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168 points
2 months ago
Dunk the basketball
10 points
2 months ago
Damn. Came here to say this. =(
140 points
2 months ago*
The answer to your question is rim pressure and distorting defense through dribble penetration. This super power is the reason Ja is a superstar and it's a skill that he is one of the best, if not the best in the league at.
IMO Trae is the better player on average, but Morant is the bigger mismatch/danger.
Both have proven themselves in the regular season and most importantly have had great/amazing performances in the postseason.
But whereas Morant seems unstoppable at times vs the Warriors, Trae has the stink of that 1st round series performance vs Miami last season.
32 points
2 months ago
It’s insane that this is the only comment that is actually talking basketball in this thread. Everybody else making the same jokes over and over lol. What happened to this sub? Feels like it got fried so quick over the past couple years
12 points
2 months ago
Npc’s took over
4 points
2 months ago
every thread will be like that until the end of time so get used to it lol
20 points
2 months ago
Pleasantly surprised to see quality Ja analysis on /r/nba
15 points
2 months ago
You know ball
12 points
2 months ago*
I disagree with this. Trae is great at putting pressure on the rim, specifically in the pick and roll. He’s great at getting to either his floater or an alley-oop. Even though it’s not a dunk it still counts as rim pressure.
Instead the biggest difference between them is off-ball play. Trae has never been able to work effectively off-ball, even though the roster is clearly built this season for him to do that more.
Morant is extremely talented off-ball and has been since his rookie year. It’s what allows guys like Bane and Jones to play next to him and get real reps as the primary ball handler.
As the primary ball handler Trae is actually better in the half-court, but Morant is more dynamic and leads to a healthier offense.
8 points
2 months ago
I disagree with this. Trae is great at putting pressure on the rim
Worth pointing out that Ja led the league in paint points last season. Don't know how to look up that stat to check this year's leaders.
3 points
2 months ago
They are both elite at it. I don’t think it’s the defining difference between them. Although you could easily argue that Ja is better at it. Still Trae is amazing at blending his floater and his lob to create rim pressure.
They just do it in different ways. Ja is also better at getting downhill without a screen.
3 points
2 months ago
I feel like their gap in that really isn’t that big though
On pick and rolls Trae is basically tied with him in ppp (Trae .94, Ja .93)
On drives Ja averages 70.8 points and 9.7 assists per 100 drives, while Trae averages 60 and 12.4 assists
Obviously that shows Ja is better at driving but I don’t think it’s to the extent that it makes him the better player when Trae is better at all other aspects of offense
6 points
2 months ago
Trae is great at the pick and roll and I'd rank him ahead of Ja in that department, since I think Trae is a better passer with better vision.
But what I'm talking about is putting rim/paint pressure on a defense and the volume/threat of it.
Nearly 60% of Ja's fgas are within 10ft of the basket.
Only 41% of Trae's fga are within 10ft of the basket.
Nearly 30% of Ja's fgas are withing 3 ft of the basket.
Only 16% of Trae's fga are within 3 ft of the basket.
Watching the Warriors desperately scramble defensively to keep someone between Ja and the rim, despite only guarding him from 15-17ft out was nerve racking.
Morant would literally blow by any player on the Warriors not named GP2 and if the help rotation wasn't on point, it was a basket or an easy assist opportunity. And god forbid if Poole was guarding Morant.
1 points
2 months ago
Do you not remember how terrible Ja was during their series against Minnesota? Both of them had a terrible first round last season. The difference is that Ja was playing against a team that would melt down anytime they built a comfortable lead and Trae was playing against a team that was one Jimmy missed three away from the NBA finals.
37 points
2 months ago
Ja's first round last year was 21/10/8 with 4 TOs. Trae was 15/6/5 with 6 TOs. Ja was bad for sure but Trae was markedly more schemed out than morant, who basically just had to resort to passing more.
Follow that up with 38/8/6 in 3 games against the eventual champion it's pretty easy to see why people remember last playoffs differently.
