Are the Bucks fool's gold?

[arh1109]

No, the Bucks were probably going to win it all this season. They have more veteran 3pt shooters, and Matthews helped that team a lot. Boston doesn't match up well with them.

[JordansBulls]

They are Cavs in 2009 and 2010

[Chandan]

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/siakapa01.html

Where is the improvement? He takes more shots, so his scoring goes up but his efficiency goes down.

Everything else stays the same in terms of impact. His BPM and VORP are slightly worse.

I don't see this improvement people keep talking about. He is pretty much the same player he was last season.

If anything, this version is worse, because he can't be your 1st option.

What an ignorant comment You basically admitted to never watching him play this season and are just looking at his stats.
As one poster already pointed out, he went from being the 2nd/3rd option to the clear cut first option attracting the opposing teams best defenders. Yet his scoring went up big time and efficiency stayed the exact same (don't know why you said it went down).

IF you had watched him play this season you'd know he's made significant strides in his game.
Much improved handles, pulling up for 3s, drastic improvements in his post up game, stepback mid-range jumpers, etc. In past years, he was only taking corner 3s & his mid-range game was non-existent. He's added so much to his game this year it's crazy. But you wouldn't know because you know you don't watch any Raptors games.

Here are just a few games off the top of my head that do a wonderful job portraying his remarkable growth.

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Don't make your concluding statements based on box scores. Makes you look like a casual.

I already said he's a 1st option.

His scoring efficiency WENT DOWN. His TS went DOWN. His PER has stayed the same, but his scoring efficiency went down.

You can cherry-pick 2-3 amazing games from any player and say he's improved.

All of those improvements you cite don't correlate with any impact stats.

You're using your own biases. I'm using STATISTICAL FACTS.

Don't jump to generalizations when you have no clue what I watch or not.

The impact numbers clearly show him being a similar impact player as last season. The only difference is that he scores more, but does so on higher volume with less efficiency.

FG% and PPG ratio is not linear, especially when roles are adjusted.
If trae Young comes back next season averages 36 ppg but on 40%, over last year's 30 ppg and 43%, yes he has improved. This is not counting if Trae was already a first option last year.

[Chandan]

i dont know why bucks fan bring middleton into this. That's just your insecurity talking. Middleton is good. He's an all star. he's dangerous in any game. His efficiency was off the chart this year (due to giannas i suppose)

[FlatearthZorro]

I don't think the Bucks are fool's gold. I think they are pretty dang spectacular. The things they do are simple, but they it works to perfection. Now in the playoffs the game is slightly slower and different. To me the Bucks are the clear cut favorites to win the East, Raptors and Celtics have a shot if fully healthy and are able to fulfill their potential. Miami is definitely the dark horse.

[FlatearthZorro]

Hard to be considered fool's gold when very few people even believe you are gold. Outside of Buck fans and a select few media people, nobody is picking the Bucks.

Hell, I have been hearing more about Boston and Philly than Milwaukee and Toronto which is just crazy.

I actually have the Bucks as the clear cut favorites to win the East with a pretty good shot to win it all. I have the Bucks as favorites against any team outside of the Clippers. I believe the Clippers match up pretty well against the Bucks and the lay off kinda helps them(Kawhi resting and George having time to come back, etc)..

[skones]

i dont know why bucks fan bring middleton into this. That's just your insecurity talking. Middleton is good. He's an all star. he's dangerous in any game. His efficiency was off the chart this year (due to giannas i suppose)

His efficiency is not off the charts due to Giannis. Middleton has leveled up. He's just been that good.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using RealGM mobile app

[LBJKB24MJ23]

it could be anyone's championship this year. they basically had a mini off season. it will be whoever comes together first as a team to win it all.

[trwi7]

i dont know why bucks fan bring middleton into this. That's just your insecurity talking. Middleton is good. He's an all star. he's dangerous in any game. His efficiency was off the chart this year (due to giannas i suppose)

The first several mentions of Middleton in this thread came from Raptors fans.

