NBA Thread 2020-21

[forgetful]

The Bucks got plenty of calls, including a couple of phantom ones for Middleton.

Nicely done by the Bucks. If Middleton and Holiday are hitting their shots, they’ll be tough even without Giannis. I obviously hope the Freak can return, though.

Wasn't complaining about officiating, rather the nature of the game. In an elimination game the officials are going to give the benefit of the doubt to the team that is done and fighting to get back in, that means a tighter whistle when the bucks have the ball.

Being in the Bonus at the end really calmed my nerves.

Agree on the Bucks chances even without Giannis, Middleton and Holiday need to be aggressive and on their game.

[MuggsyB]

Holiday/Middleton vs Paul/Booker

I don't see any reason why the Bucks can't win these match-ups. 

[MU82]

He's been bad the last decade.  There's a reason Jabbar, Magic, Jordan, and Shaq are no longer on the floor.

Your first sentence is not true.

Your second sentence is silly. Announcers, engineers, doctors, teachers, nurses, economists, chefs, writers, and hundreds of other professions aren't finished at 40 like almost all athletes are. Which you know.

I didn't see the first half of tonight's game, so if you say his announcing was "inexcusable," I believe you.

But I did watch the entire second half, doing so with the knowledge that this probably would be Albert's last game ever. So I was listening closely to him. One time, he said it was Milwaukee's ball when it actually was Atlanta's. Maybe a couple other minor, meaningless slips like that -- the kind any announcer makes over the course of a game. Otherwise, his call was spot-on. He emphasized all the big moments, shots and plays, and it was like listening to him 10 or 20 or 40 years ago.

I am a huge Marv Albert fan, having listened to him call Knicks and Rangers games on my little transistor radio when I was a kid. So I admit that I'm probably more willing to overlook his struggles the last couple of years. Still, I also have said many times that he clearly has "lost his fastball." And I did listen to the second half of tonight's game very closely.

Five decades as the best. I doubt there will ever be another announcer who is as great as Marv Albert was for as many years as he was great. As basketball fans, we've been very fortunate to get to listen to his calls all these years.
 

[MuggsyB]

Your first sentence is not true.

Your second sentence is silly. Announcers, engineers, doctors, teachers, nurses, economists, chefs, writers, and hundreds of other professions aren't finished at 40 like almost all athletes are. Which you know.

I didn't see the first half of tonight's game, so if you say his announcing was "inexcusable," I believe you.

But I did watch the entire second half, doing so with the knowledge that this probably would be Albert's last game ever. So I was listening closely to him. One time, he said it was Milwaukee's ball when it actually was Atlanta's. Maybe a couple other minor, meaningless slips like that -- the kind any announcer makes over the course of a game. Otherwise, his call was spot-on. He emphasized all the big moments, shots and plays, and it was like listening to him 10 or 20 or 40 years ago.

I am a huge Marv Albert fan, having listened to him call Knicks and Rangers games on my little transistor radio when I was a kid. So I admit that I'm probably more willing to overlook his struggles the last couple of years. Still, I also have said many times that he clearly has "lost his fastball." And I did listen to the second half of tonight's game very closely.

Five decades as the best. I doubt there will ever be another announcer who is as great as Marv Albert was for as many years as he was great. As basketball fans, we've been very fortunate to get to listen to his calls all these years.

Okay.. ...I'll say 5 yrs in lieu of 10 then. 

[Uncle Rico]

They should trade Giannis 😂😂😂😂

[MU82]

They should trade Giannis 😂😂😂😂

Yes ... that was fun talk while it lasted!

Also fun: All the talk about how big a stiff Middleton was, and that the Bucks were just Giannis and a bunch of "smoes" (which isn't a word).

[Uncle Rico]

Yes ... that was fun talk while it lasted!

Also fun: All the talk about how big a stiff Middleton was, and that the Bucks were just Giannis and a bunch of "smoes" (which isn't a word).

Th Middleton haters can go pound sand

[MuggsyB]

The NBA Radio guys just said Phoenix in 5 even with Giannis  They were very critical of the Bucks' turns and shot selection.  "Phoenix is a well-oiled machine".  Perhaps these people didn't watch their last series?  The Bucks have periodic meltdowns but have a great chance to get the chip if Giannis is 80% or better.

[Mutaman]

All this whining about injuries and no one has mentioned that the Bucks would have won in 74 if Lucius Allen hadn't gotten hurt.

[MuggsyB]

It's interesting.....these guys rip Middleton for being inconsistent after he drops 23 in the 3rd Q in a clinching game?  His stats have been solid and he's a 2-Way player.  Is Booker mister consistent?  Who are these people on NBA radio?  They did the same thing to Giannis after the Nets series. 

