For those who aren’t familiar, british soccer commentator Andy Gray said this of Messi back in 2010/11, questioning whether Messi could dominate in tough conditions against a physical premier league club. It’s now a popular joke within the soccer and internet community.
For the NBA, is it “Can he do it after a night out in Miami?” “Can he do it on the second night of a back to back in Denver?” “Can he do it after the Lakers sent missed foul call video evidence to the league?” Something else?
Honestly, it’s probably somewhat true. College defenses will just form a wall against getting into the paint, and double team him all the way down the court. He’ll make the right pass to completely open teammates who will just fumble the ball or miss a wide open shot. It happened to Trae in the 2nd half of his NCAA season, and had people questioning if he was an NBA player.