Suns @ Bucks Tuesday Finals game thread 7-20-2021 - Game 6

[95pro]

I honestly don’t get your perspective. We have played the bucks 7 times this year.

won 2 by 1 point in regular season.

won two somewhat comfortably.

blown out once.

barely beaten in last minute of 2.

these teams are very evenly matched. And the last two, one in our crib, one in their’s, have been virtual toss ups.

Biggest difference has been coaching aka game management

 

[1Sun]

Biggest difference has been coaching aka game management

And Giannis being pretty darn near 100%, while Chris Paul isn't even at 25%...just as I called it heading into the series.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Biggest difference has been coaching aka game management

100%

 

[82CardsGrad]

I honestly don’t get your perspective. We have played the bucks 7 times this year.

won 2 by 1 point in regular season.

won two somewhat comfortably.

blown out once.

barely beaten in last minute of 2.

these teams are very evenly matched. And the last two, one in our crib, one in their’s, have been virtual toss ups.

Not a surprise you don’t get my perspective… I often don’t get yours.
Post season play is an entirely separate animal from the reg season. And, when you play in the post season adds further color. Especially when we’re talking about a team as young and inexperienced as the Suns. Exhaustion, mentally, if not more than physically, is a major issue for players by the time the finals roll around, especially the latter half of the Finals.
And, when your season-long leader isn’t able to match the level of play he exuded all season long, I just think the odds are weighted against our Suns.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Not a surprise you don’t get my perspective… I often don’t get yours.
Post season play is an entirely separate animal from the reg season. And, when you play in the post season adds further color. Especially when we’re talking about a team as young and inexperienced as the Suns. Exhaustion, mentally, if not more than physically, is a major issue for players by the time the finals roll around, especially the latter half of the Finals.
And, when your season-long leader isn’t able to match the level of play he exuded all season long, I just the odds are weighted against our Suns.

The last two games were so close with a couple different bounces we could be NBA champions right now. Literally not that far off. And people think I’m pessimistic lol. Try to enjoy the fact that we still have a game and one other team still has a game remaining. And no other nba team has any remaining.

 

[82CardsGrad]

The last two games were so close with a couple different bounces we could be NBA champions right now. Literally not that far off. And people think I’m pessimistic lol. Try to enjoy the fact that we still have a game and one other team still has a game remaining. And no other nba team has any remaining.

Good grief… I am THOROUGHLY enjoying this ride and will continue to do so for as long as this team is able to survive!
As I posted the other day, I feel the Suns are close. I can see how our youth, inexperience and lack of quality depth behind Ayton could all conspire to keep us from conquering the Bucks this season. But, I have faith in Jones AND Monty to make the proper adjustments in the next couple of years, such that this team will be a routine contender and with some luck (health and bounces of the ball), they could grab a title… or two!

 

[Covert Rain]

The team is going to have to play an almost perfect game. Monty needs to coach an almost perfect game. The Suns margin for error is going to be very very thin. I mean one bad quarter thin. I think the teams psyche is that delicate right now. The only shot the Suns have is to compartmentalize being up 2-0 then losing 3 straight. They just have to win 1 to force a game 7. I think drawing even will resets the team mentally. I mean you fought for home court. If the series comes back to our court, the Suns have to feel good about that.

 

[82CardsGrad]

I hate to keep harping on CP3, but... he's so critical to this teams' success. Not so much with his own stats, though that too is important. But more-so with respect to his ability to keep the offensive flowing and getting all other players in the right positions and engaged.
I continue to be so frustrated watching him bring the ball up the court, get to mid-court and then turn his back to Holiday, where he stops moving forward... stops moving the ball... Holiday has owned CP3 and when Paul turns his back on Holiday, it's a virtual admission that Holiday has won.
With clock winding down, this pattern is placing massive pressure on the offense and leads to a plethora of bad, rushed shots coming off a single-pass, or, no pass at all...
If CP3 can't overcome this problem, winning tomorrow night becomes incredibly more challenging, if not impossible.

 

[dscher]

The team is going to have to play an almost perfect game. Monty needs to coach an almost perfect game. The Suns margin for error is going to be very very thin. I mean one bad quarter thin. I think the teams psyche is that delicate right now. The only shot the Suns have is to compartmentalize being up 2-0 then losing 3 straight. They just have to win 1 to force a game 7. I think drawing even will resets the team mentally. I mean you fought for home court. If the series comes back to our court, the Suns have to feel good about that.

IMO, it doesn't have to be perfect... merely the ability to get there and out work and out hustle the Buck's. Which we haven't done the last three games.

 

[Krangodnzr]

I didn't watch game 5 because game 4 was so painful.

