Game Day: Bucks (48-15) @ Suns (13-51), Mon 3/4/19

[da_suns_fan]

I think its worth repeating:

How the hell did we get Oubre for freaking Trevor Ariza?!!!!

[carey]

Rewatching the 4th and Mirotic just made a 3 to put the Bucks up 9 with 6:20 left. At this point we were 4-13 from the field in the 4th.

[carey]

Rewatching the 4th and Mirotic just made a 3 to put the Bucks up 9 with 6:20 left. At this point we were 4-13 from the field in the 4th.

Down 7 with 5 left but Ayton with a strong spin move and 1 to cut to 4. Then a Brogdon brick. Then Bridges off a screen for 2 followed by another Brogdon brick. Oubre with a drive, he draws contact and is immediately bear hugged by Bridges. MIL calls their second timeout in the last minute of game time.

**Giannis has Bumpy guarding him and he passes out to Lopez for a bricked 3** Play of the game here because they were up 1 and Bumpy can't guard Giannis.

Booker bricked a 2 gets his own board and Coach inexplicably takes a TO. Book looks mad. ATO and Booker takes the same shot and misses. Is that what he was supposed to run?

Bled looking like his old self bricking a 3. I laughed out loud.

Ayton comes all the way out past the 3 point line to set a screen and Book makes it. Suns are finally up. So the first lead didn't come until 2:34. But...Giannis dunk ties it up immediately. Oubre makes a huge 3 in the corner off a Book drive and blows kisses to the crowd. He's kind of cheesy.

Another Bled brick. Bumpy missed 3 and Giannis drives to draw contact. He should be doing this every trip down.

The Brogdon swish off the back iron bounce occurs at 1:20. This made me sad and feeling like Suns were gonna collapse again last night. But then Bumpy comes right back with a lefty drive off the backboard. Suns up 2 with 1:06 left. Bled with his 3rd straight brick. Point Book finds Ayton from a pick and roll at the top of the key for a strong drive and finish over Giannis. Bad ass. Suns up 4.

ATO and Brook Lopez passes up a wide open 3 and then Oubre rushes over to slap the ball out of his hands. MIL looks like they haven't had to close out many games while down. Everyone is hesitant. Maybe it's because they shouldn't be in this position to the lowly Suns. Oubre is going nuts after causing that turnover. Bud sits Lopez after his fuckup. They must not want him in defensively. Booker and Bled are talking shit to each other. Time out. Bridges is fouled purposely and makes both. Suns up 6. Bled drives and is fouled by Oubre - makes his FTs.

Igor calls timeout saving Bridges from a 5 second call. MIL does a good job defensively there. No more time outs for Suns. Ayton is fouled and hits his FT. Good to have a big you can count on from the line. Middleton bricks a 3. Shot 1-13. I'd have to rewatch to see who was guarding him all game but it was Bumpy on this play. Since Feb 23rd Suns have 4th best O-rating in the West. Announcers seem mystified by this (coincides with Bumpy's arrival?) Oubre bricks second FT but somehow gets own rebound and that does it for the Bucks. Bled airballs a 3 with 3 seconds left just so we could all remember what he looked like in the 4th as a Sun. We win by 9. That was fun.

[Split T]

Bumpy? I’ve never heard that name used before....took me a bit to figure out it was Tyler Johnson

[specialsauce]

Just got finished with this one. As others have said, Ayton has been terrific on both ends for 2 straight games.

Also, if the contracts are close to equal, games like this are why Oubre is probably a better keeper than TJ. He doesn't quite have TJ's offensive upside, but TJ never impacted the game defensively like Oubre has the ability to. Also, from a culture-building perspective, I'll take Oubre's energy over TJ's somnambulist disposition.

I have to agree

[carey]

Bumpy? I’ve never heard that name used before....took me a bit to figure out it was Tyler Johnson

Don't listen to LeBatard show? They are based in Miami and that's what they called him.

