Giannis Antetokounmpo: ‘Miami was built to be an NBA bubble team’

[mediocrityrules]

Lost by a point. All Butler had to do was shoot better than an abysmal 14%. Fully healthy, I'd still take them over the Bucks in a 7 game series though. Lowry helps them a lot.

Lopez, Cannaughton and Hill help a lot too

Not sure if your 'fully healthy' statement makes them better than the Bucks at full health as well

Lopez isn't returning this season so that's a nonstarter. Oladipo and Morris return between this week and next week to shore up our two MASSIVE weaknesses; backup pg and backup pf.

I don't think pat and hill are on Oladipo's level, but we'll see. If you don't think the floor generals in Lowry and Oladipo would have made a difference (starting and backup pg) vs a g-league scrub you've never heard of in Gabe Vincent and T-Rex arms Tyler Herro who can't dribble; playing pg, you've got a surprise waiting for you come playoff time.

Enjoy the win and my tears, I'm just salty af at my team lmao. PJ Tucker should have inbounded the ball there instead of that g-league scrub who's never played in that environment before. Never mind *immy Butler with no J. Y'all got his ass last night. Absolute clinic on D against him.

Dude? Really? i mean there's trying to talk your team down and all, but he's currently runaway lead for 6MOY.

Also, I can't see you hitting 21/44 (47.7%) from 3 each game across a seven-game series. I mean you guys blitzed it from 3 in this game, but still came up short. If your perimeter game isn't en Fuego every single game, i don't see you having the firepower across a full series to knock out the top teams. Especially with immy butler (love that nickname by the way) and his proven finals performances.

[WargamesX]

I think this is the first douchey thing Giannis has said

Not to go off topic but Giannis say a ton of micro aggressive things every season. This is normal for him.

[JayMKE]

Giannis is correct, Miami would have never made it to the finals in a regular year as they were a terrible road team in RS and won like the first 6 "road" games" in the bubble. Bucks got screwed that year with being so dominant in the regular season only to have HCA stolen away, literally meant nothing. Whatever, we got our ring.

[jc23]

Beer Brat Hours

[Rendei]

Lost by a point. All Butler had to do was shoot better than an abysmal 14%. Fully healthy, I'd still take them over the Bucks in a 7 game series though. Lowry helps them a lot.

Lopez, Cannaughton and Hill help a lot too

Not sure if your 'fully healthy' statement makes them better than the Bucks at full health as well

Lopez isn't returning this season so that's a nonstarter. Oladipo and Morris return between this week and next week to shore up our two MASSIVE weaknesses; backup pg and backup pf.

I don't think pat and hill are on Oladipo's level, but we'll see. If you don't think the floor generals in Lowry and Oladipo would have made a difference (starting and backup pg) vs a g-league scrub you've never heard of in Gabe Vincent and T-Rex arms Tyler Herro who can't dribble; playing pg, you've got a surprise waiting for you come playoff time.

Enjoy the win and my tears, I'm just salty af at my team lmao. PJ Tucker should have inbounded the ball there instead of that g-league scrub who's never played in that environment before. Never mind *immy Butler with no J. Y'all got his ass last night. Absolute clinic on D against him.

I don't know whether Lopez will play this season or not, but he has started practicing.

[Eagle4]

Are we supposed to make a valid conclusion on a game where Miami didn't even have arguably their most important player on the team (yes Lowry is Cp3 east even at his ripe age)?

[Rendei]

Are we supposed to make a valid conclusion on a game where Miami didn't even have arguably their most important player on the team (yes Lowry is Cp3 east even at his ripe age)?

Shouldn't be making conclusions based on a regular season game regardless. It was a really good game, and that's enough.

[TheLand13]

Giannis is correct, Miami would have never made it to the finals in a regular year as they were a terrible road team in RS and won like the first 6 "road" games" in the bubble. Bucks got screwed that year with being so dominant in the regular season only to have HCA stolen away, literally meant nothing. Whatever, we got our ring.

