Random NBA Observations 2022 - 2023

[Left.A1]

thing is, in years prior he used to in spurts. part of the reason why he won dpoy. he used to take on challenges....and make self calls to blow up something. even if he's uncomfortable in that situation...sliding over and preventing the easy looks is simple....he legit could just show and throw his hands up and not go for jimmys 30 pump fakes. giannis at his worst is a great deterrent at the rim.


and to answer the bolded...to be honest yes. bucks are so strict with their defensive principles...they'll run drop coverage against the god damn warriors. I've never seen an elite team in the modern nba so stubborn with their defensive philosophy regardless of the opponent...which I get to an extent...they want to control the direction of offenses to make rotations predictable. if giannis adlibs at any point of that anti-pressure drop coverage defense....it leads immediately to an open jumper. part of the reason I wasnt that high on brook lopez's defensive season.
a different system with more freedom or flexibility would enable giannis to do a lot more....but in terms of his judgement....he would foul a ton more cause his decision making and knowing when to turn his motor off is lacking.

Bud is notoriously stringent on his drop coverage adherence, however during their title run they did experiment a lot more with mixing up coverages and not being so exploitable in that way, IIRC Brook wasn’t playing nearly as many minutes during that series as he did here. I do get why they run it, it helps Lopez be effective and reduces his exposure during the regular season, but in the playoffs when you have dynamic shot makers you have to be malleable with your strategies.

 

[Doctor Doom]

Looks like people were dead wrong about Miami’s demise this season. I ain’t gonna act like I saw this coming either.

Our shooting disappeared, only players who noticeably improved were Vincent and Strus, Robinson regressed considerably, Kyle Lowry was worse after having a full season with the Heat and not coming into the opener fat and out of shape.

We were dead to rights, then had a middling performance after the All-Star break and then the Hawks beat us.

Zombie Heat is real.

 

[VegetasHairline]

 

[<<TheStandard>>]

I don't think I've been as wrong about a team as I have been about this Bucks squad.

I mean, we'll never know if this was merely an anomaly where everything went against them or if they're just fake, from top to bottom. This team was built to dominate the postseason and they did anything but. I was sure they'd win it this year.

Crazy.

I think it's a little of both.

Miami shot like 45% from 3 and through the first 3 games they were 52% on contested 3s. That's the type of variance that can crush any team.


However, I've said it time and time again that the Bucks offense has always been shaky in the playoffs in the Mike Budenholzer era and it proved itself true in Game 4 and 5. For as good as Giannis is when the game slows down, he's not as good in the half court and the Bucks have never had explosive scoring from the guard position to make up for it. Middleton has been hurt the entire year and wasn't the same guy and Jrue is not the guy you want carrying an offense. Everyone else is a 3 and d role player.......it speaks volumes they couldn't play a Duncan Robinson off the floor. There's no way he should be able to average 20 minutes a game at this point for a postseason team.

 

[Anerdyblackguy]

Well Well Well

 

[aceboon]

 

[<<TheStandard>>]

I had the Celtics beating them again, if they’d even made it that far tbh. I just think the Celtics are too complete a team, they have the offense, defense, shooting, and depth. They’ve got the better coach, and when the Bucks let a guy like Grant Williams shoot them out of the playoffs once, he’s liable to do it again, or someone else. Bucks are stagnant on offense too much to dominate in the postseason when easy buckets don’t come in transition and shooters can’t hit the broad side of a barn.

I had the Celtics beating them but Bill Simmons would tell you, the Celtics probably don't have the better coach lol

 

[Skooby]

Well Well Well

 

[Georgiamuscle]

Phoenix got finessed!

 

[MikelArteta]

exactly what are they going to do to kawhi?

 

[cartierhoe]

I had the Celtics beating them but Bill Simmons would tell you, the Celtics probably don't have the better coach lol

I heard his rant on them after the Hawks loss the other day and I was laughing like crazy nodding my head no. I’ll take Mazzula over Bud any day. He mentioned you on one pod saying the same things I was saying about the Bucks, good looks breh.

 

[Dariusfromboston]

outrageously bad coaching.
robin lopez was only in dpoy talks cause of scheming and spamming drop coverage...which works against most teams most of the time.
spoelstra exploited bams passing skillset vs a team that refused to switch until it was too late.
robin being a stiff pulled out of the paint rendered useless cause he doesnt have the ability close ground without fouling.

some of these passes are passes about 3-4 centers in the league can consistently make.....but not switching actions with giannis was absurd line of thinking.
mitchell robinson quite possibly could blow up half of these plays cause of his ability to close distance.
budenholzer needs to get fired lmao

They did this against the Celtics in the bubble year too

 

[inndaskKy]

exactly what are they going to do to kawhi?

 

[aceboon]

Damn

 

[Wargames]

Well Well Well

They gonna build up either PG or Kawhi’s value and trade them in the regular season. Maybe both, just watch.