RealGM

Posted: **Wed Jul 7, 2021 4:51 am**

One Mission
One Goal
This Is What We Play For

Who: Milwaukee Bucks @ Phoenix Suns

When: Thursday, July 8th @ 6:00pm (9:00ET) ABC

Where: Phoenix Suns Arena, Phoenix, AZ

Milwaukee Bucks starting lineup:

C- Lopez

F- Giannis

F- Middleton

G- Tucker

G- Holiday

Reserves: Connaughton/Portis/Forbes/Teague

Phoenix Suns starting lineup:

C- Ayton

F- Crowder

F- Bridges

G- Booker

G- CP3

Reserves: Payne/Cam/Craig/Saric

Posted: **Wed Jul 7, 2021 5:08 am**

Let’s go fellas, do what you need to do and win at home!

Posted: **Wed Jul 7, 2021 6:41 am**

Flying out to Phoenix in the morning. Spent more than I wanted on Game 2 tickets but eff it, this could be a once in a lifetime thing.

Posted: **Wed Jul 7, 2021 8:40 am**

Suns in 4

Posted: **Wed Jul 7, 2021 9:00 am**

AtheJ415 wrote:Suns in 4

Posted: **Wed Jul 7, 2021 1:15 pm**

Any word on Dario? I imagine we'll keep his status unknown (so Milwaukee can't prepare) for a while but I'm shocked there has literally been nothing since he went out.

Posted: **Wed Jul 7, 2021 1:20 pm**

Got to take care of business at home

Posted: **Wed Jul 7, 2021 1:24 pm**

Its funny, read the Bucks board postgame thread. A lot of posts in there saying "no way CP3 stays healthy in this series".

This is hilarious. After just 1 game, they're banking on injuries.

Posted: **Wed Jul 7, 2021 2:39 pm**

pj0tr wrote:Its funny, read the Bucks board postgame thread. A lot of posts in there saying "no way CP3 stays healthy in this series".

This is hilarious. After just 1 game, they're banking on injuries.

I just peeped over on the Bucks board, and wow. They really don't know our team (or basketball) at all. Here are a few things I read:

1. If the Suns lose Game 2, CP3 is going to start berating his teammates and young Ayton and Booker might just quit on Paul because he yelled at them.

2. They can 'live with' Book and CP3 hitting 8-12 foot fade-away jumpers.

3. The way to stop Ayton is to just get a body on him.

4. The Suns will get complacent in Game 2 and the Bucks will take them by surprise

5. The Bucks are the better overall team.

6. Prayers for Scott Foster in Game 2

I don't want to overreact to any of this, but it sounds like we really shook them in this game. Someone over there made, what I thought, was a good point: If the Suns continue to target Portis, Lopez and Forbes on defense, to the point they are unplayable, it's nearly impossible for the Bucks to win with a rotation of 5-6 guys. Bud hasn't been known for making quick adjustments (based on what their board is saying), so I wonder how quickly he'll figure out how to make those 3 guys effective in his rotation.

Posted: **Wed Jul 7, 2021 2:53 pm**

It'll be interesting to see how the Bucks manage their rotation going forward. Playing Giannis as the small ball 5 seemed the most successful for them towards the end, but they can't play him there for 35-40 minutes without at least one of Lopez and Portis falling out of the rotation, and they don't have the depth for that. CP3 is going to find the matchup he wants either way.

Suns have room for improvement. Booker and Crowder 1-13 from 3, Mikal missed some uncharacteristic shots around the rim, and the team only had 18 assists on the night. Keep the defensive intensity high and get into our offense quickly.

Posted: **Wed Jul 7, 2021 3:02 pm**

Barkley6 wrote:
pj0tr wrote:I don't want to overreact to any of this, but it sounds like we really shook them in this game.

Read the GB. A lot of people are shook by this team.
Old CP3 with perennial loser Booker and draft blunder Ayton first making and now being ahead in the finals is driving folks nuts.

One game at a time for me. Paul said the same thing when asked about last night's win and it's importance with it being a finals game. He said it's only just one game.

Posted: **Wed Jul 7, 2021 3:03 pm**

My original pick was Suns in 5 and I'm sticking with that. Let's go!

