NBA Thread 2020-21 Season

[Cusefan0307]

I saw a stat the other day that when the series goes exactly this way: 2-0 to 3-2, the team up 3-2 has won 9 of 17 series or something like that lol

Interesting. I would have thought it would have been far greater. There was a long time where the NBA went with a 2-3-2 format though.

 

[MikeSU02]

Interesting. I would have thought it would have been far greater. There was a long time where the NBA went with a 2-3-2 format though.

That is home/away all inclusive.

When you cut for 3-2 with home team up in game six, it skews way more in the favor of the home team.

Giannis is going to go 40/20/5 in this game.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

That is home/away all inclusive.

When you cut for 3-2 with home team up in game six, it skews way more in the favor of the home team.

Giannis is going to go 40/20/5 in this game.

with zero fouls as well.

 

[Cusefan0307]

That is home/away all inclusive.

When you cut for 3-2 with home team up in game six, it skews way more in the favor of the home team.

Giannis is going to go 40/20/5 in this game.

That’s a given. I am not as certain the Bucks win. It will probably be decided by how Holiday plays.

 

[Melancer46]

That’s a given. I am not as certain the Bucks win. It will probably be decided by how Holiday plays.

As always, if 2 of our big 3 play well, we have a good chance of winning. If all 3 play well, we almost certainly win (barring another shooting performance like Phoenix had in Game 2 or 5).

If it's only 1 of the 3, we have to hope Phoenix's shooting fizzles out or it's probably headed to 7.

Really hoping the Bucks can finally come out strong in the 1st quarter and just take the life out of Phoenix from the opening tip but that seems unlikely with the way this series has gone so far.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

That’s a given. I am not as certain the Bucks win. It will probably be decided by how Holiday plays.

Actually I think it will be decided by how well CP3, Crowder and Ayton plays. I don't think Booker has enough on the road, with all the fans screaming and Scott Foster and company to carry the team by himself. 1<17008.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Really hoping the Bucks can finally come out strong in the 1st quarter and just take the life out of Phoenix from the opening tip but that seems unlikely with the way this series has gone so far.

As long as the Bucks' fans are engaged that should make the difference. I don't think there is a chance that Middleton and Holliday both have bad games so even if the Suns score over 120 the Bucks should also.

 

[Melancer46]

Actually I think it will be decided by how well CP3, Crowder and Ayton plays. I don't think Booker has enough on the road, with all the fans screaming and Scott Foster and company to carry the team by himself. 1<17008.

Phoenix's priorities has to be getting back on defense after misses and rebounding as a team to keep Milwaukee off the glass. They've given us way too many easy points the last 4 games.

 

[Knicks411]

I saw a stat the other day that when the series goes exactly this way: 2-0 to 3-2, the team up 3-2 has won 9 of 17 series or something like that lol

Bucks were on the other side of that one in 19, right?

Anything can happen and all that, but it really does seem like the series has been slowly trending toward the Bucks. I like them to finish it off tonight

 

[Melancer46]

Bucks were on the other side of that one in 19, right?

Anything can happen and all that, but it really does seem like the series has been slowly trending toward the Bucks. I like them to finish it off tonight

Yeah, that series has mirrored this one pretty well honestly. Home team jumped out to a 2-0 lead and felt like they had Game 3 only to let it slip away and then it just kinda snowballed from there. Hopefully it ends the same way with the Bucks playing the role of Toronto.

I'm sure I've mentioned it in here at some point if not today, but I feel like Games 2-5, the Bucks executed everything the way they wanted; they just continue to be very prone to poor shooting games and that, coupled with the incredible shot making that Phoenix has shown, has made it so these games could truly go either way. Certainly no guarantee that Milwaukee executes everything well again tonight, but that's obviously my hope.

 

[Knicks411]

Yeah, that series has mirrored this one pretty well honestly. Home team jumped out to a 2-0 lead and felt like they had Game 3 only to let it slip away and then it just kinda snowballed from there. Hopefully it ends the same way with the Bucks playing the role of Toronto.