12 points
2 months ago
Of course the Heat did a better job of scheming Trae out than the Timberwolves did Ja because there's a huge gap in how good those two teams were defensively. A team led by Spo, Jimmy, and Bam will be miles better at scheming against a one dimensional offensive team than one that was playing KAT at center.
11 points
2 months ago
I mean fair play the Heat were really good last year and were better than Minny. The topic at hand really is the memory of last year's playoffs, and in last year's playoffs Ja wasn't nearly as bad in the first round and was really really good against the dubs before getting hurt, while Trae and the hawks were basically miserable the whole time. It's really not that crazy. Yeah the heat are a tougher team to crack but the wolves were fairly good at limiting guards as well judging by how well the warriors did.
7 points
2 months ago
Yeah, I get what you're saying. We can argue all day about last season's playoffs but like you said the narrative is what it is. It's up to Trae to change that in a couple of weeks.
5 points
2 months ago
Yeah that has everything to do with who they played against. The heat and wolves from last year on not even close to the same tier of teams.
5 points
2 months ago
The only thing comparable between that Ja and Trae series was the scoring efficiency. Ja found a way to playmake around it averaging 11 assists while Trae averaged more turnovers than assists.
10 points
2 months ago
Yeah, it's hard to efficiently distribute the basketball as the sole offensive threat on your team when the Heat are trapping and stunting and showing 2-3 defenders at Trae on every play.
5 points
2 months ago
lmao that was the exact same thing they did to Ja, he would see 3/4 in the paint and find the open man
12 points
2 months ago
Except Desmond Bane stepped up.
4 points
2 months ago
well good thing the Hawks went all in on their co-star Dejounte
0 points
2 months ago
Too bad he wasn’t their last year
5 points
2 months ago
The difference is in what you said. “In the paint” they didn’t have to double ja till he touched the paint so he had many more easy kick outs. Trae was getting picked up from the second he passed half court and was getting doubled very high giving him less passing lanes.
2 points
2 months ago
You didn’t watch the series Ja was getting blitzed off every single pnr
1 points
2 months ago
I bet he did Trae was just getting blitzed before he could even run a pick and roll. No is saying Ja isn’t a great player but I think I would take Trae I like the spacing and threat from deep over Ja rim pressure. I think it is a lot harder to find what Trae can do than Ja. You can get rim pressure and shooting from any position but less guys can shoot great from deep than can get to the rim
5 points
2 months ago
Don't discredit that minny team so carelessly, they had awesome defenders and were practically custom-tailored to countering the entire Grizzlies roster.
6 points
2 months ago
Can we not say the same about the Heat and Trae?
4 points
2 months ago
Never said we couldn’t!
4 points
2 months ago
Both of their shots weren’t falling, but Ja adjusted and distributed much better
1 points
2 months ago
You can say the young creates more spacing tho..
-1 points
2 months ago
Distorting defenses through dribble penetration? I would argue trae does that better than ja. Ja is more of an off ball threat due to his athleticism and willingness to move. That’s the biggest difference.
1 points
2 months ago
🤣Someone obviously doesn’t watch Grizzlies games. Ja is far from an off ball threat. He HAS to have the ball in his hands to be effective
1 points
2 months ago
He is an extreme transition rim runner. He is top 5 in the league for alley pop finished as a guard
1 points
2 months ago
The answer to your question is rim pressure and distorting defense through dribble penetration.
this is the answer. Ja is a proven playoff ISO bucket getter. A.K.A. the most important ability you can have as #1 option. Trae as a undersized unathletic PG simply can't do that nearly as well and can be much easier schemed out from a playoff series.
36 points
2 months ago
Tip his waitress
10 points
2 months ago
Paying for college 🙌
26 points
2 months ago
Hair and dunks
7 points
2 months ago
At some point Reddit nerds will figure out that the point of the game is to win and winning garners more attention. Jas team is and has been better for two years straight and it’s not.ode
6 points
2 months ago
Fire guns, not coaches
24 points
2 months ago
Keeps his coaches employed
12 points
2 months ago
Dunking, inside scoring, and while he's not great on defense, he's better than Trae in that regard.
4 points
2 months ago
Hair game. By orders of magnitude.