[Cap]

Bumpy? I’ve never heard that name used before....took me a bit to figure out it was Tyler Johnson

Don't listen to LeBatard show? They are based in Miami and that's what they called him.

I wonder how that got started.

[specialsauce]

Josh Jackson is at his finest tonight (in a bad way). His 3 was a luck shot in a midst of hot garbage.

I don’t get why Bender doesn’t get burn over him. Especially when we are at such a size disadvantage. We held em to 39% shooting and are LOSING.

Your prejudice against him is apparent. Jackson was huge in this game and a big part of why we won. He hit some big shots when we needed them.

I don’t look for makes or stats from Josh, my only scout on him is whether he is taking good shots and making good decisions. He was back to his rookie self last night with step back 3s and iso Js. Yeah, he hits his stride once every 5 games, but it hurts the team every other game because he shoots so damn much. I need him to keep his FGA in the single digits and focus on other aspects of the game.

Can’t stop watching highlights from last night. That was the most enjoyable game since the opener for me. Every rotational player contributed, even Crawford by helping the Bucks keep it close so it’d be intense.

[Superbone]

Can't add much to what's already been said about the game....definitely our best of the season. We're playing thru Ayton more and it's making a huge difference. Oubre was a total difference maker with his defense and energy. He's got to become more consistent and efficient offensively, but even when he's not shooting well, his energy and defense don't drop off. I still love Jackson's activity and aggression with the ball. Not always pretty but he's one guy who keeps the defense on its heels and we've been missing that for a while.

Also just want to say that despite our record and FO/ownership issues, this team hasn't dogged it or given up. They certainly haven't quit on the coach or each other and that's extremely encouraging to see. We may have issues with Igor's playcalling and the roster construction, but there's no denying the effort level has improved dramatically from the start of the season and we're looking a little sharper on offense and defense.

Makes me excited for next season. We should start approaching the playoffs and get there the season after that. That is if Sarver doesn't screw it all up.

[In2ition]

I also got to attend the game last night. I was in the lower bowl behind the basket on the Bucks side. It was a good crowd, but I was amazed at how many different Giannis jerseys were there. I swear, there were twice as many Giannis jerseys in the building as Booker jerseys. There must have been 10 different type of Buck jerseys at least.

It was so gratifying to see the Suns win and send those Buck fans home. After how low the attendance has been, it was surprising that they actually nearly filled the place. I was so happy to see Ayton have success on defense and driving to the basket. We may see a nearly dominate Ayton consistently by as early as next year, and I was a bit worried that he was never going to put that in his game.

[Superbone]

Josh Jackson is at his finest tonight (in a bad way). His 3 was a luck shot in a midst of hot garbage.

I don’t get why Bender doesn’t get burn over him. Especially when we are at such a size disadvantage. We held em to 39% shooting and are LOSING.

Your prejudice against him is apparent. Jackson was huge in this game and a big part of why we won. He hit some big shots when we needed them.

I don’t look for makes or stats from Josh, my only scout on him is whether he is taking good shots and making good decisions. He was back to his rookie self last night with step back 3s and iso Js. Yeah, he hits his stride once every 5 games, but it hurts the team every other game because he shoots so damn much. I need him to keep his FGA in the single digits and focus on other aspects of the game.

Can’t stop watching highlights from last night. That was the most enjoyable game since the opener for me. Every rotational player contributed, even Crawford by helping the Bucks keep it close so it’d be intense.

He's definitely still a work in progress. Not sure we can keep him with Oubre and Bridges. He might need to be a trade piece. Yes, I watched the Suns broadcast last night and I saved the Bucks broadcast and will watch that tonight.

[Superbone]

I also got to attend the game last night. I was in the lower bowl behind the basket on the Bucks side. It was a good crowd, but I was amazed at how many different Giannis jerseys were there. I swear, there were twice as many Giannis jerseys in the building as Booker jerseys. There must have been 10 different type of Buck jerseys at least.

