fecking hell, the team is dumb. Take a time out to set up a good shot when you're down 1!
NBA 2020-2021
- Thread starter altodevil
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
I'm not a fan of the no time-out call. Seems to be more and more popular to just let the play unfold but it always seems so hectic that it leads to bad turnovers. Has cost the Suns in the last two games, I think.
Huge steal by Holiday. Giannis let off the hook missing three critical free throws
What a strip from holiday. This bucks team
proving everyone wrong.
proving everyone wrong.
Consolation is that Bucks big 3 went ham and they barely got the win even with the Suns playing bad.
We're better when we play well, but we just haven't played well enough throughout this series.
We're better when we play well, but we just haven't played well enough throughout this series.
Game of Jrue. He stepped up massively on both ends of the floor throughout the game and in the biggest moments. Great game by him. He's elevated his game for the 2nd consecutive game.
He was utter shit the previous game, are you mixing him and Middleton?
That was some game, the Suns lost this one shooting 55% fg and 68% for 3pt, but it is hard to stop the Bucks when pretty much their whole team shows up.
Holiday with a deciding steal and amazing game.
Holiday with a deciding steal and amazing game.
Why waste a free throw in the middle of Giannis free throw in the first place. If he makes it, it's a 2 point game and they call a timeout to start from mid court. He miss and they get the rebound and you can still call a timeout. It's bonkers
Great finals
Monty's relative immaturity cost this game IMO, should have taken a timeout. Cam Johnson, Mikal Bridges cooling off leaving Booker to do it all... Is CP3 injured? He's been made to look absolutely mortal.
Jrue finally shows up for the Bucks. Middleton has his one excellent road game per series. The Suns aren't able to hunt Lopez in the PnR the way they did earlier in the series.
Someone needs to make an app that allows road fans to count to 10 separately, throwing Giannis off (he throws when they shout 11). Or they need to shut the feck up
Monty's relative immaturity cost this game IMO, should have taken a timeout. Cam Johnson, Mikal Bridges cooling off leaving Booker to do it all... Is CP3 injured? He's been made to look absolutely mortal.
Jrue finally shows up for the Bucks. Middleton has his one excellent road game per series. The Suns aren't able to hunt Lopez in the PnR the way they did earlier in the series.
Someone needs to make an app that allows road fans to count to 10 separately, throwing Giannis off (he throws when they shout 11). Or they need to shut the feck up
There's a physical mismatch. Bucks dominating in the paint, rebounds... even with those high percentages it's a tall order
Shooting/scoring he was shit, but he's improved since games 1 and 2. Most importantly, he's outplayed CP3 in back to back games, crazily enough. Game 4 was terrible for CP3 overall, yet Holiday had a better game regardless of his bad shooting.
Suns shot a high percentage from three but had the least threes attempted all season. They need more ball movement and less iso.
CP3 is obviously injured, no way he'd struggle so much just dribbling the ball otherwise. And that makes Brook somewhat playable for the Bucks
Jrue won this game. I think he's had a very good series in general so far, his defence has been tremendous in every game, but in this one he finally scored too
Really weird but high quality game this
Bucks close it out in 6. Unless Paul plays more like Chris Paul, but i'm not so sure even that would be enough. Suns need to shoot lights out to be competitive given the bucks domination on the glass, Giannis - they can't stop Giannis. If Middleton and or Jrue show up again on offence i don't see how the suns can win in wisconsin
Jrue won this game. I think he's had a very good series in general so far, his defence has been tremendous in every game, but in this one he finally scored too
Really weird but high quality game this
Bucks close it out in 6. Unless Paul plays more like Chris Paul, but i'm not so sure even that would be enough. Suns need to shoot lights out to be competitive given the bucks domination on the glass, Giannis - they can't stop Giannis. If Middleton and or Jrue show up again on offence i don't see how the suns can win in wisconsin
Well the Suns shot incredibly well and still lost too. What are the odds they do it again for game 6 ?
That was great, what a game. I felt absolutely certain that the Suns would pull it back in the fourth. There were 10ish plays in a row towards the end were the Bucks looked exhausted and had no structure to create easy looks, and suddenly became easy to defend.
I also think that was the first time since the Miami series that Giannis, Middleton and Holiday have all actually played well (on offence) at the same time - great timing!
I also think that was the first time since the Miami series that Giannis, Middleton and Holiday have all actually played well (on offence) at the same time - great timing!
I can't tell if it's mental or physical, but there's something off with Giannis. Which is obviously a ridiculous thing to say when he looks on track to win Final's MVP and is putting up historic numbers, but I think the physical load of the season, combined with the injury, is starting to affect him. He didn't look himself at the start of either of the last two games, and seemed wiped as early as the second quarter today. He then recovers amazingly, so it's not a huge issue, but I'm intrigued what's up.
