GT: Bucks @ Nets Playoffs 2ND Round Game 1

[MrDollarBills]

I'm not really worried about our defense. For one, we all know the numbers are skewed due to lack of regular season effort, always missing at least 1 star, claxton gone most of the year, and not caring about stops during blowouts/big leads.

Claxton/Blake did fine on Giannis. im good with the same game plan. dare him to take 8+ threes and long twos. If he scores 35 or less, great. if he is going for 50, adjust. That was really the issue game 2 of the RS. He was hitting them and we never adjusted. This is still a concern, as Nash hasnt shown anything vs Boston to give me confidence we will make solid in-game adjustments.

We played them once with Harden and won. This is no coincidence. 2 of our issues in the losses were rebounding (Harden lead us in rebounding) and Live ball turnovers (harden turns it over, but with a much higher ratio to assists and efficient scoring). He makes a world of a difference.

The whole "Giannis/Middleton/Jrue is 3 legit defenders for our stars" Narrative doesnt work. Everyone switches everything. We will see alot of KD on Tucket, KD on brook, Kyrie on Forbes, Harden on Brook, etc... I mean Boston didnt want to guard harden with Fournier or KD with Kemba but it took at most 2 screens to make that happen. And even then KD kind of dominated middleton/Giannis and Harden abused Jrue... which should scare bucks fans because Jrue played maybe the toughest D ive ever seen on Harden Game 1 of the RS and Harden still got his.

This will be the 1st matchup where the big 3 play. so no lineups where mike james/shamet are running the backup unit with no stars.

My concerns, in order:

1) Nash's in-game adjustments or lack of
2) KD live ball turnovers
3) Foul trouble; Giannis draws a ton
4) Harris/Shamet bricking from 3 in tense moments while wide open

Not concerned much about defense or rebounding.

So are we in agreement here? Dare Giannis to shoot threes, pick him up from the foul line on in and stay blanketed to Holiday and Middleton?

If we can take at least one of those guys and make them have a sub par series, we win this running away. We have too much firepower for them to stop us on offense.

[Prokorov]

Our defense wasn't super consistent in the Boston series but I feel like for 3 or 4 of the games, we stepped up our physicality to a level we hadn't seen in the regular season. Boston fans were complaining about how we were fouling them and punking them. That's the level of intensity we need for this matchup.

Milwaukee is the 2nd best offensive team in the league for a reason. They have a ton of shooting, they have 2 mid-range killers, and Giannis gets to the rim constantly. We need to take SOMETHING away. Honestly, don't know what it's gonna be. I just know our offense needs to bring it.

Nets best bet on defense is to slow this game down to a half court game. The Bucks lack elite shot creators in the half court. Make it an isolation game where Giannis/Middleton/Jrue have to put it on the floor.

We did not see the big 3 all suit up at the same time in the 3 reg season matchups, and the last 2 were without Harden.

which really comes down to live ball turnovers. KD is the biggest offender. need him to look to score or kick it out, not create for others.

[andrewww]

I'm not really worried about our defense. For one, we all know the numbers are skewed due to lack of regular season effort, always missing at least 1 star, claxton gone most of the year, and not caring about stops during blowouts/big leads.

Claxton/Blake did fine on Giannis. im good with the same game plan. dare him to take 8+ threes and long twos. If he scores 35 or less, great. if he is going for 50, adjust. That was really the issue game 2 of the RS. He was hitting them and we never adjusted. This is still a concern, as Nash hasnt shown anything vs Boston to give me confidence we will make solid in-game adjustments.

We played them once with Harden and won. This is no coincidence. 2 of our issues in the losses were rebounding (Harden lead us in rebounding) and Live ball turnovers (harden turns it over, but with a much higher ratio to assists and efficient scoring). He makes a world of a difference.

The whole "Giannis/Middleton/Jrue is 3 legit defenders for our stars" Narrative doesnt work. Everyone switches everything. We will see alot of KD on Tucket, KD on brook, Kyrie on Forbes, Harden on Brook, etc... I mean Boston didnt want to guard harden with Fournier or KD with Kemba but it took at most 2 screens to make that happen. And even then KD kind of dominated middleton/Giannis and Harden abused Jrue... which should scare bucks fans because Jrue played maybe the toughest D ive ever seen on Harden Game 1 of the RS and Harden still got his.

