Bucks or Hawks?

[JosiahLee]

I know, I know, let’s beat LA first. But seriously, who would you rather face in the finals if you could pick the opponent?

I honestly think both teams could present unique challenges for us. Both teams played us tough in the regular season. We beat Milwaukee in two games by a whopping 2 points combined. We split with Atlanta, getting destroyed by them in the last match.

My gut says I would rather play the Bucks, primarily because Trae Young is an absolute offensive force!

Either way I’m hoping that series goes 6 or 7 and we sweep so the whole team gets another week of rest. If it plays out like this you gotta love the idea of CP3 getting all this extra rest at his age.

 

[SirStefan32]

I see Atlanta as a top-ten offensive team, but probably a bottom-ten defensive team, whereas I see Milwaukee as very similar to Phoenix- top ten defense and top ten offense. I feel like Atlanta has a bit more firepower, but Milwaukee has more guard/ wing defense. However, Bucks don't have much interior defense. Bucks have also been all over the place- some good games, some awful ones. Either team should be more tired than the Suns, especially if the Suns can close this out in four or five games and these guys end up going to six or seven games.

Either way, I don't think it matters. If the Suns play their game (intensity, defense, poise, solid offensive execution), neither team can beat them in a seven-game series. If they slow down and screw around, they will lose to either team. Close the Clippers as quickly as they can, continue to play their game, and don't worry about who they face in the finals.

 

[pokerface]

Ha...I'm the only one that wants the Hawks so far. I really want to see a Booker/Young series. Plus maybe Chris Paul does an ok job defending Young? I guess I'm just playing devils advocate here but I think we match up quite well against the Hawks.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Ha...I'm the only one that wants the Hawks so far. I really want to see a Booker/Young series. Plus maybe Chris Paul does an ok job defending Young? I guess I'm just playing devils advocate here but I think we match up quite well against the Hawks.

Ten years ago, maybe. But not now, with Paul's age and the current rules, speedy guards like Kyrie and Trae are a real challenge for any player to defend one on one. The problem with Atlanta is that in addition to Young's penetration they can also legitimately draw our big man to the perimeter. And John Collins will be a handful on the perimeter and in the paint too.

We have them beat at several positions but besides wanting the safest possible road to the championship this season, I'd much rather face Young next year instead for another reason. The league is reviewing the way they call certain shooting situations and will likely take away some of the huge advantages that players such as Harden and Young now enjoy.

 

[Hoop Head]

Ten years ago, maybe. But not now, with Paul's age and the current rules, speedy guards like Kyrie and Trae are a real challenge for any player to defend one on one. The problem with Atlanta is that in addition to Young's penetration they can also legitimately draw our big man to the perimeter. And John Collins will be a handful on the perimeter and in the paint too.

We have them beat at several positions but besides wanting the safest possible road to the championship this season, I'd much rather face Young next year instead for another reason. The league is reviewing the way they call certain shooting situations and will likely take away some of the huge advantages that players such as Harden and Young now enjoy.

This is a good point and one of the reasons I don't want to face Atlanta. Everyone knows Trae Young draws cheap fouls, so much so that the league has addressed it already and is implementing ways to counter it but due to how the league works, those rules won't go into affect until next season. I'd rather not be the last team screwed by them, especially in an NBA finals setting.

 

[Phrazbit]

I'm blown away that this is something we are in the position to realistically ask.

What a season.

 

[Carolinacacti]

Deandre vs Giannis at some point in the game is always fun.

 

[Larry Schweikart]

Ha...I'm the only one that wants the Hawks so far. I really want to see a Booker/Young series. Plus maybe Chris Paul does an ok job defending Young? I guess I'm just playing devils advocate here but I think we match up quite well against the Hawks.

I watched the game last night, & watched AT's win over the 76ers.

Strangely, I think the only person we have who could stay with Young is Payne. Young is too quick & fast for either Booker or Paul. So far, the Hawks have had to rely on Collins or Herder for their #2 scorer. But if the Euros actually start playing the way they can, they could be tough offensively.

Defensively, the Hawks are not good. The Bucks were constantly driving the lane on them, getting wide open shots. Now, I admit stopping Iannopolous (sp) is very hard. You have to be willing to take a LOT of charges. It might even work to put Crowder on him. But I don't think Holliday can beat you.

The Hawks present the biggest matchup problem. If you defend Cabela on the pick and roll and force Young to dribble a lot, he will make a lot of mistakes and the 26 footers he puts up are just crazy mental lapses.

 

[Superbone]

I do think the Bucks are the more favorable matchup for us. But the real reason I'm hoping for this Finals matchup is that it would be the Revenge of the Coin Flip series. The Bucks and Suns entered the league at the same time. The Bucks won the coin flip, got the then named Lew Alcindor, and won a championship.

Now...It's our turn.

 

[pokerface]

I watched the game last night, & watched AT's win over the 76ers.

Strangely, I think the only person we have who could stay with Young is Payne. Young is too quick & fast for either Booker or Paul.

I guess all three players could try guarding Trae but yeah I think you're right that Payne with his quickness would probably have the most success.

 

[GoldGloveschmidt]

The biggest thing with Trae is that Ayton can switch onto him when they do the pick and roll, and guard him from the free throw line to the basket. Lopez can't do that. Lopez was sitting near the basket, so when Trae got open off the pick, he had an easy floater all night long. Bud finally adjusted in the 4th quarter and took Lopez off the floor.

We have a much much better defensive scheme and switchability than the Bucks do.

