Zach Lowe's Winners and Losers in the NBA Playoffs

[ElNono]

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/winners-and-losers-in-the-nba-playoffs/

Amongst the winner/losers:

WINNER: The Situational Superstar
Draymond Green, Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler

LOSER: Point Guards Who Can’t Shoot
Michael-Carter Williams, Rondo

LOSER: Chicago’s Frontcourt and Nonthreatening Bigs
Noah, Asik, Gasol-Mirotic front line

WINNER: Late 1990s Vintage
Timmy Legend, Pierce, Dirk

[apalisoc_9]

I wouldn't call Leonard a Situational Superstar. I wouldn't call any top 7-8 player a situational superstar..Weird, considering Lowe thinks Kawhi is among the best players in the league.

Green, Sure..Butler, i don't know. Dude is obviously not Kawhi level and no one is calling him a top 10 player, but he's starting to play a more rounded baksetball game and he is a legitimate offensive option.

[TDMVPDPOY]

green? wtf has he outplayed or bring it to the challenge against top tier player while gettin his own stats?

[Killakobe81]

I wouldn't call Leonard a Situational Superstar. I wouldn't call any top 7-8 player a situational superstar..Weird, considering Lowe thinks Kawhi is among the best players in the league.

Green, Sure..Butler, i don't know. Dude is obviously not Kawhi level and no one is calling him a top 10 player, but he's starting to play a more rounded baksetball game and he is a legitimate offensive option.

Dont be so sensitive. But it could be argued that KL came in to a perfect "situation" to nurture and maximize his talent I think that is what Lowe means. I think of the guys mentioned KL is the one most likely to duplicate his success on another team ... but all 3 are "situational super-stars" because they fill a need for their teams that other players cannot. And none had been predicted for even a situational superstar role when drafted. Even Kiwi was a latter end of lottery pick IIRC ...

Who went over Kiwi again btw? Spurs raping and pillaging per par ...

[Venti Quattro]

We know what the Raptors are now: a cute regular-season team
We now all know that Z-Lowe reads Spurstalk

[100%duncan]

Tldr

[Venti Quattro]

Tldr

You can't spell Grantland without tldr but their articles are fantastic to read.

[ElNono]

The whole Situational Superstar thing comes from the fact that the league is trending towards motion type of offenses, with stretch 4s, SFs dominating the post, players needing to know how to play 3-4 positions, etc. In modern basketball, ISOs are largely inefficient possessions, thus the common moniker of "Superstar", the guy you give the ball to and is your entire offense (ie: MJ), doesn't generally apply to all teams. But in those more modern offenses, there are still guys that excel by a wide margin in making everything work, both on defense and offense.

[100%duncan]

You can't spell Grantland without tldr but their articles are fantastic to read.

Jk :lol

I read some parts like lillard, timmy, and lebron on turner

[Johnny RIngo]

LOSER: Point Guards Who Can’t Shoot
Michael-Carter Williams, Rondo

Where's Tony Parker?

[apalisoc_9]

its a great read though. i love reading lowe's work

[ElNono]

Where's Tony Parker?

tbf, Tony didn't used to be like this all the time.... but yeah, that's where we are right now.

[buttsR4rebounding]

Where's Tony Parker?

I was wondering how long this would take...:lol

[cantthinkofanything]

tbf, Tony didn't used to be like this all the time.... but yeah, that's where we are right now.

Honestly, I'm not sure how many reporters or analysts know how bad he's been. I've heard several road play by play complementing their defense on "shutting down Parker". And others saying it's all due to injury. No doubt the injury has slowed him down quite a bit but just wondering if TP's stock is higher around the league than Spursfans might think.

With the optimistic outcome being a trade of Parker to some unsuspecting team for some real value.