OT: 2021 NBA Playoffs

[MDHuskFan]

This may be the worst coached game I have seen in an NBA Finals.

He is letting Phoenix run the same pick and roll on his big every time. This leaves the Bucks two options: leave Lopez on the perimeter covering Paul or Booker, or pull Lopez, a tremendous offensive player, off the court. My personal choice would be to switch with everyone but Lopez, but basically anything else but Lopez covering Booker or Paul in space is a win. Trap on the screen, play a zone, literally anything would be better than what Budenholzer is doing on defense.

On offense, it has been one and one isolation basketball the whole game. Lots of low percentage shots. Also, Bucks should pick and roll with Lopez and then have him post up or get the ball on the roll vs a guard down low.

This isn't that hard, and most high school coaches would adjust better than Budenholzer. He is in way over his head.

So I gotta ask, is there something personal with Coach Bud? Like you kill everything he does, and only him

 

[Mr. French]

So I gotta ask, is there something personal with Coach Bud? Like you kill everything he does, and only him

Yeah he's very involved with coach Bud. I don't get it either. Not that you can't have an opinion that he isn't great, but man you'd think he was a 6th grade coach.

 

[HooperScooper]

This isn't that hard, and most high school coaches would adjust better than Budenholzer. He is in way over his head.

You keep saying this yet the Bucks are in the finals and clinched the east with 2 wins without Giannis. If they win the championship are you still going to be saying this? They're not exactly the most talented team we've seen get to the finals so he can't be that bad.

 

[bballgrda]

iirc, Bud took over virtually the same roster as Kidd when he was first head coach and they had a 16 game improvement or something like that. Can only imagine what Nelson thinks of Kidd

 

[nelsonmuntz]

You keep saying this yet the Bucks are in the finals and clinched the east with 2 wins without Giannis. If they win the championship are you still going to be saying this? They're not exactly the most talented team we've seen get to the finals so he can't be that bad.

The Milwaukee Bucks are an easy team to root for if you are from Connecticut. It is a small, northern market that has a shot to win the NBA Title. How close are Cleveland, Indiana, Minnesota or Detroit to winning a title?

Losing Giannis actually cleaned up some of Budenholzer's stupidest decisions, like letting Giannis bring up the ball. Giannis is not a point guard, so he is not good at creating for his teammates, and he is the team's best player and finisher. He should be off the ball, not with the ball. When Giannis got hurt, Holiday became the point guard, and the offense actually got more efficient.

iirc, Bud took over virtually the same roster as Kidd when he was first head coach and they had a 16 game improvement or something like that. Can only imagine what Nelson thinks of Kidd

Kidd had two problems on the Bucks. 1) the weird amoeba defense the Bucks were playing under him, and 2) he is abrasive with his bosses. I don't think he is a bad coach though, and the Bucks had to do something defensively when he got there, so I don't completely blame him for that weird defense. My gut tells me he is going to feud with Cuban sooner than later.

 

[Husky Alien]

"My gut tells me he is going to feud with Cuban sooner than later."
Isn't Cuban owner of Dallas Mavs?

 

[navery12]

"My gut tells me he is going to feud with Cuban sooner than later."
Isn't Cuban owner of Dallas Mavs?

Yes, Jason Kidd was hired as head coach of the Mavs

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Chris Paul's average stats over the last three games:

33.7p, 3.7r, 8.3a, 58 fg% (36-62), 52.4 3p% (11-21).

Crazy he's playing his best basketball at 36.

 

[Husky Alien]

Yes, Jason Kidd was hired as head coach of the Mavs

Thanks, navery 12 .

 

[nelsonmuntz]

My opinion of Budenholzer is not exactly ground-breaking. Barkley has been complaining about Bud's offense for years, and most analysts complain about Budenholzer's reliance on isolations with offense. Middleton is good, but he would be unstoppable if the team had better ball movement.

