NBA Finals: Milwaukee Bucks vs. Phoenix Suns, Part 3 | Bucks lead 3-2

[manlisten]

If I'm Budenholzer, I speak to every ref at the beginning of the the remaining games and warn them about Crowder and Booker. Crowder is just plain making stuff up and Booker complains about everything. He actually complained that his foul on Jrue was a tie up. Of course, Bud won't do that.

The NBA is using veteran referees in the Finals. These refs are pros. They all saw the previous games. They likely review video on every game and discuss the games from an officiating perspective with their fellow refs. A coach warning the refs "about Crowder and Booker" would come across as childish. Really? The refs know more about what goes on during a game than fans watching on TV. They see it all from a neutral perspective. They and their supervisors see things that are obvious to all fans and catch nuances that escape most of us. Historically, some coaches (Jackson, Popovich) have attempted to create a public narrative to possibly influence the officials. Coaches can make points with officials, but I don't think it is effective to treat refs like they are incompetent goofs wallowing in ignorance on issues integral to their profession.

Refs know they get some calls wrong. Maybe 10% of all calls are missed. Refs get it. But when a coach or reporter or fan only brings up certain missed calls, without acknowledging how bad calls go both ways, that has to seem vapid.

The refs know that Crowder was flopping. The refs know that Booker mauled Holiday and should have picked up his 6th foul. But the refs also know that Giannis inbounded the ball while straddling the end line. The refs know that Middleton got two FTs when they prematurely blew a whistle when Middleton was trapped in the backcourt.

I'm not sure if it's even possible to be more naive than the sentiments expressed in this post.

[Blood Orange]

[Perseus1966]

Going to bet the league takes a hard look at moving screens this off season.

Is this legal, or just subtle enough to fly? Not a rules expert here.

https://gfycat.com/slowbogusargentineruddyduck

Ayton usually gets whistled at least once a game. Not sure if any were called last night. Add it to the ‘wtf refs?’ list. Wacky game, whistle wise. Hate to see it become the narrative of what otherwise was a good game to watch, emotions aside.

Thats not a moving screen its a foul on Bridges

https://official.nba.com/l2m/L2MReport.html?gameId=0042000404

No it was reviewed as a pushoff by Middleton on Bridges prior to the screen according to the 2 minute report so either way it was a missed call by the refs.

Q4 01:34.5 Foul: Offensive Khris Middleton Mikal Bridges INC http://official.nba.com/last-two-minute-report/?gameNo=0042000404&eventNum=2395
Comment: Middleton (MIL) extends his arms into Bridges (PHX) and dislodges him from his position off-ball.

Look at the last 2 minute report and Bucks got away with 1 push off and 1 illegal inbounds while the Suns didn't get a call on a Chris Paul loose ball foul.

So it wasn't an illegal screen

[Luke Skyowner]

Bucks last failures have ruffed them up for this stage. Suns will be ready next year onward(ie. no brainfartonitos). For this reason i think Bucks would be more disappointed and feels like a tiny upset in basketball sense when they lose.

I don't like this line of reasoning. Why do the Suns have to "fail" first before they can win it all? First of all, Milwaukee in no way shape or form even deserved to win their series against the Raptors and Heat in the 2019 ECF and 2020 ECSF. The better teams won those respective series. What "failures" did the 2020 Lakers, 2008 Celtics, 2015 Warriors go through first before they won it all? Why can't a team just win if they play like the best team in the league that particular year? Sure Milwaukee has had some disappointments the past couple of years in the playoffs, but guess what? So did the 2018 Rockets and mid 00s Suns and those teams never got to redeem themselves. The team that wins the Finals is the team that deserves to win from playing better than the opponent. No team is entitled anything. They have to earn it regardless of what they gone through in the past.

Missing the point. I´m pointing out that from Bucks view losing would be sort of upset, Suns are win-win either way and window still open nicely. As a ball club, i don´t care cp3 legacy or anything.

[LUKE23]

Of course the Bucks have to overcome Marc Davis in the biggest game of the series.

[th87]

The NBA is using veteran referees in the Finals. These refs are pros. They all saw the previous games. They likely review video on every game and discuss the games from an officiating perspective with their fellow refs. A coach warning the refs "about Crowder and Booker" would come across as childish. Really? The refs know more about what goes on during a game than fans watching on TV. They see it all from a neutral perspective. They and their supervisors see things that are obvious to all fans and catch nuances that escape most of us. Historically, some coaches (Jackson, Popovich) have attempted to create a public narrative to possibly influence the officials. Coaches can make points with officials, but I don't think it is effective to treat refs like they are incompetent goofs wallowing in ignorance on issues integral to their profession.

