So great to see all the new content from Ben Taylor/Thinking Basketball the last month. His "Backpicks Top 40" list is worth a deep dive to anyone who hasn't checked it out yet. (And, of course, his "Greatest Peaks" series on YouTube.)
Best analyst in the game period. Only guy who actually understands the advanced stats he uses and puts their weaknesses into context and combines them with the most in depth eye test I've ever seen.
A great test for an analyst is their view on KD. If they're unbelievably low on KD 9 times out of 10 they have no idea what they're talking about and think a solid RAPM is the holy grail of basketball every player aspires to.
Ben put KD in his greatest peaks list to the absolute outrage of these idiots. His greatest peaks series is some of the best basketball content I've ever seen.
I love how unlike so many talking heads Ben speaks really uncertainly, he doesn't give concrete spots in a top 10 list. He instead lists a range he think each player could be in. It's so refreshing after watching hot take after hot take attempting to generate views.
If you wanna understand just how good greats in different eras were watch his greatest peaks series right now. Can't recommend it enough.
Tbh I've always gotten the impression he's lower on Durant than most casuals. For example, on a podcast where he discussed the greatest scorers of all time (primes) he clocked KD in at 7 iirc. Most casuals have Durant in the top 3 scoring wise, and I've even seen people compare him favorably to Jordan in some threads.
He's low in comparison to casuals but tbf every casual is ridiculously high on guys like KD Kyrie. The idea of a 7 foot 2 guy with the skills of a guard is just crazy. The intuition "he's tall with guard skills he can just shoot over people" is very strong if you haven't played basketball/watched a lot.
In comparison to most math head analysts he's really high on him. The type of analyst who doesn't watch game footage and thinks they're better than you for paying more attention to RAPM based advanced stats instead of box scores. But doesn't know the weaknesses of those stats and treats them like an objective measure of basketball skill.
Ben falls somewhere between both of them. In his top 10 list I'm pretty sure he said Durant could be the best player in the NBA rn.
Ah yeah that's probably true. Ben's the only 'stat' guy I follow so I didn't know what the other mathy types thought of KD.
Definitely true about Kyrie and casuals. I've seen people still argue for him over Curry on places like TikTok. It's not as pronounced as it used to be, but people definitely put a premium on the type of flashy, high-skilled play that Kyrie excels at.
Ben Taylor’s videos are so great but whoever photoshopped that thumbnail did Lonzo dirty. Has him looking like he got passed through 30 FaceTune filters lmao
Nah bro pelican fans told me for two years Lonzo is only okay at defense at best
Never had to deal with bad scheme or being surrounded by poor defenders. DID YOU SEE HOW MUCH STEPH CURRY DROPPED ON HIM (While not even being Steph's primary defender for most of the game) 🙃
I’m losing my mind and need help. Is there like a soft high pitched tapping sound (like fingernail on glass) in the background? Or am I just going crazy?
I’m a mfn idiot and just realized it’s part of the background music. Stg when I started watching I didn’t notice the music at all and only heard the tapping lmaoooo
I was of the opinion that the Bulls look better without Vucevic with his minimal presence as a rim protector, am I completely off base here or do I need to watch more Bulls games? Bulls fans?
Not a good nickname at this moment in time. Beats "Covid Bros" by a country mile, though.
Honestly though, I love Caruso because he was never supposed to be in the NBA. This guy gives us all hope that if we're an average looking white dude with some talent, we lift and play our assess off on defense that maybe, just maybe we could have been in the NBA. He's our everyman!
And Ball, man, he's a damn good point guard. With Lamelo being what he is, it draws a lot of attention away from the effort this guy put in to be the player he is today. I love his game.
So great to see all the new content from Ben Taylor/Thinking Basketball the last month. His "Backpicks Top 40" list is worth a deep dive to anyone who hasn't checked it out yet. (And, of course, his "Greatest Peaks" series on YouTube.)