This will be the 1st matchup where the big 3 play. so no lineups where mike james/shamet are running the backup unit with no stars.

My concerns, in order:

1) Nash's in-game adjustments or lack of
2) KD live ball turnovers
3) Foul trouble; Giannis draws a ton
4) Harris/Shamet bricking from 3 in tense moments while wide open

Not concerned much about defense or rebounding.

So are we in agreement here? Dare Giannis to shoot threes, pick him up from the foul line on in and stay blanketed to Holiday and Middleton?

If we can take at least one of those guys and make them have a sub par series, we win this running away. We have too much firepower for them to stop us on offense.

Make Giannis a scorer. The Bucks are at their best when everyone else outside Giannis gets involved (namely Middleton/Jrue/Lopez/Forbes/Portis/Tucker) and they're hitting their 3s. Need to keep the "others" at bay. Can't do that if Giannis is making plays for others.

[TheNetsFan]

I'm not really worried about our defense. For one, we all know the numbers are skewed due to lack of regular season effort, always missing at least 1 star, claxton gone most of the year, and not caring about stops during blowouts/big leads.

Claxton/Blake did fine on Giannis. im good with the same game plan. dare him to take 8+ threes and long twos. If he scores 35 or less, great. if he is going for 50, adjust. That was really the issue game 2 of the RS. He was hitting them and we never adjusted. This is still a concern, as Nash hasnt shown anything vs Boston to give me confidence we will make solid in-game adjustments.

We played them once with Harden and won. This is no coincidence. 2 of our issues in the losses were rebounding (Harden lead us in rebounding) and Live ball turnovers (harden turns it over, but with a much higher ratio to assists and efficient scoring). He makes a world of a difference.

The whole "Giannis/Middleton/Jrue is 3 legit defenders for our stars" Narrative doesnt work. Everyone switches everything. We will see alot of KD on Tucket, KD on brook, Kyrie on Forbes, Harden on Brook, etc... I mean Boston didnt want to guard harden with Fournier or KD with Kemba but it took at most 2 screens to make that happen. And even then KD kind of dominated middleton/Giannis and Harden abused Jrue... which should scare bucks fans because Jrue played maybe the toughest D ive ever seen on Harden Game 1 of the RS and Harden still got his.

This will be the 1st matchup where the big 3 play. so no lineups where mike james/shamet are running the backup unit with no stars.

My concerns, in order:

1) Nash's in-game adjustments or lack of
2) KD live ball turnovers
3) Foul trouble; Giannis draws a ton
4) Harris/Shamet bricking from 3 in tense moments while wide open

Not concerned much about defense or rebounding.

So are we in agreement here? Dare Giannis to shoot threes, pick him up from the foul line on in and stay blanketed to Holiday and Middleton?

If we can take at least one of those guys and make them have a sub par series, we win this running away. We have too much firepower for them to stop us on offense.

Blanket Middleton, not Holiday. Holiday is shooting a career high from 3 this season, but I still dare him to shoot from the outside. That's especially to start the series, since he is coming off of a poor shooting first round.

[Hello Brooklyn]

I would let Holiday shoot. I don't buy his 3 point numbers at all. Stay glued to Middleton.

Let Lopez shot too. And double Giannis.

[Lamak]

this the real eastern conference finals, expecting this to go 6 or 7 games

[Whiskey Slick]

4) Harris/Shamet bricking from 3 in tense moments while wide open

If Harris was "consistently" knocking down his 3's the way he did in Game 4 verses the Celtics, the Nets would never lose another game in this post-season. With the BIG 3 doing their thing too, if that Harris showed up as consistently as Lillard or Steph, or even Klay Thompson, the Nets would be impossible to beat.

The problem with Joe is he's too inconsistent ... hot and cold ... misses too many wide-open 3's.

I know the stats say different, cause when he's hot he's RED HOT, but we know he runs hot and cold.

He's too good of a 3P shooter for that. If we're gonna beat the Bucks he needs to be more consistent from 3.

[ArksNetsSince99]

Hi All , long time lurker (remember poster Enetric) and Nets fan since 99 , decided gotta be with you guys on this championship run , got our Nets in 6

[MrDollarBills]

I'm not really worried about our defense. For one, we all know the numbers are skewed due to lack of regular season effort, always missing at least 1 star, claxton gone most of the year, and not caring about stops during blowouts/big leads.

