PG: Bucks on the Brink

[GHOSTofSIKMA]

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Results : Kidd broke his shot and Bud his spirit

seriousIy? if true then hes even a worse soft butter than i thought. no coach "breaks your shot" permanentIy especiaIIy once hes gone.....and if youre a back to back mvp under the next guy and he "breaks your spirit" then you need to be going dress shopping instead of pIaying basketbaII in the nba pIayoffs

[JayMKE]

Lillard has never sniffed a title, they'd be great together but Lillard wouldn't accomplish any more here than he did in Portland maybe less considering our FO is dumb af.

I mean, one of the big arguments is that you don't need to be a genius to build around Lillard+the rest of our current roster whereas with Giannis you have to get innovative and play dumb lineups to try and fit around his huge holes. Substantially harder to build a legit contender around Giannis despite him being "better" in a vacuum because of his weaknesses since you basically need all of your role players to be super high IQ to balance him out. They also have to be good decision makers who are also cool with not operating with the ball because Giannis wants it even when it's clearly the incorrect choice. You need guys who can play big defensively to take the matchups Giannis doesn't want while also being plus floor spacers.

I also love how people on this board absolutely trash CJ McCollum for years, and laugh in the face of anyone who compared Khris to him. And now that the talk is hypothetically swapping Giannis for Lillard, magically Portland's roster is arguably better than ours and Lillard would just get the same result as he did in Portland. The double standard is pretty funny and it just screams that people here are doing mental gymnastics and can't yet come to grips with that maybe all the metrics in the goddamn world overrate Giannis's impact when we're talking about him playing vs good teams. Can't just fluff up all the stats playing the bottom 50% of the NBA like we do in the regular seasons.

'

Who is making that argument? It's a very very dumb argument because Lillard is one side of the player you have to hide not a defensive anchor + leading scorer. Is it Giannis fault we sold the farm for Jrue Holliday who's strengths are everything Bledsoe was good at but better but not any less streaky as he has been his long career instead of paying less in assets for Chris Paul? I actually do think some of you blame him for that too. You think Chris Paul maybe could have Giannis looking better on offense than what ever the **** Jrue does on offense when he's standing around as Giannis pounds the ball with ISO after ISO? Giannis isn't hard to build around at all it's just we stupid **** doing it who think jamming a square into a round hole is a good idea. Is Lillard stopping KD from dropping 50 last night, does Lillard somehow make it so Lopez doesn't get switched to like 20 times in a row?

Middleton is better than McCollum in that it would be dumb to trade one for another but that doesn't mean Lillard has played with no talent his entire career. You grass is greener guys would have wanted his ass his shipped out years ago for not getting it done too, he's 31 and I'd love to be able to pair him with Giannis but that doesn't seem possible but it's a dumb af idea to want to try to cash out for a couple seasons of Lillard getting btfo by the same guys who have already shown them better than him out west. I'm sure Bud telling him to "let it fly" will take his game to a new level. Without Giannis anchoring the defense the rest of this roster particularly Lopez and Middleton make take a hit,.

[JayMKE]

Lillard has never sniffed a title, they'd be great together but Lillard wouldn't accomplish any more here than he did in Portland maybe less considering our FO is dumb af.

our front office buiIt the perfect team for him. our reg seasons prove that imo. our pIayoff probIems are going to be here no matter what tho. there is no soIution anymore. thats why im ok going trading him. id rather go into the pIayoffs with a FTD woIverine type roster than watch this cowardIy Iion crap. if were gonna inevitabIy Iose, and this team wiII..... were not even cIose..... then seriousIy whats it matter

Maybe pick a new hobby, you guys are mentally weak and lack the the fortitude for a long playoff run regardless of how stacked or not the roster is. I'm good on getting 7 games series 1st round loss every few years in between tanking & collecting assets, we can get back doing that for the next 2 decades after Giannis leaves so sorry he interrupted your normally scheduled programming but we're trying something a little different right now.

[Prokorov]

Yea in no world is Giannis even close to Kd let alone better. I get not wanting to trade him(I’m giving him one year with a new coach) but he is most definitely not the most dominant or unstoppable player in the league.