If I was the Bucks' Head Coach, I would be attacking the basket with Holiday, with Giannis as a dump off once the help came over to Holiday. I would be running Middleton off screens away from the ball on the 3 point line so he would be getting more clean catch-and-shoot looks instead of always shooting over a defender. I would mix in some pick and roll with Lopez if the opposing teams went small. The Bucks would be unstoppable with just a little more structure.

I like Budenholzer's base defense, but when the opposing coach starts to exploit a problem in it, Bud has to adjust, and he either doesn't or he makes the wrong adjustment, like pulling Lopez off the floor.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Chris Paul's average stats over the last three games:

33.7p, 3.7r, 8.3a, 58 fg% (36-62), 52.4 3p% (11-21).

Crazy he's playing his best basketball at 36.

He's got the look of a veteran who desperately wants a ring, and is gonna do anything in his power to get one.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

He's got the look of a veteran who desperately wants a ring, and is gonna do anything in his power to get one.

I'm rooting for him. Suns are an easy team to like.

As long as the Suns have two of Paul, Booker and Payne on the floor and rolling, Bucks don't have a chance.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I'm rooting for him. Suns are an easy team to like.

As long as the Suns have two of Paul, Booker and Payne on the floor and rolling, Bucks don't have a chance.

Don't forget the big man in the middle. He's playing his role to perfection. Nothing fancy, but it's working. Running the floor, pick and roll game, solid D, and grabbing boards like his life depends on it.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Don't forget the big man in the middle. He's playing his role to perfection. Nothing fancy, but it's working. Running the floor, pick and roll game, solid D, and grabbing boards like his life depends on it.

No doubt, Ayton is playing like a ten-year vet. Such a smart player and is working his butt off. I'm a Crowder fan too.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I'm a Crowder fan too.

I haven't followed the NBA much for years. I was impressed with the contributions of some really veteran guys I remember from years back. Crowder and of course Paul for the Suns, and the Bucks w/ Lopez and Tucker.

 

[Psolo12]

Watching the Bucks try to guard the Suns' pick and rolls yesterday was brutal to watch. You'd think that's something they would really gameplan for as it's been a focal part of the Suns offense all season.

 

[auror]

Watching the Bucks try to guard the Suns' pick and rolls yesterday was brutal to watch. You'd think that's something they would really gameplan for as it's been a focal part of the Suns offense all season.

There's the gameplan, the personnel, and the execution. Three different elements that success hinges on. Personnel variable has ramifications on every other aspect of the game, so you might be stuck with worse PnR defenders to gain an advantage on offense, the boards, other rim protection, etc.

The problem is that Chris Paul just absolutely eats bigs alive in PnR. So at that point, gameplan doesn't really help, because he hurts all of switches, drop coverage, blitzes, etc. So then you're looking at personnel, but the problem is that the Bucks 4th through bench guys all suck. This is where the Divicenzo injury hurts.

• Tucker is an offense 0, lets Chris Paul rest on D, and not a great matchup with the Suns lineup (no middle height threat on Suns, not a good vertical defender).
• Connaughton is a streaky shooter and okay defender.
• Bryn Forbes can't defend at all. They go right after him. He supposedly can shoot, but hit 30% in last 2 series.
• Bobby Portis isn't quick enough to hang with Paul after a switch.
• Likely can't play Jeff Teague with Holiday and Middleton, plus he's washed.
• Thanasis is a foul machine.

If you take Brook Lopez out, 2 (!) of these guys have to play.

If they had devleoped Nwora more, this might be the series for him.

 

[Psolo12]

There's the gameplan, the personnel, and the execution. Three different elements that success hinges on. Personnel variable has ramifications on every other aspect of the game, so you might be stuck with worse PnR defenders to gain an advantage on offense, the boards, other rim protection, etc.

The problem is that Chris Paul just absolutely eats bigs alive in PnR. So at that point, gameplan doesn't really help, because he hurts all of switches, drop coverage, blitzes, etc. So then you're looking at personnel, but the problem is that the Bucks 4th through bench guys all suck. This is where the Divicenzo injury hurts.

