2020-21 NBA Season Discussion

[Peregrine01]

I'm not sure Brook Lopez posting up is a recipe for good offense. He's not Jokic who can just punish smaller dudes inside. And more importantly, it renders Giannis a complete non-factor since no one's guarding him past the free throw line. The Nets would be able to muck things up even more.

Agree with you that the Bucks' best option is to play Giannis at the 5 with 4 shooters spaced around him. I think the Bucks have tried that but again they run into the problem of the Nets playing him straight up with one man and 15 feet of space. Once Giannis commits to a move, it's painfully predictable what he's going to do. The Nets can either send help once Giannis gets tunnel vision going to the rim or stay home on their shooters when it's obvious he's not.

I want to bench Lopez. My point though is if you are playing him, then punish the Nets. A BroLo post up cannot be worse than those Giannis post-ups especially when vets like Green and Harden just wrapped him up when he got near the basket. They can't do that to Lopez and they also can't prevent him from getting really deep and abusing them.

I don't want to run 30 post-ups a game, but I don't understand playing Lopez to have him stand in the corner at both ends. Play Forbes to do that who is a much better shooter. Of if you are playing Lopez, punish the Nets for that lineup.

Well, I think this conundrum is due to the limitations that Giannis places on line-ups. The Bucks posted up Lopez a lot in game 1 but the Nets just sent Giannis's man into the paint to muck things up. Then they tried to do the reverse (Giannis in the post, Brook on the perimeter) but the Nets just play him straight up since they don't fear him there at all.

I really don't know what more Bud can really do. Giannis would have to completely change his make-up as a player to make this offense look competent.

[Doctor MJ]

I'm not sure Brook Lopez posting up is a recipe for good offense. He's not Jokic who can just punish smaller dudes inside. And more importantly, it renders Giannis a complete non-factor since no one's guarding him past the free throw line. The Nets would be able to muck things up even more.

Agree with you that the Bucks' best option is to play Giannis at the 5 with 4 shooters spaced around him. I think the Bucks have tried that but again they run into the problem of the Nets playing him straight up with one man and 15 feet of space. Once Giannis commits to a move, it's painfully predictable what he's going to do. The Nets can either send help once Giannis gets tunnel vision going to the rim or stay home on their shooters when it's obvious he's not.

I want to bench Lopez. My point though is if you are playing him, then punish the Nets. A BroLo post up cannot be worse than those Giannis post-ups especially when vets like Green and Harden just wrapped him up when he got near the basket. They can't do that to Lopez and they also can't prevent him from getting really deep and abusing them.

I don't want to run 30 post-ups a game, but I don't understand playing Lopez to have him stand in the corner at both ends. Play Forbes to do that who is a much better shooter. Of if you are playing Lopez, punish the Nets for that lineup.

And to piggy back:

The thing is watching this Bucks team, it's like there's no common sense response to opponent shifts.

One thing that really impressive me about the Nets is that even the role players seem to have a sense of adaptation and improvisation, and to me this more than anything else speaks to a good coaching job. The players out there look empowered to be their highest BBIQ self. The Bucks players, on the other hand, seem dumber than they could possibly be.

[Texas Chuck]

I'm not sure Brook Lopez posting up is a recipe for good offense. He's not Jokic who can just punish smaller dudes inside. And more importantly, it renders Giannis a complete non-factor since no one's guarding him past the free throw line. The Nets would be able to muck things up even more.

Agree with you that the Bucks' best option is to play Giannis at the 5 with 4 shooters spaced around him. I think the Bucks have tried that but again they run into the problem of the Nets playing him straight up with one man and 15 feet of space. Once Giannis commits to a move, it's painfully predictable what he's going to do. The Nets can either send help once Giannis gets tunnel vision going to the rim or stay home on their shooters when it's obvious he's not.

I want to bench Lopez. My point though is if you are playing him, then punish the Nets. A BroLo post up cannot be worse than those Giannis post-ups especially when vets like Green and Harden just wrapped him up when he got near the basket. They can't do that to Lopez and they also can't prevent him from getting really deep and abusing them.

I don't want to run 30 post-ups a game, but I don't understand playing Lopez to have him stand in the corner at both ends. Play Forbes to do that who is a much better shooter. Of if you are playing Lopez, punish the Nets for that lineup.

Well, I think this conundrum is due to the limitations that Giannis places on line-ups. The Bucks posted up Lopez a lot in game 1 but the Nets just sent Giannis's man into the paint to muck things up. Then they tried to do the reverse (Giannis in the post, Brook on the perimeter) but the Nets just play him straight up since they don't fear him there at all.