Posted: **Wed Jul 7, 2021 3:05 pm**

Wonder if Bud will start Robin's lesser brother considering he's a massive net negative for the team? Can score 30 and still be negative.

Posted: **Wed Jul 7, 2021 3:22 pm**

Let me start this by Saying I do not like Saric not one bit but missing his size scares me just a tad. Ayton has to basically play a full game from here on out. This team relies heavily on rebounding specially Aytons rebounding.

Suns won game 1 by dominating the paint area and mid range. Bucks won the 3 point battle yet still nearly got blown out.

The one flaw this team has is lack of size depth. Suns don’t win games with 3 point shooting. They win with the mid range game and post dominance. Frank is going to have to play and Suns will need something/anything from him.

I think the Bucks will attack Booker and CP on the offensive end game two. Jrue was invisible and Middleton settled for contested 3 point shots (granted he made a lot of them). I see the Bucks focus game 2 is to attack the paint. Giannis will continue to play downhill towards the basket. Point being we just need a body to absorb fouls in the middle so Ayton can get some rest during the game.

Anyone have an update on Saric?

Posted: **Wed Jul 7, 2021 3:39 pm**

Saric will be replaced like they did in this game. A little bit of Frank and a bit of small ball with Crowder/Craig.

Posted: **Wed Jul 7, 2021 3:41 pm**

Sunsdeuce wrote:Let me start this by Saying I do not like Saric not one bit but missing his size scares me just a tad. Ayton has to basically play a full game from here on out. This team relies heavily on rebounding specially Aytons rebounding.

Suns won game 1 by dominating the paint area and mid range. Bucks won the 3 point battle yet still nearly got blown out.

The one flaw this team has is lack of size depth. Suns don’t win games with 3 point shooting. They win with the mid range game and post dominance. Frank is going to have to play and Suns will need something/anything from him.

I think the Bucks will attack Booker and CP on the offensive end game two. Jrue was invisible and Middleton settled for contested 3 point shots (granted he made a lot of them). I see the Bucks focus game 2 is to attack the paint. Giannis will continue to play downhill towards the basket. Point being we just need a body to absorb fouls in the middle so Ayton can get some rest during the game.

Anyone have an update on Saric?

I think on the surface losing Saric is bad, but I actually think it will have a limited effect. The Bucks best lineup is small ball with Giannis at the 5. That means we can play Craig as our 5 and be just fine. If Lopez is on the floor, he might get some good looks on offense if Ayton isn't out there, but as we saw he's unplayable on the other end because of the way Book and CP3 can exploit the mismatch.

My thought is actually to minute match Ayton and Giannis. If the Bucks want to play Giannis at the 5, force him to guard Ayton at the other end. It also then makes it very hard for the Bucks to switch because you're going to end up with a small on Ayton no matter what, and they are going to have Giannis pushing that knee to fight through screens and move laterally in PnR coverage.

Posted: **Wed Jul 7, 2021 3:52 pm**

I don't expect Saric to be back this series. Hopefully it's nothing too serious, but it looked like a non-contact knee injury.

We should be able to get by without him. Ayton will be playing around 36-40 minutes per game, we only need Frank/Craig to cover 8-12 minutes per game and I think they can do that.

Posted: **Wed Jul 7, 2021 4:54 pm**

If any of you go to the game..... when Giannis goes to the line, try to get the crowd to at some point switch it up and count backwards from 10 to zero. It might throw him for a loop and would be a funny as hell cross up!!

Posted: **Wed Jul 7, 2021 4:57 pm**

darealjuice wrote:I don't expect Saric to be back this series. Hopefully it's nothing too serious, but it looked like a non-contact knee injury.

We should be able to get by without him. Ayton will be playing around 36-40 minutes per game, we only need Frank/Craig to cover 8-12 minutes per game and I think they can do that.

My worry is Giannis getting Ayton in foul trouble.

Posted: **Wed Jul 7, 2021 5:21 pm**

Sunsdeuce wrote:
darealjuice wrote:I don't expect Saric to be back this series. Hopefully it's nothing too serious, but it looked like a non-contact knee injury.