The only issue is that when Ayton switches onto Young, you have to watch for the lob to Capella. He will need a body on him.

 

[95pro]

The Eastern conf defense is atrocious when guarding the pick and roll that they run with Trae. His midrange will be picked up a lot better with our defense. Let him bomb away. We can take away the other shooters. With the clippers series we proved we can overcome 3pt barrage.

 

[95pro]

The biggest thing with Trae is that Ayton can switch onto him when they do the pick and roll, and guard him from the free throw line to the basket. Lopez can't do that. Lopez was sitting near the basket, so when Trae got open off the pick, he had an easy floater all night long. Bud finally adjusted in the 4th quarter and took Lopez off the floor.

We have a much much better defensive scheme and switchability than the Bucks do.

The only issue is that when Ayton switches onto Young, you have to watch for the lob to Capella. He will need a body on him.

We kind of posted the same thing at the same time.

clippers guards have give Z some lobs but not as many as you’d think. I think we’d do a better job limiting those against the hawks.

and the switching yes I agree too, is what I meant when I said we can take away their other shooters. They’re not the play makers the clippers are.

 

[Larry Schweikart]

I do think the Bucks are the more favorable matchup for us. But the real reason I'm hoping for this Finals matchup is that it would be the Revenge of the Coin Flip series. The Bucks and Suns entered the league at the same time. The Bucks won the coin flip, got the then named Lew Alcindor, and won a championship.

Now...It's our turn.

Never thought of that. You're right.

They got one championship out of it, right? But Alcindor/Jabbar screwed Milwaukee and demanded a trade to the bright lights. Too bad. That Milwaukee team had character.
LA? Meh.

 

[Larry Schweikart]

The biggest thing with Trae is that Ayton can switch onto him when they do the pick and roll, and guard him from the free throw line to the basket. Lopez can't do that. Lopez was sitting near the basket, so when Trae got open off the pick, he had an easy floater all night long. Bud finally adjusted in the 4th quarter and took Lopez off the floor.

We have a much much better defensive scheme and switchability than the Bucks do.

The only issue is that when Ayton switches onto Young, you have to watch for the lob to Capella. He will need a body on him.

What would you think about having Crowder guard Capela? Free Ayton to rebound & block. At any rate, I was surprised Lopez was bombing from that far out. Not what I want my center doing. I didn't like the long shot Ayton took.

My take from watching nearly nothing is that Young can be gigged into getting to hyper, losing the ball, or chucking up 27 footers.

 

[JCSunsfan]

What would you think about having Crowder guard Capela? Free Ayton to rebound & block. At any rate, I was surprised Lopez was bombing from that far out. Not what I want my center doing. I didn't like the long shot Ayton took.

My take from watching nearly nothing is that Young can be gigged into getting to hyper, losing the ball, or chucking up 27 footers.

That puts Ayton on Collins. I think having Ayton on Capella is a great match up for us.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

What would you think about having Crowder guard Capela? Free Ayton to rebound & block. At any rate, I was surprised Lopez was bombing from that far out. Not what I want my center doing. I didn't like the long shot Ayton took.

My take from watching nearly nothing is that Young can be gigged into getting to hyper, losing the ball, or chucking up 27 footers.

That’s Lopez’s game. Crowder can’t effectively keep capella off the boards. Young has been making people believe that since Oklahoma . . . to their detriment.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

That puts Ayton on Collins. I think having Ayton on Capella is a great match up for us.

It’s a battle.

 

[JosiahLee]

Time to bring this thread back to life.

I was listening to Kellen Olson on Arizona Sports today and he firmly believes the Hawks are the better draw for the Suns.

Some of his main logic was with facing two powerful scorers in Giannis and Middleton is a fearsome duo you want want to mess with.

He also thinks that Trae Young can be contained by Bridges as he struggles more against bigger, stronger scorers rather than small, shifty players.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Time to bring this thread back to life.

I was listening to Kellen Olson on Arizona Sports today and he firmly believes the Hawks are the better draw for the Suns.

Some of his main logic was with facing two powerful scorers in Giannis and Middleton is a fearsome duo you want want to mess with.

He also thinks that Trae Young can be contained by Bridges as he struggles more against bigger, stronger scorers rather than small, shifty players.

It is a scoring duo, but Atlanta is a deeper team than people realize. I really don't care about which we face. I see them as about equal competition. I just want our bunch to be healthy.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Time to bring this thread back to life.

I was listening to Kellen Olson on Arizona Sports today and he firmly believes the Hawks are the better draw for the Suns.

Some of his main logic was with facing two powerful scorers in Giannis and Middleton is a fearsome duo you want want to mess with.

He also thinks that Trae Young can be contained by Bridges as he struggles more against bigger, stronger scorers rather than small, shifty players.

It's the combination of Capela and Collins that worries me the most. The two of them PLUS Young worries me far more than GA and Middleton. But we get who we get and I'm confident we can beat either team. Now we just have to do what we all know we "can" do.

 

[Mainstreet]

The Suns have faced two teams nobody wanted to play in the Lakers and Clippers. One could even make a case for the Nuggets.

It's next team up. I still don't like the idea of picking a poison.

 

[Cheesebeef]

If either is relatively healthy, they both pose solid challenges... that I think we’d take care of in 6.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

They pose much different challenges. But im confident against both. Suns in 6 either way. 5 if young or giannis feeling lingering injury effects.

 

[dscher]

Don't care. Bring on whoever wants to suffer.