Personality doesn't matter much. If Ben Simmons becomes the best player in the league, he will be the face of the league.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

You thought Jimmy Butler was better than Giannis not too long ago. Guess that one has gone by the boards.

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At the time I said it they were pretty much neck and neck in almost everything. Obviously Giannis has stepped his game up, but I still think it's pretty close. Usage rate is one of the main reasons the stats are so glaringly different. Also, Butler's obviously been sick and off to a bad start when he did play but a few games isn't a relevant enough sample size to react to when compared with an entire season last year.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Giannis is clearly the better player. Been that way for awhile now. Not really close either.

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Giannis has been better through less than 5% of the 2017-18 season. Butler was better for an entire season last year, and for multiple seasons previous to the 2016-17 campaign.

I'm willing to let this play out a little more.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

No he wasn't. Giannis also dominated Butler head to head last season.

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We had this discussion at the end of last season. Every NBA analyst and writer had Butler as the better player except you.

You aren't better equipped to judge NBA talent.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

And I'm fairly certain that you're not equipped to speak for "every" NBA analyst.

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Hate to take victory laps on these things because it's cheap tawdry and essentially low rent but Giannis made 2nd team All NBA last season and Butler made 3rd.

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Yeah, I think a fair number of analysts and writers would have preferred Giannis to Butler by the end of last season. Giannis made the all nba second team and Butler made the third team. They were very close in total votes. The point is it was a close comparison and nobody would have been wrong for preferring one to the other in the middle of the season last year.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

yea, just because Giannis has made a huge leap recently doesn't mean that people who preferred Butler over him in the past were wrong. Common sense, but this sentiment seems to elude LTG.

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Logic appears to elude some of you. At the time of the declaration he was better. He dominated him head at the time and it was clear that he had surpassed Butler. This notion that this is a recent phenomenon is fallacious since he was voted as the better player last season.

If you want illogical there it is.

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The votes were very close last year. Saying Giannis was much better than Butler last season isn't true, and you can't find any evidence supporting it.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Hyperbolic yes though you wouldn't even concede that he was better last season.

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I don't need to speak for them when they voice and write their own opinions quite clearly. I just point it out to you.

_________________
Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

At the time of the debate he wasn't.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Kevin Durant thinks Giannis can be the best player ever. Pretty strong statement, especially from someone like KD.

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

Happy Lonzo Ball birthday day everyone!

Turns 20 today, has the Raptors at home later tonight.


FYI, interesting stat...Lonzo leads the NBA is assists off of drives. It's interesting because one of the knocks on Lonzo before the season was that he wasn't fast enough to drive the ball into the lane, yet here is leading the league in assists off those plays.

Also Lakers as a team are 3rd in the league in assists. last year they were 26th. #Lonzoeffect

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He isn't fast enough to drive the ball into the lane, that is why he can't score and he has to kick the ball out.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

He's getting into the lane at will and kicking it out because he's always looking to find his teammates.

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Lonzo Ball through 4 games: 35 MPG, 32% FG, 56% FT, 8.0 RPG, 9.0 APG, 1.0 STL, 11 PPG, 9.8 Game Score

MCW through 4 games: 35 MPG, 41% FG, 70% FT, 5.0 RPG, 7.8 APG, 3.3 STL, 20 PPG, 17.0 Game Score

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Wow, knock out blow?

_________________
Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Always thought that Lonzo was nothing more than a poor man's MCW anyway.

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Lonzo's rebounding numbers will tail off as the season progresses also.

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Nah. The difference in ppg is unimpressive when you look at how inefficient of a scorer MCW was. Lonzo is worse and even less efficient, but he's shooting a lot less and instead moving the ball around for better looks.

Also it's been four games and his percentages will undoubtedly rise.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Maybe a little but probably not much. He's good at that. Against the Wizards down 2 with 30 seconds left he hopped over Gortat and Randle for the board.

Also, like I mentioned above, if we're going that route we also have to agree his percentages are going to rise at least somewhat. Pretty sure he's not gonna finish with the worst TS% in NBA history.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

What about their per 48?

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MCW's 4th game was much worse than the other 3, including FG%. He actually shot 47% over the first 3...I'd say he was extremely efficient. Rookie MCW was good. He ended up taking a ton of bad shots (because he couldn't shoot), but my point is that what Lonzo did in his first 4 games doesn't matter much. Some numbers are unsustainable when you actually look at what the player is doing.


It wouldn't change since they had the same MPG.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

I know he can't shoot, but I was always was befuddled that MCW wasn't better. The kid looked like he would grow into his body, and he was so athletic.

_________________
Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

It's almost like it's a bad idea to try to draw conclusions from a 4 game sample size.

Rookie MCW was ok but not nearly as good as his stats portrayed. It's why a lot of people were still skeptical of him and they weren't able to trade him for what a player with those stats and his age should have been able to get in a return. Classic good stats on a bad team guy.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul