NBA Thread 2019-20

[MU82]

Lopez went all Stanford vs Marquette on the Raptors tonight.

I agree with the broadcasters that Leonard looked tired in the fourth quarter. Gotta give him a little rest, the way the Bucks did for Freak at the end of the 3Q.

[GB Warrior]

I thought the Raptors played like a team coached by a rookie head coach. Rode Kawhi into the ground through 3, didn't get him touches at the end.

That said, for most of the game, the Bucks got their absolute best and weathered the storm. Shots will start falling.

[Dr. Blackheart]

The "Greedy" New Yorkers look like geniuses with this coverage. 

#visionmattas

[wadesworld]

Does Nick Nurse realize he’s not coaching college? Not sure I’ve ever seen a more animated coach on the sidelines in the NBA.

[GB Warrior]

Does Nick Nurse realize he’s not coaching college? Not sure I’ve ever seen a more animated coach on the sidelines in the NBA.

To be fair that's only because Bud can't get in and out of squats

[wadesworld]

To be fair that's only because Bud can't get in and out of squats

I don’t know even just calling offensive plays he’s running up and down the sidelines waving his arms around like crazy.

[JWags85]

I know nobody here said the Warriors were actually better without Durant, but others have.

Yeah, because winning 2 NBA titles in 2 attempts, with him being the Finals MVP both times certainly proves they are better without him.

Peeples is stoopid sumtimez.

People are incredibly short sighted when it comes to sports.  First, people have been looking for narratives to take the Warriors down a peg for the last 3 years.  "Unmotivated", everyone hates Draymond, Kerr can't motivate the team.  Then it was Steph Curry is overrated/not as good as he used to be.  Truly. The Steph slander was at a fever pitch when he was shooting poorly and then missed the dunk.

Then KD got hurt and the Warriors offense got much more free.  And suddenly they are better by subtraction.  Fairly smart or knowledgeable basketball people couldnt look and say "The Warriors matchup better with the Rockets without KD, but you can't sit KD cause he's the best player in the world, so you take the Warriors at 75-80% of "team play" potential and assume KD will make up the rest, as opposed to 90-100% of potential without him."  No no, they just have to look at the simple results and assume that KD makes the Warriors worse, or something equally dumb.

Also equally dumb, made the mistake of flipping past 97.3 in the car today.  They were saying not only were the Bucks the "most complete" team left in the playoffs because of their bench, as a result of that bench they were also the "most talented".  I turned it off cause I couldn't handle the stupidity.

[rocket surgeon]

having brogdon back will be the killer.  connaughton is sneaky good.  don't lose anything with them out on the floor.  mirotic, ilyasova, greek freak and lopez running the floor is hard to match up.  bledsoe needs to rein in the 3 pt shot and leave that for the experts.  he's better mid-range and defense.  george hill is a veteran with some gas left in the tank.

[Galway Eagle]

Kawhi looked like he's slowing down. Cannot believe how poorly the bucks shot for most that game. at one point in the 3rd I looked and they were 6-34. If they start going back to their mean then this should be a quick series.

[jsglow]

During the Sixers series Toronto frequently played only 7.  Last night they got only 40 bench minutes and 4 out of 5 starters played 40 minutes or more (technically Gasol was 5 seconds short).  In contrast, only Giannis (37 minutes) played 35 for the Bucks and they got 79 minutes from arguably the best bench in the NBA.  That will almost always make a difference down the stretch.  When the Bucks could elevate their game in the 4th to 'maximum effort', Toronto simply couldn't answer.

The Raptors played as well as they are capable.  Lowry had a monster game.  For the most part, the Bucks played poorly although the energy was consistent throughout.  But the Bucks still won.  They won because they're simply a better and deeper team. 

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

I love Bud's in the huddle segment when he said "if you're open, shoot it.  If you're not, pass it to a guy who is."  Smart NBA players who move the ball gotta love to play in that kind of system.

And I love Charles Barkley on TNT, but when he said that the Bucks halfcourt offense is "awful," I take it he didn't watch many Bucks games this year.  When they aren't hitting shots, it looks awful.  (Like every other offense.)  But when they are moving the ball and hitting shots, it looks like what a modern, NBA offense looks like.

I also think "old school" NBA guys who played in the 80s and 90s don't always appreciate the pace of today's game, which might be the reason for Chuck's comments. It isn't a slow down, isolation game any longer.  It's about moving the defense and getting the best shot you can under 24 seconds.