Giannis is younger and much more durable. if you could have one moving forward, because of that, it is Giannis.

It is hard, after watching the past 4 seasons plus this year and this series, and conclude Giannis is better. It would be one thing if KD was some zero on defense, but he is good on that end as well. He is the most portable player in the league and the biggest ceiling raiser other then maybe lebron.

[Prokorov]

If we devoted the resources to stopping KD that the Nets devoted to stopping Giannis, we would have won by 15-20 last night. Other teams know you need to get the ball out of Giannis' hands. For some reason, we decided it would be better to let KD turn the corner on every **** screen and match up with a backpedaling Lopez.

KD is a great player and took advantage of it, and made some great shots on top of it, but can you imagine the Nets defending Giannis this way? Flatting out along the baseline and leaving a slow C at the FT line to wait for him? Soft switches to leave him on an island with Pat Connaughton? Absurd.

it becomes more confusing when you realize how poorly durant handles a double team and how turnover prone he is when you make him a passer/playmaker.

Ive said this since before game one. hard double KD on every catch. i said this before harden/kyrie got hurt, its even more clear now.

it makes no sense.

[Milbucks96]

Lillard has never sniffed a title, they'd be great together but Lillard wouldn't accomplish any more here than he did in Portland maybe less considering our FO is dumb af.

I mean, one of the big arguments is that you don't need to be a genius to build around Lillard+the rest of our current roster whereas with Giannis you have to get innovative and play dumb lineups to try and fit around his huge holes. Substantially harder to build a legit contender around Giannis despite him being "better" in a vacuum because of his weaknesses since you basically need all of your role players to be super high IQ to balance him out. They also have to be good decision makers who are also cool with not operating with the ball because Giannis wants it even when it's clearly the incorrect choice. You need guys who can play big defensively to take the matchups Giannis doesn't want while also being plus floor spacers.

I also love how people on this board absolutely trash CJ McCollum for years, and laugh in the face of anyone who compared Khris to him. And now that the talk is hypothetically swapping Giannis for Lillard, magically Portland's roster is arguably better than ours and Lillard would just get the same result as he did in Portland. The double standard is pretty funny and it just screams that people here are doing mental gymnastics and can't yet come to grips with that maybe all the metrics in the goddamn world overrate Giannis's impact when we're talking about him playing vs good teams. Can't just fluff up all the stats playing the bottom 50% of the NBA like we do in the regular seasons.

'

Who is making that argument? It's a very very dumb argument because Lillard is one side of the player you have to hide not a defensive anchor + leading scorer. Is it Giannis fault we sold the farm for Jrue Holliday who's strengths are everything Bledsoe was good at but better but not any less streaky as he has been his long career instead of paying less in assets for Chris Paul? I actually do think some of you blame him for that too. You think Chris Paul maybe could have Giannis looking better on offense than what ever the **** Jrue does on offense when he's standing around as Giannis pounds the ball with ISO after ISO? Giannis isn't hard to build around at all it's just we stupid **** doing it who think jamming a square into a round hole is a good idea. Is Lillard stopping KD from dropping 50 last night, does Lillard somehow make it so Lopez doesn't get switched to like 20 times in a row?

Middleton is better than McCollum in that it would be dumb to trade one for another but that doesn't mean Lillard has played with no talent his entire career. You grass is greener guys would have wanted his ass his shipped out years ago for not getting it done too, he's 31 and I'd love to be able to pair him with Giannis but that doesn't seem possible but it's a dumb af idea to want to try to cash out for a couple seasons of Lillard getting btfo by the same guys who have already shown them better than him out west. I'm sure Bud telling him to "let it fly" will take his game to a new level. Without Giannis anchoring the defense the rest of this roster particularly Lopez and Middleton make take a hit,.

Giannis was anchoring some pretty garbage defenses before Bud and Lopez, I’m sure the bucks could put a respectable defense around lillard. Dame, Jrue, Khris, Pj and Brook would have the series over with or at least 3-2 coming home.