Giannis and SImmons bricks are the highlights of these playoffs. My goodness man, in the free for all shooting era too and you still shooting worse than Shaq at the line, it's mad.
Belter of a game, not sure there's much blame game, although I'm seeing it around on the clips - just a good well played game that the Bucks somehow pulled through.
Belter of a game, not sure there's much blame game, although I'm seeing it around on the clips - just a good well played game that the Bucks somehow pulled through.
Pretty good. They're shooting 50% for the series and 40% from 3. They're 48/38 for the playoffs
True. And it is not just the paint (where that mismatch is the most obvious), they struggle with the Bucks physicality all around the floor. This has been the case from game 2 despite winning it when the Bucks upped their aggressivity, especially Holiday who has been immense on the defensive side. Once they've stopped switching and allowing the Suns to exploit Brook Lopez in the offence they started to look much better and never got back to being so vulnerable as in game 1. True, last 2 games were close, but it was mostly because Booker is playing out of his mind. Atm there is just too much iso in the Suns attack.
Hard to see Bucks not closing this now. It will take a game 1 kind of performance from Paul with Booker maintaining on the same level.
Am still hoping for game 7 as it's been a great series.
Gotta say, really impressed with how much the refs let things go. First game I've managed to stay up for in quite a while, and that was immensely satisfying.
Also Giannis...man being a season pro and missing that many clutch free throws is a poor look. Strong hack-a-Shaq vibes.
Also Giannis...man being a season pro and missing that many clutch free throws is a poor look. Strong hack-a-Shaq vibes.
Before I continue I've got to say I love Devin Booker. I think he's played really well these playoffs and has been the Suns best player BUT......
If you take 33 shots you've got to score more than 40 points especially when your team mates are shooting so well. Booker was 17-33 for his 40 last night and the rest of the team was 31-54 for 79. I don't even blame Booker for putting up so many shots since this appeared to be the Suns game plan, but one player shooting this much is usually just not a good idea. Last season a single player attempted 33 shots or more in a game on 12 occasions. Their teams were 3-9 and 2 of the 3 wins were one possession games. I think the Suns can still win this but they might have to rethink their strategy a bit to do so.
If you take 33 shots you've got to score more than 40 points especially when your team mates are shooting so well. Booker was 17-33 for his 40 last night and the rest of the team was 31-54 for 79. I don't even blame Booker for putting up so many shots since this appeared to be the Suns game plan, but one player shooting this much is usually just not a good idea. Last season a single player attempted 33 shots or more in a game on 12 occasions. Their teams were 3-9 and 2 of the 3 wins were one possession games. I think the Suns can still win this but they might have to rethink their strategy a bit to do so.
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Think that's a bit off an odd (very minor) criticism to be fair. For instance, Middleton shot 15 of 33 for his 40 the other night and won.
It's happened 5 times this playoffs alone, 3-2 winning. The other losing effort being Durant trying to fly solo - Booker is the only one of those 5 efforts to shoot over .500. Nothing massively in it for me.
Mind you, if you go back too far.... you'll end up with OKC Russ(1-3) and LeBron doing it.... 5 times in a row against the Dubs in 2015 (1-4) turning any argument for it around
It's happened 5 times this playoffs alone, 3-2 winning. The other losing effort being Durant trying to fly solo - Booker is the only one of those 5 efforts to shoot over .500. Nothing massively in it for me.
Mind you, if you go back too far.... you'll end up with OKC Russ(1-3) and LeBron doing it.... 5 times in a row against the Dubs in 2015 (1-4) turning any argument for it around
It wasn't just the 40 points on 33 shots that was my issue. It was just as much (maybe even more tbh) that his team mates were shooting so well and so efficiently Seventy nine points on 54 shots is almost 1.5 points per attempt. If Booker could have got even close to that the Suns would have won.Think that's a bit off an odd (very minor) criticism to be fair. For instance, Middleton shot 15 of 33 for his 40 the other night and won.
It's happened 5 times this playoffs alone, 3-2 winning. The other losing effort being Durant trying to fly solo - Booker is the only one of those 5 efforts to shoot over .500. Nothing massively in it for me.
Mind you, if you go back too far.... you'll end up with OKC Russ(1-3) and LeBron doing it.... 5 times in a row against the Dubs in 2015 (1-4) turning any argument for it around
We played way below par with CP3 the main one missing. With him missing, the rest of the team was forced to watch Booker trying to score everything by himself.
On the defensive end, we just let didn't box out apart from Ayton and that gave the Bucks so many extra shots. We've played way below par this series so far and it's just disappointing to be this close and watching the players not continue what they've been doing all season.
Ayton must be completely exhausted. How many minutes did he play ? Close to the entire game I think
So why bring up the 12 times in the regular season? Either way, at .515, he's a hot hand, I mean so was the team obviously.... but their drop off is more likely that his. As I said, it's a bit of harsh criticism even if you alluded to that yourself. If I'd really wanted to push, I'd ask why he held on so long on the last play, should of let Play run the play and the option was there.
