Giannis Might Be The Most Likeable Superstar Ever

The greater you are, the better you are, the more hate you get. LeBron has been hyped up since he was 15, and as he has lived up to the hype, the more you see critics come out of their shells. Look at Steph, who no one really had a problem with before 2015, but with two MVPs and three rings, and hundreds of shimmies and staredowns and general cockiness here and there, he has picked up some haters along the way. Guys like Kawhi Leonard or Tim Duncan aren’t really hated, but their personalities don’t exactly draw you in. 

I find it difficult not to love Giannis — not his playstyle, per say, but his personality. Of course, when one’s game revolves around athleticism, it doesn’t always make for the most aesthetically pleasing basketball. But it’s all the little things about Giannis that make me want to root for him. 

His indifferent attitude towards the last play is showcased in his jump shooting. Giannis airballed two free throws in a row? Next play, you can probably bet he is going to charge down the court, get to the rim, and try to make his way back to the line. Giannis just airballed a three? He might come down and shoot another one, and this all stems from Giannis’ untroubled attitude towards humiliation. Ben Simmons won’t even take an open layup on Trae Young in the fourth quarter of a Game 7 because he doesn’t believe in himself and fears the aftermath. 

And Giannis does all the right things. His answers to reporter’s questions are great; he isn’t standoffish like Gregg Poppovich or extremely politically correct like LeBron. He shows respect to both the past and current generations, and he will call it like he sees it. This season, he called both LeBron and KD the best players in the world (at separate times of course). That superstar mentality is also clearly there for Giannis; he has become better every season. This skinny kid from Greece has mutated into this MVP level talent, and is now stronger, quicker, smarter, a better defender, better playmaker, and even a better free throw shooter (with extremely underrated footwork). Who knows what this dude will look like in 5 years?

Jrue-Pat-Bobby Minutes

The Bucks went down 16 to end the first quarter, and it looked like the trend of the home team winning was set to continue. But hold the phone, here comes a Jrue Holiday, Pat Connaughton, and Bobby Portis lineup, and BOOM, suddenly the Bucks are right back in it — no Giannis on the floor. This allowed Giannis for almost SIX STRAIGHT MINUTES of rest…in a pivotal FINALS game. Lebron probably couldn’t understand what he was seeing while sitting courtside (might have been because of his personalized tequila that he was keeping under his seat). 

Jrue Holiday had probably the best game of his career, and the second quarter, in which he dropped 14 points on 6-7 shooting, was probably the best quarter of basketball he has ever played. He spearheaded this second quarter spurt that put the Bucks back in the game as Giannis was about to check in. Something interesting to keep in mind, Jrue made the first shot he took in Game 5, a pull up midrange jumper, on the first possession of the game. After shooting 4-20 in the last game, it had to be a huge confidence booster to make his first shot of the game. 

Some unsung heroes for the Bucks, Bobby Portis and Pat Connaughton. The Bucks bench has been their Achilles heel all season, so much so that even 23 points between the two can tilt the game. The duo hit six threes between basically the only two bench players that see legitimate minutes, three of them coming in that second quarter surge. 

The Suns will win Game 6

I believe this series was destined to go 7 games. Nothing I saw from the Suns in Game 5 told me they were playing outside themselves. Ayton and CP got their double-doubles, Book got his 40-piece off, but ultimately, Giannis, Middleton, and Jrue each getting 30 was too much to overcome. I feel as though I can count on the Suns Big 3 getting their numbers with their backs against the wall, extreme desperation running through their heads. 

Chris Paul will be better in Game 6. He was actually pretty good in Game 5 — 21 points, 11 assists, 9-15 from the field, just one turnover. It was a typical Chris Paul game, but he just didn’t have that impact on the game that we are used to seeing. There weren’t many moments from a fans perspective of, “Wow, CP is dominating this game.” I think Game 6 is a close game, but Chris Paul has a legacy game to gift us all a Game 7. 

Bonus: Jrue Holiday and the Art of Point-of-Attack Defense

Any young hooper should be studying Jrue Holiday’s defensive tape. As basketball fans, we have been blessed with at least six games of Chris Paul vs Jrue Holiday. The Point God, with his ability to never be rushed, always at his own pace, always controlled, matched up with the feisty, freakishly strong Holiday, who’s low center of gravity allows for him to never be off balance, always in control of his own body. My favorite part of this series is watching Chris Paul bring the ball up, with Jrue picking him up at 3/4th’s court. It’s a chess match in it’s own way, each waiting for the other to lose focus for a single second before pouncing on their prey. Jrue’s ability to keep the offensive player in front of him and deny the point of attack is what makes him the best perimeter defender in the league. 

