PG Miami - We have a pulse

[RiotPunch]

Khris Middleton and Wesley Matthews.



Bud seemed to have had the light bulb moment that he needs Wes on Jimmy down the stretch. That is a minor, realistic change that could make a massive difference going forward.

[GHOSTofSIKMA]

another hot take..... khris needs to pIay 38-40 minutes per game in the pIayoffs regardIess of any other pIayers minutes. i think tonights win had aIot to do with the shorter rotation too

[theFireBlanket]

I’d give up a lot for Herro he’s what I thought Donte would be

Herro is a bad defender. He's a rookie, so he can improve, but if we swapped Donte and Herro, Bud might play Herro less.

Herro is overrated. Donte underrated. Don't get caught sleeping. Giannis loves that guy.

[EUROBUCK]

you really think this can happen without giannis? sure offense looks smoother but who is going to defend when it matters

[ReasonablySober]

We just need Giannis be a facilitator & defender against this team.

Imagine how good the other guys could be if Giannis was willing to drag the Heat's two best defenders away from the ball on a regular basis instead of going for his regardless of how many guys are set and how far from the basket he is.

He was really good today when he played though. Saved them when they would have fallen WAY behind early. Just mix that in with what everyone else is capable of contributing and we'd all forget this bubble **** fast.

Miami is not very good. I continue to firmly believe that. Bucks have totally sabotaged themselves in this series.

Bud has been beyond terrible this entire series. Today was the first time he got GIannis is a good position to start offensive possessions, something even the casual viewer could see was needed. Today I was getting caught up on podcasts and it was infuriating to listen to SVG before game three talking about how the Giannis at the top of the key strategy wasn't going to work, and how we needed to see more pick and rolls with him as the screener or offense initiating at the high post. It's only been obvious to everyone here since before the series started and was said as much.

[MissKhriddleton]

I talk a lot of **** about Khris, but that was an amazing performance. Dude didn't shy away at all.

Still trade his ass ASAP, though.

[GHOSTofSIKMA]

LOL "stumbled around" in scoring 9 of 11 overtime points. Ill take stumbling around every time then.

i mean if hed pIayed good he wouId have had 50. i dont know how can say a guy pIays good if there was that stretch he has where he didnt you know? pretty much pIaying good means being on absoIute fire for 45 minutes straight by any definition

[Rapaz]

This is a turning point. I feel it. Extend Bud.

[SKG]

you really think this can happen without giannis? sure offense looks smoother but who is going to defend when it matters

Only difference was some big stops in OT, shooting was bad all game.

Biggest play was Bams foul on Lopez

[Prez]

We just need Giannis be a facilitator & defender against this team.

Imagine how good the other guys could be if Giannis was willing to drag the Heat's two best defenders away from the ball on a regular basis instead of going for his regardless of how many guys are set and how far from the basket he is.

He was really good today when he played though. Saved them when they would have fallen WAY behind early. Just mix that in with what everyone else is capable of contributing and we'd all forget this bubble **** fast.

Miami is not very good. I continue to firmly believe that. Bucks have totally sabotaged themselves in this series.

Bud has been beyond terrible this entire series. Today was the first time he got GIannis is a good position to start offensive possessions, something even the casual viewer could see was needed. Today I was getting caught up on podcasts and it was infuriating to listen to SVG before game three talking about how the Giannis at the top of the key strategy wasn't going to work, and how we needed to see more pick and rolls with him as the screener or offense initiating at the high post. It's only been obvious to everyone here since before the series started and was said as much.

This is a 5 or 6 game Bucks series win with any competent playoff coach in place of Bud. Just the most basic stuff - play Giannis (when he's healthy) and Khris 42+ minutes, switch all small-small actions, side PnRs with Giannis as roll man, go under Jimmy PnRs, let Wes do his job. Do all that stuff from the start of the series and this is likely 2-2 or even 3-1 Bucks right now.

Instead they're going to lose in 5, possibly 6.

[glenn]

Giannis has no help.

giannis game is perfectIy suited to be the heIp in the pIayoffs. i think thats what this team needs to evoIve to if giannis never Iearns to shoot even fts

I agree, and think it’s really about flexibility. Giannis can be the initiator durning fast paced, transition heavy games and Khris can be the lead against grindy teams like the Heat (or in playoff games in general). Giannis could demolish teams if he focused more on what he does off the ball and not forcing things into walls of defenders. He’s not Lebron, so he doesn’t have to be used like Lebron.