[MU82]

The Bucks have had some really good teams over the years. When I was at Marquette, they had the Lanier-Moncrief-Bridgeman-Buckner group. The core of that team won 7 straight division titles but couldn't get past the Bird/McHale Celtics or the Erving/Malone Sixers.

They had teams with Ray Allen and Michael Redd, and then eventually the current era with Giannis and Middleton.

It's hard to believe that not a single one of those teams -- especially the ones from the '80s -- could somehow find a way to the NBA Finals. It's hard to believe they haven't made it since 1974, Kareem's next-to-last season on the team.

Just goes to show how difficult it is, so this has been a fine accomplishment already this season.

I got a lot of enjoyment out of watching the Lanier-Moncrief Bucks during my time at MU, and I'll be rooting for the current edition in the Finals.

[forgetful]

I didn't see the first half of tonight's game, so if you say his announcing was "inexcusable," I believe you.

But I did watch the entire second half, doing so with the knowledge that this probably would be Albert's last game ever. So I was listening closely to him. One time, he said it was Milwaukee's ball when it actually was Atlanta's. Maybe a couple other minor, meaningless slips like that -- the kind any announcer makes over the course of a game. Otherwise, his call was spot-on. He emphasized all the big moments, shots and plays, and it was like listening to him 10 or 20 or 40 years ago.

I am a huge Marv Albert fan, having listened to him call Knicks and Rangers games on my little transistor radio when I was a kid. So I admit that I'm probably more willing to overlook his struggles the last couple of years. Still, I also have said many times that he clearly has "lost his fastball." And I did listen to the second half of tonight's game very closely.

Five decades as the best. I doubt there will ever be another announcer who is as great as Marv Albert was for as many years as he was great. As basketball fans, we've been very fortunate to get to listen to his calls all these years.

I watched the entire game. Didn't find any fault with the announcing. But I'm also pretty forgiving on a random slip up on a player name, or team, or whose ball it was. It happens. I enjoyed the game, which means the announcing was fine.

There are a lot of college games where I want to mute the damn thing because the announcers are so bad and annoying.

[forgetful]

The Bucks have had some really good teams over the years. When I was at Marquette, they had the Lanier-Moncrief-Bridgeman-Buckner group. The core of that team won 7 straight division titles but couldn't get past the Bird/McHale Celtics or the Erving/Malone Sixers.

They had teams with Ray Allen and Michael Redd, and then eventually the current era with Giannis and Middleton.

It's hard to believe that not a single one of those teams -- especially the ones from the '80s -- could somehow find a way to the NBA Finals. It's hard to believe they haven't made it since 1974, Kareem's next-to-last season on the team.

Just goes to show how difficult it is, so this has been a fine accomplishment already this season.

I got a lot of enjoyment out of watching the Lanier-Moncrief Bucks during my time at MU, and I'll be rooting for the current edition in the Finals.

So many times I thought the bucks finally were ready to break through...and then they didn't.

So happy they pulled through this year and got to the finals. When Giannis went down, I really thought that might be another moment of bad luck ending a good run. Seems some WI teams are plagued with bad luck.

[Mutaman]

The best thing about Marv is he never got in the way and you never felt like he favored one team over  the other. This was true even when he was the Knick's home guy.

That being said I've heard from a few people that he is a bit of a jerk off the court.

[Mutaman]

Over the years there were a group of announcers who i liked listening to no matter what teams were playing: Jack Brickhouse, Bob Prince, Ray Scott, Harry. I'd put Marv in that group.

[cheebs09]

The best thing about Marv is he never got in the way and you never felt like he favored one team over  the other. This was true even when he was the Knick's home guy.

That being said I've heard from a few people that he is a bit of a jerk off the court.

I’ve heard he can be a bit bitey.

[tower912]

They should trade Giannis 😂😂😂😂

And fire the coach.   



Whoever said those two things is a basketball savant. 

[MuggsyB]

And fire the coach.   



Whoever said those two things is a basketball savant.

To be fair Tower there has been a lot of national media critical of Budenholzer.  At times you watch the Bucks and it can be very frustrating watching some of their bad shots and poor decisions on the floor.  He does deserve credit for these last two wins but most understand the criticism of Budenholzer.  Middleton on the other hand I really don't get the hate.

[MU82]

To be fair Tower there has been a lot of national media critical of Budenholzer.  At times you watch the Bucks and it can be very frustrating watching some of their bad shots and poor decisions on the floor.  He does deserve credit for these last two wins but most understand the criticism of Budenholzer.  Middleton on the other hand I really don't get the hate.

Indeed, even last night, as the Hawks were cutting into that lead late, the Bucks had a 5-6 possession stretch where either Middleton or Holiday dribbled for 20 seconds before hoisting less-than-optimal shots. A couple went in, a couple of times the Bucks got the rebounds, but it's bad offense and it doesn't speak well of the coaching.

