NBA - Main

“Basketballers” hahahaha

Damn those pesky players for recognizing talent

Only people who say Giannis has no bag are casuals on here and twitter. Plenty of current and ex nba players give Giannis his flowers.

Hold up I'll go ask them.

Players respect the work it took for Kyrie to become so skilled.

If tomorrow a 10 foot tall invincible athlete joined the NBA, he’d be the best player of all time but players aren’t gonna respect him very much.

I mean Giannis might not have a bag, but he has averaged the most PPG in the league over the last 5 years...

Like seriously, some of y'all talk about Giannis like he's Andre Drummond. For all the skill your favorite player has, he still can't hang with Giannis (excluding Jokic/Steph).

That's the real "Skill issue".

It’s not an act of overrating, more that it’s just an acknowledgement of someone’s skill set.

You can’t always demonstrate the things you really can do in an organized game. There are many players who just went to the wrong team or had the misfortune of a shitty coach/front office whose futures would be different if those lottery balls fell diff.

Also, god given physical ability/height you got or you don’t got. Someone who has worked to perfect their game will always be acknowledged in that way.

That said. Giannis is a beast on the offensive and defensive end. Imma take that over a bag, any day.

I think it's largely true that a lot of player-driven, and casual-fan-driven, analysis is based on what a player can do, not how much they actually help you win games.

Going into the 2015 season, you could find a lot of people telling you that Kyrie and Wall were better than Curry. The advanced stats were all in on Curry, by the way, even before Kerr arrived.

But the thing is, Wall was just this jump-off-the-screen athlete. Kyrie had that dazzling array of dribbling moves and circus finishes. So people who weren't digging into the nitty gritty would say, well, "Curry can't get down the court as fast as Wall, can't dunk like Wall." "Curry doesn't have Kyrie's handle or his array of finishing moves."

(And to be clear: Curry didn't have Kyrie's handle. In 2014 and 2015, you could attack Curry's dribble if you weren't worried about the shot. In the half court he used the threat of his shot to set up his drive, but pressing him full court could be effective. It's part of why the Warriors really wanted Iguodala, a guy you could trust to handle the rock a lot where you didn't have to worry about positional overlap with Steph.)

And players rarely hold things like "holds the ball too much" against someone, even if they know that it's better to attack off the catch. Instead, Kyrie gets the ball, survey's the field, dribbles a lot, and then drives, it actually is worse for the team but LOOKS more impressive because of how the defense is able to get set. Whereas the ability to catch and go looks less impressive (because the defender is more likely to be off balance) but is actually more effective.

I think basketball players do overrate a bag a bit too much but the reddit doesn’t give it enough respect. Too stat driven with lack of context in these parts, while actual players ignore stats a bit too much when someone has a bag

it’s always easy to spot a narcissist in basketball if you played

I mean I can’t blame the players. Almost all of them need to work on skill. Then they get to see roided up Giannis get to work them without ever working on his game. Probably is pretty deflating tbh. Bball kinda sucks in that way.

The term bag and “layup package” are two of the dumbest terms in modern basketball. People play too much 2k and think each guy only has a set number of moves

No, you just don't get it.

Bags aren’t everything but I wish RJ Barrett had one

I’d take DeRozan over Kyrie anyday

I’m not sure if basketballers overrate having a “bag” but there is certainly a large segment of players and fans that care more about form over function. Style over results. Expression and creativity over effectiveness.

It’s usually the “hooper” crowd that does this.

At the end of the day it doesn’t matter what a player’s bag looks like in terms of team winning and individual accomplishment. The level to which Giannis has achieved individually and as a team speaks for itself. Doesn’t matter if he doesn’t have an extensive bag he’s better than every player in the league outside of a few players and his team won a championship with him at the head.

Big time. Having a bag is incredible in isolation and great for stars, but what more valuable, Lou Williams bag or Shane Battiers defense? Having an aesthetically pleasing game is wonderful, but it doesn’t drive winning like other things do. There’s 1 ball, and unless you’re the star you have to be able to provide value without it.

Bags are like art, they’re great to watch and easy to appreciate. But at the end of the day fundamentals like court vision, knowledge of your opponents, and basic moves that are difficult to guard like a fadeaway or being able to drive are what great players will use to win games.

I think both can be valid. For many basketball players and enthusiasts the game is about more than who wins at the end. It’s an art and appreciating skill, style, and creativity is a huge part of the appeal.

Having a bag is what makes the game beautiful. Giannis doesn’t have a sexy game.

"You're going to get a bag"

"No, we're going to get a bag"

Skill only matters when your average height. Because that’s what will help excel you and further your career. If you’re a freak of nature like Giannis and Lebron you just gotta love the game and continue to work hard at what you do.

It’s true for all athletes. When you go to training you don’t practice getting taller, you work on skills and techniques. You can’t help but admire someone who did all the same drills as you and practiced like you did but is just better at everything. It’s also annoying to see someone taller be more effective at the game despite having crap skills.

When you are one of the best basketball players in the world you probably see someone who can do things you can’t as being someone to admire much more than a winning player. Kyrie has arguably the best handle in history and even all star level players probably admire that skill

A lot of NBA players overrate skills that are best in 1 on 1 games compared to skills that win NBA games.

Having a bag and consistently making plays that help the team win aren't necessarily the same thing. Only one of them acutally matters

Overrate in terms of impact? Yes.

In terms of pure skill and talent or degree of difficulty? No.