PG: Bucks Steamroll Knicks for 7th Straight

[tedbrogen]

If he can keep this up, game over for the league.

If all three of Dame/Giannis/Midds are healthy and playing well, defense legitimately might not matter.

My only thing with that is we have seen super teams with that philosophy before, defense doesn't matter, and they failed miserably. The nets come to mind.


I still think a top 15 defense is required.

Doesn't need to be elite. Just average.

Nets lost to Giannis/Midds only because two of their big three got hurt. They sweep the Bucks if everyone stays healthy.

[GHOSTofSIKMA]

our defense is now ranked 16th. considering the early season struggles that is one hell of a rise....add the defensive ratings of the top 5 guys i would suggest its simply not the massive concern it initially was. we have been good on defense quite frankly.

still need to keep an eye on sos and see if it maintains against better teams but all numbers are trending wonderfully in our favor.

lillards interview where he mentioned the main guys talking about everything intensely amongst themselves gives me the impression that griffin is giving wide latitude there. as long as we dont hit high water maybe were on to something. despite my anger at the bud firing im as hopeful as anybody here it works out like it has been recently. there is no denying whats been happening.

[paulpressey25]

our defense is now ranked 16th. considering the early season struggles that is one hell of a rise....add the defensive ratings of the top 5 guys i would suggest its simply not the massive concern it initially was. we have been good on defense quite frankly.

still need to keep an eye on sos and see if it maintains against better teams but all numbers are trending wonderfully in our favor.

lillards interview where he mentioned the main guys talking about everything intensely amongst themselves gives me the impression that griffin is giving wide latitude there. as long as we dont hit high water maybe were on to something. despite my anger at the bud firing im as hopeful as anybody here it works out like it has been recently. there is no denying whats been happening.

Griffin is getting results, and the team seems happy and unified. Now they just need to get some wins against a few more top tier teams.

[theFireBlanket]

If all three of Dame/Giannis/Midds are healthy and playing well, defense legitimately might not matter.

My only thing with that is we have seen super teams with that philosophy before, defense doesn't matter, and they failed miserably. The nets come to mind.


I still think a top 15 defense is required.

Doesn't need to be elite. Just average.

Nets lost to Giannis/Midds only because two of their big three got hurt. They sweep the Bucks if everyone stays healthy.

Bucks turned the tide in game 3 with everyone healthy. Kyrie didn't go down til the middle of game 4 & the Bucks were winning before that.

If anything, Irving being out let KD cook even more.

[MickeyDavis]

My only thing with that is we have seen super teams with that philosophy before, defense doesn't matter, and they failed miserably. The nets come to mind.


I still think a top 15 defense is required.

Doesn't need to be elite. Just average.

Nets lost to Giannis/Midds only because two of their big three got hurt. They sweep the Bucks if everyone stays healthy.

Bucks turned the tide in game 3 with everyone healthy. Kyrie didn't go down til the middle of game 4 & the Bucks were winning before that.

If anything, Irving being out let KD cook even more.

Yeah this "would have been swept" narrative is simplistic. One could also say more Kyrie/less Durant would have made the Nets worse. Bucks in 6. We'll never know ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[randy84]

My only thing with that is we have seen super teams with that philosophy before, defense doesn't matter, and they failed miserably. The nets come to mind.


I still think a top 15 defense is required.

Doesn't need to be elite. Just average.

Nets lost to Giannis/Midds only because two of their big three got hurt. They sweep the Bucks if everyone stays healthy.

Bucks turned the tide in game 3 with everyone healthy. Kyrie didn't go down til the middle of game 4 & the Bucks were winning before that.

If anything, Irving being out let KD cook even more.

Nets never had their big 3 that whole series except for the first game where Harden play 43 seconds.. After that, either Kyrie or Harden were out.

[tedbrogen]

My only thing with that is we have seen super teams with that philosophy before, defense doesn't matter, and they failed miserably. The nets come to mind.


I still think a top 15 defense is required.

Doesn't need to be elite. Just average.

Nets lost to Giannis/Midds only because two of their big three got hurt. They sweep the Bucks if everyone stays healthy.

Bucks turned the tide in game 3 with everyone healthy. Kyrie didn't go down til the middle of game 4 & the Bucks were winning before that.

If anything, Irving being out let KD cook even more.

Harden got hurt early in game 1.

[tedbrogen]

Bucks won game three on a last second layup by Jrue with Harden missing the entire game. Game four Nets lose Kyrie mid game when it was still a close game.

There’s definitely a world where having all three healthy is a Nets sweep. Especially since Bud made zero adjustments until game six when his job was on the line after he got clowned by Nash in game five.

[FrieAaron]

Nets lost to Giannis/Midds only because two of their big three got hurt. They sweep the Bucks if everyone stays healthy.

