2020-21 NBA Season Discussion

[70sFan]

Bucks are finally looking like a legit title team. Jrue stepped up big time, he was Player of the Game tonight. I don't think we could find more than 5 PGs in NBA history that could do so much on defensive side of the ball. Khris also started to look more and more confident.

Giannis transformation is a revelation of these playoffs. I really love how he's been playing since game 6 of ECSF. He doesn't force anything anymore and his bigman game has been unstoppable.

Other quick thoughts:

1. Refs allow Booker to be extremely physical on both ends of the court. He's been treated like Michael Jordan or something, I'm glad the Suns lost this game.

2. Paul has been disappointing since game one, tonight he was attacked by Middleton and Jrue on defense. It seems that the days when Paul was excellent defender are gone at this point.

It's not so much a transformation with Giannis or at least it's not new in the playoffs, there have been a bunch of phases of him playing as a big all season, it's just been sporadic and I guess the bad knee just took it from a part of his game to most of it. There's also some really nice high post wrinkles I thought we'd see more of in the playoffs but we seem to only go to that when teams zone us. Kinda sucks, we've got some high/low Giannis/Brook stuff that hasn't come out of the bottom drawer in the playoffs outside of one Nets? game. I think that action would help keep Lopez on the floor longer.

I didn't watch many RS games this year, so I believe you that's the case. Giannis still started playing his old self at the beginning of the playoffs, so I'm glad he abandoned it in the Nets series.

It's still a bad thing that Lopez is underutilized so much on offensive end when Giannis is on the floor, but it seems that Bud will never change that, I have to live with that.

[AussieBuck]

Bucks are finally looking like a legit title team. Jrue stepped up big time, he was Player of the Game tonight. I don't think we could find more than 5 PGs in NBA history that could do so much on defensive side of the ball. Khris also started to look more and more confident.

Giannis transformation is a revelation of these playoffs. I really love how he's been playing since game 6 of ECSF. He doesn't force anything anymore and his bigman game has been unstoppable.

Other quick thoughts:

1. Refs allow Booker to be extremely physical on both ends of the court. He's been treated like Michael Jordan or something, I'm glad the Suns lost this game.

2. Paul has been disappointing since game one, tonight he was attacked by Middleton and Jrue on defense. It seems that the days when Paul was excellent defender are gone at this point.

It's not so much a transformation with Giannis or at least it's not new in the playoffs, there have been a bunch of phases of him playing as a big all season, it's just been sporadic and I guess the bad knee just took it from a part of his game to most of it. There's also some really nice high post wrinkles I thought we'd see more of in the playoffs but we seem to only go to that when teams zone us. Kinda sucks, we've got some high/low Giannis/Brook stuff that hasn't come out of the bottom drawer in the playoffs outside of one Nets? game. I think that action would help keep Lopez on the floor longer.

I didn't watch many RS games this year, so I believe you that's the case. Giannis still started playing his old self at the beginning of the playoffs, so I'm glad he abandoned it in the Nets series.

It's still a bad thing that Lopez is underutilized so much on offensive end when Giannis is on the floor, but it seems that Bud will never change that, I have to live with that.

Giannis kinda developed some trust issues in the Bledsoe era, but I think funny enough his issues early against the Nets were the stupid rivalry he has with Harden. He got goaded into trying to prove he's a guard for a while there. I guess game one against Miami was rough too but again I think that's a trust issue one. We were ice cold on jumpers (5 of 31 threes!) and Giannis went back to trying to just bust through the wall.

The Brook stuff frustrates me too, I know we don't see eye to eye on Brook's defensive utility against high pick and roll teams but I totally agree that we should be using Lopez more in the post when he's out there. He had a few games where we went to him and he fumbled around on the catch and then we stopped going to it. I would have loved to have seen him put Crowder in some foul trouble down there with his array of sweeping and arm hooking moves. He makes the shot too most of the time he's down there playing giant Harden.

[Dupp]

Bucks are finally looking like a legit title team. Jrue stepped up big time, he was Player of the Game tonight. I don't think we could find more than 5 PGs in NBA history that could do so much on defensive side of the ball. Khris also started to look more and more confident.

Giannis transformation is a revelation of these playoffs. I really love how he's been playing since game 6 of ECSF. He doesn't force anything anymore and his bigman game has been unstoppable.

Other quick thoughts:

1. Refs allow Booker to be extremely physical on both ends of the court. He's been treated like Michael Jordan or something, I'm glad the Suns lost this game.

2. Paul has been disappointing since game one, tonight he was attacked by Middleton and Jrue on defense. It seems that the days when Paul was excellent defender are gone at this point.

I dunno why people keep complaining about bookers physicality, Jrue has been that and then some.

I’m not complaining either way but seeing a lot of one way booker comments.