That being said, I'm always a big-picture, body-of-work guy. And Budenholzer had a 60-win season in Atlanta, where such heights are rare; a 189-139 record his first 4 seasons in Atlanta before the wheels fell off in his last year there; a 162-65 (.714 win pct) record in his 3 Milwaukee seasons; and 2 trips to the conference finals. He and his assistants have had a role in developing a 2-time NBA MVP and plenty of other quality NBA players.

There are a lot of franchises that would love success like that.

It certainly is possible that he's one of those coaches who is just good enough to get a team so far -- the old Doug Collins effect. But if he wins a championship, it's pretty hard to say he's anything but a very good NBA coach; it might already be hard to say that.

[tower912]

To be fair Tower there has been a lot of national media critical of Budenholzer.  At times you watch the Bucks and it can be very frustrating watching some of their bad shots and poor decisions on the floor.  He does deserve credit for these last two wins but most understand the criticism of Budenholzer.  Middleton on the other hand I really don't get the hate.

There are so few elite coaches.   It isn't like you can drive down to the CVS, careful not to park in a handicap spot, and find one better.   Budenholzer has a pedigree and a record that indicated he was one of the coaches with the potential to accomplish what he has.   It amuses and amazes me to no end thinking that, God forbid, the Bucks don't finish, there are those who will be calling for the coach to be fired.   

[Jockey]

Great players make great coaches (sorry, 82).

They don’t win these 2 games with Bledsoe at PG instead of Holiday. That was a great trade.

[GB Warrior]

They should trade Giannis 😂😂😂😂

There is something the team should take away from its games without Giannis. Obviously, there were moments where the ball movement still stagnated, but on the whole, the absence of Giannis' gravity in the paint allowed Jrue and Brook to play their game a bit more naturally.

Jrue is so deadly at getting into the paint, and Brook is allowed to play like an outside-in big. Lethal combo in the PnR in game 5 - would love to see more of that whoever is manning the 4 and 5

To be clear, they are not better offensively or defensively without Giannis, but they need go find a way to marry their play styles where Brook and Jrue aren't relegated to jump shots that they CAN make at efficient clips, but are not their bag

[MU82]

Great players make great coaches (sorry, 82).

They don’t win these 2 games with Bledsoe at PG instead of Holiday. That was a great trade.

Why are you sorry? I never once said anything different.

It is a balance. Have "bad" coaches won championships? I'm sure, but probably not many. Do you think Belichick, Popovich and Knight had anything to do with their teams winning aside from player procurement? Do you think it's just a coincidence that Jordan never even sniffed a Finals without Jackson as his coach but went to the Finals 6 times (winning all 6) in the 7 full seasons Jackson was his coach? Maybe it was. We'll never know.

And yes, getting Holiday was huge. An excellent player. Name the best coach/manager in the history of sports; he didn't win without good players.

[MU82]

I watched the entire game. Didn't find any fault with the announcing. But I'm also pretty forgiving on a random slip up on a player name, or team, or whose ball it was. It happens. I enjoyed the game, which means the announcing was fine.

There are a lot of college games where I want to mute the damn thing because the announcers are so bad and annoying.

Totally agree.

So many times I thought the bucks finally were ready to break through...and then they didn't.

So happy they pulled through this year and got to the finals. When Giannis went down, I really thought that might be another moment of bad luck ending a good run. Seems some WI teams are plagued with bad luck.

Despite having a lot of very good players over the years (and even some great ones, such as Moncrief and Giannis), the Bucks went nearly a half-century between Finals appearances. Shows you what an incredible accomplishment it was for LeBron to be the leader of teams that made 10 Finals appearances, including 8 straight, with 4 titles, right?

[MU82]

The best thing about Marv is he never got in the way and you never felt like he favored one team over  the other. This was true even when he was the Knick's home guy.

Here is an answer about objectivity that Albert just gave in an interview with the NY Post:



When I was a kid, I used to keep score of Knicks games as I listened to Marv's radio calls. (OK, I was a nerd; whatever!) I'd check the box score in the paper the next day and it was amazing how accurate not only the point totals were but also the rebounds and assists. Because Marv made it possible for me to "see" the game while listening to his radio call.

And even as he was accurate, he did add little flourishes that made games more enjoyable. Frazier wasn't just fouled, he was "run into." Monroe didn't just make a layup, "He drives and hits." Jackson didn't just defend an inbounds pass, he used his long arms for "the windmill effect."

And when opposing players made great plays, he said so. And when the Knicks sucked, he'd say so. He was the best chronicler of a live basketball game I've ever heard, and it's really not close.

He was a gifted hockey announcer, too.