 

[Mainstreet]

I hate to keep harping on CP3, but... he's so critical to this teams' success. Not so much with his own stats, though that too is important. But more-so with respect to his ability to keep the offensive flowing and getting all other players in the right positions and engaged.
I continue to be so frustrated watching him bring the ball up the court, get to mid-court and then turn his back to Holiday, where he stops moving forward... stops moving the ball... Holiday has owned CP3 and when Paul turns his back on Holiday, it's a virtual admission that Holiday has won.
With clock winding down, this pattern is placing massive pressure on the offense and leads to a plethora of bad, rushed shots coming off a single-pass, or, no pass at all...
If CP3 can't overcome this problem, winning tomorrow night becomes incredibly more challenging, if not impossible.

Chris Paul often turns his back to the defender to protect the ball but this has not kept him from running plays all season.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I didn't watch game 5 because game 4 was so painful.

Well then you should definitely watch game 6 and 7, doing so will surely be a serene and uplifting experience.

 

[82CardsGrad]

Chris Paul often turns his back to the defender to protect the ball but this has not kept him from running plays all season.

I get why he does it... I just don't believe it's helping our offense at all.

 

[Covert Rain]

IMO, it doesn't have to be perfect... merely the ability to get there and out work and out hustle the Buck's. Which we haven't done the last three games.

I didn't say perfect. I said NEARLY perfect. That means doing all the dirty work you described for 4 quarters. I am predicting it now. If the Suns even have one disastrous quarter (any quarter) they likely won't win the game. That's what I mean by nearly perfect.

 

[82CardsGrad]

I didn't say perfect. I said NEARLY perfect. That means doing all the dirty work you described for 4 quarters. I am predicting it now. If the Suns even have one disastrous quarter (any quarter) they likely won't win the game. That's what I mean by nearly perfect.

That margin might even be less than just one quarter...

 

[Mainstreet]

I get why he does it... I just don't believe it's helping our offense at all.

I'm not sure what else Paul should do when his job is to run the offense.

Paul is not adverse to passing or shooting the ball when the opportunity arises.

I certainly do not want him exposing the ball to get it stolen.

 

[Ronin]

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[82CardsGrad]

I'm not sure what else Paul should do when his job is to run the offense.

Paul is not adverse to passing or shooting the ball when the opportunity arises.

I certainly do not want him exposing the ball to get it stolen.

There are other methods to bringing the ball up. If you go back to the first quarter of Game 5, he was often able to bring the ball up the court and not stop, turn his back and put the breaks on our offense.
Watch the way the Bucks bring the ball up... rarely will see any of their guards turn their back.

 

[Ronin]

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[Covert Rain]

I'm not sure what else Paul should do when his job is to run the offense.

Paul is not adverse to passing or shooting the ball when the opportunity arises.

I certainly do not want him exposing the ball to get it stolen.

Last game was encouraging even though he almost lost his dribble a couple times. One thing I noticed in the Clips and Bucks series. It's painfully obvious they know Paul is struggling. Both teams have straight up gone after him in every imaginable way. Like I said though, last game was encouraging. Maybe he is over the hump in terms of being able to contribute. I hope so.

 

[Ronin]

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[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

I get why he does it... I just don't believe it's helping our offense at all.

Booker does it too. You don’t have much of a choice with a defender of holiday’s caliber. Btw, read an article from fivethiryeight on holiday earlier today. It’s not a Paul problem it’s a holiday problem. Holiday made book look pedestrian when guarding him game 1. And he did so again when they switched holiday into him midway through third quarter of game 5. Here’s a quote:

“Booker had 27 points on 18 shots when the Bucks switched Holiday’s primary matchup from Paul to Booker midway through the third quarterof Game 5. He had just 13 points on 15 attempts with Holiday living in his hip pocket the rest of the way, and he shot just 1 of 5 with two airballs, one turnover and one assist on the 18 halfcourt possessions when Holiday was his main defender in the second half.”

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

There are other methods to bringing the ball up. If you go back to the first quarter of Game 5, he was often able to bring the ball up the court and not stop, turn his back and put the breaks on our offense.
Watch the way the Bucks bring the ball up... rarely will see any of their guards turn their back.

It feels like you don’t know our offense or refuse to acknowledge that holiday is pressing Paul prior to reaching halfcourt. “Watch the bucks?!?” Lol. We don’t have backcourt defender of holidays quality nor are we pressing.

 

[nashman]

The Suns can win they just cannot allow all 3 of their big 3 to go off. They need some hard playoff fouls or something to disrupt their rhythm if someone starts getting hot. At this point the players must just take control if they go on a run foul Giannis, since it’s clear Monte doesn’t know when to call a time out maybe Paul or Book or Crowder wil just be smart and break up those runs with some hard fouls and stop letting them go on crazy scoring runs! It’s maddening the way Monte sits on his hands and allows this to happen, also Book better damn play almost every minute of this game! You simply cannot allow a 6 minute rest and allow your lead to evaporate, to me that was the biggest mistake of the last game! You can’t let a 16 pt lead evaporate while yo using your best scorer that was beyond stupid!

 

[Ronin]

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