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Luka Doncic


Goo Punch

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On 12/30/2019 at 12:14 AM, Goo Punch said:

He's already better than Dirk at nearly everything. I know that's hard for a lot of people to swallow for some reason, but it's true. He could literally not improve at all over the next dozen years and he would still go down as a top 10 all time player. I honestly don't even understand how this is a debate. 

18 months ago. ^^^ sure, the "he could never improve and be a top 10 player ever" is a tad bit hyperbolic, but are we ready to admit that this take was more or less spot on? because the initial response to this was that it was a "terrible take" and "blasphemous". i was crushed for a hot minute for saying something that everyone now accepts as fact. it's weird how everyone is frothing at the mouth for others to eat crow until it's their own turn to eat it. 🤷🏼‍♂️ 

Edited by shadow_operative
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In general I think Austin Rivers is right about comparing players from bygone eras to players today. Half the guys in the league right now are more skilled and more athletic than Bird was. But if you're going to compare them, you have to start comparing them relative to their peers -- compare the comparisons, sort of. In that sense Luka is nowhere near as superior to his peers as Bird was to his. Luka's not telling all defensive team guys what he's going to do before he goes and does it. He's not playing half a game left handed just to make it more challenging. He's not hitting a crazy bankshot from the baseline with the game on the line to win a bet he made with the stadium staff pre-game.

So yeah, give me a time machine to take Luka to 1986-87 and have him play Bird 1 on 1, and I'm putting money on Luka. But give me that same time machine to bring a young Larry Bird to 2000 to train in the modern game for 18 years and I'm not sure who you take.

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1 hour ago, Llogg said:

In general I think Austin Rivers is right about comparing players from bygone eras to players today. Half the guys in the league right now are more skilled and more athletic than Bird was. But if you're going to compare them, you have to start comparing them relative to their peers -- compare the comparisons, sort of. In that sense Luka is nowhere near as superior to his peers as Bird was to his. Luka's not telling all defensive team guys what he's going to do before he goes and does it. He's not playing half a game left handed just to make it more challenging. He's not hitting a crazy bankshot from the baseline with the game on the line to win a bet he made with the stadium staff pre-game.

So yeah, give me a time machine to take Luka to 1986-87 and have him play Bird 1 on 1, and I'm putting money on Luka. But give me that same time machine to bring a young Larry Bird to 2000 to train in the modern game for 18 years and I'm not sure who you take.

Just having the convo period is wild but also have to consider luka is just now the ~same age that bird was when he entered the league. 

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Luka is fun to watch.  Gotta give him props for that.  Dude can just ball out.  Glad to see the Suns lose.  I hate that fucking team.  Fuck Chris Paul and fuck Devin Booker.  They turtled in a game 7 at home.  And Luka teabagged them. 

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2 hours ago, Billy Pilgrim said:

He’s the anti-Harden. Luka shows up when it matters most instead of disappearing. Not many other guys I can think of to lead a team into game 7 or take a last shot to tie or win.

Jokic has been so awesome in the playoffs to this point that it made it easy for me to say that Jokic > Luka. zero questions asked. for me, that performance last night, and throughout this series, is what puts Luka into that conversation with the likes of Jokic and Giannis, a couple of two-time mvps. gotta earn your stripes in the playoffs to enter that highest echelon of players, and Luka just earned his stripes with this series victory over the best team in the NBA. beyond that, i'm certain that Booker finished higher in the MVP race than Luka, and i imagine that CP3 got a lot of votes as well. Luka just destroyed any notions that either of those guys is on his level. 

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53 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

Jokic has been so awesome in the playoffs to this point that it made it easy for me to say that Jokic > Luka. zero questions asked. for me, that performance last night, and throughout this series, is what puts Luka into that conversation with the likes of Jokic and Giannis, a couple of two-time mvps. gotta earn your stripes in the playoffs to enter that highest echelon of players, and Luka just earned his stripes with this series victory over the best team in the NBA. beyond that, i'm certain that Booker finished higher in the MVP race than Luka, and i imagine that CP3 got a lot of votes as well. Luka just destroyed any notions that either of those guys is on his level. 

Now that Jokic has won MVP 2 years in a row (nobody wins 3), I'd say Luka's the odds on favorite (along with Embiid and Giannis) for next year.  That performance last night was amazing.  

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It's just crazy how good he is while being (relatively speaking, of course) a pretty average athlete. His balls skills and footwork are just so far superior to most of his peers that he can tapdance circles around most of them anyway. I'm not a Dallas fan but it kinda blows me away every time I see it and I should be used to it by now.

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12 hours ago, Brian Fantana said:

It's just crazy how good he is while being (relatively speaking, of course) a pretty average athlete. His balls skills and footwork are just so far superior to most of his peers that he can tapdance circles around most of them anyway. I'm not a Dallas fan but it kinda blows me away every time I see it and I should be used to it by now.

Luka is the perfect height for todays NBA as the 7 foot monsters have kind of faded. Too big for the 6'3 dudes and actually is more quick those taller than him. 

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8 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

Larry Bird is a basketball savant and one of the five best/greatest players ever. let's chill on saying that Luka is on his level after Luka's first ever win in the conference semifinals.

Well he's white so you knew that comparison was coming 😉

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17 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

Larry Bird is a basketball savant and one of the five best/greatest players ever. let's chill on saying that Luka is on his level after Luka's first ever win in the conference semifinals.

Aren’t you the guy who was telling everyone he was better than Dirk 20 games into his rookie season?

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22 hours ago, Make em eat Taco Bell said:

Luka is approaching Larry Bird level, maybe already there, will have to mull it over 

 

22 hours ago, shadow_operative said:

no.

Here's the thing...of course there's obviously a racial component that a lot of people immediately jump to "He's like Larry Bird".  No, playing wise and skillset he's not.  He's closer to Lebron in playstyle(without the athleticism) and of course Harden by what he wants to do(Luka is bigger and stronger, and posts up more...plus shows up more in the clutch).

I think when people say he's like Larry Bird now, it's more about the mentality.  He's a Dawg.  He's an Asshole.  He takes shit personal and will use it to motivate him to go hard on you...and when he does? He'll let you know.  I've even seen it compared to the way MJ motivated himself.  He used slights against him to motivate him to be even a better player.

 

No he's NOT Bird, or Lebron, or MJ. He's his own guy...and with this current trajectory, there's no doubt in my mind he could be mentioned amongst them in 15- years.

Edited by Drew
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