I'm sure I've mentioned it in here at some point if not today, but I feel like Games 2-5, the Bucks executed everything the way they wanted; they just continue to be very prone to poor shooting games and that, coupled with the incredible shot making that Phoenix has shown, has made it so these games could truly go either way. Certainly no guarantee that Milwaukee executes everything well again tonight, but that's obviously my hope.

I was just reading Zach Lowe's story from today. Bucks are basically murdering the Suns with transition buckets and offensive rebounding. Their half court offense has improved from bleh to meh, but that looks like it'll be good enough because they're killing it with shot volume

 

[Melancer46]

I was just reading Zach Lowe's story from today. Bucks are basically murdering the Suns with transition buckets and offensive rebounding. Their half court offense has improved from bleh to meh, but that looks like it'll be good enough because they're killing it with shot volume

Yeah, I think both of those things can be erased though. Not entirely, but significantly. Atlanta for example did a really good job for most of the series of just wrapping our guys up before they could throw the ball ahead for easy baskets and force us to inbound the ball instead.

And we were able to rebound really well against Atlanta even when we went small just by really focusing on boxing guys out and being active. There's no reason Phoenix can't match that intensity.

And if Phoenix does make those adjustments and also continues to shoot as well as they have, they're going to be incredibly difficult to beat.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Actually I think it will be decided by how well CP3, Crowder and Ayton plays. I don't think Booker has enough on the road, with all the fans screaming and Scott Foster and company to carry the team by himself. 1<17008.

Feels very important for Paul and Booker to remember to pass the ball to Crowder in the second half and for him to take the shots they need him to take. It can't just be the two guard show.

And Ayton needs to man up this game. Play with authority.

 

[MikeSU02]

Phoenix's priorities has to be getting back on defense after misses and rebounding as a team to keep Milwaukee off the glass. They've given us way too many easy points the last 4 games.

Problem is if you crash the boards, you give up run outs and transition buckets. You guys are so much bigger than the Suns, they have to choose the lesser of two evils.

If I were them, I would rather try to stop transition because they aren't going to magically get taller tonight. Also, Booker has to stop being a black hole or the Bucks will just let the dude get his points and not facilitate.

I hate saying this, and I might be totally wrong, but I think you guys have them figured out. It's just a matter of how many crazy twos the Suns can make versus how much Middleton/Jrue you guys get.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Problem is if you crash the boards, you give up run outs and transition buckets. You guys are so much bigger than the Suns, they have to choose the lesser of two evils.

If I were them, I would rather try to stop transition because they aren't going to magically get taller tonight. Also, Booker has to stop being a black hole or the Bucks will just let the dude get his points and not facilitate.

I hate saying this, and I might be totally wrong, but I think you guys have them figured out. It's just a matter of how many crazy twos the Suns can make versus how much Middleton/Jrue you guys get.

I think he means for the Suns to crash the defensive boards to keep the Bucks from so many offensive boards keeping possessions going.

 

[Alsacs]

I saw a stat the other day that when the series goes exactly this way: 2-0 to 3-2, the team up 3-2 has won 9 of 17 series or something like that lol

The only road team I can remember winning game 6 down 2-3 was the 2005 Pistons.
They won game 6 after the Robert Horry game 5 win in Detroit but San Antonio won game 7 at home in one of the worst 7 game Finals series ever.

The Lakers were down 2-3 but won games 6 and 7 at home against Boston.

 

[Alsacs]

That’s a given. I am not as certain the Bucks win. It will probably be decided by how Holiday plays.

Bucks are winning this game unless Booker/Ayton/Paul combine for atleast 85+ and I would still take Milwaukee.

 

[Melancer46]

Problem is if you crash the boards, you give up run outs and transition buckets. You guys are so much bigger than the Suns, they have to choose the lesser of two evils.

If I were them, I would rather try to stop transition because they aren't going to magically get taller tonight. Also, Booker has to stop being a black hole or the Bucks will just let the dude get his points and not facilitate.

I hate saying this, and I might be totally wrong, but I think you guys have them figured out. It's just a matter of how many crazy twos the Suns can make versus how much Middleton/Jrue you guys get.

