Are the Bucks fool's gold?

[bon]

The team with the best record in the league, on pace for 70 wins, with a 25 year old back to back MVP, Pop's former right hand man and two time COTY as HC is fools gold? Seriously, get off our nuts Toronto fans. Bucks win Game 3 of ECF last year and they're NBA champions right now.

If your MVP/GOAT scored more than 12 points that game then maybe you could have

Maybe if your MVP didn't bolt first chance he got you'd still have a chance this year too but a lot of things could have made things turn out differently. Bledsoe/Mirotic providing all the bricks needed to 'build a wall' around Giannis, Van Vleet shooting like 80% from 3 put you over the top. It's not rocket science, one team(who mind you was an amazing team in its own right) got hot while the other got cold. I like our chances this go around.

You're ignoring why these things happen in the first place. It's the exact same issue as last year (that I and others were able to spot before the playoffs even started) and you can't see it behind your homer glasses. If your scheme is based around leaving guys open, of course someone is going to get hot eventually. That's not luck, it's common sense.

Then there's Giannis. If your superstar has to depend on unreliable players like Bledsoe and Middleton to score in tense situations because of an inherent weakness in his game then you're not in for a good time. The wall will always be built against him and he needs to be able to beat it, not the role players. Again, I say this every year before the playoffs and I get hit with the same responses of how this time is different etc.

[bisme37]

I think the Bucks' defense is being slept on. I like my Celtics as the best matchup for them in the East because we have 4 guys who can create for themselves and score on tough defense. That said I think the Bucks are the clear favorites in the East. I see them losing to Lakers or Clippers in the Finals. Hard to predict anything after the long layoff though, so let's play and see what happens.

[jlokine]

my issue with them is that when giannis gets loaded up on, they are either relying on Giannis to hit shots over the top from 8-12 feet, or they are relying on a bunch of average shooters to win them games against teams with great shooters and offense

The issue being that the Raptors couldn't stop him wi\thout Kawhi taking the point on defense. When it was Siakam, we couldn't stop him.

So, who in the East has both the man defender and help defense to slow Giannis down? I don't think there is anyone this year, unless OG really shows up.

i feel the defense this year without kawhi against superstars is different from the defense last year with kawhi. this year they have been trapping the superstar player and keeping the ball out of their hands right at half court. harden scored 25 in one game, kawhi (or was it lebron) scored 13. i think they kept giannis in check too. i think they will use the same strategy during playoff

[Duffman100]

If your MVP/GOAT scored more than 12 points that game then maybe you could have

Maybe if your MVP didn't bolt first chance he got you'd still have a chance this year too but a lot of things could have made things turn out differently. Bledsoe/Mirotic providing all the bricks needed to 'build a wall' around Giannis, Van Vleet shooting like 80% from 3 put you over the top. It's not rocket science, one team(who mind you was an amazing team in its own right) got hot while the other got cold. I like our chances this go around.

You're ignoring why these things happen in the first place. It's the exact same issue as last year (that I and others were able to spot before the playoffs even started) and you can't see it behind your homer glasses. If your scheme is based around leaving guys open, of course someone is going to get hot eventually. That's not luck, it's common sense.

Then there's Giannis. If your superstar has to depend on unreliable players like Bledsoe and Middleton to score in tense situations because of an inherent weakness in his game then you're not in for a good time. The wall will always be built against him and he needs to be able to beat it, not the role players. Again, I say this every year before the playoffs and I get hit with the same responses of how this time is different etc.

I think Middleton will be MUCH better this year. His season has been incredible, really underrated and I think he'll be a force.

I still don't believe in Bledsoe. Didn't on the Clippers, didn't on the Suns and don't believe in him now. But I do believe in George Hill, who I think will be a problem for opposing teams again.

[bon]

I think Middleton will be MUCH better this year. His season has been incredible, really underrated and I think he'll be a force.

I still don't believe in Bledsoe. Didn't on the Clippers, didn't on the Suns and don't believe in him now. But I do believe in George Hill, who I think will be a problem for opposing teams again.