[70sFan]

Bucks are finally looking like a legit title team. Jrue stepped up big time, he was Player of the Game tonight. I don't think we could find more than 5 PGs in NBA history that could do so much on defensive side of the ball. Khris also started to look more and more confident.

Giannis transformation is a revelation of these playoffs. I really love how he's been playing since game 6 of ECSF. He doesn't force anything anymore and his bigman game has been unstoppable.

Other quick thoughts:

1. Refs allow Booker to be extremely physical on both ends of the court. He's been treated like Michael Jordan or something, I'm glad the Suns lost this game.

2. Paul has been disappointing since game one, tonight he was attacked by Middleton and Jrue on defense. It seems that the days when Paul was excellent defender are gone at this point.

I dunno why people keep complaining about bookers physicality, Jrue has been that and then some.

I’m not complaining either way but seeing a lot of one way booker comments.

Because it's Booker who gets away with everything. Holiday usually plays tough, physical defense but he doesn't push defenders around with his hands and elbows on the other side of the ball. Booker is treated like nobody else in the finals, even Paul included.

[Dupp]

Bucks are finally looking like a legit title team. Jrue stepped up big time, he was Player of the Game tonight. I don't think we could find more than 5 PGs in NBA history that could do so much on defensive side of the ball. Khris also started to look more and more confident.

Giannis transformation is a revelation of these playoffs. I really love how he's been playing since game 6 of ECSF. He doesn't force anything anymore and his bigman game has been unstoppable.

Other quick thoughts:

1. Refs allow Booker to be extremely physical on both ends of the court. He's been treated like Michael Jordan or something, I'm glad the Suns lost this game.

2. Paul has been disappointing since game one, tonight he was attacked by Middleton and Jrue on defense. It seems that the days when Paul was excellent defender are gone at this point.

I dunno why people keep complaining about bookers physicality, Jrue has been that and then some.

I’m not complaining either way but seeing a lot of one way booker comments.

Because it's Booker who gets away with everything. Holiday usually plays tough, physical defense but he doesn't push defenders around with his hands and elbows on the other side of the ball. Booker is treated like nobody else in the finals, even Paul included.

Yeah fair enough. I guess offensive stuff is much more noticeable. I feel like Jrue gets away with a bit defensively.

Regardless I like how the finals have been reffed. Mistakes happen but it’s allowed to be very physical. My only irk is the refs clearly keeping booker on the court when he fouled out twice. Borderline blatant cheating.

[70sFan]

I dunno why people keep complaining about bookers physicality, Jrue has been that and then some.

I’m not complaining either way but seeing a lot of one way booker comments.

Because it's Booker who gets away with everything. Holiday usually plays tough, physical defense but he doesn't push defenders around with his hands and elbows on the other side of the ball. Booker is treated like nobody else in the finals, even Paul included.

Yeah fair enough. I guess offensive stuff is much more noticeable. I feel like Jrue gets away with a bit defensively.

Regardless I like how the finals have been reffed. Mistakes happen but it’s allowed to be very physical. My only irk is the refs clearly keeping booker on the court when he fouled out twice. Borderline blatant cheating.

I like physicality allowed, but I can't say that refs do a good job. Game 4 of the finals was one of the worst officiating I've ever seen in my life and it's not only about ignored Booker calls. Refs don't do a good job for such a big stake, although outside of game 4 they are not the worst ever.

[MartinToVaught]

Read on Twitter

Is the Doc Rivers curse really happening again?

[Texas Chuck]

Eh refs have been fine except for this blind spot with Devin Booker. He sometimes just pushes off with his forearm or shoulder and that's fine, but we've been told and its been called all year that when you extend your arm and push its an offensive foul. He does that 15 times a game? And not one has been called. And he's reaching and grabbing(playing nothing like Jrue defensively who is moving his feet and keeping his hands and arms back) on defense and most of that is let go.

And then when they finally call something on him, he's allowed to gesture, yell, and literally chase the refs across the court with no techs. I'm not conspiracy guy but this really has the feel of the NBA desperately trying to make a star of Devin Booker and giving him star treatment.

And it sucks because Middleton gets almost no calls and just plays right on through it with nary a word nor a complaint. Because he's not a self-promoter, he was a 2nd round pick, and he just doesn't look like a marketing group thinks a star needs to look.

But its okay because Paul is going to leave or decline and the Suns will have this one year rise and fall back and Booker can go back to irrelevancy.

[PaulieWal]

Yeah, count me in with those who don't want to see Paul win and that he "deserves to finally win one" or something was annoying to hear as someone who doesn't like him at all. Giannis winning one is great for Milwaukee too from a small team market perspective and hopefully it means Giannis is going to be there at least for the most of his prime competing for titles and won't be looking to leave to another team to get the monkey off his back.