[MickeyDavis]

It’s going to be great to have a 2 day break from the media polishing Butler’s knob 24/7

[tydett]

Think we need to prepare for the reality that the Bucks won't have Giannis the rest of this postseason. If that means going down with Khris Middleton, then that's far and away better a position than we've been in since 2001.

[Chad34]

This is a turning point. I feel it. Extend Bud.

i'm with you on the first part, but fire Bud still

[bucksfansince88]

We just need Giannis be a facilitator & defender against this team.

Imagine how good the other guys could be if Giannis was willing to drag the Heat's two best defenders away from the ball on a regular basis instead of going for his regardless of how many guys are set and how far from the basket he is.

He was really good today when he played though. Saved them when they would have fallen WAY behind early. Just mix that in with what everyone else is capable of contributing and we'd all forget this bubble **** fast.

Miami is not very good. I continue to firmly believe that. Bucks have totally sabotaged themselves in this series.

That’s on Bud not Giannis

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

LOL "stumbled around" in scoring 9 of 11 overtime points. Ill take stumbling around every time then.

i mean if hed pIayed good he wouId have had 50. i dont know how can say a guy pIays good if there was that stretch he has where he didnt you know? pretty much pIaying good means being on absoIute fire for 45 minutes straight by any definition

He obviously played good but there's a wide range between scoring 36 on meh shooting and having a great game. Biggest difference is heat just missed some shots they made the first three games. Which pisses me off because a few things going our way and this series is easily 2-2 or 3-1 good guys. But the heat created their luck.

[greekbuck34]

We cut out most of the useless bailout fouls for FT points we couldn't stop making and Miami made us a favour and stopped making the tough shots the kept making so far this series untli Herro made two when it was already over.

Rebounding is still awful. Bam took the rebound from Lopez like 30 times this series to give Miami a second chance after a missed shot on a good defense.

Our rim protection has to be better and the answer is not playing like Houston without both Lopezes and Giannis on the court. They were doing whatever they wanted in the 3rd quarter and we couldn't get a single rebound.

Official **** helped us for once. I thought they were going to take those FTs from Lopez for a leg kick out after the missed call on Butler earlier.

[LuessiT]

Khris Middleton and Wesley Matthews.



Bud seemed to have had the light bulb moment that he needs Wes on Jimmy down the stretch. That is a minor, realistic change that could make a massive difference going forward.

I mean half the media and most of this board thought it was a good idea to put Giannis on Butler after game 1.

If we guard Butler every minute he's on the floor with Matthews or Bledsoe and go under every screen versus him, if we don't close out on Iggy at the 3 point line, if we don't play Pat or Korver unless in ATO sets and if we find a way not to get outrebounded 4v1 vs Adebayo we win this series.

[Bucksfan28]

LOL "stumbled around" in scoring 9 of 11 overtime points. Ill take stumbling around every time then.

i mean if hed pIayed good he wouId have had 50. i dont know how can say a guy pIays good if there was that stretch he has where he didnt you know? pretty much pIaying good means being on absoIute fire for 45 minutes straight by any definition

Whoa whoa whoa whoa. Team still has to win too. Playing well in a loss is meaningless, or so Ive been told.

[coolhandluke121]

Bud has been beyond terrible this entire series. Today was the first time he got GIannis is a good position to start offensive possessions, something even the casual viewer could see was needed. Today I was getting caught up on podcasts and it was infuriating to listen to SVG before game three talking about how the Giannis at the top of the key strategy wasn't going to work, and how we needed to see more pick and rolls with him as the screener or offense initiating at the high post. It's only been obvious to everyone here since before the series started and was said as much.

This is a 5 or 6 game Bucks series win with any competent playoff coach in place of Bud. Just the most basic stuff - play Giannis (when he's healthy) and Khris 42+ minutes, switch all small-small actions, side PnRs with Giannis as roll man, go under Jimmy PnRs, let Wes do his job. Do all that stuff from the start of the series and this is likely 2-2 or even 3-1 Bucks right now.

Instead they're going to lose in 5, possibly 6.

I'm definitely coming around on this point of view. I never really resisted it to be honest; just thought plenty of blame should be on the players as well.