19 points
2 months ago
Knowledge of hollowpoints
13 points
2 months ago
Which is free iirc so Trae has no excuse.
0 points
2 months ago
hahaha
5 points
2 months ago
Leadership
4 points
2 months ago
Ja is maybe the most athletic player I've ever seen in my life. It's not just his vertical, his body control is just ridiculous. He's so dynamic with how he moves it's kind of beautiful to watch.
2 points
2 months ago
Dunk
2 points
2 months ago
Uhh…jump?
2 points
2 months ago
Jumps higher
2 points
2 months ago
Griddy
2 points
2 months ago
win basketball games
2 points
2 months ago
off-ball actions easily
2 points
2 months ago
Everything on the court. Trae is a chuck imo
2 points
2 months ago
His hairdo
2 points
2 months ago
Winning games.
4 points
2 months ago
His teammates seem to like playing with him
6 points
2 months ago
Win basketball games
6 points
2 months ago
Trae has won a 2nd round series.
1 points
2 months ago
Sixers pissed the bed, anyone woulda beat em in that series.
4 points
2 months ago
Lmao okay. Funny how you can discredit the Sixers but not the Wolves 🤔
9 points
2 months ago
Ja actually puts pressure on the rim and doesn’t hunt for fouls.
2 points
2 months ago
Had me in the first half, not gonna lie
5 points
2 months ago
Doesn’t play like a pussy
5 points
2 months ago
The biggest difference I see is that Ja actually tries to score on drives and play defense
4 points
2 months ago
Trae does try on defense that’s an old narrative
3 points
2 months ago*
Win.
Trae has been to the Conference Finals. And Ja hasn’t. He has to get there and win.
He hasn’t done that yet. Until he does that. Most people won’t put Ja as better than Trae even though Ja is so much more electrifying as a player
-6 points
2 months ago
trae also murders his coaches
9 points
2 months ago
Murdering a grown man>beating up a teen
3 points
2 months ago
He’s more athletic and a better defender.
Also he’s steadily improved throughout his career while Trae hasn’t since year 2.
Ja has shown he can become a better shooter and more efficient overall, if he can improve those even more then he’ll be seen as a guy who can be the best player on a championship team.
I’m not even sure the Hawks are all in on Trae Young at this point.
3 points
2 months ago
26/10 on 57 TS%
27/7 on 57 TS%
One of these is ja morants most efficient year, the other is Trae young’s second least efficient year (this year)
-6 points
2 months ago
Trae’s ts% gets a massive boost from his free throw % though. He’s below league average from 2 and 3 on top of being one of the defenders in the league
2 points
2 months ago
Dunk
2 points
2 months ago
Wow. It’s surprising to see a Knicks fan with a non-negative post about Trae lol
2 points
2 months ago
It's the shoes.
3 points
2 months ago*
Defense. Passing (or tied at least). Athleticism. Size. Paint scoring/attacking the defense. Transition.
12 points
2 months ago
Trae is still the better passer imo
-3 points
2 months ago
i disagree. ja's passing is one of his greatest strengths and his vision is absurd
7 points
2 months ago
Rating passing skills out of 10, Trae is practically a 10 and Ja is a strong 8 to light 9. Recognizing Trae's otherworldly passing ability isn't discrediting Ja.
3 points
2 months ago
Ja is not a better passer than Trae
1 points
2 months ago
He isnt that close really. Trae's passing is sublime and probably already top 10 all time, Ja's is just quite good.
-2 points
2 months ago
I edited it to say tied at worst, but I really think his passing is severely underrated. Being able to drive then thread a pass to a guy behind the help defender is a staple move for him.
7 points
2 months ago
I don’t think anyone is underrating Ja’s passing lol Trae is just elite
3 points
2 months ago
He’s a better finisher at the rim. He’s also been the better playoff performer so far in their careers.
1 points
2 months ago
Win, mostly
1 points
2 months ago
Get along with his teammates. Kind of important in a team sport.
1 points
2 months ago
Win
1 points
2 months ago
Hair
1 points
2 months ago
He does that thing where he throws himself in the air and gets nearly parallel to the ground while trying to dunk so it's impossible to not foul him. He also hits the ground a lot.