[wadesworld]

I don't know what the minutes are, but I heard a stat on the radio about how Giannis and Middleton have played 200-some minutes in the Playoffs so far this year (or maybe going into game 1) while Kawhi was well into the 400 minutes.

The Bucks are a better team.  It felt like they stole this win.  When you're the worse team, you can't have someone steal a game you controlled.  I hope the Bucks come out and roll from start to finish tomorrow night, and Kawhi starts dreaming of being in LA.

[jsglow]

I don't know what the minutes are, but I heard a stat on the radio about how Giannis and Middleton have played 200-some minutes in the Playoffs so far this year (or maybe going into game 1) while Kawhi was well into the 400 minutes.

The Bucks are a better team.  It felt like they stole this win.  When you're the worse team, you can't have someone steal a game you controlled.  I hope the Bucks come out and roll from start to finish tomorrow night, and Kawhi starts dreaming of being in LA.

That does make sense because Kawhi has now played in 13 playoff games this year while Giannis has played 10, and certainly fewer than the 40ish minutes Kawhi plays frequently.

[MU82]

During the Sixers series Toronto frequently played only 7.  Last night they got only 40 bench minutes and 4 out of 5 starters played 40 minutes or more (technically Gasol was 5 seconds short).  In contrast, only Giannis (37 minutes) played 35 for the Bucks and they got 79 minutes from arguably the best bench in the NBA.  That will almost always make a difference down the stretch.  When the Bucks could elevate their game in the 4th to 'maximum effort', Toronto simply couldn't answer.

The Raptors played as well as they are capable.  Lowry had a monster game.  For the most part, the Bucks played poorly although the energy was consistent throughout.  But the Bucks still won.  They won because they're simply a better and deeper team.

Yep, yep. Nailed it, glow.

[Jockey]

During the Sixers series Toronto frequently played only 7.  Last night they got only 40 bench minutes and 4 out of 5 starters played 40 minutes or more (technically Gasol was 5 seconds short).  In contrast, only Giannis (37 minutes) played 35 for the Bucks and they got 79 minutes from arguably the best bench in the NBA.  That will almost always make a difference down the stretch.  When the Bucks could elevate their game in the 4th to 'maximum effort', Toronto simply couldn't answer.

 

Don't know how it played on TV, but at the game it was very obvious the Raptors were gassed in the 4th. Their biggest problem is that Kawhi has to play 40+ minutes every game for them to have a chance. He was a completely different player in the 4th after being far and away the best player on the floor for the first 2 1/2 quarters.

[wadesworld]

My hope is Middleton understands that his role this series is to make Kawhi work as hard as he can and that offensively his job is to keep Kawhi honest and be more of a spot up shooter vs. trying to be a playmaker/go iso ball.  Kawhi is an outstanding defender who can single handedly make very solid players disappear.  I hope Bud plays Middleton more off the ball and has at least one of Hill/Bledsoe in the game to initiate the offense when Middleton is in.  Middleton really struggled when he was the one initiating the offense last night, and when Middleton got the ball without Kawhi on him they came with a double.

It's clear they're going to collapse everyone but Middleton's man onto Giannis on the drive and force the guys other than Middleton and Giannis to beat them.  I think Giannis will make adjustments like he did against Boston, and I hope Bud gets him the ball more on the baseline than the stand at the top of the key and take on their entire team on the drive.  First you can only really help with one guy when Giannis attacks from the baseline, maybe two, and Giannis can have a better view of everyone else on the perimeter when he's attacking from the baseline vs. straight on where he has to do a 180 to kick it back to the top of the key.

[jsglow]

Don't know how it played on TV, but at the game it was very obvious the Raptors were gassed in the 4th. Their biggest problem is that Kawhi has to play 40+ minutes every game for them to have a chance. He was a completely different player in the 4th after being far and away the best player on the floor for the first 2 1/2 quarters.

It played that way on TV too.  Shots stopped falling because none of those guys had any legs left.  It also manifested itself on the boards.  Sure Toronto got some tap out offensive rebounds.  But in tight quarters, guys like Lopez were dominating.

[MU82]

Most of Kawhi's shots were short. Classic sign of fatigue.

[JWags85]

Most of Kawhi's shots were short. Classic sign of fatigue.