[No-more-rings]

Yeah, count me in with those who don't want to see Paul win and that he "deserves to finally win one" or something was annoying to hear as someone who doesn't like him at all. Giannis winning one is great for Milwaukee too from a small team market perspective and hopefully it means Giannis is going to be there at least for the most of his prime competing for titles and won't be looking to leave to another team to get the monkey off his back.

That’s what always annoyed me, when people say things like “so and so deserves to win one”. No one “deserves” it without actually earning it. If you don’t then you don’t.

[Outside]

Giannis is far and away the best player on the Bucks. Middleton is playing great, but he gets 1v1 coverage thanks to the threat of Giannis in the paint. The change from point Giannis to post Giannis has unleashed Giannis gravity. Just because he doesn't score on the play doesn't mean he doesn't deserve partial credit for creating the opportunity.

The Suns are the perfect opponent to maximize post Giannis and the resulting gravity. Ayton is young and inexperienced, and they have no one else to provide rim protection or bother Giannis in the post. He can whirl or drive around Ayton, and about all anyone else can do is foul. Crowder is not a stretch 4, he's a perimeter 4 whose floor-bound game limits his effectiveness inside on both ends.

I had Giannis as the one guy with a legitimate shot at passing Jokic for POY, and that's what he's doing.

[Outside]

I don't get the Booker hate. He comes across as likeable with the media, he absorbed the broken nose from Beverly without complaining and overcame Beverly's defense, he scores well, he's gritty and puts in excellent effort on both ends.

I get that he should've been called for more fouls, but it's not his fault they weren't called. He's not dirty. I get that he's made plays with poor awareness of time and score, but not THAT many, and people seem to forget that this isn't just his first time in the finals, it's his first time in the playoffs. It's been a collective effort, but he's been the Suns best player in this playoff run. Dude just scored 40 in two straight finals games. It sure ain't Chris Paul carrying them out there.

Like I said, I don't get where the Booker hate is coming from. I appreciate and respect his game a lot more now that I see it leading his team to success at such a high level.

[Dr Positivity]

If Suns lose this series to me it will be Game 4 more than Game 5 that cost them. Putting extra defensive attention on Giannis and banking on Bucks non Middleton supporting cast to miss is viable strategy, however they needed to win the one where they went 7-29 from 3 and Holiday went 4-20, and with 9 pt lead in 4th quarter in Game 4 the opportunity was there.

[Goudelock]

So how would you guys rate coach Bud's performance thru five games?

On one hand, I love how he's switching up the Bucks' defense on the pick and roll and isn't just rolling with drop coverage every possession. I like how he's having Giannis guard Ayton, and having Antetokounmpo play as a traditional bigman while Middleton and Holliday handle the ball.

On the other hand, his inability to call any play outside of "Jrue/Middleton/Giannis plz iso us to victory" in the fourth quarter damn near blew the game. And for some reason he keeps wanting to play Jeff Teague for some reason.

[Dr Positivity]

So how would you guys rate coach Bud's performance thru five games?

On one hand, I love how he's switching up the Bucks' defense on the pick and roll and isn't just rolling with drop coverage every possession. I like how he's having Giannis guard Ayton, and having Antetokounmpo play as a traditional bigman while Middleton and Holliday handle the ball.

On the other hand, his inability to call any play outside of "Jrue/Middleton/Giannis plz iso us to victory" in the fourth quarter damn near blew the game. And for some reason he keeps wanting to play Jeff Teague for some reason.

Great - Bud has earned his playoff wings adjustments wise and the system is his.

[Texas Chuck]

I don't get the Booker hate. He comes across as likeable with the media, he absorbed the broken nose from Beverly without complaining and overcame Beverly's defense, he scores well, he's gritty and puts in excellent effort on both ends.

I get that he should've been called for more fouls, but it's not his fault they weren't called. He's not dirty. I get that he's made plays with poor awareness of time and score, but not THAT many, and people seem to forget that this isn't just his first time in the finals, it's his first time in the playoffs. It's been a collective effort, but he's been the Suns best player in this playoff run. Dude just scored 40 in two straight finals games. It sure ain't Chris Paul carrying them out there.

Like I said, I don't get where the Booker hate is coming from. I appreciate and respect his game a lot more now that I see it leading his team to success at such a high level.

I started the Booker sportshate and I freely admit some of it is irrational. But IDC. I sportshated Kobe and Wade and now Booker is in my maybe undeserved crosshairs. To me its part of the fun of sports -- you have some babyfaces(that's Jrue for me) and some heels(Booker for me, Paul for most) that add to the experience.

But its how much he reeks of entitlement that bugs me. That video last summer of a pick up game where he lost his cool completely about how he was defended because he was working on stuff was indicative of what we are seeing in these games now. I'm sure though he's probably a good human and he's certainly a very talented player who as you say is new to this whole winning team/playoff thing.