[mademan]

Hard to be considered fool's gold when very few people even believe you are gold. Outside of Buck fans and a select few media people, nobody is picking the Bucks.

Hell, I have been hearing more about Boston and Philly than Milwaukee and Toronto which is just crazy.

I actually have the Bucks as the clear cut favorites to win the East with a pretty good shot to win it all. I have the Bucks as favorites against any team outside of the Clippers. I believe the Clippers match up pretty well against the Bucks and the lay off kinda helps them(Kawhi resting and George having time to come back, etc)..

Clippers have terrible matchup issues against the Bucks. It's the Lakers that can at least match up with them size wise, Clippers have no actual 2 way big. They'll be forced to play Zubac big minutes, which i dont think he's capable of, and which takes away from their offense. And Lou is gonna have nowhere to hide

[Dnt hate]

The Raptors are becoming overrated.

Siakam's 'improvement' this year is a bit of a myth.

If the Celtics had a good post defender, they'd be my best bet to knock out the Bucks, but they don't.

Don't really see a team in the East stopping Giannis this season.

How exactly is it a myth?
And how exactly are we becoming overrated when we still barely get any media attention after everything we've accomplished this year? Especially when you consider that a lot of people had us missing the playoffs before the season started.

Your missing playoff michael fkin jordan who left your team

[Moahst]

Giannis can be game planned for in the half court. Things tend to slow down in the playoffs. I can see a number of teams, specifically the Clippers, making the Bucks look very vulnerable.

[Profound23]

Giannis can be game planned for in the half court. Things tend to slow down in the playoffs. I can see a number of teams, specifically the Clippers, making the Bucks look very vulnerable.

I can see the Lakers or Clippers beating the Bucks. Does that make them Fool's Gold? Kawhi already beat Giannis with a lesser team last year.

[JayMKE]

The Bucks/Lakers/Clippers are on a tier of their own, it wouldn't be an upset if any of them win. A real shocker would be anybody else.

[KrazyP]

Giannis can be game planned for in the half court. Things tend to slow down in the playoffs. I can see a number of teams, specifically the Clippers, making the Bucks look very vulnerable.

I can see the Lakers or Clippers beating the Bucks. Does that make them Fool's Gold? Kawhi already beat Giannis with a lesser team last year

The Raps last year >>> Clippers this year. They were 17-5 in games Kawhi didnt play last year and this year they were fliring with a 60-win season and 3rd best record in the league after having lost Kawhi for nothing. Meanwhile the Clippers are like 5-7 when Kawhi doesnt play.

[TheBoi10]

I don't trust Middleton or Bledsoe, I've seen them choke multiple years in the playoffs. And Giannis can't shoot when it matters. They're favorites but they're no superteam or unbeatable.

[Chandan]

Hard to be considered fool's gold when very few people even believe you are gold. Outside of Buck fans and a select few media people, nobody is picking the Bucks.

Hell, I have been hearing more about Boston and Philly than Milwaukee and Toronto which is just crazy.

I actually have the Bucks as the clear cut favorites to win the East with a pretty good shot to win it all. I have the Bucks as favorites against any team outside of the Clippers. I believe the Clippers match up pretty well against the Bucks and the lay off kinda helps them(Kawhi resting and George having time to come back, etc)..

Clippers have terrible matchup issues against the Bucks. It's the Lakers that can at least match up with them size wise, Clippers have no actual 2 way big. They'll be forced to play Zubac big minutes, which i dont think he's capable of, and which takes away from their offense. And Lou is gonna have nowhere to hide

Yeah the clippers dont really have the front court to contain the greek freak i feel like. Kawhi slowed down giannas but it really was gasol that really clogged up the lane which made his life uncomfortable.

[UnbelievablyRAW]

I think they are really good but again its gonna come down to if the role players around Giannis disappear again. Also the amount of open top of the arc 3's Mil gives up might come back to bite them if a team just gets hot from 3

[Jabroni Lames]

Well? Are they?

[EasternHeretic]

Well? Are they?