I just can't find myself agreeing with a take like this. No matter how dominant Milwaukee was in the regular season (which, they were, don't get me wrong), Miami still owned the regular season series over them, and the only game Milwaukee managed to win against Miami in the regular season before the playoffs was IN the bubble. Miami just matched up incredibly well with the Bucks, so I can't buy the bubble as a legitimate excuse.

[Liam_Gallagher]

I hate when people complain about the bubble. They have short memories and forget how life, overall, was.

Sure the bubble was weird. LIFE was weird.

[JayMKE]

It is what it is, 2020 were the "bubble playoffs" and Miami(who were and still are a very tough very well coached team) was able to seize the opportunity. Do I think those playoffs would play out the same if there was HCA? Definitely not but they probably wouldn't play out the same if you played the bubble over again either which could be said about any year, end of the day Miami is in the record books not the Bucks regular season dominance.

[NO-KG-AI]

Giannis is correct, Miami would have never made it to the finals in a regular year as they were a terrible road team in RS and won like the first 6 "road" games" in the bubble. Bucks got screwed that year with being so dominant in the regular season only to have HCA stolen away, literally meant nothing. Whatever, we got our ring.

Bucks got screwed because they played **** basketball. Be happy the front office and Giannis didn't take your attitude into the next season, because big roster improvements and big changes in their star player is what facilitated the title run the next season. Giannis needed he and his teammates failures to learn what needed to be done IMO. No need to diminish the Heat, they played BALL.

[WRau1]

The bubble was stacked with anomalies and the Heat had a team that was perfect for that particular situation. I don't see how that's a bad thing, is it any different than an NFL team being built around playing outdoors in the cold? People are so sensitive.

[NirvanaFC]

Was that supposed to be a diss? You don't want your team to be as focused/disciplined as the Heat?

[LUKE23]

I just can't find myself agreeing with a take like this. No matter how dominant Milwaukee was in the regular season (which, they were, don't get me wrong), Miami still owned the regular season series over them, and the only game Milwaukee managed to win against Miami in the regular season before the playoffs was IN the bubble. Miami just matched up incredibly well with the Bucks, so I can't buy the bubble as a legitimate excuse.

I think they do matchup better this year, but the Bucks just swept basically the same Heat team that was in the bubble last year in the playoffs, with three of the games being embarassing. Anyone who legitimately says the bubble didn't take away basically everything about the true NBA playoffs is kidding themselves. Homecourt and fans is such a huge part of basketball, both college and pros and especially in the postseason.

[LUKE23]

Bucks got screwed because they played **** basketball. Be happy the front office and Giannis didn't take your attitude into the next season, because big roster improvements and big changes in their star player is what facilitated the title run the next season. Giannis needed he and his teammates failures to learn what needed to be done IMO. No need to diminish the Heat, they played BALL.

While I will give the Heat credit for that, would I say the result would have been the same if the series was in Milwaukee with their fans? Absolutely not. That's just reality.

[GusFring]

I don't know why its so hard to admit that bubble year really shouldn't be taken seriously. Players were miserable and depressed, no fans, terrible time for humanity. I think its why no one in LA has embraced lebron as a laker either, a hollow win. But Giannis is looking right until miami proves otherwise in the post season this year.

[Yeggo Poleggo]

Giannis speaks like a true Euro tbh, we as Americans just happen to perceive it aggressively.

[TheLand13]

I just can't find myself agreeing with a take like this. No matter how dominant Milwaukee was in the regular season (which, they were, don't get me wrong), Miami still owned the regular season series over them, and the only game Milwaukee managed to win against Miami in the regular season before the playoffs was IN the bubble. Miami just matched up incredibly well with the Bucks, so I can't buy the bubble as a legitimate excuse.

I think they do matchup better this year, but the Bucks just swept basically the same Heat team that was in the bubble last year in the playoffs, with three of the games being embarassing. Anyone who legitimately says the bubble didn't take away basically everything about the true NBA playoffs is kidding themselves. Homecourt and fans is such a huge part of basketball, both college and pros and especially in the postseason.