Yep, same as in the Blazers/Warriors game.  Blazers had a ton of trouble on rotations.  Basically never made a necessary second rotation cause they were so slow.  Granted the Warriors move the ball so well and force shifts aggressively, but Blazers coming off a grueling and emotional Game 7 on Sunday, travel day, then playing Tues night, they were beat.  Raptors same situation.  Running on fumes

[GB Warrior]

Yep, same as in the Blazers/Warriors game.  Blazers had a ton of trouble on rotations.  Basically never made a necessary second rotation cause they were so slow.  Granted the Warriors move the ball so well and force shifts aggressively, but Blazers coming off a grueling and emotional Game 7 on Sunday, travel day, then playing Tues night, they were beat.  Raptors same situation.  Running on fumes

This is exactly why, I think, Bud is right that playoff basketball is really no different than regular season basketball. Bucks depth has consistently enabled running people out of the gyms in the 3rd and 4th quarters.

I'll say this, if Toronto needs Kyle Lowry playing like Steph Curry to beat the Bucks, coupled with the Bucks shooting 25% from 3, I'll take those odds and tip my cap if it happens.

[BM1090]

This is exactly why, I think, Bud is right that playoff basketball is really no different than regular season basketball. Bucks depth has consistently enabled running people out of the gyms in the 3rd and 4th quarters.

I'll say this, if Toronto needs Kyle Lowry playing like Steph Curry to beat the Bucks, coupled with the Bucks shooting 25% from 3, I'll take those odds and tip my cap if it happens.

Those are both good points but there are outliers both ways. Raptors not named Lowry were 0-15 in the 4th quarter. That's not happening again. Non-Lowry Raptors were 8-33 from 3P range. That likely is not happening again. Kawhi shot 38%. That probably will be his series low. Brook probably played his best game he'll play this series.

I think the Bucks win the series but I've seen a lot of "The Bucks played awful and still won!" today. As if the Raptors didn't play awful outside of Lowry. Both teams got one good performance (Lopez, Lowry). Giannis was better than Kawhi. Nobody else really played well besides maybe Brogdon.

[wadesworld]

Those are both good points but there are outliers both ways. Raptors not named Lowry were 0-15 in the 4th quarter. That's not happening again. Non-Lowry Raptors were 8-33 from 3P range. That likely is not happening again. Kawhi shot 38%. That probably will be his series low. Brook probably played his best game he'll play this series.

I think the Bucks win the series but I've seen a lot of "The Bucks played awful and still won!" today. As if the Raptors didn't play awful outside of Lowry. Both teams got one good performance (Lopez, Lowry). Giannis was better than Kawhi. Nobody else really played well besides maybe Brogdon.

That's basically what Toronto has done all post season.  Ride Kawhi to a lot of shots and a lot of points, one other player steps up, and nobody else provides anything offensively really.  Toronto did what they've done all Playoffs.  Could things suddenly change and all of a sudden all of Lowry/Green/Ibaka/Gasol/Siakam play consistently well the rest of the series?  Sure, in theory.  But that just hasn't happened at all this post season.  Yet with Mirotic, Bledsoe, and Middleton being awful, Hill and Pat C. giving you basically nothing after being great all Playoffs so far, and Giannis being, for his standards, average at best, the Bucks still won.

The Bucks didn't win 69 games so far this year on accident.  They're the better team.  But the way a worse team can steal a series is to take game 1 on the road.  Game 1 is a wild card.  Teams feel each other out a bit.  The Raptors had their chance.  The Bucks wore them down.  One team plays 7 and get very little offensively beyond a 2nd guy each game, the other team goes 9 deep and gets consistent contributions from most of the guys that play.  The Bucks probably aren't going to shoot 25% (or worse) from 3 the rest of this series.  And the Raptors might hit 15 three pointers once more this series?  Just think it's a tall task to have a team win 4 of 6, with 3 of those on the road, when they're just not the better overall team.

[Spotcheck Billy]

Those are both good points but there are outliers both ways. Raptors not named Lowry were 0-15 in the 4th quarter. That's not happening again. Non-Lowry Raptors were 8-33 from 3P range. That likely is not happening again. Kawhi shot 38%. That probably will be his series low. Brook probably played his best game he'll play this series.

I think the Bucks win the series but I've seen a lot of "The Bucks played awful and still won!" today. As if the Raptors didn't play awful outside of Lowry. Both teams got one good performance (Lopez, Lowry). Giannis was better than Kawhi. Nobody else really played well besides maybe Brogdon.

Lopez on line 2 for ya!

[rocket surgeon]

tyreke evans, former 4th pick of the 1st round 2009 and rookie of the year suspended for 2 years for drug abuse.  i forgot about oj mayo

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26769841/tyreke-evans-disqualified-nba-2-years

[MUBBau]

38 and 39 minutes for Kawhi and Lowry in a blowout loss...will take that every day as a Bucks fan