It was so gratifying to see the Suns win and send those Buck fans home. After how low the attendance has been, it was surprising that they actually nearly filled the place. I was so happy to see Ayton have success on defense and driving to the basket. We may see a nearly dominate Ayton consistently by as early as next year, and I was a bit worried that he was never going to put that in his game.

Man, pretty soon everybody on this board is going to say they were at that game! Man, what a game to be at! I'm jealous. You could hear the energy in the crowd emanating from the broadcast on TV.

[In2ition]

Once Jackson gets a consistent jumper, with all the shots he takes, he will be a 25+ a game scorer. He's actually growing on me and he's still trying to figure it out. He continues working on the jumper and getting stronger, he will improve his efficiency greatly next year. I do wish he learned how to look and pass to Ayton though, as he seems to have tunnel vision most of the time.

[Superbone]

Once Jackson gets a consistent jumper, with all the shots he takes, he will be a 25+ a game scorer. He's actually growing on me and he's still trying to figure it out. He continues working on the jumper and getting stronger, he will improve his efficiency greatly next year. I do wish he learned how to look and pass to Ayton though, as he seems to have tunnel vision most of the time.

Hmm. I think he's one of the best passers to Ayton on the team that we have. His alley oops to him are definitely the most successful.

[Superbone]

One of my favorite plays here was when Ayton defended well at the perimeter and then came back and secured the rebound:

[In2ition]

Once Jackson gets a consistent jumper, with all the shots he takes, he will be a 25+ a game scorer. He's actually growing on me and he's still trying to figure it out. He continues working on the jumper and getting stronger, he will improve his efficiency greatly next year. I do wish he learned how to look and pass to Ayton though, as he seems to have tunnel vision most of the time.

Hmm. I think he's one of the best passers to Ayton on the team that we have. His alley oops to him are definitely the most successful.

I agree that he throws the best lobs to Ayton, but the simple entry pass when Ayton is open doesn't seem to be a well utilized skill in his arsenal.

[Cap]

Bumpy? I’ve never heard that name used before....took me a bit to figure out it was Tyler Johnson

Don't listen to LeBatard show? They are based in Miami and that's what they called him.

I wonder how that got started.

I tried to look into it. Didn’t find much. According to some redditor, it started to a reference to his acne, and he likes the nickname. Seems odd that both of those could be true.

[djy2j]

Just got finished with this one. As others have said, Ayton has been terrific on both ends for 2 straight games.

Also, if the contracts are close to equal, games like this are why Oubre is probably a better keeper than TJ. He doesn't quite have TJ's offensive upside, but TJ never impacted the game defensively like Oubre has the ability to. Also, from a culture-building perspective, I'll take Oubre's energy over TJ's somnambulist disposition.

Agreed. I’ll take Jackson and Oubre. TJ’s annual mystery injuries are becoming a burden and make him expendable. TJ will this generation Rudy Gay. Great at scoring, not much else, lacks a pulse.

[bajanguy008]

just got finished watching also and my only concern was Melton not being in the rotation as I think he played decent last two games and really no reason to still play Crawford

Ayton being so engaged really does make me feel encouraged, even couple of the blocks he got he didn't exactly get good lift but he at least jumped instead of his habit of simply raising his hands. that little difference in effort resulted in two blocks.
my other thing I've been watching is Mikal off the dribble and he definitely is trying to slash more and I am fairly certain after the summer he gonna be effective next season getting to the rim or with little pull ups

good stuff from the guys

[ShelC]

Bumpy? I’ve never heard that name used before....took me a bit to figure out it was Tyler Johnson

Don't listen to LeBatard show? They are based in Miami and that's what they called him.

I wonder how that got started.

I tried to look into it. Didn’t find much. According to some redditor, it started to a reference to his acne, and he likes the nickname. Seems odd that both of those could be true.

Bumpy Johnson was a gangster who ran numbers (among other things) in Harlem during the 30s and 40s. Laurence Fishburne played him in the movie Hoodlum.