• Tucker is an offense 0, lets Chris Paul rest on D, and not a great matchup with the Suns lineup (no middle height threat on Suns, not a good vertical defender).
• Connaughton is a streaky shooter and okay defender.
• Bryn Forbes can't defend at all. They go right after him. He supposedly can shoot, but hit 30% in last 2 series.
• Bobby Portis isn't quick enough to hang with Paul after a switch.
• Likely can't play Jeff Teague with Holiday and Middleton, plus he's washed.
• Thanasis is a foul machine.

If you take Brook Lopez out, 2 (!) of these guys have to play.

If they had devleoped Nwora more, this might be the series for him.

Yeah, when you look at it that way it really shows Paul is an absolute matchup nightmare with the Bucks personnel. He ate Portis' lunch a few times and I remember wondering why they kept using that switch, guess they don't really have other options.

 

[auror]

Yeah, when you look at it that way it really shows Paul is an absolute matchup nightmare with the Bucks personnel. He ate Portis' lunch a few times and I remember wondering why they kept using that switch, guess they don't really have other options.

Yeah for those who relish the mid-range game, the last two Bucks series have shown the power of the floater and the midrange pullup.

If you switch, Paul will just eat the big alive with step aside 3s or by driving by them. If you don't switch and have Holiday trail and drop the big, Paul does one of those diagonal dribble leaning pullups from the elbow that it seems like he makes 100% of the time.

UConn hedges those situations hard with the big and essentially doubles the ballhandler, which can lead to fouls on bigs who aren't mobile, but keeps the college equivalents of Paul from getting into lane where they are dangerous (you get them going horizontal instead of downhill and keep them from turning the corner). For teams that move the ball well, we can get stuck in rotation with a weakside wing on the 2nd big after a couple passes. In the NBA, the other players on the court are so good at passing that they can really dissect this type of PnR defense, but it works pretty well against college teams that don't pass well (especially the screen setting big) or aren't deep with playmakers. As with everything, it's all tradeoffs and pros/cons.

The Bucks don't have a good solution from gameplan or personnel standpoint, so they're going to really need to execute well. They'll likely get better as the series progresses once they see Paul run the play enough, but they're really missing one more 3&D player. Their guys are mostly 3 and no D or D and no 3.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

There's the gameplan, the personnel, and the execution. Three different elements that success hinges on. Personnel variable has ramifications on every other aspect of the game, so you might be stuck with worse PnR defenders to gain an advantage on offense, the boards, other rim protection, etc.

The problem is that Chris Paul just absolutely eats bigs alive in PnR. So at that point, gameplan doesn't really help, because he hurts all of switches, drop coverage, blitzes, etc. So then you're looking at personnel, but the problem is that the Bucks 4th through bench guys all suck. This is where the Divicenzo injury hurts.

• Tucker is an offense 0, lets Chris Paul rest on D, and not a great matchup with the Suns lineup (no middle height threat on Suns, not a good vertical defender).
• Connaughton is a streaky shooter and okay defender.
• Bryn Forbes can't defend at all. They go right after him. He supposedly can shoot, but hit 30% in last 2 series.
• Bobby Portis isn't quick enough to hang with Paul after a switch.
• Likely can't play Jeff Teague with Holiday and Middleton, plus he's washed.
• Thanasis is a foul machine.

If you take Brook Lopez out, 2 (!) of these guys have to play.

If they had devleoped Nwora more, this might be the series for him.

You are right. The Bucks are terrible. Stellar analysis there.

 

[auror]

You are right. The Bucks are terrible. Stellar analysis there.

This is poor bait, even for you.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

This is poor bait, even for you.

You're not wrong.

 

[Mr. French]

so I just found out who nelson really is ...

 

[superjohn]

Only consistent guy on the Bucks is Giannis. Booker and Paul bring it every game and they have a bunch of other shot makers.

 

[aceboon]

Philly really goofed when they traded Bridges, and its not even a hindsight thing everyone questioned it on draft night.