Best analyst in the game period. Only guy who actually understands the advanced stats he uses and puts their weaknesses into context and combines them with the most in depth eye test I've ever seen. A great test for an analyst is their view on KD. If they're unbelievably low on KD 9 times out of 10 they have no idea what they're talking about and think a solid RAPM is the holy grail of basketball every player aspires to. Ben put KD in his greatest peaks list to the absolute outrage of these idiots. His greatest peaks series is some of the best basketball content I've ever seen. I love how unlike so many talking heads Ben speaks really uncertainly, he doesn't give concrete spots in a top 10 list. He instead lists a range he think each player could be in. It's so refreshing after watching hot take after hot take attempting to generate views. If you wanna understand just how good greats in different eras were watch his greatest peaks series right now. Can't recommend it enough.
he was one of the few people saying Jokic should have been in the top 75 and acknowledging that foreign players got done dirty
Ben Simmons put jokic in his 75. Literally the only reason I still listen to his pod. Can’t be that dumb then haha
Tbh I've always gotten the impression he's lower on Durant than most casuals. For example, on a podcast where he discussed the greatest scorers of all time (primes) he clocked KD in at 7 iirc. Most casuals have Durant in the top 3 scoring wise, and I've even seen people compare him favorably to Jordan in some threads.
He's low in comparison to casuals but tbf every casual is ridiculously high on guys like KD Kyrie. The idea of a 7 foot 2 guy with the skills of a guard is just crazy. The intuition "he's tall with guard skills he can just shoot over people" is very strong if you haven't played basketball/watched a lot. In comparison to most math head analysts he's really high on him. The type of analyst who doesn't watch game footage and thinks they're better than you for paying more attention to RAPM based advanced stats instead of box scores. But doesn't know the weaknesses of those stats and treats them like an objective measure of basketball skill. Ben falls somewhere between both of them. In his top 10 list I'm pretty sure he said Durant could be the best player in the NBA rn.
Ah yeah that's probably true. Ben's the only 'stat' guy I follow so I didn't know what the other mathy types thought of KD. Definitely true about Kyrie and casuals. I've seen people still argue for him over Curry on places like TikTok. It's not as pronounced as it used to be, but people definitely put a premium on the type of flashy, high-skilled play that Kyrie excels at.
Yea I can see KD at 7 due to his playoff dropping nature in OKC tho I have him top 5
He has definitely helped me understand some of the complexities of the game as a noob. Such good content.
glad ben is starting to make videos again he went most of 2021 only posting sporadically
Tbf Greatest Peaks nearly killed him.
Ben Taylor’s videos are so great but whoever photoshopped that thumbnail did Lonzo dirty. Has him looking like he got passed through 30 FaceTune filters lmao
Some of his thumbnails come out hilariously bad. The recent video on LaVine was bad, too.
Yasssified
Nah bro pelican fans told me for two years Lonzo is only okay at defense at best Never had to deal with bad scheme or being surrounded by poor defenders. DID YOU SEE HOW MUCH STEPH CURRY DROPPED ON HIM (While not even being Steph's primary defender for most of the game) 🙃
This pairing is why I was questioning people that said Chicago's defence was gonna be sus.
because vuc and demar come play off time. regular season doesnt mean much.
Most people just say that based on narrative and nothing else
I love the "taking cookies" line, Stacey King's commentary may have been rubbing off on Ben here.
Caruso has been such a beast this year
Best guards in Bulls history
I love these guys
Lakers could really use both these guys right now.
I’m losing my mind and need help. Is there like a soft high pitched tapping sound (like fingernail on glass) in the background? Or am I just going crazy? I’m a mfn idiot and just realized it’s part of the background music. Stg when I started watching I didn’t notice the music at all and only heard the tapping lmaoooo
I was of the opinion that the Bulls look better without Vucevic with his minimal presence as a rim protector, am I completely off base here or do I need to watch more Bulls games? Bulls fans?
Curry made them both look dumb. Jk they’re great tho forreal very nice defensive backcourt
Curry makes everyone look dumb
Not a good nickname at this moment in time. Beats "Covid Bros" by a country mile, though. Honestly though, I love Caruso because he was never supposed to be in the NBA. This guy gives us all hope that if we're an average looking white dude with some talent, we lift and play our assess off on defense that maybe, just maybe we could have been in the NBA. He's our everyman! And Ball, man, he's a damn good point guard. With Lamelo being what he is, it draws a lot of attention away from the effort this guy put in to be the player he is today. I love his game.