re: Luka Doncic Narrative

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Hardens

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One of the biggest choke artists in the history of the game. The anti-big game bob. Pretty good regular season player, though.

Outplayed Luka v GSW. Outplayed both KD and Steph in the last series. Outplayed AD AND Bron in lakers series. Literally never had a healthy chanpionship caliber supporting cast. Let’s be honest being the most healthy team is much more important than being the best team w everyone healthy when it comes to winning championships.

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Two words

White European

The media treats Joker the same. They HATE that two of the best bball players in the world are white Europeans. It’s that simple.

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I see it didn't take long for the race card to be pulled.

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Would it have to change that much? I think it depends on the level of player, but Trae Young’s usage has actually gone up this season after adding Dejounte Murray whose usage hasn’t gone down nearly as much as you think it would playing on the same team as Trae. I definitely get what you’re saying overall, but I don’t think it would have to be a complete change in styles, just a minor change (again, depends on the level of player)

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Exactly. People hear high usage rate and assume “well no one can play with that guy”. Chris Paul averaged like 19/8 his first year in Houston. KP averaged 20 ppg in Dallas and had his most efficient season.

Giannis has a sky high usage rate this year and Jrue is getting up 17 shots and averaging 20 ppg. Harden nearly beat GSW with Paul and a bunch of role players.

Just put a good team around Luka with a second star and he will win, and his usage will still be high.

It was harden and role players. CP played like a role player v GSW when it mattered most. People wanna say “well he had chris Paul”. Well chris Paul played like a role player, not the level of play you would associate with his name.

Compare CP v GS
Brunson v GS
And go back to jet terry v the heat in the finals.

CPs play probably ranks third of those 3. But harden is blamed for not beating GSW and not CP. The best player gets the blame regardless of how he plays.

The year before that CP was plenty good enough to win a title, but then he got hurt. So that style of play CAN win a title, but not when the second best player gets hurt. Of course no team wins a title with its second best player in street clothes.

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Giannis

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In his last 4 postseasons, wanna guess which season was his lowest usage rate in the postseason?

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Just put a good team around Luka with a second star and he will win, and his usage will still be high.

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If it's a legit star, his usage rate will obviously go down.

So he takes less shots when he has 2 healthy borderline all stars on his team. And takes more shots when Middleton is out? That is common sense. You are looking at usage as the cause for not winning when it is the result of lack of of teammate firepower.

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So he takes less shots when he has 2 healthy borderline all stars on his team. And takes more shots when Middleton is out?

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So thanks for proving my point?

When you have more good players around you, your usage rate goes down. When you have less good players around you, your usage rate goes up. So, like I"ve been saying all along in this thread, is that what you're trying to say?

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You are looking at usage as the cause for not winning when it is the result of lack of of teammate firepower.

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The point you're missing is when that player gets that firepower and turns it into a title, he doesn't keep the highest of the high usage rates, it goes down.

If you gave Luka 2 fringe all stars, you think he'd keep a 38% usage rate? Of course not. Where that other poster keeps tripping up is not just saying Luka can play with other stars, I imagine he can. He's saying if stars were added, Luka's usage/game wouldn't change, it obviously would.

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Well KD and Klay played 480 minutes v HOU. And they played 200 minutes v TOR. in a series with every game decided by 2 possessions you don’t think 280 minutes of Quinn cook and cousins instead of two in their prime hall of famers makes a difference?

Harden was easily the best overall player in that series. And the warriors have proven before and after KD that they are a title winning team without him.

Missing KD for a game is not even on the same planet of injury luck compared to what Giannis and kawhi had In their recent titles.

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None of that changes the FACT that the injury luck was on Harden's side with KD hurt, AND having a lead in game 6 while KD is out, and leading game 7 with KD not playing at all.

That's getting injury luck on your side and still losing, any way you slice it.