Bucks turned the tide in game 3 with everyone healthy. Kyrie didn't go down til the middle of game 4 & the Bucks were winning before that.

If anything, Irving being out let KD cook even more.

Yeah this "would have been swept" narrative is simplistic. One could also say more Kyrie/less Durant would have made the Nets worse. Bucks in 6. We'll never know ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Yeah, in their 140 minutes in that series Kyrie and Harden both shot worse than KD did for the entire series. Harden had splits of 30/19/89. Doesn't seem much of a stretch to think those two having the ball more might have made them worse on offense.

[FrieAaron]

our defense is now ranked 16th. considering the early season struggles that is one hell of a rise....add the defensive ratings of the top 5 guys i would suggest its simply not the massive concern it initially was. we have been good on defense quite frankly.

still need to keep an eye on sos and see if it maintains against better teams but all numbers are trending wonderfully in our favor.

lillards interview where he mentioned the main guys talking about everything intensely amongst themselves gives me the impression that griffin is giving wide latitude there. as long as we dont hit high water maybe were on to something. despite my anger at the bud firing im as hopeful as anybody here it works out like it has been recently. there is no denying whats been happening.

Griffin is getting results, and the team seems happy and unified. Now they just need to get some wins against a few more top tier teams.

It's good we were able to pad some wins. Looks like we have the 5th hardest SOS left in the league with 7 more on the road than at home. Unfortunately Boston has the easiest. With an even home/road split.

[tedbrogen]

Bucks turned the tide in game 3 with everyone healthy. Kyrie didn't go down til the middle of game 4 & the Bucks were winning before that.

If anything, Irving being out let KD cook even more.

Yeah this "would have been swept" narrative is simplistic. One could also say more Kyrie/less Durant would have made the Nets worse. Bucks in 6. We'll never know ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Yeah, in their 140 minutes in that series Kyrie and Harden both shot worse than KD did for the entire series. Harden had splits of 30/19/89. Doesn't seem much of a stretch to think those two having the ball more might have made them worse on offense.

Outside of the first minute of the first game, Harden was playing on a badly injured hamstring in the games he did play. Again, in my hypothetical all three are fully healthy the entire series.

And you’re ignoring how many minutes KD had to play each game because of how little help he had once Harden and Kyrie were both hurt. That may be why he did nothing in OT in game seven.

You can argue the Nets wouldn’t have swept the Bucks but the Nets win that series if all their big three are fully healthy. Defense wouldn’t have mattered.

[FrieAaron]

Yeah this "would have been swept" narrative is simplistic. One could also say more Kyrie/less Durant would have made the Nets worse. Bucks in 6. We'll never know ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Yeah, in their 140 minutes in that series Kyrie and Harden both shot worse than KD did for the entire series. Harden had splits of 30/19/89. Doesn't seem much of a stretch to think those two having the ball more might have made them worse on offense.

Outside of the first minute of the first game, Harden was playing on a badly injured hamstring in the games he did play. Again, in my hypothetical all three are fully healthy the entire series.

And you’re ignoring how many minutes KD had to play each game because of how little help he had once Harden and Kyrie were both hurt. That may be why he did nothing in OT in game seven.

You can argue the Nets wouldn’t have swept the Bucks but the Nets win that series if all their big three are fully healthy. Defense wouldn’t have mattered.

Maybe I'm being a hater, but I have complete confidence in Kyrie and Harden failing in the playoffs.

[tedbrogen]

Yeah, in their 140 minutes in that series Kyrie and Harden both shot worse than KD did for the entire series. Harden had splits of 30/19/89. Doesn't seem much of a stretch to think those two having the ball more might have made them worse on offense.

Outside of the first minute of the first game, Harden was playing on a badly injured hamstring in the games he did play. Again, in my hypothetical all three are fully healthy the entire series.

And you’re ignoring how many minutes KD had to play each game because of how little help he had once Harden and Kyrie were both hurt. That may be why he did nothing in OT in game seven.

You can argue the Nets wouldn’t have swept the Bucks but the Nets win that series if all their big three are fully healthy. Defense wouldn’t have mattered.

Maybe I'm being a hater, but I have complete confidence in Kyrie and Harden failing in the playoffs.

Kyrie hit one of the clutchest shots in finals history to beat the best Warriors team…

[FrieAaron]

Outside of the first minute of the first game, Harden was playing on a badly injured hamstring in the games he did play. Again, in my hypothetical all three are fully healthy the entire series.

And you’re ignoring how many minutes KD had to play each game because of how little help he had once Harden and Kyrie were both hurt. That may be why he did nothing in OT in game seven.

You can argue the Nets wouldn’t have swept the Bucks but the Nets win that series if all their big three are fully healthy. Defense wouldn’t have mattered.