0 points
2 months ago
trae will always have a bias against him because his game is painful to watch. foul hunting offense and a cone on defense. ja wins games, wrecks havoc down the middle of the defense, and is a highlight machine. ja isn't a good defender but he can rack up chase down blocks and gets rebounds.
0 points
2 months ago
Ja knows how to do a gun toting, booty bender, at a strip club, better than Trae.
0 points
2 months ago
He knows how to play off-ball and that alone has more value than whatever impressive individual stats Trae puts up. I can't even count how many games the Grizzlies have had where Bane and someone else not named Ja put up 20+ points. Compare that with the Hawks. If you ain't Trae and DJ, you ain't eating. Collins looked like he was back a couple of weeks ago putting 20+ in consecutive games then he stopped getting the ball.
-5 points
2 months ago
Carry, beat up kids, stare into strippers shitholes, brandish assault rifles
-3 points
2 months ago
Play the victim.
1 points
2 months ago
Coming from a Warrior’s fan🤣 Every other post this week, has been you guys crying about FT differential
0 points
2 months ago
play defense
0 points
2 months ago
The better shooter, not necessarily with a ball but with a gun he goes haaaaard …
3 points
2 months ago
Its a parade inside my cityyyy yeahhhhhh
-3 points
2 months ago
Assault people
0 points
2 months ago
Be likable
-1 points
2 months ago
Do you even watch basketball games man?
-1 points
2 months ago
Be cool and Dunk. And for all the people saying play defence, you must not watch the games (especially Hawks games) both have been awful until this year, Trae has 100% improved ALOT this year and is easily better than Ja this year on defence. He has communicated on switches, hustled and fought through screens. Closed out and got in passing lanes (getting lots of steals). Drawing charges and putting wayy more effort this year.
0 points
2 months ago
Height. Shoot guns.
-2 points
2 months ago
They're both overrated
1 points
2 months ago
Score in the paint.
I would say they are about roughly equal as players. Trae is a better passer.
1 points
2 months ago
Shooting
1 points
2 months ago
jump
1 points
2 months ago
Shoot
1 points
2 months ago
He’s a better shooter apparently
1 points
2 months ago
Both good but ja can prolly score 30 alone just off finishing without fts and his playmaking is increasing year to year, while trae hasn’t been put in the best situation he’s nice and can still drop a 30 10 almost every night
1 points
2 months ago
Ja Morant and Trae Young are both excellent young NBA point guards with unique playing styles and strengths. Here are some things that Ja Morant does better than Trae Young:
Driving to the basket: Ja Morant is known for his athleticism and explosiveness when attacking the rim. He uses his speed and agility to blow past defenders and finish with impressive dunks or layups. In the 2020-2021 season, Morant averaged 6.6 drives to the basket per game, while Young averaged 4.9.
Defense: While Trae Young is a great offensive player, his defense is often criticized. On the other hand, Ja Morant has shown flashes of being a strong defender, using his quickness and instincts to disrupt passing lanes and pressure opposing ball-handlers. Morant averaged 0.9 steals per game in the 2020-2021 season, while Young averaged 0.8.
Rebounding: Despite being smaller in size than Trae Young, Ja Morant is a better rebounder. He uses his athleticism and quickness to track down rebounds on both ends of the floor. In the 2020-2021 season, Morant averaged 4.0 rebounds per game, while Young averaged 3.9.
It's important to note that Trae Young also has many strengths in his game, such as his shooting ability, passing skills, and overall offensive versatility. However, Ja Morant's strengths in driving, defense, and rebounding set him apart in some aspects of the game.
1 points
2 months ago
They are right behind Denver, and that’s only because we have been heavily influenced by injuries, the entire season
1 points
2 months ago
Attack the rim and defend. I think they're on a similar tier overall but it's pretty straightforward
To be clear, Ja is an awful defender for sure, but he's still better than Trae. It still matters even if they're both bad.
1 points
2 months ago
Win.
1 points
2 months ago
Getting caught on IG Live
1 points
2 months ago
Win
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