Claxton/Blake did fine on Giannis. im good with the same game plan. dare him to take 8+ threes and long twos. If he scores 35 or less, great. if he is going for 50, adjust. That was really the issue game 2 of the RS. He was hitting them and we never adjusted. This is still a concern, as Nash hasnt shown anything vs Boston to give me confidence we will make solid in-game adjustments.

We played them once with Harden and won. This is no coincidence. 2 of our issues in the losses were rebounding (Harden lead us in rebounding) and Live ball turnovers (harden turns it over, but with a much higher ratio to assists and efficient scoring). He makes a world of a difference.

The whole "Giannis/Middleton/Jrue is 3 legit defenders for our stars" Narrative doesnt work. Everyone switches everything. We will see alot of KD on Tucket, KD on brook, Kyrie on Forbes, Harden on Brook, etc... I mean Boston didnt want to guard harden with Fournier or KD with Kemba but it took at most 2 screens to make that happen. And even then KD kind of dominated middleton/Giannis and Harden abused Jrue... which should scare bucks fans because Jrue played maybe the toughest D ive ever seen on Harden Game 1 of the RS and Harden still got his.

This will be the 1st matchup where the big 3 play. so no lineups where mike james/shamet are running the backup unit with no stars.

My concerns, in order:

1) Nash's in-game adjustments or lack of
2) KD live ball turnovers
3) Foul trouble; Giannis draws a ton
4) Harris/Shamet bricking from 3 in tense moments while wide open

Not concerned much about defense or rebounding.

So are we in agreement here? Dare Giannis to shoot threes, pick him up from the foul line on in and stay blanketed to Holiday and Middleton?

If we can take at least one of those guys and make them have a sub par series, we win this running away. We have too much firepower for them to stop us on offense.

Blanket Middleton, not Holiday. Holiday is shooting a career high from 3 this season, but I still dare him to shoot from the outside. That's especially to start the series, since he is coming off of a poor shooting first round.

I'm thinking this is the way. If we can make Middleton a non factor and force Giannis into having to score an ungodly amount of points to keep Milwaukee in the game I think we checkmate them.


Let Giannis score 50 a game for all I care. If he can hit threes and long twos so be it. That's not enough to keep up pace with us.

[Paradise]

It may not be a popular opinion but I think we need to find some minutes for DJ or Alize in this series.

We still need some size to combat against Lopez who will look to kill us for revenge and Portis who’s extremely physical on the glass.

[andrewww]

It may not be a popular opinion but I think we need to find some minutes for DJ or Alize in this series.

We still need some size to combat against Lopez who will look to kill us for revenge and Portis who’s extremely physical on the glass.

I say we play Alize.

[CalamityX12]

Yes on DJ!!!!! It's foolish to play n stick small ball vs Mil.... all bucks lineup variations have big n tall, aint no small with them.

Play Alize too... we need guys to match their energy n hustle

[Shark]

4) Harris/Shamet bricking from 3 in tense moments while wide open

If Harris was "consistently" knocking down his 3's the way he did in Game 4 verses the Celtics, the Nets would never lose another game in this post-season. With the BIG 3 doing their thing too, if that Harris showed up as consistently as Lillard or Steph, or even Klay Thompson, the Nets would be impossible to beat.

The problem with Joe is he's too inconsistent ... hot and cold ... misses too many wide-open 3's.

I know the stats say different, cause when he's hot he's RED HOT, but we know he runs hot and cold.

He's too good of a 3P shooter for that. If we're gonna beat the Bucks he needs to be more consistent from 3.

At the very least I would like for him to make good decisions when he doesn't have it going. During the season when every he wasn't hitting shots his entire game suffered. He'd commit poor TOs which we can I'll show to have against the Bucks. If he can at least make passes like the ones he was making in the closet out game then it would go a long way towards mitigating the effects of his cold spells.

[Prokorov]

It may not be a popular opinion but I think we need to find some minutes for DJ or Alize in this series.

We still need some size to combat against Lopez who will look to kill us for revenge and Portis who’s extremely physical on the glass.

Lopez is going to become unplayable in this series. and if lopez is trying to score inside, we already won.

