02-18-2022, 10:15 AM
(02-18-2022, 06:31 AM)Branduil Wrote: I feel like this is a serious misunderstanding of how playoff basketball works. The difficulty Gobert(and every true center) faces today is not the other center shooting threes, it's getting switched through constant pick-and-roll action and trying to defend a modern scoring guard/wing. This is literally what Luka did to the Clippers and Zubac- repeatedly P&R to get him, and then Luka would destroy him every time. Zubac is not a bad center, but he can't guard Luka. Unfortunately for the Mavs, the Clippers could not just afford to bench Zubac, it turns out they were actually better without him, and that's why the Mavs lost that series. If the Clippers had Gobert instead of Zubac, it's quite possible they lose the series. Not just because Gobert's contract demands he stay on the court, but also because his contract limits your ability to add other talent.
Nobody can guard Luka. Of course Zubac cannot, when neither Kawhi or PG13 can.
So do you want Jokic in 18 months, cause he can´t stay on the floor in the play-offs either according to your logic. What about Embiid, Towns or Ayton?
How did the Lakers win a championship starting Dwight Howard and AD? How did the Bucks do it with Giannis and Brook Lopez? How in the world did Marc Gasol play 29 MPG at age 34 with Siakam/Ibaka against the small ball poster child from Golden State and come out on top.
The outcomes seem to contradict everything you say.
Haven´t found a team yet that started Dwight Powell and Maxi Kleber at the PF/C position and won an NBA championship. I can tell you that much.
I think people still can´t grasp how good Luka is and how good this team would be with actual All-NBA talent around him. Without Luka the current team would be on the level of the Pistons and Magic.