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

Covert Rain

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Nope not even close. I never brought up other offenses. You did. I have been consistent in talking about his inability to take advantage of switches. Which occurred ALL SEASON and ALL PLAYOFFS. It is literally the result of every pick and role we run. And his failure to be capable of taking advantage of 6’3 and 6’7 guards down low and that an entire offense need not be built around that for him to be capable of it. I think I’ve now typed that at least 5 times. Maybe this time you’ll concentrate on what I actually type and not make up strawman arguments to put in my mouth to try to bolster your weak argument that the offense needs to be built around that for him to be capable of it.
So? I did. It was material the discussion in terms of how the Suns run their offensive sets and what they ask Ayton to do in that offense. I have not moved the goal post and have been consistent in that his role isn't a throw it down to you, go to work type player. It hasn't been all season and all playoffs long. Asking a guy to be something he hasn't been all season and expecting him to be efficient is out of whack expectations. Who in their right mind would expect that to change in this series? That doesn't mean they shouldn't try. They did. It's not shocking it didn't work. I have typed that multiple times as well. Maybe you should see what he does when they actually design that type of offense for him and see how he runs it over a course of a season. That's not unreasonable. Should he be better at certain skills? We have all said that. REPEATEDLY. Your examples are anecdotal. How man times was he actually matched up against a 6'3" guard compared to big men? Weak sauce. Should he take advantage of small guys? Sure the seldom times that it actually happens. 100%.
 
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GoldGloveschmidt

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I really thinking Ayton was just so mentally down in the dumps from these foul calls that it ruined his game. Hopefully he can mature and learn to keep competing even when calls aren't going your way. Book often has the same issue, although he starts committing dumb fouls rather than giving up.
 

Covert Rain

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I really thinking Ayton was just so mentally down in the dumps from these foul calls that it ruined his game. Hopefully he can mature and learn to keep competing even when calls aren't going your way. Book often has the same issue, although he starts committing dumb fouls rather than giving up.
He had a ton of trouble getting squared up on defense. Van Gundy kept repeating that throughout the night. Part of that was how fast Giannis is as well.
 

Lorenzo

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Would you trade Bridges for Middleton? I would, in a heartbeat and I doubt anyone else would pass up that chance either. Advanced stats aren't a tell all. Guess what Middleton has over Bridges? A better finals winning percentage. That's all that matters.
Bridges is a great defender and a good 3 point shooter. Middleton is a well rounded offensive player. and if you go back to the ATL series when Giannis was out, he and Holiday both carried that team in closing that series. I would make the case that Giannis getting hurt helped those 2, mentally, to prep for what they needed to do in the finals. I guess it would be the equivalent of booker missing time in a playoff series...is bridges or someone else on the suns going to carry them at both ends of the court to ensure a series? Holiday was possessed at both ends of the court in game 5....he was the absolute mvp of that game. Middleton hit the big shot last night to basically ice the game. I think it's easy to poke holes in people statistically, but when it comes to winning an NBA championship, there are a lot of stats that do not capture effort at both ends of the court.
 

Yuma

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My take is the Bucks used their size to their advantage, and Giannis was the best player on the floor. Ayton has to get better defensively, but he also needs help out there. That was our weakness when this team was assembled, size. We will see what happens this off season. It is disappointing we didn't win, but we got plenty of bonus Suns action this play off season after not seeing any play offs for ten years! It was certainly refreshing to be disappointed we did not win, instead of feeling we had no chance to get to the finals at all. We all felt the Lakers, Nuggets, and Clippers were going to beat us. We had a great run. This team and all the players individually still have room to grow and learn from this. I can't wait to see next season!
 

82CardsGrad

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But still miles ahead of where Bridges is.

And why wouldn’t it be? Middleton is 29 and just completed his 9th season in the NBA, his 8th with Giannis. I’m not one who is predicting Bridges will become as effective as Middleton is… but, I can definitely see Bridges continuing to grow, develop and refine his game to where he is a much bigger and consistent contributor on offense.
 

82CardsGrad

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Would you trade Bridges for Middleton? I would, in a heartbeat and I doubt anyone else would pass up that chance either. Advanced stats aren't a tell all. Guess what Middleton has over Bridges? A better finals winning percentage. That's all that matters.
Sure, but are we really comparing a 24 year-old with 3 NBA seasons, to a 29 year-old with 9 NBA seasons?
 

Finito

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We can go round and round on this. Giannis is from another planet I get it. But name one play where you saw Ayton sprint downcourt to block a shot, you can’t. For me effort, hustle and desire is high on my criteria list. Again it takes ZERO talent to hustle.

so the game he had 22/19, 18/9, 20/10 or the game he got 17 rebounds in these finals.

dude stop acting like he was some bum out there.
 

Rab

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Literally haven’t slept. Wasn’t able to. Crazy huh? This one hurts bad. However, we went from irrelevant to near champs in one season and an 8 game run in the bubble.

This franchise is my one true sports love. For them to be in nba purgatory for 10 years almost made me lose all interest in basketball because I hated seeing my team in such a bad way. So I will forever be grateful to this year’s squad for helping me reignite the flame again. There will be many memorable moments I take from this year’s run.

Today we mourn my fellow Suns fans but I hope we all appreciated what we had in front of us this year. It’s something I’ll never forget.
 