Refs know they get some calls wrong. Maybe 10% of all calls are missed. Refs get it. But when a coach or reporter or fan only brings up certain missed calls, without acknowledging how bad calls go both ways, that has to seem vapid.

The refs know that Crowder was flopping. The refs know that Booker mauled Holiday and should have picked up his 6th foul. But the refs also know that Giannis inbounded the ball while straddling the end line. The refs know that Middleton got two FTs when they prematurely blew a whistle when Middleton was trapped in the backcourt.

This is about as naive as it gets.

But if you were right, then the refs in game four wouldn't had let Crowder get away with what he did and same with Booker. So no, any good coach would remind them about Crowder and Booker.

Pretending the refs are on the up (despite mile-high corruption smoke like Donaghy and the 2002 WCF) is the only way to preserve the facade that this is a fair and unskewed league.

The Suns have been victimized in the past (hated the suspensions in the Spurs series). And so have the Bucks. Anyone's guess who will get the benefit going forward, but repeatedly rewarding Crowder's egregious flopping and straight up Rams-Saintsing the Booker call scares me.

Aaand Marc Davis is called in to enforce the NBA agenda.

Bet the over on Suns FTs for guaranteed money.

[th87]

Cool cool

Read on Twitter

[No-more-rings]

If Paul can't play better the Suns will lose the next 2.

[bigfoot]

Thats not a moving screen its a foul on Bridges

https://official.nba.com/l2m/L2MReport.html?gameId=0042000404

No it was reviewed as a pushoff by Middleton on Bridges prior to the screen according to the 2 minute report so either way it was a missed call by the refs.

Q4 01:34.5 Foul: Offensive Khris Middleton Mikal Bridges INC http://official.nba.com/last-two-minute-report/?gameNo=0042000404&eventNum=2395
Comment: Middleton (MIL) extends his arms into Bridges (PHX) and dislodges him from his position off-ball.

Look at the last 2 minute report and Bucks got away with 1 push off and 1 illegal inbounds while the Suns didn't get a call on a Chris Paul loose ball foul.

So it wasn't an illegal screen

It was a missed offensive foul on Middleton, then clearly a moving screen on Giannis who was wiggling his butt around like a female dog in heat. That call was also missed.

[Profound23]

https://official.nba.com/l2m/L2MReport.html?gameId=0042000404

No it was reviewed as a pushoff by Middleton on Bridges prior to the screen according to the 2 minute report so either way it was a missed call by the refs.

Q4 01:34.5 Foul: Offensive Khris Middleton Mikal Bridges INC http://official.nba.com/last-two-minute-report/?gameNo=0042000404&eventNum=2395
Comment: Middleton (MIL) extends his arms into Bridges (PHX) and dislodges him from his position off-ball.

Look at the last 2 minute report and Bucks got away with 1 push off and 1 illegal inbounds while the Suns didn't get a call on a Chris Paul loose ball foul.

So it wasn't an illegal screen

It was a missed offensive foul on Middleton, then clearly a moving screen on Giannis who was wiggling his butt around like a female dog in heat. That call was also missed.

While we are talking about illegal screens, watch how Crowder extends his arms on almost every screen.

First play shown here:

Watch on YouTube

Even a couple of times in this video:

Watch on YouTube

I agree that illegal screens need to be handled. Bam Adebayo has made a career off of setting illegal screens. But if the worst illegal screen you can point out from Giannis is him wiggling his butt while the Suns players are extending arms and almost sending Bucks players to the floor or pushing Bucks players into other Suns players and getting a defensive foul out of it (see Pat C being pushed into Booker on an illegal screen in game 4) then I think it would be wise to not point to illegal screens as a complaint.

[Caped Crusader]

Bucks last failures have ruffed them up for this stage. Suns will be ready next year onward(ie. no brainfartonitos). For this reason i think Bucks would be more disappointed and feels like a tiny upset in basketball sense when they lose.

I don't like this line of reasoning. Why do the Suns have to "fail" first before they can win it all? First of all, Milwaukee in no way shape or form even deserved to win their series against the Raptors and Heat in the 2019 ECF and 2020 ECSF. The better teams won those respective series. What "failures" did the 2020 Lakers, 2008 Celtics, 2015 Warriors go through first before they won it all? Why can't a team just win if they play like the best team in the league that particular year? Sure Milwaukee has had some disappointments the past couple of years in the playoffs, but guess what? So did the 2018 Rockets and mid 00s Suns and those teams never got to redeem themselves. The team that wins the Finals is the team that deserves to win from playing better than the opponent. No team is entitled anything. They have to earn it regardless of what they gone through in the past.

