East Finals: (3) Bucks vs (5) Hawks

[Deadpulse]

29 minutes ago, Texansfan713 said:

Bucks will beat each of those teams.  I actually think this might be the year the Bucks win it all.

Bucks/Suns is probably the most entertaining matchup on paper and I am here for it.

[J-ALL-DAY]

Surprised how many are so confident in the Bucks to be honest. Nets were terrible defensively all season yet they held the Bucks in check. I'm more confident in the Bucks defense than their offense.

It's going to be a competitive conference finals regardless of what match up we get, especially if it is the 76ers. 

[NYRaider]

Ice Trae Finals MVP

[Refugee]

2 hours ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

Surprised how many are so confident in the Bucks to be honest. Nets were terrible defensively all season yet they held the Bucks in check. I'm more confident in the Bucks defense than their offense.

It's going to be a competitive conference finals regardless of what match up we get, especially if it is the 76ers. 

The Nets definitely stepped up their D in the playoffs. I’m not saying they became the Bad Boys Pistons but they flipped a switch and the Bucks had to flip theirs. Blake becoming magically healed from whatever condition he had in Detroit alone brought some backbone to their defense and as slight as he is, KD is still tall as hell and can move on D.

I’m tipsy from the victory but feel like the team grew a lot from this series and it is a big one in Giannis’ and the team’s development. I’m confident they can dispatch whoever comes out of the East and then it will be a battle for the championship. 

[J-ALL-DAY]

46 minutes ago, Refugee said:

The Nets definitely stepped up their D in the playoffs. I’m not saying they became the Bad Boys Pistons but they flipped a switch and the Bucks had to flip theirs. Blake becoming magically healed from whatever condition he had in Detroit alone brought some backbone to their defense and as slight as he is, KD is still tall as hell and can move on D.

I’m tipsy from the victory but feel like the team grew a lot from this series and it is a big one in Giannis’ and the team’s development. I’m confident they can dispatch whoever comes out of the East and then it will be a battle for the championship. 

Yeah, but Philly has the personnel to do what the Nets did and more. Regular season defense is a bit overrated as every team plays harder in the playoffs and the pace can be slowed down to help the defense. Nets have some plus defenders but overall nothing like the 76ers. 

Bucks also don't have a dominant perimeter scorer or someone that can take over with the high pick and roll.

KD's greatness made the broken Nets look better than what they are. If you look at that roster that was out there since halftime of game 4, it's pretty pathetic. Bucks were just able to out last them but they made it harder than it should have. The fact they didn't double or trap KD more when no one else could score? Made absolutely no sense at all. Bud makes this team play at a lower level than their actual talent. That can't be overstated, especially in a tight series.

Not convinced just yet that this team got over the hump. 

Put it this way, if Lue as coaching the team instead of Bud? Nets getting blasted in games 5 and 6 and they become the clear favorites. 

Edited June 20, 2021 by J-ALL-DAY

[Spartica4Real]

31 minutes ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

Yeah, but Philly has the personnel to do what the Nets did and more. Regular season defense is a bit overrated as every team plays harder in the playoffs and the pace can be slowed down to help the defense. Nets have some plus defenders but overall nothing like the 76ers. 

Bucks also don't have a dominant perimeter scorer or someone that can take over with the high pick and roll.

KD's greatness made the broken Nets look better than what they are. If you look at that roster that was out there since halftime of game 4, it's pretty pathetic. Bucks were just able to out last them but they made it harder than it should have. The fact they didn't double or trap KD more when no one else could score? Made absolutely no sense at all. Bud makes this team play at a lower level than their actual talent. That can't be overstated, especially in a tight series.

Not convinced just yet that this team got over the hump. 

Put it this way, if Lue as coaching the team instead of Bud? Nets getting blasted in games 5 and 6 and they become the clear favorites. 

I'm not confident in the Bucks in the actual Finals, but for the ECF they have the benefit of Doc being even worse at adjustments than Bud or the Hawks just getting talent gapped. Bucks match up well with the Sixers, it'll be a tough, defensive series but with neither coach being good at adjustments I'll just take the better matchup, which I think is the Bucks. Giannis always gets his vs Philly, and they can play Simmons off the floor to help with the offensive matchups. 

Jrue would have a much easier time this series not having to run around chasing KD, Kyrie, and Harden on defense and exhausting himself. 

[Refugee]

28 minutes ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

Yeah, but Philly has the personnel to do what the Nets did and more. Regular season defense is a bit overrated as every team plays harder in the playoffs and the pace can be slowed down to help the defense. Nets have some plus defenders but overall nothing like the 76ers. 

Bucks also don't have a dominant perimeter scorer or someone that can take over with the high pick and roll.

KD's greatness made the broken Nets look better than what they are. If you look at that roster that was out there since halftime of game 4, it's pretty pathetic. Bucks were just able to out last them but they made it harder than it should have. The fact they didn't double or trap KD more when no one else could score? Made absolutely no sense at all. Bud makes this team play at a lower level than their actual talent. That can't be overstated, especially in a tight series.

Not convinced just yet that this team got over the hump. 

Put it this way, if Lue as coaching the team instead of Bud? Nets getting blasted in games 5 and 6 and they become the clear favorites. 

I’m not as much as a Bud hater as most, but of course he is what his track record is until he changes it. It’s still a lot of speculation that Lue would some how have them steamrolling teams.

if you watch some PJ Tucker interviews, which are always good, he talks about how he and the team did not want to over help on KD.  Make him be Superman, which he can be but in the end couldn’t do it for 48+ min over a series. One of the biggest reasons we dropped game 5 was Jeff Green going 7/8  and Blake 3/6 from 3. KD will get his, just have to make him work for everything and give no one else anything. 