TJ

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We can go round and round on this. Giannis is from another planet I get it. But name one play where you saw Ayton sprint downcourt to block a shot, you can’t. For me effort, hustle and desire is high on my criteria list. Again it takes ZERO talent to hustle.

Just stop. This is becoming pure folly, and you cannot argue that. We're not in a position to complain about the Finals w/o Ayton. That's a fact.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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And why wouldn’t it be? Middleton is 29 and just completed his 9th season in the NBA, his 8th with Giannis. I’m not one who is predicting Bridges will become as effective as Middleton is… but, I can definitely see Bridges continuing to grow, develop and refine his game to where he is a much bigger and consistent contributor on offense.
He certainly could. Their 3rd year stats are eerily similar. But middleton could routinely get his own shot in year three. That’s not a skill Bridges possesses and one that’s hard to come by for vets not already possessing it.
 

FB94

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so the game he had 22/19, 18/9, 20/10 or the game he got 17 rebounds in these finals.

dude stop acting like he was some bum out there.
I am not saying he’s a bum, I’m saying he needs to “attempt” to match the opponent’s energy. I wouldn’t be saying a word if I saw Ayton one time , just once race back on a turnover to contest the shot. But he didn’t and never will.
 

Finito

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I am not saying he’s a bum, I’m saying he needs to “attempt” to match the opponent’s energy. I wouldn’t be saying a word if I saw Ayton one time , just once race back on a turnover to contest the shot. But he didn’t and never will.

list me all the 7 foot centers in the NBA that can do that? He has a completely different body type for that dude.

centers are giving you full court chase down blocks man. Get real
 

GoldGloveschmidt

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list me all the 7 foot centers in the NBA that can do that? He has a completely different body type for that dude.

centers are giving you full court chase down blocks man. Get real

Giannis, AD

Although those guys do not play the 5 all that much.

The real upgrade needed is at the 4 spot Crowder should be a bench depth piece.

Could Jalen Smith turn into a 6'10" stretch 4 who can rim protect and chase down blocks? Maybe we'll see what his potential is next season.
 

1Sun

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Giannis, AD

Although those guys do not play the 5 all that much.

The real upgrade needed is at the 4 spot Crowder should be a bench depth piece.

Could Jalen Smith turn into a 6'10" stretch 4 who can rim protect and chase down blocks? Maybe we'll see what his potential is next season.

Definitely not next season. He is still at least 2-3 years away.
 

Finito

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Giannis, AD

Although those guys do not play the 5 all that much.

The real upgrade needed is at the 4 spot Crowder should be a bench depth piece.

Could Jalen Smith turn into a 6'10" stretch 4 who can rim protect and chase down blocks? Maybe we'll see what his potential is next season.

but when was the last time you seen AD chase a guy down full court and give you a chase down block like that? And like you said those guys don’t play center
 

1Sun

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list me all the 7 foot centers in the NBA that can do that? He has a completely different body type for that dude.

centers are giving you full court chase down blocks man. Get real

Bigger issue is him regularly getting out-muscled and out-toughed by guards, not unlike (gulp) Luc Longley...
 

ajcardfan

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With the way he's officiated.. yeah. Not only is he a freak of nature, but when you try to guard him with physicality you get a foul call for bumping into him too hard.
Yeah, Ayton would foul out with only 10 to 15 minutes of playing time.
 

FB94

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list me all the 7 foot centers in the NBA that can do that? He has a completely different body type for that dude.

centers are giving you full court chase down blocks man. Get real
He can run can’t he, not saying he will get there but at least try. Giannis didnt watch at all. He reacted and put forth the effort, sometimes in vain but he tried. He made some plays that perhaps changed the outcome. You have your opinion and I have mine.
 

Cheesebeef

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I think what disappointed me the most about last night's game was that in the biggest game of our young studs' lives, NONE of them stepped up. None of them even played average. Book, Ayton, Bridges... none of them played well. They really didn't respond well to adversity when the lights shined brightest. I'm really hoping that's a youth/inexperience thing. And I expected it to be there for some of the guys. Just not all of the youngins at once. Maybe I should have.

now I'm just itching to get to FA to see how we respond and if we're going to sit on our laurels or do what's necessary to not only get back to the Finals, but win this time.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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I think what disappointed me the most about last night's game was that in the biggest game of our young studs' lives, NONE of them stepped up. None of them even played average. Book, Ayton, Bridges... none of them played well. They really didn't respond well to adversity when the lights shined brightest. I'm really hoping that's a youth/inexperience thing. And I expected it to be there for some of the guys. Just not all of the youngins at once. Maybe I should have.

now I'm just itching to get to FA to see how we respond and if we're going to sit on our laurels or do what's necessary to not only get back to the Finals, but win this time.
Heard jamelle hill on the radio today talking suns. She was basically recruiting ring chasers to come to Phoenix touting what a great place to live it was. And it was purposeful. Love it. Hope it bears fruit.
 

Cheesebeef

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Heard jamelle hill on the radio today talking suns. She was basically recruiting ring chasers to come to Phoenix touting what a great place to live it was. And it was purposeful. Love it. Hope it bears fruit.

they need a latter day PJ Brown. Or Kurt Thomas.
 
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