If Middleton actually manages to start playing well then Nurse will just have to stick Powell on him again

[First Step]

I think Bledsoe and Middleton are going to choke again...whether that’s in the ECF or Finals we’ll have to wait and see.
At that point Giannis is going to start questioning if he wants to re-sign

We all know that winning the Finals is the pre-qualifier to resigning

Let's revisit this thread in 2022. I bet your post will look something like this

[SFour]

I think Bledsoe and Middleton are going to choke again...whether that’s in the ECF or Finals we’ll have to wait and see.
At that point Giannis is going to start questioning if he wants to re-sign

We all know that winning the Finals is the pre-qualifier to resigning

If Bledsoe and Middleton didn't play like absolute scrubs against the Raptors, Giannis would be a champion right now and his name wouldn't be slandered.

2019 ECF
Bledsoe (6 gp) - 10p/4a/4r on 29/17/76
Middleton (6 gp) - 13.7p/4a/7r on 41/38/77

Bledsoe and Middleton played like they were bench players, in fact FVV and Norman Powell put up better numbers. Like I said, if it happens again Giannis is going to start questioning the situation...the truth hurts but you have to face it.

[The_Hater]

my issue with them is that when giannis gets loaded up on, they are either relying on Giannis to hit shots over the top from 8-12 feet, or they are relying on a bunch of average shooters to win them games against teams with great shooters and offense

The issue being that the Raptors couldn't stop him wi\thout Kawhi taking the point on defense. When it was Siakam, we couldn't stop him.

So, who in the East has both the man defender and help defense to slow Giannis down? I don't think there is anyone this year, unless OG really shows up.

i feel the defense this year without kawhi against superstars is different from the defense last year with kawhi. this year they have been trapping the superstar player and keeping the ball out of their hands right at half court. harden scored 25 in one game, kawhi (or was it lebron) scored 13. i think they kept giannis in check too. i think they will use the same strategy during playoff

No matter what strategy is used, good coaching staffs And great players will generally find counters that eventually work. Boston thought they had the Giannis stopping defense in 2018 playoffs and then he destroyed them in 2019. Trapping a star at half court for one random game during November is very different then trying it for 6-7 games in the playoffs. Also, the Bucks will be ready for that type of defense because they will have seen the Raps use it before against other teams. It won’t be a surprise. Playoff preparation and attention to detail is so much different than the regular season.

The Raps are going to need a list of things go perfectly for them to win a series against the Bucks. The talent gap and especially the superstar gap is pretty big. Last season both of those things were pretty close.

[Duffman100]

I think Bledsoe and Middleton are going to choke again...whether that’s in the ECF or Finals we’ll have to wait and see.
At that point Giannis is going to start questioning if he wants to re-sign

We all know that winning the Finals is the pre-qualifier to resigning

If Bledsoe and Middleton didn't play like absolute scrubs against the Raptors, Giannis would be a champion right now and his name wouldn't be slandered.

2019 ECF
Bledsoe (6 gp) - 10p/4a/4r on 29/17/76
Middleton (6 gp) - 13.7p/4a/7r on 41/38/77

Bledsoe and Middleton played like they were bench players, in fact FVV and Norman Powell put up better numbers.

Those Middleton numbers don't actually look that bad. Like he actually should have had the ball more often. Curious if it was a byproduct of missing open looks so the confidence and trust was there.

I do really like him and think he's a good player on both sides of the ball.

[Smithers]

They aren't fool's gold, but facing either LA team in the finals is gonna be tough. They're going to roll through the east though.

[trwi7]

This page is really helping JayMKE's argument.

[Duffman100]

This page is really helping JayMKE's argument.

Sigh, I try and keep them away. I swear I do.

I love all NBA teams and want to discuss their strengths and weaknesses without being labelled as part of a bigger problem.

[SFour]

We all know that winning the Finals is the pre-qualifier to resigning

If Bledsoe and Middleton didn't play like absolute scrubs against the Raptors, Giannis would be a champion right now and his name wouldn't be slandered.

