doesn't get enough credit for how good he actually is. Tier one defender and unlike some other tier one defenders he gives you a lot on offense.
OKC / Dallas was also a good example. OKC was the best 3pt shooting team in the league. Dallas contested every shot they could and OKC had a bad series shooting 3s. What's ironic is that SGA proved they could score inside against Dallas but because they continued to try to make those "efficient" shots they loved so much, Dallas was able to control the series and not just win in 6 games, but had an opportunity to win in 5.
Wow Rusty, this is the first time we are on the same page in weeks. I have to stop drinking.....
I would argue that the most efficient and best shot in basketball has always been a layup or dunk. 3pt spacing is important, but getting to the rim is the most important. You can get fouls and rebounds way easier in the paint. And 3pt shots are high variance, so you can have a great night and blow a team out, or you can have a cold night and lose to a team you should have beat.
To me, 3pters and layups are constraints on each other. One helps the other be open. But I think the scoring attempts should be weighted towards inside. You need both though.
Hot take: the pistons will be the ten seed … the buttom six of the east; nets, pistons, charlotte, raptors, wizzard and the bulls all going to be terrible, but one of this teams will make the play in mathematically.
Hot take: Nikola Jokić is a more skilled and versatile player than Shaquille O’Neal ever was, and would dominate Shaq in a head-to-head matchup.
While Shaq was an unstoppable force physically, Jokić’s combination of passing, shooting, and basketball IQ make him a far more complete player. Shaq relied on size and power, but in today’s game, his inability to shoot or facilitate at an elite level would make him one-dimensional compared to Jokić. In a matchup, Jokić would exploit Shaq’s weaknesses on defense, stretch the floor, and create opportunities for his teammates in ways Shaq never could. In today’s era, Jokić would have the upper hand, leaving Shaq struggling to keep up.
Hot take: It shouldnt be crazy to say that Harden is slightly a greater SG than Wade, and yeah the 2 things that people always mention is “Wade won in the Playoffs and also plays Defence” well if his defence was so elite why doesnt he have a 1st team all defensive nod? Harden did not have the fortune of going to the Finals coming out of the EAST and having more FTM than a whole opposing finals team (2006 Finals) and wasnt lucky to play with a healthy prime lebron and not get injured throughout that whole superteam run
hot take: Tom Thibodeau is a top 3 coach in the league (top 5 at WORST) but doesn't get the respect for it because people are too hung up on the Drose injury narrative & mistaken belief he still overplays his players, which he only had to do to this last season because of injuries to Randle and OG
Hot take: they way the league is evolving we are going towards the direction where we will have 5 SF on every rotation lineups. As the time goes we are seeing more and more of 7footers with guard skills and I think that is the future of NBA. 5 versatile SF that can create offense solid defense, hitting 3s and good passers would be the blueprint of success
Hot Take: The Suns will have a bounce back season and Mike Budenholzer will win Coach of the Year
i get the new cba might seem too harsh now, but i think it was done that way due to the anticipation of expansion teams. I think these rules were set in place that way they would be there in a few years when we get those new teams. When those teams come into the league, really big contracts will spread throughout the league, lowering every teams salary by a bit. Essentially taking the same amount of high level talent and spreading it across 32 teams instead of 30 will ease all teams
salary woes
Hot take: Rusty Buckets is the best NBA youtuber
Exactly. You shouldn't hate players for their bad contracts. But you can like point out the reality of the situation. Sort of like, "Youre over paid. Good for you. But you ARE over paid..."
Yeah. People just take it too far. They act like some guys like Lavine are scrubs or something that have no place in the league. The fact that they even got that contract proves they have more than enough talent to play major roles, they just don't have quite enough to occupy so much salary for a serious team. So as an asset to a roster they're a problem, but that doesn't mean they don't know how to play basketball anymore
22:53 I think it’s crazy to not mention Giannis in terms of gravity because he’s literally shaq level of interior dominance with better isolation scoring and a far better passer than shaq. He’s easily top 3 in terms of gravity. The entire defensive scheme created for him (the wall) is basically just a triple/ quadruple in the paint. No one created more open threes in the league than him too at his peak.
1:45
Simple... Just raise the salary cap. These teams have more than enough money. Theyre raking it in. Believe it or not but based on their value and how much money they bring in, NBA players are under paid. They make a lot sure but owners make way more.
Hot take: Giannis Antetokounmpo should have received back-to-back MIPs and would likely have gone down as the only player ever to do so.
Hot Take
Not all good NBA playoff series have to go the distance.
2005 Spurs/Pistons was an unwatchable 7 game brickfest that gets misinterpreted as a classic.
Conversely not all playoff series that don’t go the distance can’t be great
A well contested series can go 6 games and still be memorable
See: 1993 Suns/Bulls
Hot take: the 2005 Finals was the most entertaining finals between 2000-2009 😂 2nd is the 2008 Finals and 3rd is the 2006 Finals
@@MOCskoden I stopped caring about the NBA for years after 2005. That’s how much I loathed those Finals
@@chrisuncleahmad666 that’s when I began locking in lol 😂
2005 finals had all time defense buddy
@@chrisuncleahmad666 ok and? 2000s era had low scoring games
Hot take: People are crying about the CBA cause their teams just don't wanna pay. You can ALWAYS keep your own players. Your front office just needs to be willing to.