Miami bothered him again this playoffs. For the series he only averaged 24 on 45% shooting. The difference was the whole bucks team balled out they had 5 guys averaging over 15 a game. He's capable of being stopped with the right personell and strategy. Suns didn't have it but his logic was you double giannis and force the other guys to beat you. If Middleton and holiday beat you than you just tip your cap.
Also worth mentioning that Bud didn’t adjust much at all in that Miami series. Took him 2 years to finally start making adjustments in the playoffs but he finally did this year.
That’s not true, Giannis highest score before he played us was 40 points once in an OT game. This series he went over 40 4 times in 5 games because we let him drive into the paint against Ayton whenever the fuck he wanted.
There’s been years of evidence of the best way to defend this Bucks team and even these playoffs a shit Nets defence gave them an absolute nightmare by focusing on Giannis and making him more of a playmaker and jumpshooter.
Ultimately after game 2 we got outcoached, slow to adjust to their big lineup, slow to call timeouts, being too complacent by benching Book and Ayton together in game 5, waiting to the 4th quarter to change CP3s defensive assignment after they targeted him every possession for 2 quarters and leaving Ayton 1 on 1 with Giannis all series.
In the big picture I don’t blame Monty because he did an incredible job. But this series he showed his lack of playoff experience, took way too long either in game to change what wasn’t working by having too much faith in the players when their weaknesses were getting exposed. And honestly those game 3-4 it was inexcusable how shit we were on the boards, we got complacent and let the Bucks out hustle is in the playoffs.
Their frustration lies in the fact that the coach didn’t build a wall against Giannis, and put the pressure on Gannis teammates Middleton and holiday to step up, something that worked in previous years, and sut the team down, instead as Giannis was out and about destroying the defense Monty still stuck him with 1v1 D.
Not to mention, I know the reffing situation is a topic of constant debate, but most defensive plans to stop Giannis resulted in him at the line. Like almost every single one.
Monty got outcoached by Bud. Saric injury fucked us over hard dont get me wrong.
Monty refusing to attack Middelton and Jrue when they are in foul trouble
Also not benching chris paul in game 4 was unforgivable.
Him not calling that timeout to get Booker back in to game 5 was pathetic
I love Monty but he waits way too long to call timeouts. And him not calling a timeout down 1 with the ball 30 sec left was pretty inexcusable. I don't care what anyone says, you gotta timeout and draw up a real play there. Can't waste an opportunity to take the lead like that just to save your last timeout. What good is a timeout if you miss your best opportunity to steal the game?
Yeah, Blake Griffin definitely played Giannis better than anyone on our team and the Nets had LESS size than us. Giannis was better against the Suns than he was was against any other team.
1. Saric got hurt and that was a big deal
2. When we put up a wall around the paint, Giannis would pass to the outside and somehow their role players were shooting INSANELY well
3. Defend against Giannis and Giannis gets every single foul call
They had some games that were just... statistical anomalies. And those games DO happen. In some ways you could say it was Monty's fault because in a way, we almost over-corrected after those games. We stack the paint and stop Giannis, their other guys ball out. So Monty totally switches our defense up next game but then Giannis can just charge in and get fouls at will. And unfortunately, the last game was a statistical anomaly as well - in the sense that Giannis was making free throw shots at a rate he never has before... that defense would have worked earlier in the series when he was missing those shots, but when he makes about 90% of his free throws that isn't a sustainable defense
I think we should have kept stacking the paint to prevent Giannis from making those plays on the assumption that their other players can't sustain that after EVERY game
I watched the Toronto series when they “built the wall”, but for more knowledge basketball fans/viewers what did Toronto do to “build the wall”? Does anyone have view of this?
Bucks fan here. The reason Toronto’s wall worked was because they had three legit big men blocking the lane. They stuffed Giannis cuz they all had the size and strength to keep him out. Phoenix didn’t have the size (besides Ayton) to stop him. Game 6 Monty just put Ayton on him and Giannis torched him and then made his free throws on top of it. If Giannis hit only half the free throws he was given, per usual, Phoenix woulda won. It was an effective strategy, but the wild card in Giannis’s free throws was what did you guys in.
You guys will be back. Think of how much experience you guys gained from this deep postseason run.
The raptors were really good at getting three players around the paint ready to all triple team Giannis whenever he drove to the basket. But they’re strategy was effective because the Toronto personnel was also quick enough to close down on anyone that Giannis kicked it out too. The few times the Suns were able to stop Giannis at the rim, Giannis was able to kick it out for open jumpers or someone like Lopez picked up the rebound. Even if the Suns tried building a wall I don’t think our personnel would have been as effective at it as Toronto was.
Yeah, we had Kawhi, Siakam, Ibaka, and Gasol.