Bucks might not have had a great series from 3 but they were one of the better 3 point shooting teams in the regular season and obviously have the tools to dominate in the paint. I know defense is different in the post but I don’t see them shooting it that far below average for long and last night, they didn’t. The offense and defense is built to beat teams in different ways so we’ll see if the players and coaches can get it done but I see a team who is growing and that no other team wants to see in a best of 7. 

[Supersuavesky]

 

[11sanchez11]

Wrong thread

Edited June 20, 2021 by 11sanchez11

[TheRealMcCoy]

2 hours ago, Supersuavesky said:

 

Pray for @beekay414

Unless ofc they win the title

[beekay414]

1 minute ago, TheRealMcCoy said:

Pray for @beekay414

Unless ofc they win the title

Meh, I'll believe it when I see it. You're talking about a franchise that had already agreed to hire a coach when they still had a coach employed lol. Never trust Marc Lasry haha.

[J-ALL-DAY]

3 hours ago, Refugee said:

I’m not as much as a Bud hater as most, but of course he is what his track record is until he changes it. It’s still a lot of speculation that Lue would some how have them steamrolling teams.

if you watch some PJ Tucker interviews, which are always good, he talks about how he and the team did not want to over help on KD.  Make him be Superman, which he can be but in the end couldn’t do it for 48+ min over a series. One of the biggest reasons we dropped game 5 was Jeff Green going 7/8  and Blake 3/6 from 3. KD will get his, just have to make him work for everything and give no one else anything. 

Bucks might not have had a great series from 3 but they were one of the better 3 point shooting teams in the regular season and obviously have the tools to dominate in the paint. I know defense is different in the post but I don’t see them shooting it that far below average for long and last night, they didn’t. The offense and defense is built to beat teams in different ways so we’ll see if the players and coaches can get it done but I see a team who is growing and that no other team wants to see in a best of 7. 

Sorry, but that's bad logic. Just because the team ended up winning doesn't mean Bud was making the right decisions. In game 5 in particular, Bud never adjusted from the drop coverage and KD obliterated the defense. That was preventable and should have never happened. We DO know though that Lue would have sent doubles as he has been doing that all postseason. Lue would have either trapped or sent doubles at KD or he would have played Giannis at the 5 where you could switch everything. Lue also is willing to try different line ups which is hardly ever the case with Bud.

I mean the team is certainly talented and has a superstar in Giannis. That alone will make you a threat in most cases, but pointing out what Tucker was saying and how he was eventually proven right doesn't give me more confidence in the team. There were people BEFORE the series that thought this was going to be a competitive series and that was with Harden/Kyrie healthy. The fact it was essentially competitive with Harden being a liability down the stretch and Kyrie not playing after halftime of game 4? Meh. 

[J-ALL-DAY]

3 hours ago, Spartica4Real said:

I'm not confident in the Bucks in the actual Finals, but for the ECF they have the benefit of Doc being even worse at adjustments than Bud or the Hawks just getting talent gapped. Bucks match up well with the Sixers, it'll be a tough, defensive series but with neither coach being good at adjustments I'll just take the better matchup, which I think is the Bucks. Giannis always gets his vs Philly, and they can play Simmons off the floor to help with the offensive matchups. 

Jrue would have a much easier time this series not having to run around chasing KD, Kyrie, and Harden on defense and exhausting himself. 

I don't know what to think of Jrue right now. He was awful in the Nets series but everyone knows he is a better player than that. He will need to be better in the next series but honestly how much chasing around did he do when he was guarding Harden from games 5-7? Sorry, can't buy that at all. Harden wasn't even moving and when he did drive? They were some half-assed drives. Jrue was just bad. 

I'm not saying Philly is all that great, in fact I said I see majority of those games being coin flipped games. I just said I'm not sure I agree with all the confidence most have regarding this series. The Bucks didn't shoot the three well vs even Miami and were barely 30% I think against the Nets. The reason for that teams are able to set their defenses in the postseason and the Bucks don't have anyone that truly breaks the defense down consistently from the perimeter. You can make that up with great ball movement but at one point against the Nets they had the least amount of passes per possessions from any team in the playoffs. Don't think that significantly changed down the stretch of that series. I think if they run more Middleton/GIannis pick and rolls, they would be able to generate more open corner looks for the shooters. But I'd be surprised if their 3 point percentage all of a sudden against the 76ers (if they win tonight) ends up being in the high 30s or something. The Nets were actually top 10 defending the three point this season but the Hawks/76ers were even better. 

76ers are flawed for sure, but that's why they aren't looking all that great right now. They continue blowing big leads and their 2nd best player can't even in the game at certain points of the 4th quarter because he can't hit a FT to save his life. Do not be surprised if we get some 88-86 or 91-89 type of games if the 76ers advance lol. 

[Leader]

14 minutes ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

Bud never adjusted from the drop coverage and KD obliterated the defense.

I'm not gonna get into a deep dive on this cause I honestly dont care - just wanted to point out that KD was ruining any and all defenses. He wasnt settling just for jumpers - even though he was hitting them. He was just as comfortable taking whomever off the dribble and to the rim.

KDs problem was simply accumulation of minutes - lack of strong support from others - and a gas tank that finally hit "E"

[cannondale]

Bud's job isn't as easy as it looks. Drop coverage or building a wall is successful because of Giannis' limitations.