And some of the association’s greatest superstars concur:

• The Budenholzer Head-Scratcher

Devin Booker has been guarded by the best defenders at his level since he was in high school  — and he has given them the work every time. Chris Paul has seen literally every defensive coverage in the book; he could probably run a pick-and-roll with his eyes closed. You know this, I know this, we all know this. So I want to know who in the Milwaukee Bucks coaching staff had the bright idea to continuously switch 7-foot Brook Lopez onto the Suns two best players throughout Game 1. 

No disrespect to Brook Lopez, the guy can ball. His spacing and rim protection is extremely valuable next to Giannis and the Bucks might not even be in these Finals without him. But Bro-Lo runs like his feet are stuck in cement, and we are expecting him to go out and stick Chris Paul or Devin Booker on an island? 

I get the idea behind it, honestly. The Suns love to run a bunch of set plays that flow into secondary actions to create easy buckets, and then they got their patented go-to play — the 1-5 pick-and-roll with Chris Paul and DeAndre Ayton. Running a switching scheme eliminates the pick-and-roll action, while forcing the Suns to run isolation plays more than they’d like to.

But in Game 1, CP and Book got way too comfortable. Their eyes lit up when they found Lopez on them, and they got to their lil dancey-dance, with an array of tough stepback threes and leaning fadeaways. And when Lopez wasn’t switching, sitting in drop coverage, they’d run right at him again, with Chris Paul snaking the pick and roll or Booker getting into that sweet spot in the midrange. 

Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer’s biggest knock has always been his lackluster adjustments. Guys like Monty Williams and Tyronn Lue  (yes, he’s a good coach, not just LeBron’s ballboy) are praised because they play a 7-game playoff series like a chess match, and a majority of the time, they’re the ones saying “Checkmate” (Lue has a 10-3 record in elimination games, highest winning percentage of all time). Budenholzer is going to have to stop being stubborn and take Brook Lopez off the court. I’d expect to see a lot more of Giannis at the 5 and maybe some more Bobby Portis minutes sprinkled in during Game 2. 

• Giannis Looked Okay, and That’s Great News 

Looking at Giannis’ box score, he had 20 points, 17 rebounds, 4 assists. Not bad, not bad. Eleven shot attempts is a little low for my liking, but 12 attempted free throws tells me he was still being aggressive getting to the rim, which is HUGE. I mean, he almost blew out his knee last week, and now he’s back dropping double-doubles in the NBA Finals. He can’t be human. 

That being said, he is going to need to be better and more dominant if he wants a ring. This form of Giannis is great, but he isn’t the generational one we are used to seeing. And that is okay, it’s just Game 1. We got a long way to go in this series, and he’ll be better. But now we know he is healthy enough to do it. When I saw this play, I was like, “Aight, he’s good. He’s here.” 

Mentally, this game was big for Giannis. After getting injured like he was, being able to go out in a Finals game and be productive shows him that he (and his knee) CAN do it; he knows a ring is within his reach now, he just has to go get it. 

• Jrue Holiday…WAKE UP 

Jrue Holiday is simply too good to put up 10 points on 14 shots in 40 minutes. He had a terrible offensive series against the Brooklyn Nets, and at times looked like he was in his own head. He was better against Atlanta, but with Giannis hobbled now, he has to be better and take more control on offense. 

I heard someone say the other day that Jrue Holiday is a predetermined decision maker, meaning he usually decides whether he will pass, shoot, pump fake, etc., before actually making that move, rather than reacting to the defense first. I hadn’t noticed that before, despite Holiday being one of my favorite players to watch, so that’ll be something I will be on the lookout for in Game 2. 

• I Love Watching the Suns

The Suns are poetry in motion. If you want to watch great basketball, watch a Monty Williams’ team. Set plays run to perfection, with Chris Paul, the Point God, running the show. Their offense flows into secondary actions when the first option isn’t there. So often, you see star-led teams fall in love with isolations or pick-and-rolls, and the other players are ball-watching. The Suns are constantly in movement like a well-oiled machine. 

Just watch this play — the Suns continue to run the “Where’s Brook Lopez” offense to get that Book-on-Brook matchup. Look at Mikal Bridges at the top of the screen, shuffling back and forth to gain a favorable passing angle for Booker, resulting in an eventual three from Bridges.

The Suns are literally the poster child for a great, MODERN NBA team — a playmaking point guard next to a talented, efficient bucket-getter, with an athletic, versatile 5 manning the middle. Combine that with smart, role players who play within themselves, an exceptional coach, and a fantastic GM in James Jones, who grew under the Pat Riley regime in Miami, and BOOM. You find yourselves 3 wins away from an NBA Championship.