I really don't know what more Bud can really do. Giannis would have to completely change his make-up as a player to make this offense look competent.

The thing is the Bucks offense has been great in the regular season. I get its harder when you play better teams and they are game-planning for you, but I refuse to believe you can't be good enough offensively with Giannis. You need to make him primarily a center and you probably need a coach more open to some new ideas, but I'm still in on Giannis.

[mikejames23]

Can you elaborate? Because literally stats are nothing more than a recording of what happened in the game. You might not like how Giannis gets his numbers, but he's been getting massive offensive numbers for 4 years now.

I mean even in this series that is leading to all this Giannis sucks stuff, he's putting up 31 ppg on 57% TS which is better than any offensive series KG has ever had for instance. But because KG could make 20 foot jumpers....

Middleton and Jrue are having miserable efficiency offensive series, but everyone keeps concluding Giannis the problem.

I feel like I'm in bizzaro land right now honestly.

There was a ton of criticism for Dwight Howard back in the day for having a limited offensive game, and Dwight didn't actually win the championship as the lead player. I don't think it's all that ridiculous. He can be ridiculous 0-3FT from the basket, but these little weaknesses matter.

KG was the most versatile player at his time. How do you see Giannis being KG?

Honestly, if you're consuming as many possessions as Giannis is, it's your duty to open up the floor a little and get Jrue/Khris to see an uptick in efficiency. Khris is actually still deadly. He went head to head with Durant at the end of Game 3 and the Bucks stole the game. Giannis didn't touch the ball in that period. So, how can Giannis help Khris and Holiday's efficiency?

It's not crazy to say he's still great, but the people pointing out his flaws are pretty valid.

[Peregrine01]

I want to bench Lopez. My point though is if you are playing him, then punish the Nets. A BroLo post up cannot be worse than those Giannis post-ups especially when vets like Green and Harden just wrapped him up when he got near the basket. They can't do that to Lopez and they also can't prevent him from getting really deep and abusing them.

I don't want to run 30 post-ups a game, but I don't understand playing Lopez to have him stand in the corner at both ends. Play Forbes to do that who is a much better shooter. Of if you are playing Lopez, punish the Nets for that lineup.

Well, I think this conundrum is due to the limitations that Giannis places on line-ups. The Bucks posted up Lopez a lot in game 1 but the Nets just sent Giannis's man into the paint to muck things up. Then they tried to do the reverse (Giannis in the post, Brook on the perimeter) but the Nets just play him straight up since they don't fear him there at all.

I really don't know what more Bud can really do. Giannis would have to completely change his make-up as a player to make this offense look competent.

The thing is the Bucks offense has been great in the regular season. I get its harder when you play better teams and they are game-planning for you, but I refuse to believe you can't be good enough offensively with Giannis. You need to make him primarily a center and you probably need a coach more open to some new ideas, but I'm still in on Giannis.

There might not be a more glaring Jekyll and Hyde offense than these Bucks. They can look like world-beaters when they're getting out in transition. But when offenses become more half-court oriented in the playoffs, which they invariably do, they look plain lost.

[70sFan]

I'm not sure Brook Lopez posting up is a recipe for good offense. He's not Jokic who can just punish smaller dudes inside. And more importantly, it renders Giannis a complete non-factor since no one's guarding him past the free throw line. The Nets would be able to muck things up even more.

Agree with you that the Bucks' best option is to play Giannis at the 5 with 4 shooters spaced around him. I think the Bucks have tried that but again they run into the problem of the Nets playing him straight up with one man and 15 feet of space. Once Giannis commits to a move, it's painfully predictable what he's going to do. The Nets can either send help once Giannis gets tunnel vision going to the rim or stay home on their shooters when it's obvious he's not.

I want to bench Lopez. My point though is if you are playing him, then punish the Nets. A BroLo post up cannot be worse than those Giannis post-ups especially when vets like Green and Harden just wrapped him up when he got near the basket. They can't do that to Lopez and they also can't prevent him from getting really deep and abusing them.

I don't want to run 30 post-ups a game, but I don't understand playing Lopez to have him stand in the corner at both ends. Play Forbes to do that who is a much better shooter. Of if you are playing Lopez, punish the Nets for that lineup.

I agree, if they want to play Lopez big minutes, then use his advantages. I really don't understand what Bucks are doing with Lopez, he's much better than that.