[GHOSTofSIKMA]

Lillard has never sniffed a title, they'd be great together but Lillard wouldn't accomplish any more here than he did in Portland maybe less considering our FO is dumb af.

our front office buiIt the perfect team for him. our reg seasons prove that imo. our pIayoff probIems are going to be here no matter what tho. there is no soIution anymore. thats why im ok going trading him. id rather go into the pIayoffs with a FTD woIverine type roster than watch this cowardIy Iion crap. if were gonna inevitabIy Iose, and this team wiII..... were not even cIose..... then seriousIy whats it matter

Maybe pick a new hobby, you guys are mentally weak and lack the the fortitude for a long playoff run regardless of how stacked or not the roster is. I'm good on getting 7 games series 1st round loss every few years in between tanking & collecting assets, we can get back doing that for the next 2 decades after Giannis leaves so sorry he interrupted your normally scheduled programming but we're trying something a little different right now.

weve got the 3 best pIayers weve had in the Iast 20 years. nobodys suggesting tanking or coIIecting assets here except you. i just think to get to the next IeveI the one guy needs to do more good basketbaII stuff Iike passing and screening and shooting and taking care of the baII. maybe not freaking the whoIe damn team and fanbase out when he shoots a effing ft. what im suggesting we do is what any team does that wants to improve. get better fitting pIayers especiaIIy than the ones we have if the trade vaIue is there. the modern game dictates how you win......not a stat sheet

[GHOSTofSIKMA]

If we devoted the resources to stopping KD that the Nets devoted to stopping Giannis, we would have won by 15-20 last night. Other teams know you need to get the ball out of Giannis' hands. For some reason, we decided it would be better to let KD turn the corner on every **** screen and match up with a backpedaling Lopez.

KD is a great player and took advantage of it, and made some great shots on top of it, but can you imagine the Nets defending Giannis this way? Flatting out along the baseline and leaving a slow C at the FT line to wait for him? Soft switches to leave him on an island with Pat Connaughton? Absurd.

it becomes more confusing when you realize how poorly durant handles a double team and how turnover prone he is when you make him a passer/playmaker.

Ive said this since before game one. hard double KD on every catch. i said this before harden/kyrie got hurt, its even more clear now.

it makes no sense.

the gamepIan was to try and Iet him beat us singIehandIy

[Sigra]

Guys, our offense was very solid in this game. We actually didnt shrink until very end. Sure, we made some mistakes and missed some shoots but its playoff. Everything is hard in playoffs. And yes everybody play more ISO in playoffs. Always did and always will. Our offense was very very good considering it was playoffs road game.

We lost this game because of defense. We let uncle Jeff and Blake open at 3 so many times. Bud should be fired for that alone. The only way they could catch us was 3 pointers and we let them open so much. At one moment they were inbounding and Blake was open at 3 and hit it. That was worst. But having Lopez in game when you have +17 and opponent can only catch you by shooting 3s is crime. In playoffs everything is hard for everybody. Except if you play against Bud and his Bucks. Then you will have open 3s by design. Incredible.

Portis actually played good defense in this series. His offense has been bad and Bud benched him for good after that miss when he hit side of backboard in game 4. But that same Bud give other players more opportunities. He banned Portis from rotation and therefore forced himself to more Lopez and Nets literally rape us when Lopez is there. Its crime.

Aslo, If you dont like Giannis from game 5 then you should want us to trade Giannis. Giannis from game 5 is best Giannis we will ever have. He even shortened FT routine, hit 2 of 4 from 3, played inside a lot etc. He did made 3 very stupid and "famous" mistakes at the end (asking for ball so much and then off foul, fadeaway over Harden, not catching easy pass from Midds) but those 3 are same as 3 misses and even with those I was very happy with Giannis at offense last night. God knows how much I hate his game. But last night that was best Giannis we will ever get.

Jrue was also very good last night. Again, that last airball effects perception but this is also the best Jrue we will ever get.

Midds was good too. I mean we played good offensive game considering its playoffs at road. We lost it because we didnt defend their bigs at 3 point line and because Durant went crazy at the end. Trade Lopez and find playoff coach. Thats all.

[DrWood]

Yea in no world is Giannis even close to Kd let alone better. I get not wanting to trade him(I’m giving him one year with a new coach) but he is most definitely not the most dominant or unstoppable player in the league.