Missing the point. I´m pointing out that from Bucks view losing would be sort of upset, Suns are win-win either way and window still open nicely. As a ball club, i don´t care cp3 legacy or anything.

Well the point is poorly made. Suns have never won a championship and haven't made it to this stage since 1993. There's no guarantee they'll even make it again here next year or in 5 years or in 10 years from now. Suns losing would just be as upsetting to their franchise and fanbase.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using RealGM mobile app

[John Murdoch]

Bucks take this , i think CP is gassed

[cupcakesnake]

Watching the game tonight at a bar. First time doing that since the 2019 playoffs due to covid. Pretty stoked

[pj0tr]

This is about as naive as it gets.

But if you were right, then the refs in game four wouldn't had let Crowder get away with what he did and same with Booker. So no, any good coach would remind them about Crowder and Booker.

Pretending the refs are on the up (despite mile-high corruption smoke like Donaghy and the 2002 WCF) is the only way to preserve the facade that this is a fair and unskewed league.

The Suns have been victimized in the past (hated the suspensions in the Spurs series). And so have the Bucks. Anyone's guess who will get the benefit going forward, but repeatedly rewarding Crowder's egregious flopping and straight up Rams-Saintsing the Booker call scares me.

Aaand Marc Davis is called in to enforce the NBA agenda.

Bet the over on Suns FTs for guaranteed money.

Since Bud complained about the refs in Game 1, the Bucks have shot at least 9+ more FTs in every game compared to the Suns. When Bud complained, its good strategy.

When Monty does it, its clearly complaining and not coaching his team well enough to try to get to the FT line.

Lol.

[BigDan245]

Read on Twitter

Told y'all...it will be a miracle if they get through these finals without a big name getting covid.

[Profound23]

Pretending the refs are on the up (despite mile-high corruption smoke like Donaghy and the 2002 WCF) is the only way to preserve the facade that this is a fair and unskewed league.

The Suns have been victimized in the past (hated the suspensions in the Spurs series). And so have the Bucks. Anyone's guess who will get the benefit going forward, but repeatedly rewarding Crowder's egregious flopping and straight up Rams-Saintsing the Booker call scares me.

Aaand Marc Davis is called in to enforce the NBA agenda.

Bet the over on Suns FTs for guaranteed money.

Since Bud complained about the refs in Game 1, the Bucks have shot at least 9+ more FTs in every game compared to the Suns. When Bud complained, its good strategy.

When Monty does it, its clearly complaining and not coaching his team well enough to try to get to the FT line.

Lol.

When it happened most Bucks fans said "Well, that's what coaches do.....but it's weird to complain about free throws when you are intentionally fouling someone who sucks at free throws."

[skones]

Since Bud complained about the refs in Game 1, the Bucks have shot at least 9+ more FTs in every game compared to the Suns. When Bud complained, its good strategy.

When Monty does it, its clearly complaining and not coaching his team well enough to try to get to the FT line.

Lol.

Lol is right, because it's convenient to ignore context and complain about a problem that doesn't actually exist.

This idea that Phoenix should shoot anywhere near the same amount of free throws as Milwaukee when Milwaukee is something like +46 points in the paint over the course of the series is flatly ridiculous. The Suns average 18.8 attempts per contest in this series inside of 5 feet. The Bucks average 32.8 attempts per contest in this series inside of 5 feet. It's comical to think that his team is "trying to get to the FT line" when these numbers make Phoenix look allergic to the restricted area when put up against Milwaukee's attempts.

In game 1, Milwaukee had 24 attempts inside of 5 feet and shot 54.2%, a number well below the team's baseline. Phoenix had 22 attempts inside of 5 feet and shot 72.7%. This A) indicates that Milwaukee was likely getting uncalled contact in that area given the abnormally low percentage, and B) should not have gone to the line 10 times less than Phoenix during that contest. That makes Bud's complaint, reasonable.

When Monty made HIS complaint after game three? Phoenix made 21 attempts inside of 5 feet and shot 62%. Milwaukee made 36 attempts and shot 67%. That speaks for itself.

[KIRAG]

Read on Twitter

Told y'all...it will be a miracle if they get through these finals without a big name getting covid.

I don't understand, aren't players vaccinated?

[kulaz3000]

Read on Twitter

Told y'all...it will be a miracle if they get through these finals without a big name getting covid.

I don't understand, aren't players vaccinated?

Even if they are vaccinated it doesn't mean they can't test positive or pass it on to others.

[Cubbies2120]

Read on Twitter

Told y'all...it will be a miracle if they get through these finals without a big name getting covid.

I don't understand, aren't players vaccinated?

Vaccine doesn't 100% prevent Covid, just reduces the odds you get it.