FYI, here's a solid chart for finals comparison - Most Field Goal Attempts In Single Finals Game Since 1990 | StatMuse
I just think the Suns are a better team when they play as a team rather than have Booker try and beat the opposition on his own. I didn't think Booker played badly (quite the contrary), I just think the Suns are at their best when everybody is involved. That's why there wasn't really much criticism of him personally it was more about their overall playing style. As to me pointing out the 12 times a player had 33+ shots in a game during the regular season that was really just for information. People often assume that just because player X scored 40 or more in a game a win is a done deal. It's often quite the opposite if it took them 30 odd shots to do it.
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So Jrue has actually outplayed CP3 in the series since we discussed both those trades. As I said back then, fine margins. With Jrue they will also get another 3-4 years of performance at this level if they are lucky, maybe even more.
Bucks with a great opportunity to close out at home tomorrow, they are very hard to beat with their home crowd (only 1 playoffs loss so far in Milwaukee, game 1 of the Atlanta series). Suns will have to be at their best to win there. I reckon it's 60/40 Bucks tomorrow but if it goes to Game 7 I'd favor Suns there quite heavily, like 65/35.
Bucks with a great opportunity to close out at home tomorrow, they are very hard to beat with their home crowd (only 1 playoffs loss so far in Milwaukee, game 1 of the Atlanta series). Suns will have to be at their best to win there. I reckon it's 60/40 Bucks tomorrow but if it goes to Game 7 I'd favor Suns there quite heavily, like 65/35.
Bad take. They were +12 with him on the floor if I remember correctly and their lead basically evaporated when he was on the bench. 17-33 is efficient too, it's not like he's gone 9-33. Booker attempting this many shots while still shooting 50%+ was actually one of the best gameplan decisions they made all night. Quoting regular season stats is meaningless here.
That's a ridiculous take if I've ever seen one. He kept them in the game, they'd have been in free fall without his contribution. This is where stats fail people.
Things went pear shaped with him on the bench in the 2nd quarter. Those same players who shot well couldn't make a shot which lead to the come back. With Chris Paul playing terribly in the quarter and also being cooked by Jrue it was mess.
All those stats tell you is the sun's supporting cast can make open shots. But with Chris Paul playing badly those open shots don't exist and the offense collapses. The only way to get it going is to hand it to booker to do his thing and he did.
Wait. Is there a view that Chris Paul was bad last game?
Because he did. He couldn't score on Jrue, can't stop him and didn't make plays for about 3/4 of the game. Most of his assists came in the first quarter, it was all downhill for him from there until a late resurgence in the last 4 mins but he had the mental brainfart to not ask for the damn ball when we were down 1 and instead let Booker try to drive into the paint where there's 3 players waiting for him.
When your PG is content to let someone hog the ball the whole game, he's not doing his damn job. At the end of the day, we just need to stick to the basics and do what got us to the finals, playing hard on both ends and find the open man.
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He's pretty much just mirroring Giannis minutes throughout the series whenever possible.
He was terrible, got roasted on defence and was no where to be found when the Bucks took over in the second.
21 and 11 with one turnover. He certainly wasn't exceptional but I didn't think he was bad. I guess the bar is high in the finals.
Hopefully the Suns can’t ride their luck any further and the Bucks seal the deal at home, best outcome for me as a Laker fan.
Misleading stats. He was bad, Jrue totally owned him on both ends of the floor.
One of the best matches I have had the pleasure to watch. So many swings and tense moments. Both sides big leads. Comebacks. great defence, either could have won. Went down to final seconds and then that STEAL. Bucks have a superb team when Giannis crew turn up but thats the issue. Sometimes they are part time.
They were +12 but that wasn't the point. I actually said Booker played well.
My only point was that with him on the floor his team mates were even better. He was shooting 50% but his team mates were shooting 60+% with him on the floor. In such a tight game that really could have made the difference.
As to the regular season stats they were for information only to show that a team very often doesn't win if ONE player scores a lot of points but takes a lot of shots - regular season or otherwise.
What the heck has that got to do with anything. Have you never heard of gravity. My whole point was that Booker made his team mates better. If you are shooting 50% and your team mates are shooting 60% or better with you on the floor it makes sense to get your team mates involved more. The fact that the Bucks made a comeback with Booker on the bench is irrelevant. That had nothing to do with my point. My real criticism was to do with Booker taking as many shots as he did yet with him on the floor his team mates were shooting lights out.
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His teammates would not maintain 60% if they got more shots. Suns played very well offensively, scored a ton at high efficiency. They just happened to come across a team that was even better. You are acting like Booker was not shooting at a very high efficiency but just chucked up shots, when you are 17-33 you should shoot as much as you can. Doesn’t matter what other players are shooting, they aren’t likely to get you more points.