Maybe I'm being a hater, but I have complete confidence in Kyrie and Harden failing in the playoffs.

Kyrie hit one of the clutchest shots in finals history to beat the best Warriors team…

And has basically been riding that for almost a decade since. Even ignoring the teams he imploded he basically shot the Celtics out of their playoff series against us. Maybe I'm letting that series color my impression of him post-Lebron too much but I've never been greatly impressed by him int he playoffs since that.

[tedbrogen]

Maybe I'm being a hater, but I have complete confidence in Kyrie and Harden failing in the playoffs.

Kyrie hit one of the clutchest shots in finals history to beat the best Warriors team…

And has basically been riding that for almost a decade since. Even ignoring the teams he imploded he basically shot the Celtics out of their playoff series against us. Maybe I'm letting that series color my impression of him post-Lebron too much but I've never been greatly impressed by him int he playoffs since that.

He’s clearly not a guy you want as your best player and he definitely was the main reason the Celtics lost that series. But if you’ve got prime LeBron or prime KD drawing all the attention, he’s still insanely gifted offensively.

[HKPackFan]

I didn't mean to focus on the nets.

You had the mvp Nash suns teams. 7 seconds or less.

You had the Nash/kobe/pau/Howard Lakers.

You had Westbrook/cp3/PG OK3 team.

There have been other teams that said, "you don't need defense"

I just don't like the expression. In the playoffs you can get away with hacking away at guys at no calls. The offense does slow down a bit and there needs to be some semblance of D.


But I think offense is more important than D in the current game today, an elite and healthy offense paired with an average D should be enough.

Between dame and khris being able to create their own shots, especially in half court and Giannis keeping everyone busy and a role player sharpshooter like Beas the offense does appear to be unstoppable even in the post season. Add in a passable D and this team should be a favorite.

[tedbrogen]

Yeah, in their 140 minutes in that series Kyrie and Harden both shot worse than KD did for the entire series. Harden had splits of 30/19/89. Doesn't seem much of a stretch to think those two having the ball more might have made them worse on offense.

Outside of the first minute of the first game, Harden was playing on a badly injured hamstring in the games he did play. Again, in my hypothetical all three are fully healthy the entire series.

And you’re ignoring how many minutes KD had to play each game because of how little help he had once Harden and Kyrie were both hurt. That may be why he did nothing in OT in game seven.

You can argue the Nets wouldn’t have swept the Bucks but the Nets win that series if all their big three are fully healthy. Defense wouldn’t have mattered.

Maybe I'm being a hater, but I have complete confidence in Kyrie and Harden failing in the playoffs.

That Nets team simply needed Kyrie and Harden to be better than Mike James and Shamet. Bucks survived in seven games and OT when the Nets got less than one full healthy minute from their big three together.

Bucks lucked out due to injury. Bucks also missed out in 22 due to Midds injury or they win that year.imo

So it balances out. Just be a legit contender as long as possible and hope you catch breaks once or multiple times.

[tedbrogen]

I didn't mean to focus on the nets.

You had the mvp Nash suns teams. 7 seconds or less.

You had the Nash/kobe/pau/Howard Lakers.

You had Westbrook/cp3/PG OK3 team.

There have been other teams that said, "you don't need defense"

I just don't like the expression. In the playoffs you can get away with hacking away at guys at no calls. The offense does slow down a bit and there needs to be some semblance of D.


But I think offense is more important than D in the current game today, an elite and healthy offense paired with an average D should be enough.

Between dame and khris being able to create their own shots, especially in half court and Giannis keeping everyone busy and a role player sharpshooter like Beas the offense does appear to be unstoppable even in the post season. Add in a passable D and this team should be a favorite.

Bingo. Just last year a middle of the pack defensive team won the title. My point was even as early as 21, a team with no defense in the regular season who started trying harder on that end in the postseason could have won it all by overwhelming teams with their offensive skill, if they had stayed healthy.

[chonestown]

If all three of Dame/Giannis/Midds are healthy and playing well, defense legitimately might not matter.

My only thing with that is we have seen super teams with that philosophy before, defense doesn't matter, and they failed miserably. The nets come to mind.


I still think a top 15 defense is required.

Doesn't need to be elite. Just average.

Nets lost to Giannis/Midds only because two of their big three got hurt. They sweep the Bucks if everyone stays healthy.

When two of your big three are injury concerns, those things happen.

[tedbrogen]

My only thing with that is we have seen super teams with that philosophy before, defense doesn't matter, and they failed miserably. The nets come to mind.


I still think a top 15 defense is required.

Doesn't need to be elite. Just average.

Nets lost to Giannis/Midds only because two of their big three got hurt. They sweep the Bucks if everyone stays healthy.

When two of your big three are injury concerns, those things happen.

Not sure if you’re talking about that Nets team or this Bucks team.