ATL - Embiid Out for the Season

[pifhluk23]

Prediction:

1) Bucks squeak out a tough playoff series against the Pacers. Lose to the Cavs.

2) Some posters exclaim that if we only had Atkinson, we'd be champs.

3) Some posters exclaim that if we only we played a,b, c more, things would be different.

Horst is fired (not a problem for me). Without major personnel moves, nothing much changes.

The only excuse I'll accept for losing a playoff series is an injury to Giannis or Dame causing them to miss the majority of a series, and even with Dame, that's still going to be an indictment of the choices made in building this roster. It is inherently vulnerable because we're so over-leveraged on two guys. But anything else is just normal stuff you should be able to weather, and along the lines of which the team who wins the championship will almost certainly have to overcome.

So does this mean you think the Bucks, if healthy, have enough to defeat the Cavs, Celtics, and OKC (or whoever in the finals)?

I need some cheering up on this team, so I'm all ears.

We have the talent to make the Finals but not the IQ or leadership. Giannis and Dame just aren't leaders, it's not really something you can develop either you are just born with it. I'll be 70 years old in a nursing home complaining to anyone that will listen that we could have had 2-4 more rings if we had gotten Butler on either of the occasions we had a chance to.

I believe this to be Giannis's greatest flaws as well. He thinks he's a leader but he isn't and it's led to stuff like Griffin, not trading Midds for Butler and I'm sure plenty of other stuff we don't know about yet.

[Plossum]

We're going to have to go through at least 3 playoff rounds of teams that are objectively better than us either way. Really the only silver lining any of us have is the idea that "parity" is now very real (debatable to what extent) and we could just go on a heater with us having the best player in every series. It's been done before (Rockets in '95), but we're all just grasping at straws for reasons to be optimistic at this point.

I think I read a stat somewhere that every champion for the last 14-straight years had at least a Top-5 net-rating and 50+ wins. We're not reaching either of those marks, so it should really be sinking in just how much of a historic upset it would be for this team to flip a switch and win it all. We're not dropping past the 6-seed (6.5 games up on the Hawks), so my priority right now would be to load manage the rest of the way and get Giannis/Dame as healthy as you can.

This is correct. Giannis and Dame need to average somewhere between 60-70 a game and then we need a role guy to step up each game for us to realistically have a chance.

I mean it could happen. Miami rode a huge heater in 2023 and nearly got a title. Dallas was able to ride the Dirk heater all the way in 2011. But if everything plays out as it should, we’ll be out in round 2.

[BigO]

The only excuse I'll accept for losing a playoff series is an injury to Giannis or Dame causing them to miss the majority of a series, and even with Dame, that's still going to be an indictment of the choices made in building this roster. It is inherently vulnerable because we're so over-leveraged on two guys. But anything else is just normal stuff you should be able to weather, and along the lines of which the team who wins the championship will almost certainly have to overcome.

So does this mean you think the Bucks, if healthy, have enough to defeat the Cavs, Celtics, and OKC (or whoever in the finals)?

I need some cheering up on this team, so I'm all ears.

We have the talent to make the Finals but not the IQ or leadership. Giannis and Dame just aren't leaders, it's not really something you can develop either you are just born with it. I'll be 70 years old in a nursing home complaining to anyone that will listen that we could have had 2-4 more rings if we had gotten Butler on either of the occasions we had a chance to.

I believe this to be Giannis's greatest flaws as well. He thinks he's a leader but he isn't and it's led to stuff like Griffin, not trading Midds for Butler and I'm sure plenty of other stuff we don't know about yet.

Whe your starting lineup includes Prince and Kuzma, I have a hard time understanding how that is championship talent.

Add in that one of your two superstars is not a good defender and that's not a prescription for success.

[chonestown]

3-5 champion ships is an optimism I wish I could powder, stir in to milk and drink heartily.

[GoldenAntlers]

No interest in ducking anybody.

[emunney]

Prediction:

1) Bucks squeak out a tough playoff series against the Pacers. Lose to the Cavs.

2) Some posters exclaim that if we only had Atkinson, we'd be champs.

3) Some posters exclaim that if we only we played a,b, c more, things would be different.

Horst is fired (not a problem for me). Without major personnel moves, nothing much changes.

The only excuse I'll accept for losing a playoff series is an injury to Giannis or Dame causing them to miss the majority of a series, and even with Dame, that's still going to be an indictment of the choices made in building this roster. It is inherently vulnerable because we're so over-leveraged on two guys. But anything else is just normal stuff you should be able to weather, and along the lines of which the team who wins the championship will almost certainly have to overcome.

So does this mean you think the Bucks, if healthy, have enough to defeat the Cavs, Celtics, and OKC (or whoever in the finals)?

I need some cheering up on this team, so I'm all ears.

Yeah, I think they have the talent, and I absolutely would not expect them to beat any of those teams in a series. I'm just saying that losing a series without an injury to one of those guys should provoke action whereas an injury would allow for some murkiness, even though regular season performance the past two seasons paint a clear enough picture that we don't warrant mention among the favorites.

Still, I maintain my belief that a team with prime Giannis can never be far from good enough, and talent often comes from unexpected places.

Pp and I had a long running debate many years ago, where he insisted that great players being picked outside the lottery died with the draft age limit, and I insisted that the conditions that made HS players difficult to scout for the NBA were not unique to high school. A couple years later, we drafted Giannis out of the Greek 2nd division, and then the Nuggets picked Jokic out of the Adriatic League.

I'm not saying this is the same, but we don't need *that* kind of luck or skill. Just a pretty good move or two. It's not out of reach.

[Wonka]

No interest in ducking anybody.

We don’t have nearly enough talent or depth to even be thinking about ducking anyone

[MickeyDavis]

Actually when you don't have enough talent and depth is when you do think about ducking someone. But in our case it doesn't matter. There are too many teams ahead of us to "duck". But I'd love some Pacers payback from last year.

[emunney]

Actually when you don't have enough talent and depth is when you do think about ducking someone. But in our case it doesn't matter. There are too many teams ahead of us to "duck". But I'd love some Pacers payback from last year.

Yeah, I'm sure I'll get greedy after we advance, but setting the record straight with the Pacers would be pretty satisfying.

[Matches Malone]

That was crazy what happened to Tracy Morgan during the Knicks game. Hope he's okay.

[MickeyDavis]

That was crazy what happened to Tracy Morgan during the Knicks game. Hope he's okay.

It's pretty gross, especially if you look at the full pic, I'll put it in spoiler tags

Spoiler:

Read on Twitter

[Matches Malone]

That was crazy what happened to Tracy Morgan during the Knicks game. Hope he's okay.

It's pretty gross, I'll put it in spoiler tags

Spoiler:

Read on Twitter

Yeah, it was pretty gnarly. They had to wheel him out and he also had a bad nosebleed. That sucks.

[Matches Malone]

Read on Twitter

[blazza18]

Quentin Grimes has been on a heater this month

[MickeyDavis]

Read on Twitter

[BUCKnation]

Wolves being annoying tonight and the 76ers with an all time choke/tank

[MickeyDavis]

Warriors get the Nuggets without Jokic and Murray

[blazza18]

The Pacers continue to hit bs threes

[BUCKnation]

Wolves being annoying tonight and the 76ers with an all time choke/tank

Pacers insanely annoying.

Toppin literally just hit a similar 3 to hali. 4 3’s for him in OT

[Matches Malone]

wtf is Quentin Grimes on. Just another 46-point performance lmao. I remember wanting him when he was still on the Knicks. Had no clue he was capable of this stretch.