There is no way brook lopez scoring in the post is going to outpace durant/kyrie/harden led team

[GTR11]

It may not be a popular opinion but I think we need to find some minutes for DJ or Alize in this series.

We still need some size to combat against Lopez who will look to kill us for revenge and Portis who’s extremely physical on the glass.

This is not regular season. DJ is unplayable and It showed last two times. Giannis dropped 40+ and 37+ both times when DJ was on him. He started with flowders, than it was spin moves, s*** ended up him getting hot and knocking down 3's.

Most of us love B.LO to death and know his game. Y'all know he's dumb slow and soft af, he'll be unplayable this series. Harden made Rudy liability during his Houston playoff series, what you think will happen to Brook? They do have Portis though, he's balling right now.

Matt made film break down how Blake defended Giannis, he did very good. Than few other talking heads mentioned that Giannis struggled vs mobile 7ft guys. I'm not holding my breath but I think we going to need Nic logg in some good min, you add the fact we be missing Jeff and I'm definitely watching what happens.

With Jeff being hurt we going to need KD big time. In no world we can allow him to get into foul trouble. He's going to be MVP this series.

Game one is always easiest to steal. Not going to over react or draw any conclusions from it whether win or lose, rest of them games will be telling though.

[Hello Brooklyn]

Agreed. If the Bucks play Lopez we will hunt for him on switches every time.

We know Brook's game. He will get smoked by Kyrie or Harden.

[Hello Brooklyn]

The rebounding issue will be huge I think.

I'm not super worried about guarding Giannis. I think second chance points will be the concern.

[3pt_chucker]

4) Harris/Shamet bricking from 3 in tense moments while wide open

If Harris was "consistently" knocking down his 3's the way he did in Game 4 verses the Celtics, the Nets would never lose another game in this post-season. With the BIG 3 doing their thing too, if that Harris showed up as consistently as Lillard or Steph, or even Klay Thompson, the Nets would be impossible to beat.

The problem with Joe is he's too inconsistent ... hot and cold ... misses too many wide-open 3's.

I know the stats say different, cause when he's hot he's RED HOT, but we know he runs hot and cold.

He's too good of a 3P shooter for that. If we're gonna beat the Bucks he needs to be more consistent from 3.

You're being WAYYYY to harsh on Joe. If he was as consistent as you say, he'd be an all-star/super star type player. He's an elite role player/starter to expect that level of consistency is unreasonable.

Also he only had 1 bad shooting game against Boston, which was game 3, where it was the first road game and he was clearly affected but he was also in early foul trouble which messed with his rhythm. He bounced back Game 4 which is a great sign. Also how many tense moment 3's has he actually missed? He's made huge 3s many times(even before the Big3 era), so this a bit of a straw man/focusing on a couple rare misses and making it the norm.

Either way he's been awesome in the playoffs.

51.5% on 3P% (3rd best, min 5 3PA)
59.3% on catch and shoot 3P% (BEST, min 5 3PA)

His numbers are already ridiculous. Tough to ask for much more. He'll have off games but he's been pretty good in 4 out of the 5 games vs the Celtics which is elite for his role. He's also been more than solid on defense. My biggest worry is that sometimes he goes long stretches without shooting when we go heavy iso. He should be getting a couple catch and shot 3's per Q.

[Prokorov]

The rebounding issue will be huge I think.

I'm not super worried about guarding Giannis. I think second chance points will be the concern.

I'm less worried about rebounding... we outrebounded them 2 of 3 games and Harden/KD really help there. we missed one or both most of the year. We will still give up some because of going small, but i dont think it will be like some games earlier in the year.

Some stats i came across...

Nets #6 in opponent FG%
Nets #7 in opponent eFG%
Nets #9 in opponent FT rate

Nets Have a 111.2 defensive rating (would rank 8th; bucks were 111.4) when harden plays and we have a +2.3 rebounding margin when Harden plays.

You are not wrong thought... rebounding and turnovers are big concerns along with coaching adjustments in-game.

[MrDollarBills]

The rebounding issue will be huge I think.

I'm not super worried about guarding Giannis. I think second chance points will be the concern.

Another reason to hunt for Brook on switches is because keeping Brook off the floor helps us rebounding wise. Lopez is excellent at sealing out bodies on the glass.