2019 ECF
Bledsoe (6 gp) - 10p/4a/4r on 29/17/76
Middleton (6 gp) - 13.7p/4a/7r on 41/38/77

Bledsoe and Middleton played like they were bench players, in fact FVV and Norman Powell put up better numbers.

Those Middleton numbers don't actually look that bad. Like he actually should have had the ball more often. Curious if it was a byproduct of missing open looks so the confidence and trust was there.

I do really like him and think he's a good player on both sides of the ball.

they aren't as bad as Bledsoe's numbers but if he averaged 18 ppg like he did in the regular season it could've been the difference in the series...for example in game 3 which most consider a turning point in the series, Middleton scored 9 points in 44 minutes..shooting 3-16 from the field. If he doesn't play like a complete scrub they probably win the game and the series.

[The_Hater]

This page is really helping JayMKE's argument.

I just read the page over and I can’t even see one post that fits into this opinion.

[JayMKE]

Bledsoe's issue is that it's a lot harder to get to the basket and finish in the playoffs and being a incredibly streaky shooter from deep, he loses confidence and his whole game falls apart for whatever reason. There are guys who turn this narrative around for themselves as you know like Kyle Lowry did last year, even if he's struggling to score if the rest of his game didn't fall apart it wouldn't be nearly as much of a problem. We have George Hill and healthy DiVicenzo this year waiting to step in if its an issue again. Bucks need to make teams pay for swarming 4 guys at Giannis every time he put the ball down, a lot of it comes down to just hitting the open 3s.

[trwi7]

This page is really helping JayMKE's argument.

I just read the page over and I can’t even see one post that fits into this opinion.

[Duffman100]

Bledsoe's issue is that it's a lot harder to get to the basket and finish in the playoffs and being a incredibly streaky shooter from deep, he loses confidence and his whole game falls apart for whatever reason. There are guys who turn this narrative around for themselves as you know like Kyle Lowry did last year, even if he's struggling to score if the rest of his game didn't fall apart it wouldn't be nearly as much of a problem. We have George Hill and healthy DiVicenzo this year waiting to step in too. Bucks need to make teams pay for swarming 4 guys at Giannis every time he put the ball down, a lot of it comes down to just hitting the open 3s.

He reminds me of Derozan TBH. Good regular season player, makes it to the playoffs, teams tighten up and his jumpshot fails him.

Lowry honestly gets a bad rap being tied to Derozan. His last few playoff stretches have been good to great. And even when his shot wasn't falling, he as still a net positive on the court with all the little things he did (charges, deflections, ref management).

Derozan was just useless.

[SFour]

The team with the best record in the league, on pace for 70 wins, with a 25 year old back to back MVP, Pop's former right hand man and two time COTY as HC is fools gold? Seriously, get off our nuts Toronto fans. Bucks win Game 3 of ECF last year and they're NBA champions right now.

maybe if Middleton didn't score only 9 points in 44 minutes on 3-16 shooting and Bledsoe didn't shoot 3-16 the Bucks do actually win game 3 and go on to win the championship...instead you got two chokers in Bledsoe and Middleton who are primed to underperform again in the 2020 playoffs.

[GiannisAnte34]

I think Bledsoe and Middleton are going to choke again...whether that’s in the ECF or Finals we’ll have to wait and see.
At that point Giannis is going to start questioning if he wants to re-sign

We all know that winning the Finals is the pre-qualifier to resigning

If Bledsoe and Middleton didn't play like absolute scrubs against the Raptors, Giannis would be a champion right now and his name wouldn't be slandered.

2019 ECF
Bledsoe (6 gp) - 10p/4a/4r on 29/17/76
Middleton (6 gp) - 13.7p/4a/7r on 41/38/77

Bledsoe and Middleton played like they were bench players, in fact FVV and Norman Powell put up better numbers. Like I said, if it happens again Giannis is going to start questioning the situation...the truth hurts but you have to face it.

Yawn, what a boring talking point. We get it. The Raps won the 2019 NBA Finals, this forum has been reminded of it plenty. It's 2020 and teams/players have evolved.

[mademan]

Bucks are the best team in the league and theyre the only team, imo, that is favoured in every series they play.