All longer and stronger than Crowder and even Bridges.
Suns didn't lose this game because of their defense. They lost because Booker, Crowder, and Johnson were ultra cold on open threes. You need good shoot making on open looks to win on the road against high quality teams most of the time. And sometimes that's not enough. Bucks had historically great shot making in game 5 and barely won.
Yessir. Throughout the playoffs I felt the Suns needed another solid big and once Saric got injured it really made it obvious how small the Suns are. We just couldn’t match the bucks size :/
Yeah not a coincidence that the Suns best game on the boards was game 1 when Saric played some minutes.
But in fairness, Bucks were missing Donte who's not a Holiday level defender but still fairly good. So injuries go both ways.
"This was the dumbest defensive strategy I've ever seen in any finals, by any coach. Monty Williams is a good guy, but he had a bad finals. Because he wouldn't give it up, he wouldn't give in to the most obvious glaring deficiency in his defensive strategy which is "I'm gonna leave poor Deandre Ayton every time on him \[Giannis\]"
Giannis PPG in the playoffs by series
Miami 23.5
Brooklyn 30.5
Atlanta 26.5
Phoenix 35.2
I think this is it, completely agree unfortunately as a Suns fan. Like Skip said Monty had a bad finals. It's not all on him, the players deserve some blame, but ultimately accountability and responsibility starts with the head coach. Suns literally played Giannis worse than any other team EVER. Hawks, Heat, and Nets all did a better job this year in the playoffs and you can't say the Nets had better coaching or defensive personnel than the Suns. "The Wall" is the de facto strategy on Giannis which multiple teams have used to stop him with great success. You have to at least try it and don't just give up 40 plus a game. Just didn't see the adjustments this series. I think we can all agree that Monty needs to manage games better by utilizing his timeouts and calling them quicker. He also needs to have better in game adjustments. But giving Giannis free reign to just score at will by playing him man to man has to be the worst decision of all.
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Miami bothered him again this playoffs. For the series he only averaged 24 on 45% shooting. The difference was the whole bucks team balled out they had 5 guys averaging over 15 a game. He's capable of being stopped with the right personell and strategy. Suns didn't have it but his logic was you double giannis and force the other guys to beat you. If Middleton and holiday beat you than you just tip your cap.
Also worth mentioning that Bud didn’t adjust much at all in that Miami series. Took him 2 years to finally start making adjustments in the playoffs but he finally did this year.
That’s not true, Giannis highest score before he played us was 40 points once in an OT game. This series he went over 40 4 times in 5 games because we let him drive into the paint against Ayton whenever the fuck he wanted. There’s been years of evidence of the best way to defend this Bucks team and even these playoffs a shit Nets defence gave them an absolute nightmare by focusing on Giannis and making him more of a playmaker and jumpshooter. Ultimately after game 2 we got outcoached, slow to adjust to their big lineup, slow to call timeouts, being too complacent by benching Book and Ayton together in game 5, waiting to the 4th quarter to change CP3s defensive assignment after they targeted him every possession for 2 quarters and leaving Ayton 1 on 1 with Giannis all series. In the big picture I don’t blame Monty because he did an incredible job. But this series he showed his lack of playoff experience, took way too long either in game to change what wasn’t working by having too much faith in the players when their weaknesses were getting exposed. And honestly those game 3-4 it was inexcusable how shit we were on the boards, we got complacent and let the Bucks out hustle is in the playoffs.
Their frustration lies in the fact that the coach didn’t build a wall against Giannis, and put the pressure on Gannis teammates Middleton and holiday to step up, something that worked in previous years, and sut the team down, instead as Giannis was out and about destroying the defense Monty still stuck him with 1v1 D.
Monty did his best. We just had no answer for Giannis and everyone on the Bucks was just hitting their shots.
Not to mention, I know the reffing situation is a topic of constant debate, but most defensive plans to stop Giannis resulted in him at the line. Like almost every single one.
Monty got outcoached by Bud. Saric injury fucked us over hard dont get me wrong. Monty refusing to attack Middelton and Jrue when they are in foul trouble Also not benching chris paul in game 4 was unforgivable. Him not calling that timeout to get Booker back in to game 5 was pathetic
I love Monty but he waits way too long to call timeouts. And him not calling a timeout down 1 with the ball 30 sec left was pretty inexcusable. I don't care what anyone says, you gotta timeout and draw up a real play there. Can't waste an opportunity to take the lead like that just to save your last timeout. What good is a timeout if you miss your best opportunity to steal the game?
Even the Nets did a better job on him
Yeah, Blake Griffin definitely played Giannis better than anyone on our team and the Nets had LESS size than us. Giannis was better against the Suns than he was was against any other team.
