2019 East Finals | (1) Milwaukee Bucks vs (2) Toronto Raptors (TOR leads 3-2)

[JBURGE]

1 minute ago, resilient part 2 said:

How about Giannis posting up some. He will a better facilitator when they double out of the post instead of always trying to split 3 defenders with his Euro steps.

Sure but unless the Bucks start hitting shots, that doesn't really matter. He will go to the post, get doubled and neutralized, and have to pass. Giannis has been productive in the transition game, and when he is able to drive from past the foul line. Int he first 2 games, he was able to get a ton of offensive rebounds. 

[resilient part 2]

Just now, JBURGE said:

Sure but unless the Bucks start hitting shots, that doesn't really matter. He will go to the post, get doubled and neutralized, and have to pass. Giannis has been productive in the transition game, and when he is able to drive from past the foul line. Int he first 2 games, he was able to get a ton of offensive rebounds. 

Giannis still needs to attack in transition, of course. But in the halfcourt sets and especially in the 4th quarter, he seems to get "out of control" when slashing in and getting turnovers.  I believe he will have more control and less turnovers in the post. But you are right, someone better start hitting outside shots.

I also think Hill and Brogdan should be starting.

[Broncofan]

Re: posting up more, that plays into TOR's hands.   TOR's interior D with Gasol joining Siakam/Leonard (and with Ibaka/Anunoby spelling the frontcourt, it was unbelievable) is their strength.  It's a testament to Giannis' abilities that he gives them fits in transition / facing the basket.   

Absolutely fair comment that MIL's shooters have missed open looks (although, it's not like they are all uncontested, but I'd say about 1-3 to 1/4 of the misses are very much open looks).  That would likely still be what TOR will let MIL do if Giannis posts up.

Edited May 24, 2019 by Broncofan

[beekay414]

6 hours ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

See, I don't get this. Just weird to continue attacking Middleton. No one thinks of him as a superstar. And it's not like Kawhi's had great support from his #2 every game. In fact, Giannis needs to be better. You could argue that Giannis had more help yesterday than Kawhi… The difference? Kawhi was just flat out better than Giannis, especially in the 4th quarter. Giannis the last three games has been okay for his standards, but hasn't played MVP caliber ball. Kawhi took matters into his own hands and took over to start the 4th quarter yesterday. Giannis simply isn't able to just clear out and do that at this point. How exactly were LeBron led teams so successful? He would do similar things to what Kawhi did. Giannis hit a big three yesterday and I was happy for him, but aside from that he was far too quiet in the 4th quarter. If your best player isn't going to be a big factor down the stretch in these tight games, then it's going to be a problem. Like I mentioned yesterday, there have been three close games this series and he didn't make any big plays in any of the games. That's not a coincidence either. Game slows down, Raptors are really good defensively and they are able to create a wall at the rim. 

But he has still has a shot to turn it around. Two MVP caliber games and they can get to the finals. These are evenly matched teams with Bucks having more scoring options. Raptors are mainly up this series because Kawhi has been the best player in the series. 

Yeah blame Giannis lol

[beekay414]

1 hour ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

Giannis in the last three games in 39 MPG:

20.3/13/6/1/3 on 45/33/46 shooting splits and averaging about 5 TOs per game. 

The shooting numbers are a bit skewed from his terrible game 3, but the most concerning stat is his FT percentage. I think that is making him a bit less aggressive and that needs to change. This is why the Bucks still have a solid shot though. Giannis needs to pick it up and he's fully capable of doing so and the Bucks can then win this series. It's not like he has to play some amazing ball where he has to average 40 PPG or anything. Just needs to play better and be more impactful than he was int he last three games. One thing that shot not happen is for him to go through the game in such large stretches and be kind of invisible offensively. Sure the Raptors are very good defensively and Kawhi is an all time defender, but Giannis could do better and should be expected to do better. I don't watch the games and think to myself man, the Raptors supporting cast is better the Bucks, because that isn't the case. Bucks have more solid players than the Raptors. To put it in simple terms, this is 3-2 Raptors because Kawhi has out played Giannis. No need to kill Middleton or anyone else. Both teams have players struggling offensively. 

 

Lol this has to be a ******* joke, right? Are we watching the same games cuz I don't think we are. Blaming Giannis is the stupidest thing I've ever seen you write. 

[J-ALL-DAY]

Just now, beekay414 said:

Yeah blame Giannis lol

Blame Giannis? I mean this isn't blaming Giannis at all. Just asking for him to play like you know, the MVP of the league that he is. This series hasn't been about one supporting cast trumping the other as for the most part they have canceled out depending on the game. It has come down to Leonard being better than Giannis and able to close out or help close out two tight games. 

Giannis is not exempt to any criticism. He is no different than other superstars. I mean Harden got killed for certain moments of the Warriors series and he mainly balled out. 

[beekay414]

1 minute ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

Blame Giannis? I mean this isn't blaming Giannis at all. Just asking for him to play like you know, the MVP of the league that he is. This series hasn't been about one supporting cast trumping the other as for the most part they have canceled out depending on the game. It has come down to Leonard being better than Giannis and able to close out or help close out two tight games. 

Giannis is not exempt to any criticism. He is no different than other superstars. I mean Harden got killed for certain moments of the Warriors series and he mainly balled out. 

He's the only player out there giving any type of consistent effort on both ends. It's not his fault the rest of his team has crapped the bed. How many players are the focal point of 4 players? FOH with this noise. 

[J-ALL-DAY]

1 minute ago, beekay414 said:

Lol this has to be a ******* joke, right? Are we watching the same games cuz I don't think we are. Blaming Giannis is the stupidest thing I've ever seen you write. 

