His (Giannis) performance made especially remarkable by two things in particular:
- He not only was 16-25 from the field in a closeout game, but was 17-19 from the free throw line! This, in spite of his recent struggles and liability as a "hack a tokounmpo" in other games.....and the road game "countdown". His ability to focus through that, and then come up with a close to 90% percentage is a HUGE tribute to his mental toughness.....as well as commitment to improving.
- When you saw his knee being bent back like that just 3 weeks ago....and to lead his team the way he did against the favored Suns....is absolutely remarkable. A testament to the pliability of youth to be sure.....but primarily to his will and character.
He was also a big factor in their 4 wins with PASSING. He was reading the double team before it materialized, and then finding (the right) guys quickly to not allow the Suns to rotate back. Once again.....HUGE!
Finally, I love his laying down the gauntlet to other teams/players that have gone the (or are going to) "join/form a superteam" route. You absolutely get to crow about how you did it with your original team when you have such a great performance. All hail the Freak
. He's already a two time MVP in the league, now a Finals MVP. And now he will never have to think about being a Karl Malone, John Stockton, or Charles Barkley (elite players without a championship). He and his team have the ring, and my sense is.....he's not done.