[Doctor MJ]

The thing is the Bucks offense has been great in the regular season. I get its harder when you play better teams and they are game-planning for you, but I refuse to believe you can't be good enough offensively with Giannis. You need to make him primarily a center and you probably need a coach more open to some new ideas, but I'm still in on Giannis.

My 2 big thoughts:

1. What we appear to be seeing right now with Giannis-ball becoming vastly less effective in the playoffs is to me something that was myth before Giannis. People have always said various stars were worse in the playoffs, but in this era of arms-race tactics in the playoffs, we seem to be seeing it to a much greater extent.

When we see a novel thing that works out the gate, there's always a question of whether it will be seen more as gimmick or gospel. Will opponents get much better at handling with time and thus force an abandonment of the strategy? or, Will it prove a solid approach going forward and cause others to adopt it? Right now, it sure feels like Giannis-ball is a gimmick whose best chance at a championship was in '18-19 before any team found a blueprint for stopping it.

2. I completely agree that in theory you could train Giannis to play a role that work within a great playoff offense, but that's not where his skill development has gone. Ever since the Point Giannis experiment allowed the team to take a step forward, the goal has been to make him a more complete helio first and foremost.

I think that if the Bucks lose this series looking like they are now, the franchise needs to talk with Giannis and say some hard truths. "We're going to bring in a new coach, and that coach may ask you to practice very different things. It's going to be humbling, and the chorus of internet trolls are just going to get worse, but we believe we've gone as far as we can go with the strategies of Kidd & Bud."

[Zarozzor]

A lot of posters seem to share my thoughts, but I'll elaborate.

Giannis may put up nice looking box scores but my issues are he doesn't provide great spacing, the half-court offensive issues, and his inability to consistently lead great offenses in the playoffs. Most teams are able to clog the paint and are rarely forced to make rotations. I feel because of the way he plays and some of his limitations, it also causes his teammates to not get great looks sometimes. When I watch the Bucks in the playoffs, I see a guy who can put up big numbers, but that isn't necessarily translating into a great offense.

If they lose this, something needs to change though.

[Dupp]

Paula terrible post season luck continues

[GSP]

I'm putting some money on Hawks +5000 to win it all

They are not the best team but with how much of a cluster **** this season has been no team's odds should be that wide everyone else is reasonably close to each other

[frica]

"This is why CP3 just isn't a great"

"Isiah Thomas would have never tested positive"

[MisterHibachi]

Read on Twitter

The bad news is just coming in waves right now. Red Wednesday.

[bondom34]

Oh what the ****.

[MO12msu]

This is insane. Someone take Shams and Wojs phones away so we can pretend this isn’t happening.

[MartinToVaught]

The basketball gods owe Clipper fans at least ten straight championships at this point for all the BS we've had to go through.

[Zarozzor]

Read on Twitter

The bad news is just coming in waves right now. Red Wednesday.

Hopefully it's just an ACL sprain.

[Fadeaway_J]

It's just comical at this point. Wake me up next season.

[Clyde Frazier]

Slow news day eh?

The bucks' late game execution was just embarrassing last night. That baseline turnaround Giannis took on Harden was inexcusable. You now have a guy who's seemingly afraid of contact at the end of games because of his poor FT shooting. Looking at his playoff history, FT struggles aren't new, but he was at least "ok" in the 2018 and 2019 playoffs (65% on 10.1 attempts per game). Then you look at his regular season #s, and he was respectable for the majority of his career! From 2015 to 2019 he shot 74.6% on 6.9 attempts per game. The last 2 years he's way down. What happened to him?

This lack of aggression by Giannis has made the offense even more stagnant and a roster which looked to be a perfect fit looks disjointed right now. I'm not trying to put it all on him but just a really poor showing going up against such a beat up team in the nets. If they lose I'd probably move on from bud too. Series ain't over tho.

[70sFan]

I want Utah to make the finals, but another injury? What's next...?

[MartinToVaught]

This also shows once again that Durant has broken the league with another anti-competitive mega-stacked superteam. The Nets basically haven't had all their stars healthy together for the whole season, and it's barely mattered at all because they're stacked enough to get through it. All the other contenders have been destroyed by the type of injuries that the Nets have been handling with relative ease. At this point, it looks like the Nets are going to cakewalk to their first of many cheap rings.

Today's NBA is an awful product for so many reasons, but Silver will ignore all of them to push a midseason tournament that nobody asked for and punish struggling small-market teams for "tanking."