Nope, not a joke AT ALL. Why do you keep acting like folks can't ask Giannis to play better? His lack of outside shot does limit his impact in certain aspects of these close games. That's just a fact. We have seen three close games this series and you can't say he was a big factor down the stretch in any of those games. His last three games he's been okay, but not MVP level. 

Yesterday's game was tight heading into the 4th quarter and the Raptors were even down three. Leonard took over in the first few minutes of the quarter by getting switches and making plays. Then to end the game he was able to make some plays to help close the deal. 

If you want to say Giannis has played great and he has no fault in any of these losses that is fine....I guess. But blaming the supporting cast when Leonard's supporting cast has been pretty much the same level is stupid. 

[beekay414]

2 minutes ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

Nope, not a joke AT ALL. Why do you keep acting like folks can't ask Giannis to play better? His lack of outside shot does limit his impact in certain aspects of these close games. That's just a fact. We have seen three close games this series and you can't say he was a big factor down the stretch in any of those games. His last three games he's been okay, but not MVP level. 

Yesterday's game was tight heading into the 4th quarter and the Raptors were even down three. Leonard took over in the first few minutes of the quarter by getting switches and making plays. Then to end the game he was able to make some plays to help close the deal. 

If you want to say Giannis has played great and he has no fault in any of these losses that is fine....I guess. But blaming the supporting cast when Leonard's supporting cast has been pretty much the same level is stupid. 

They literally won yesterday because Fred Van Vleet went full Steph. Saying they won because of Kawhi is straight horse manure. Try again. FVV was the one that put the stops on the Bucks when they went on their runs, not Kawhi. 

[candyman93]

12 minutes ago, beekay414 said:

Yeah blame Giannis lol

I’m telling ya Bucks fans, Cavs fans have seen this show before. Giannis is going to be unfairly bashed and people will say he needs to leave for (insert big market).

[J-ALL-DAY]

4 minutes ago, beekay414 said:

He's the only player out there giving any type of consistent effort on both ends. It's not his fault the rest of his team has crapped the bed. How many players are the focal point of 4 players? FOH with this noise. 

Any player giving consistent effort? Huh? You think effort is the issue? Both teams are playing hard and are competing. Another odd criticism for your own Bucks.

Focal point of four players eh? Will he is a beast, of course he will get attention. He's also trying to take it to the rack when the Raptors have built a wall which has led to quite a bit of turnovers. Point blank, he's not a legitimate option down the stretch and that is a problem. LIS, he's not a guy you can clear out and just give him the ball to get you a bucket. He will have to be utilized in other ways. Being used as a screener is an option and actually led to an ally oop dunk yesterday. 

Once again, not sure why you don't think Giannis is prone to being criticized. No one has said he is playing terrible or anything.........Just that he needs to play at the MVP level that he played at in the regular season. Harden has been killed for this exact thing for years. 

[beekay414]

And I'm not saying Giannis has been MVP level either. I'm saying he's the only one out there giving his all and he's spent trying to lift this team. He's facing a 4 on 1 in the half court and making the reads to pass out of it. It's not his fault his team can't hit the shots. We're not watching the same games if we're trying to blame Giannis for not doing enough. 

[seminoles1]

10 minutes ago, beekay414 said:

He's the only player out there giving any type of consistent effort on both ends. It's not his fault the rest of his team has crapped the bed. How many players are the focal point of 4 players? FOH with this noise. 

Comes with the territory, man. It's not entirely fair, but this is how superstars are judged. If he was out there putting up huge numbers and still losing then it'd be different (like LeBron in the Magic series), but he's also not playing up to his standard.

[J-ALL-DAY]

1 minute ago, beekay414 said:

They literally won yesterday because Fred Van Vleet went full Steph. Saying they won because of Kawhi is straight horse manure. Try again. FVV was the one that put the stops on the Bucks when they went on their runs, not Kawhi. 

Kawhi most definitely was a huge factor. And of the 7 threes FVV hit, how many came off Leonard's assists or off him getting to the lane and making the play? Kawhi is also the one that got the Raptors the lead in the 4th quarter and drove and kicked to FVV for the game leading three after Lopez had tied it. Then he proceeded to get fouled the next trip down and hit two FTs after Giannis got that ally oop dunk....Oh yeah, the following possession, he took it to the rack and got fouled by Brogdan and hit a FT to make it a four point lead. So yeah, I'd say he was a factor down the stretch, and especially in the 4th quarter where he had 15 big points. 

[beekay414]

2 minutes ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

Any player giving consistent effort? Huh? You think effort is the issue? Both teams are playing hard and are competing. Another odd criticism for your own Bucks.

Focal point of four players eh? Will he is a beast, of course he will get attention. He's also trying to take it to the rack when the Raptors have built a wall which has led to quite a bit of turnovers. Point blank, he's not a legitimate option down the stretch and that is a problem. LIS, he's not a guy you can clear out and just give him the ball to get you a bucket. He will have to be utilized in other ways. Being used as a screener is an option and actually led to an ally oop dunk yesterday. 

Once again, not sure why you don't think Giannis is prone to being criticized. No one has said he is playing terrible or anything.........Just that he needs to play at the MVP level that he played at in the regular season. Harden has been killed for this exact thing for years. 

Dude, you're not watching the same game, that much is certain. The big moments have come down to effort plays and the Bucks aren't making them. What is so hard to grasp about that?

Look at the play Kawhi got his own rebound on the missed three. Giannis is straight up battling Gasol while Brogdon and, I think Midds, are ******* standing their watching allowing Kawhi to get the board. 

But yeah, keep blaming Giannis. If his teammates hit the shots they have all year, everything is different. The lane opens more and he puts up better lines. Asking him to do things he doesn't do just because you think he should is like asking Steph and Klay to post up instead of shooting.