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This is where those stupid ass threes by Giannis hurt you. You gave away possessions and now you’re running out down the stretch trying to come back from a deficit. You cannot give away possessions- just like Middleton did.

And Middleton misses two FTs and that's probably the game.  Now down 8.

This is an easy win with Holiday, but a missed opportunity.

Giannis should have been posted up every time. They couldn't stop him.

Middleton was open, and the previous possession they turned the ball over. Giannis has this habit of falling for “tricks” by defenders (charges, pulling the chair out). It just shows that he’s still quite far from a complete player. Down 1 in a 2 for 1 situation and you let Crowder force you to turn the ball over with a “pull the chair out” move??? That is embarrassing.

I 100% think the reason he took that last shot instead of getting the ball to a wide open Middleton in the corner was because of that play. He got embarrassed... he wanted to make up for it instead of making the best basketball play for the moment.

He had a great game- 47 points and 17/21 from the line... but in those two final critical possessions he failed to make the best, smartest, winning play.

Last edited by Music City

In the long term, it might be more important for Giannis to go 17 for 21 in a close game even though it was a loss, than for him to struggle from the line in a win.

The Suns entire offense in the 4th was to run picks until they got Lopez matched up against Booker or Paul and then let them iso.

In watching replays and highlights I believe that’s the only shot Giannis missed in the 4Q and quite honestly he had a pretty good look.  Hopefully he continues to work on his shot and eventually start hitting some of those jumpers in key moments.  

Phoenix is a fun team to watch and they are loaded on offense.  They’ve beaten a number of good teams already this season and assuming Paul can stay healthy they should be a top 5 team in the West.  

@Tschmack posted:

In watching replays and highlights I believe that’s the only shot Giannis missed in the 4Q and quite honestly he had a pretty good look.  Hopefully he continues to work on his shot and eventually start hitting some of those jumpers in key moments.  

Phoenix is a fun team to watch and they are loaded on offense.  They’ve beaten a number of good teams already this season and assuming Paul can stay healthy they should be a top 5 team in the West.  

Yes. It was a good game, and if Holiday plays they probably win fairly easily as he'd have made things much tougher for either Booker or Paul.

The Bucks staff has run that same basic inbound action at the end of both the Nets game and last night on the final possession down 1. I don't get the logic, but I'm sure there is a reason. The set is to put Giannis at halfcourt and then try to get Middleton the ball on the near side and then have Giannis run to the rim. That might make sense with 6-7 seconds left, but not with 2-3 seconds left. In that set last night, the defense would prefer the ball go to Giannis anywhere outside of 10 feet than any other player on the court, so it was an uncontested inbound pass to Giannis. But this also means that no one follows Giannis out beyond the arc and it allows the defense to sag more to the lane which makes it more difficult to run any action to the lane or to get the ball to Middleton in an advantageous situation.

Paul took away the initial look to Middleton but he was open right after that when he veered towards the far corner.

In the short term, you are much better off with Middleton taking a contested shot than you are with Giannis taking a wide-open 20 footer, but maybe Bud is thinking long-term. At some point, Giannis is going to have to hit that type of shot if they are going to win a title and you might as well give him some experience. He's going to get that 20-foot jump shot any time they want at the end of a game. Now he just has to convert and last night was a step in the right direction.

Lots of little things last night. Poor shooting in the second half, poor rebounding the whole game, turnovers in critical spots, and a return of some of the selfish “step into the first look you see after you cross the timeline” offense.

I guess all in all it’s good- need to experience it to learn how to handle it. The way teams defend you in these situations... both Middleton and Giannis are guys that eventually learn how to react, but they don’t necessarily know how to react to something new. That’s just the kinds of players they are.

And of course last night if Holiday’s in the game he changes the whole dynamic- he is checking Booker all night, penetration doesn’t create as many shifts allowing the offensive boards, and they still get all the offense if not more.

Last edited by Music City

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