It wasn't basically the same Heat team, nor were the Bucks the same team as the previous year. They had Holiday and Tucker this team around. That made a huge difference. Meanwhile the Heat were without Crowder and they just weren't the same team as the previous year. They were built on a system that didn't have the pieces intact. It was easier to exploit.

Of course homecourt and having fans in general is a huge aspect of the playoffs. That isn't something I can deny. But I what I can, and will continue to deny, is this idea that we should pretend Milwaukee would've magically had a better chance of beating Miami if fans and HCA were involved. That's just a fundamentally flawed argument.

[mediocrityrules]

I just can't find myself agreeing with a take like this. No matter how dominant Milwaukee was in the regular season (which, they were, don't get me wrong), Miami still owned the regular season series over them, and the only game Milwaukee managed to win against Miami in the regular season before the playoffs was IN the bubble. Miami just matched up incredibly well with the Bucks, so I can't buy the bubble as a legitimate excuse.

I think they do matchup better this year, but the Bucks just swept basically the same Heat team that was in the bubble last year in the playoffs, with three of the games being embarassing. Anyone who legitimately says the bubble didn't take away basically everything about the true NBA playoffs is kidding themselves. Homecourt and fans is such a huge part of basketball, both college and pros and especially in the postseason.

It wasn't basically the same Heat team, nor were the Bucks the same team as the previous year. They had Holiday and Tucker this team around. That made a huge difference. Meanwhile the Heat were without Crowder and they just weren't the same team as the previous year. They were built on a system that didn't have the pieces intact. It was easier to exploit.

Of course homecourt and having fans in general is a huge aspect of the playoffs. That isn't something I can deny. But I what I can, and will continue to deny, is this idea that we should pretend Milwaukee would've magically had a better chance of beating Miami if fans and HCA were involved. That's just a fundamentally flawed argument.

It's a fundamentally flawed argument to say that HCA is a thing?!? Really?? You probably need to do a bit of research on that one

[TheLand13]

I think they do matchup better this year, but the Bucks just swept basically the same Heat team that was in the bubble last year in the playoffs, with three of the games being embarassing. Anyone who legitimately says the bubble didn't take away basically everything about the true NBA playoffs is kidding themselves. Homecourt and fans is such a huge part of basketball, both college and pros and especially in the postseason.

It wasn't basically the same Heat team, nor were the Bucks the same team as the previous year. They had Holiday and Tucker this team around. That made a huge difference. Meanwhile the Heat were without Crowder and they just weren't the same team as the previous year. They were built on a system that didn't have the pieces intact. It was easier to exploit.

Of course homecourt and having fans in general is a huge aspect of the playoffs. That isn't something I can deny. But I what I can, and will continue to deny, is this idea that we should pretend Milwaukee would've magically had a better chance of beating Miami if fans and HCA were involved. That's just a fundamentally flawed argument.

It's a fundamentally flawed argument to say that HCA is a thing?!? Really?? You probably need to do a bit of research on that one

No, it's a fundamentally flawed argument to use that as a reason to discredit what Miami was able to do against Milwaukee in a scenario where neither team had a crowd to work off of. It was very clear throughout the season that Miami was an insanely tough matchup for Milwaukee, as evidenced by the fact that on both occasions where they met with fans, Miami came out on top. In fact, the only times in that entire season that Milwaukee managed to beat Miami was when they were in the bubble. I can absolutely buy into the idea that HCA would've changed the outcome in a series like Den/LA for example. But to claim it would have mattered in a series in which Miami was on their way to sweeping Milwaukee until Giannis got injured and the Bucks were able to play a more well balanced and dynamic offense as a result? It sounds to me like you not only need to do a bit of research yourself, but you need to actually go watch those games and realize what Miami did to beat Milwaukee in the first place. The whole "they were built for the bubble argument" is laughable nonsense. They were just a matchup nightmare for Milwaukee, and Giannis can't get over that fact.