Giannis is younger and much more durable. if you could have one moving forward, because of that, it is Giannis.

It is hard, after watching the past 4 seasons plus this year and this series, and conclude Giannis is better. It would be one thing if KD was some zero on defense, but he is good on that end as well. He is the most portable player in the league and the biggest ceiling raiser other then maybe lebron.

when he wants to be. what's a "ceiling raiser"? he doesn't make other players better.

[DrWood]

Giannis was anchoring some pretty garbage defenses before Bud and Lopez, I’m sure the bucks could put a respectable defense around lillard. Dame, Jrue, Khris, Pj and Brook would have the series over with or at least 3-2 coming home.

I mean, the bucks should be 3-2 coming home, but it doesn't work that way. If you think that lineup is better than the current lineup, you're laughably wrong.

[Plossum]

Guys, our offense was very solid in this game. We actually didnt shrink until very end. Sure, we made some mistakes and missed some shoots but its playoff. Everything is hard in playoffs. And yes everybody play more ISO in playoffs. Always did and always will. Our offense was very very good considering it was playoffs road game.

We lost this game because of defense. We let uncle Jeff and Blake open at 3 so many times. Bud should be fired for that alone. The only way they could catch us was 3 pointers and we let them open so much. At one moment they were inbounding and Blake was open at 3 and hit it. That was worst. But having Lopez in game when you have +17 and opponent can only catch you by shooting 3s is crime. In playoffs everything is hard for everybody. Except if you play against Bud and his Bucks. Then you will have open 3s by design. Incredible.

Portis actually played good defense in this series. His offense has been bad and Bud benched him for good after that miss when he hit side of backboard in game 4. But that same Bud give other players more opportunities. He banned Portis from rotation and therefore forced himself to more Lopez and Nets literally rape us when Lopez is there. Its crime.

Aslo, If you dont like Giannis from game 5 then you should want us to trade Giannis. Giannis from game 5 is best Giannis we will ever have. He even shortened FT routine, hit 2 of 4 from 3, played inside a lot etc. He did made 3 very stupid and "famous" mistakes at the end (asking for ball so much and then off foul, fadeaway over Harden, not catching easy pass from Midds) but those 3 are same as 3 misses and even with those I was very happy with Giannis at offense last night. God knows how much I hate his game. But last night that was best Giannis we will ever get.

Jrue was also very good last night. Again, that last airball effects perception but this is also the best Jrue we will ever get.

Midds was good too. I mean we played good offensive game considering its playoffs at road. We lost it because we didnt defend their bigs at 3 point line and because Durant went crazy at the end. Trade Lopez and find playoff coach. Thats all.

I'm with you Sigra. There were a couple of crucial plays down the strength where we either choked or just got an unlucky break. The 30 foot Durant three with like one on the shot clock was huge. That's was a great defensive sequence from us and KD just hit a low percentage shot. The foul on Lopez was a tough call, especially with them in the penalty and two FTs to Harden.

The Giannis fadeaway was ugly. Harden was hand-checking him though and yet we don't get that call. Hopefully he'll learn from it but Harden is a strong dude, especially in the post. Giannis has a big height advantage there though so I'd rather he face up than take a fadeaway. And the fumble was grim. I thought Midds was gonna shoot it and so did Giannis. Midds was that crafty he fooled everyone.

I think there was another charge Green took from Giannis late too. That one was bad. Giannis has to be better and less predictable there.

But a couple of those plays go the other way and we're going back 3-2. This series is a bit ugly but it's close. I just hope the loss didn't break the team and we get a friendlier bounce in game 6.

[Baddy Chuck]

Defense was being tore up with Brook out there in the second half but it was even worse when he was off the court.

Also, saying the offense was solid is just false. We had a ~120.4 ORTG through three, good, and we had a 87.5 ORTG in the 4th, not good. This is not skewed by just a couple plays. It was awful. Not sure where to split up passing stats but it was painfully visible how bad our offense bogged down.

I'm sure numbers can be skewed a bit by end of the game chasing and stuff but meh, here's some second half stuff.