When's the last time a DPOY is destroyed this bad?

[FultzNationRISE]

Didn't Marcus Smart win the season Curry finally won Finals MVP?

Crazy thing is, most great defenders don't lock down offensively talented players.

Pistons had Rodman and Dumars and they still had to create a scheme to slow him down.

Lebron did. But youre right, most dont.

[theman93]

And Rodman had more to do with the defense than Jordan. Plus grabbing 11 offensive rebounds is going to kill the other teams time of possesion.

And Jordan had more to do with the offense than Rodman.

[tpols]

And Jordan had more to do with the offense than Rodman.

Shooting 26%???



If Rodman didn't rebound his bricks the offense would been toast.

[theman93]

Shooting 26%???

Yes. Sometimes your shot doesn't fall and you have to find other ways to help your team. In addition to his defense, he led Chicago in assists, kept the defense in foul trouble (12 FTA next closest was 3), and still led the team in scoring despite his inefficient night. Not to mention the offensive juggernaut he is in the first place opens up easier looks for teammates regardless if his shot is on or not.

[ImKobe]

DPOY doesn't mean you're the best possible match-up against everyone. Rudy is a leader of the best defense in the league and you can argue based on some of the stats that he does the best job individually vs. most players in the league, but Jokic is a generational talent man, and Rudy made him work hard as **** in G5 and it still didn't matter. When a great player is on a heater there's no stopping it.

He'd fake Rudy like 3-4x in a row without Rudy biting then still make an insane hook shot off the glass like what's Rudy supposed to do there defensively? He did his job staying with Joker but great offense beats great defense. I don't think he got a single uncontested shot against Toody in that game. Hand in his face every time and it just goes in.

[basketballcat]

This is nonsense tbh. If Payton made such a difference MJ wouldn’t have shot 50% in game 5. Chicago took their collective foot off the gas in game 4 which is human nature being up 3-0. Game 6 he was merely off (evidenced by game 5) yet still dominated from the line and led the team in assists.

Jordan also shot 40% in game 2. Was Payton guarding him that game too? No, he was just off which happens.

How about some honesty, mate? You deliberately nitpicked game 2, and it shows.

Games 1 to 3 (Payton not primary defender):
31 ppg, 46 FG%
Won all 3 games

Games 4 to 6 (Payton primary defender):
23.67 ppg, 37 FG%
Won 1 game out of 3

Points dropped by 24%. Almost 1/4 of Jordan's point production evaporated.
FG% decreased by a whopping 9.4%. That swing is the difference between a starter and being cut from the NBA.
Went from a perfect first half (3 of 3) to losing in the second half (1 of 3).

It's incontrovertible: Payton locked up Jordan. All the while fixing sinks and installing piping.

[theman93]

How about some honesty, mate? You deliberately nitpicked game 2, and it shows.

Games 1 to 3 (Payton not primary defender):
31 ppg, 46 FG%
Won all 3 games

Games 4 to 6 (Payton primary defender):
23.67 ppg, 37 FG%
Won 1 game out of 3

Points dropped by 24%. Almost 1/4 of Jordan's point production evaporated.
FG% decreased by a whopping 9.4%. That swing is the difference between a starter and being cut from the NBA.
Went from a perfect first half (3 of 3) to losing in the second half (1 of 3).

It's incontrovertible: Payton locked up Jordan. All the while fixing sinks and installing piping.

The sample size is too small to nitpick. It just boils down to mere logic. If Payton truly “locked up” MJ he wouldn’t have shot 50% in game 5. It simply came down to him making or missing shots.

[SATAN]

Jordan won a closeout title game doing 22 on 26% shooting.

[SATAN]

lmao@theman93 jumping through hoops to defend some guy shooting horribly.

[SouBeachTalents]

lmao@theman93 jumping through hoops to defend some guy shooting horribly.

For real, they can't even admit their deity had a bad game

[basketballcat]

The sample size is too small to nitpick. It just boils down to mere logic. If Payton truly “locked up” MJ he wouldn’t have shot 50% in game 5. It simply came down to him making or missing shots.

If 6 games is too small a sample size, then 1 game (i.e. game 5) is even smaller. 6 times smaller, in fact.

Fact is, MJ got locked up by a guy 2 inches shorter. Had a plumbing license too.

Note that this was right smack in the middle of MJ's peak: after 3 rings and right before the start of the last 3 rings.

Locked up.

[theman93]

If 6 games is too small a sample size, then 1 game (i.e. game 5) is even smaller. 6 times smaller, in fact.

Fact is, MJ got locked up by a guy 2 inches shorter. Had a plumbing license too.

Note that this was right smack in the middle of MJ's peak: after 3 rings and right before the start of the last 3 rings.

Locked up.

Mhm. So how was MJ able to shoot 50% in game 5?

[clutchinho]

Since the last time Gobert won DPOY?

He's a perfectly good defensive anchor, but he simply can't stop elite offensive players and schemes from going through him like he isn't even there. Nobody is scared of Gobert

[basketballcat]

Mhm. So how was MJ able to shoot 50% in game 5?

You still cling to 50%? Is that stellar for you? That's average.

So, by your logic, since MJ had one average game he wasn't affected by Payton. He had 2 egregious games in 3 games. 1 average game doesn't reverse that. Even a good shooting game, ~60%+, isn't going to reverse two catastrophic games. Especially 26% on a close out game.

MJ got locked up by a guy 2 inches shorter and had a plumbing license. He fixed my sink during that series.

[basketballcat]

Since the last time Gobert won DPOY?

He's a perfectly good defensive anchor, but he simply can't stop elite offensive players and schemes from going through him like he isn't even there. Nobody is scared of Gobert

Are we going to retrofit a narrative that Gobert and the Wolves are bad at defense? Lol.

The Wolves allowed the least number of points. The lowest opponent FG% as well.

Check how they were before Gobert arrived. He is 4x DPOY for a reason.

If you watch this series, his defense is actually good. Jokic is just better.

Not a fluke, obviously. Jokic eviscerated AD as well. Multiple times. Are we going to deny reality and pretend that AD is bad at defense? That he isn't long or quick enough?

Jokic is simply a beast.