No, no, I'm saying they need to get back on defense (i.e. give up on crashing the boards) and make sure they stay back to grab the defensive rebounds as a team. Eliminate the second chance points and transition points and force the Bucks to beat you in the halfcourt and you have yourself a winning formula.

 

[MikeSU02]

No, no, I'm saying they need to get back on defense (i.e. give up on crashing the boards) and make sure they stay back to grab the defensive rebounds as a team. Eliminate the second chance points and transition points and force the Bucks to beat you in the halfcourt and you have yourself a winning formula.

Ah my bad, sorry for misunderstanding.

That makes sense.

I just dont know if they can do that. At some point you are as big as you can be and it's just not good enough.

I think they key is that Book/CP3 have to get the others involved. CP3 has something wrong and Book's become a black hole.

 

[MikeSU02]

Bucks are winning this game unless Booker/Ayton/Paul combine for atleast 85+ and I would still take Milwaukee.

It's so crazy to me, the more Book dominates the ball and scores w/ efficiency, the more I think the Bucks take this game. When Ayton, Cam, Bridges, etc are standing around, that's a Bucks' win in my book.

Again, it's crazy to me b/c I'm always the guy harping on efficiency, but Book's getting his at the cost of the team doing better, even if he's doing it efficiently. It's just that the Bucks have so many more shots/opportunities because of the offensive rebounding that his efficiency can't overcome it, at least not by himself.

 

[Knicks411]

Game 4 is a perfect example of the Booker thing, the guy put on a stunning display of shotmaking, but 1) it was basically all 2 pointers, and 2) he wasn't really getting anyone else involved. At some point the math becomes very difficult to overcome. I think you keep Holiday mostly on Paul, continue to make things difficult for him, and see if you can entice Booker to continue to shoot lots of mid range 2's.

A great stat from the Lowe column, the Suns have taken 30 corner 3 pointers this series; and 17 of them came in Game 2. Just 13 in the other 4 games.

 

[Melancer46]

Ah my bad, sorry for misunderstanding.

That makes sense.

I just dont know if they can do that. At some point you are as big as you can be and it's just not good enough.

I think they key is that Book/CP3 have to get the others involved. CP3 has something wrong and Book's become a black hole.

I do think even if they're all putting in 100% effort to prevent Bucks offensive rebounds, there's still only so much you can do when Giannis or Brook can just grab the ball over the top of you without having to go over the back. But a lot of their issues are as simple as letting guys like Connaughton and Tucker slip to the rim untouched to either grab the rebound or tip the ball out to one of their teammates. Those things can't happen when you're already undersized.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I do think even if they're all putting in 100% effort to prevent Bucks offensive rebounds, there's still only so much you can do when Giannis or Brook can just grab the ball over the top of you without having to go over the back. But a lot of their issues are as simple as letting guys like Connaughton and Tucker slip to the rim untouched to either grab the rebound or tip the ball out to one of their teammates. Those things can't happen when you're already undersized.

Connaughton has had a great series. He’s been the Bucks 4th best player and had just as much as an impact as Crowder or Bridges for the Suns.

 

[Melancer46]

Connaughton has had a great series. He’s been the Bucks 4th best player and had just as much as an impact as Crowder or Bridges for the Suns.

Yeah, I don't know where this has come from but I hope it can last at least one more game lol (hopefully 2 is not needed). He's been pretty solid all year but he's been huge in this series.

 

[MikeSU02]

Game 4 is a perfect example of the Booker thing, the guy put on a stunning display of shotmaking, but 1) it was basically all 2 pointers, and 2) he wasn't really getting anyone else involved. At some point the math becomes very difficult to overcome. I think you keep Holiday mostly on Paul, continue to make things difficult for him, and see if you can entice Booker to continue to shoot lots of mid range 2's.

A great stat from the Lowe column, the Suns have taken 30 corner 3 pointers this series; and 17 of them came in Game 2. Just 13 in the other 4 games.

That is wild. At some point Bud has to get credit for this, at least a little bit.