We should be able to get by without him. Ayton will be playing around 36-40 minutes per game, we only need Frank/Craig to cover 8-12 minutes per game and I think they can do that.

My worry is Giannis getting Ayton in foul trouble.

I like saric he hustles but I can assure the Bucks are making no preparations or channge anything with saric being out, frank out played him most of the year, we lose absolutely nothing by frank and Craig taking his 15 minutes a game, nothing...

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NBA FINALS: RD 4 l Game 2- Milwaukee Bucks @ Phoenix Suns l Thursday l 6:00 l ABC l Suns lead series (2-0)

NBA FINALS: RD 4 l Game 2- Milwaukee Bucks @ Phoenix Suns l Thursday l 6:00 l ABC l Suns lead series (2-0)

Re: NBA FINALS: RD 4 l Game 2- Milwaukee Bucks @ Phoenix Suns l Thursday l 6:00 l ABC l Suns lead series (1-0)

Re: NBA FINALS: RD 4 l Game 2- Milwaukee Bucks @ Phoenix Suns l Thursday l 6:00 l ABC l Suns lead series (1-0)

Re: NBA FINALS: RD 4 l Game 2- Milwaukee Bucks @ Phoenix Suns l Thursday l 6:00 l ABC l Suns lead series (1-0)

Re: NBA FINALS: RD 4 l Game 2- Milwaukee Bucks @ Phoenix Suns l Thursday l 6:00 l ABC l Suns lead series (1-0)

Re: NBA FINALS: RD 4 l Game 2- Milwaukee Bucks @ Phoenix Suns l Thursday l 6:00 l ABC l Suns lead series (1-0)

Re: NBA FINALS: RD 4 l Game 2- Milwaukee Bucks @ Phoenix Suns l Thursday l 6:00 l ABC l Suns lead series (1-0)

Re: NBA FINALS: RD 4 l Game 2- Milwaukee Bucks @ Phoenix Suns l Thursday l 6:00 l ABC l Suns lead series (1-0)

Re: NBA FINALS: RD 4 l Game 2- Milwaukee Bucks @ Phoenix Suns l Thursday l 6:00 l ABC l Suns lead series (1-0)

Re: NBA FINALS: RD 4 l Game 2- Milwaukee Bucks @ Phoenix Suns l Thursday l 6:00 l ABC l Suns lead series (1-0)

Re: NBA FINALS: RD 4 l Game 2- Milwaukee Bucks @ Phoenix Suns l Thursday l 6:00 l ABC l Suns lead series (1-0)

Re: NBA FINALS: RD 4 l Game 2- Milwaukee Bucks @ Phoenix Suns l Thursday l 6:00 l ABC l Suns lead series (1-0)

Re: NBA FINALS: RD 4 l Game 2- Milwaukee Bucks @ Phoenix Suns l Thursday l 6:00 l ABC l Suns lead series (1-0)

Re: NBA FINALS: RD 4 l Game 2- Milwaukee Bucks @ Phoenix Suns l Thursday l 6:00 l ABC l Suns lead series (1-0)

Re: NBA FINALS: RD 4 l Game 2- Milwaukee Bucks @ Phoenix Suns l Thursday l 6:00 l ABC l Suns lead series (1-0)

Re: NBA FINALS: RD 4 l Game 2- Milwaukee Bucks @ Phoenix Suns l Thursday l 6:00 l ABC l Suns lead series (1-0)

Re: NBA FINALS: RD 4 l Game 2- Milwaukee Bucks @ Phoenix Suns l Thursday l 6:00 l ABC l Suns lead series (1-0)

Re: NBA FINALS: RD 4 l Game 2- Milwaukee Bucks @ Phoenix Suns l Thursday l 6:00 l ABC l Suns lead series (1-0)

Re: NBA FINALS: RD 4 l Game 2- Milwaukee Bucks @ Phoenix Suns l Thursday l 6:00 l ABC l Suns lead series (1-0)

Re: NBA FINALS: RD 4 l Game 2- Milwaukee Bucks @ Phoenix Suns l Thursday l 6:00 l ABC l Suns lead series (1-0)