IDK we like who we like. Paul doesn't bother me at all and I actually enjoy most of his nonsense. Booker, just rubs me wrong. NBD

[Texas Chuck]

So how would you guys rate coach Bud's performance thru five games?

On one hand, I love how he's switching up the Bucks' defense on the pick and roll and isn't just rolling with drop coverage every possession. I like how he's having Giannis guard Ayton, and having Antetokounmpo play as a traditional bigman while Middleton and Holliday handle the ball.

On the other hand, his inability to call any play outside of "Jrue/Middleton/Giannis plz iso us to victory" in the fourth quarter damn near blew the game. And for some reason he keeps wanting to play Jeff Teague for some reason.

You can't blame him for the FO leaving him no bench. He has 6.5 players and that's just not enough so he has to play Teague or Forbes and he tried Forbes first these playoffs and got nothing so now he's trying to steal minutes with Teague. But that's not on him. You can't play different guys if you have so few NBA guys on the roster given to you.

Which goes to the other problem. Unless you run some BroLo post-ups, they don't have any other options but to go to their stars. But that's literally how every team would be playing in the playoffs. You run through your best players and ask your role players to hit open shots and Pat C is doing that for them.

[SeniorWalker]

I need to vent, the last month of NBA has been insane.

I don't like Booker because he's a flopper and I stand firm against floppers no matter who they are haha. It's a shame though, because unlike Trae Young, I see a lot of shades in Book's game that tell me he doesn't need to rely on the whistle to be a high level player. He needs to be smarter about shot selection and when to utilize his teammates better (after Paul inevitably leaves)... And btw, CP3 has both helped and hurt his legacy this year in my eyes. He proved me wrong (in a positive way) with some aspects of his locker room leadership but then let me down with some of his on court antics and play.



I also don't think there's a such thing as deserving a title, unless you're talking about some fluke injury or something that prevents it when you're clearly in the driver's seat, at the very precipice of the title literally in the finals. Nearly 30 years of watching playoffs have taught me that anything can happen.

I thought about putting an asterisk next to the bucks title, because after Harden went down I thought they had a great chance of going all the way. And then kyrie went down and really seemingly took the wind out of that series, which I thought was close between the two teams at the time (I actually watched half that series in Vegas, which was fun). The series ended up being close even after that, which is disappointing on the bucks end...but also unlocked a lot in Giannis confidence in a way I think he needed at the time. I think going forward we will see a higher level Giannis from a mental standpoint. And seeing how the bucks fought to get here, I can't asterisk their title. I didn't asterisk Cleveland's title in 2016 even though I firmly believe they would have been closed out in game 5 had not a series of weird events happened. They fought hard, came back and won and deserve the credit, like the bucks are doing now.

This year was one of the most unpredictable years I've ever gone through and I don't even know how I feel about it yet. But I might like the direction the game is going now, with loyal, character guys like Giannis being able to win their way and the league taking hard look at flopping.

[AussieBuck]

So how would you guys rate coach Bud's performance thru five games?

On one hand, I love how he's switching up the Bucks' defense on the pick and roll and isn't just rolling with drop coverage every possession. I like how he's having Giannis guard Ayton, and having Antetokounmpo play as a traditional bigman while Middleton and Holliday handle the ball.

On the other hand, his inability to call any play outside of "Jrue/Middleton/Giannis plz iso us to victory" in the fourth quarter damn near blew the game. And for some reason he keeps wanting to play Jeff Teague for some reason.

Bucks in the playoffs are a super thin team so he's had to juggle the lineups and lean on the main guys. I'm a Bud critic but he's done a great job with what he's had to work with. The Khris plus bigs lineup was awesome to witness as a fill in for having no guards, Teague probably won't play again.

The stagnant, unorganised offense is a thing but we have a combo guard at lead guard, Khris can only dribble facing the basket if he's got a Giannis pick and roll removing the defense and everyone else is basically a PF or C. Kinda lends itself to just doing the 2-3 things that work over and over.

[DirtyDez]

I don't get the Booker hate. He comes across as likeable with the media, he absorbed the broken nose from Beverly without complaining and overcame Beverly's defense, he scores well, he's gritty and puts in excellent effort on both ends.

I get that he should've been called for more fouls, but it's not his fault they weren't called. He's not dirty. I get that he's made plays with poor awareness of time and score, but not THAT many, and people seem to forget that this isn't just his first time in the finals, it's his first time in the playoffs. It's been a collective effort, but he's been the Suns best player in this playoff run. Dude just scored 40 in two straight finals games. It sure ain't Chris Paul carrying them out there.

Like I said, I don't get where the Booker hate is coming from. I appreciate and respect his game a lot more now that I see it leading his team to success at such a high level.

So far this page we have a Trae fan who complains about Booker’s flopping and a Luka fan complaining about Booker’s complaining. Fans don’t need logical reasons to dislike a player. Sometimes you just find someone hard to root for.