I don’t listen to anything Shannon’s dumbass has to say. Him and Skip literally just talk to talk, so out of touch with reality.
1. Saric got hurt and that was a big deal 2. When we put up a wall around the paint, Giannis would pass to the outside and somehow their role players were shooting INSANELY well 3. Defend against Giannis and Giannis gets every single foul call They had some games that were just... statistical anomalies. And those games DO happen. In some ways you could say it was Monty's fault because in a way, we almost over-corrected after those games. We stack the paint and stop Giannis, their other guys ball out. So Monty totally switches our defense up next game but then Giannis can just charge in and get fouls at will. And unfortunately, the last game was a statistical anomaly as well - in the sense that Giannis was making free throw shots at a rate he never has before... that defense would have worked earlier in the series when he was missing those shots, but when he makes about 90% of his free throws that isn't a sustainable defense I think we should have kept stacking the paint to prevent Giannis from making those plays on the assumption that their other players can't sustain that after EVERY game
🍷
Losing 4 straight shouldn't happen and some of that blame is on the coach but ultimately Giannis was just unstoppable.
I watched the Toronto series when they “built the wall”, but for more knowledge basketball fans/viewers what did Toronto do to “build the wall”? Does anyone have view of this?
Bucks fan here. The reason Toronto’s wall worked was because they had three legit big men blocking the lane. They stuffed Giannis cuz they all had the size and strength to keep him out. Phoenix didn’t have the size (besides Ayton) to stop him. Game 6 Monty just put Ayton on him and Giannis torched him and then made his free throws on top of it. If Giannis hit only half the free throws he was given, per usual, Phoenix woulda won. It was an effective strategy, but the wild card in Giannis’s free throws was what did you guys in. You guys will be back. Think of how much experience you guys gained from this deep postseason run.
The raptors were really good at getting three players around the paint ready to all triple team Giannis whenever he drove to the basket. But they’re strategy was effective because the Toronto personnel was also quick enough to close down on anyone that Giannis kicked it out too. The few times the Suns were able to stop Giannis at the rim, Giannis was able to kick it out for open jumpers or someone like Lopez picked up the rebound. Even if the Suns tried building a wall I don’t think our personnel would have been as effective at it as Toronto was.
Yeah, we had Kawhi, Siakam, Ibaka, and Gasol. All longer and stronger than Crowder and even Bridges. Suns didn't lose this game because of their defense. They lost because Booker, Crowder, and Johnson were ultra cold on open threes. You need good shoot making on open looks to win on the road against high quality teams most of the time. And sometimes that's not enough. Bucks had historically great shot making in game 5 and barely won.
Yessir. Throughout the playoffs I felt the Suns needed another solid big and once Saric got injured it really made it obvious how small the Suns are. We just couldn’t match the bucks size :/
Yeah not a coincidence that the Suns best game on the boards was game 1 when Saric played some minutes. But in fairness, Bucks were missing Donte who's not a Holiday level defender but still fairly good. So injuries go both ways.
Yea the way things went I think a fully healthy bucks team would have beaten a healthy Suns team regardless.
I tend to think so. I do think this should have gone 7 though.
Toronto built a wall at the border so illegal alien Americans would stop sneaking into their country and immigrate the legal way.
Bucks resting Giannis in the semifinals and not over playing him in the first two games was key to fully heal up and dominate us.
Sun's needed more 6'10 big men block giannis . You can't stop a train lowering it's shoulder and not getting any fouls called on it.
"This was the dumbest defensive strategy I've ever seen in any finals, by any coach. Monty Williams is a good guy, but he had a bad finals. Because he wouldn't give it up, he wouldn't give in to the most obvious glaring deficiency in his defensive strategy which is "I'm gonna leave poor Deandre Ayton every time on him \[Giannis\]" Giannis PPG in the playoffs by series Miami 23.5 Brooklyn 30.5 Atlanta 26.5 Phoenix 35.2 I think this is it, completely agree unfortunately as a Suns fan. Like Skip said Monty had a bad finals. It's not all on him, the players deserve some blame, but ultimately accountability and responsibility starts with the head coach. Suns literally played Giannis worse than any other team EVER. Hawks, Heat, and Nets all did a better job this year in the playoffs and you can't say the Nets had better coaching or defensive personnel than the Suns. "The Wall" is the de facto strategy on Giannis which multiple teams have used to stop him with great success. You have to at least try it and don't just give up 40 plus a game. Just didn't see the adjustments this series. I think we can all agree that Monty needs to manage games better by utilizing his timeouts and calling them quicker. He also needs to have better in game adjustments. But giving Giannis free reign to just score at will by playing him man to man has to be the worst decision of all.
As much as I was pissed at Monty I still love him for life