Phx-Suns.Net

Mori Chu wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 04, 2021 6:59 am

I posted this in the Game 1 Game Day thread, but it may be more of a series-wide topic, so I'll cross-post it here.

Am I crazy for being completely confident that we are going to beat the Bucks in this series? I just look at their team and feel strongly that we are better.

PG - Jrue vs CP3 - Point God is better, no contest.
SG - Connaughton vs Booker - LMAO c'mon.
SF - Middleton vs Bridges - Middleton is the much better offensive player, but Bridges is an all-NBA worthy defender and will slow him down.
PF - Tucker vs Crowder - Our rugged veteran 3&D PF is younger and shooting much better than theirs.
C - Lopez vs Ayton - Ayton will shut down any Lopez inside game and can also somewhat bother his outside shooting as needed.

Now, sure, if you put Giannis in the lineup Milwaukee gets much better. But you just put Ayton on Giannis and that will limit him about as well as you can hope for. There's our "Giannis stopper," or as close as you can get to having one. He's shot quite poorly vs Ayton in recent regular season matchups.

Bench - Payne/Johnson/Saric/Craig vs Portis/Teague/Forbes/T.Antetokounmpo - I think we win the bench battle easily. Bucks have pretty poor depth outside of their top 5-6 guys. We go 8-9 deep with guys you can actually play in a playoff game.

I really feel like this is a 4 or 5 game series. Am I looking at it wrong? Am I overconfident?

Split T wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 04, 2021 9:11 am

We won’t lose a game to them that Giannis doesn’t play…So it could be over quick if he can’t go. I honestly want him to play. I don’t really care that much, but it would be nice to say we beat them at full strength.

Defensively, suns and bucks have been the 2 best teams in the playoffs. Though I think the Clippers ability to play any defensive scheme gave us more problems than Milwaukee will.

I feel pretty good about what we can do to them defensively. I imagine we’ll start out with Crowder on Giannis, but we’ll see Ayton get that responsibility at times too. I feel like both can do a decent job of limiting him. Bridges will be the primary assignment on Middleton, but being able to throw Crowder, Craig, and Johnson on him can give him a few different looks.

I imagine Booker will defend Jrue, which I feel ok about. Jrue isn’t a super athlete or bigger than Book, so I think Book will be ok.

Defensively for them, Jrue can only guard one of Paul and Booker…maybe they throw Middleton on the other, but I’m expecting Connaughton. The Bucks want to drop with López and I think we can pick apart a Connaughton/Lopez drop scheme.

They also play a few guys like Forbes and Portis that are great offensive players, but poor defensively. Think getting Forbes matched up on Payne with Portis as his rim protection could be a disaster for Milwaukee.

I feel pretty good about suns in less than 7.

MightyMoog wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 04, 2021 9:19 am

Split T wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 04, 2021 9:11 am

We won’t lose a game to them that Giannis doesn’t play…So it could be over quick if he can’t go. I honestly want him to play. I don’t really care that much, but it would be nice to say we beat them at full strength.

Defensively, suns and bucks have been the 2 best teams in the playoffs. Though I think the Clippers ability to play any defensive scheme gave us more problems than Milwaukee will.

I feel pretty good about what we can do to them defensively. I imagine we’ll start out with Crowder on Giannis, but we’ll see Ayton get that responsibility at times too. I feel like both can do a decent job of limiting him. Bridges will be the primary assignment on Middleton, but being able to throw Crowder, Craig, and Johnson on him can give him a few different looks.

I imagine Booker will defend Jrue, which I feel ok about. Jrue isn’t a super athlete or bigger than Book, so I think Book will be ok.

Defensively for them, Jrue can only guard one of Paul and Booker…maybe they throw Middleton on the other, but I’m expecting Connaughton. The Bucks want to drop with López and I think we can pick apart a Connaughton/Lopez drop scheme.

They also play a few guys like Forbes and Portis that are great offensive players, but poor defensively. Think getting Forbes matched up on Payne with Portis as his rim protection could be a disaster for Milwaukee.

I feel pretty good about suns in less than 7.

They'll be putting Tucker on Booker and Jrue on CP3. It'll be on Booker to force them out of that game plan and free up CP3. After the last 2 series, theres no way CP3 isn't the one getting double teamed.

bajanguy008 wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 04, 2021 9:55 am

Mori Chu wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 04, 2021 6:59 am

I posted this in the Game 1 Game Day thread, but it may be more of a series-wide topic, so I'll cross-post it here.

Am I crazy for being completely confident that we are going to beat the Bucks in this series? I just look at their team and feel strongly that we are better.

PG - Jrue vs CP3 - Point God is better, no contest.
SG - Connaughton vs Booker - LMAO c'mon.
SF - Middleton vs Bridges - Middleton is the much better offensive player, but Bridges is an all-NBA worthy defender and will slow him down.
PF - Tucker vs Crowder - Our rugged veteran 3&D PF is younger and shooting much better than theirs.
C - Lopez vs Ayton - Ayton will shut down any Lopez inside game and can also somewhat bother his outside shooting as needed.

Now, sure, if you put Giannis in the lineup Milwaukee gets much better. But you just put Ayton on Giannis and that will limit him about as well as you can hope for. There's our "Giannis stopper," or as close as you can get to having one. He's shot quite poorly vs Ayton in recent regular season matchups.

Bench - Payne/Johnson/Saric/Craig vs Portis/Teague/Forbes/T.Antetokounmpo - I think we win the bench battle easily. Bucks have pretty poor depth outside of their top 5-6 guys. We go 8-9 deep with guys you can actually play in a playoff game.

I really feel like this is a 4 or 5 game series. Am I looking at it wrong? Am I overconfident?

AmareIsGod wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 04, 2021 12:27 pm

bajanguy008 wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 04, 2021 9:55 am

So weird. I always figured it was the team you were actively playing for when the championship is won. Kind of weak that a guy can get a ring simply by playing on one team that wins it for the first part of the year, even if they are traded.

Superbone wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 04, 2021 1:17 pm

So, they have Tucker who used to be a Sun and we have Craig who used to be a Buck. This will be interesting to see how it develops. The Suns let Tucker go when we were bad and did him a favor. I think Craig has a much bigger revenge factor due to the Bucks letting him go for cash considerations in order to pick up Tucker.

Cap wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 04, 2021 1:19 pm

Superbone wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 04, 2021 1:17 pm

So, they have Tucker who used to be a Sun and we have Craig who used to be a Buck. This will be interesting to see how it develops. The Suns let Tucker go when we were bad and did him a favor. I think Craig has a much bigger revenge factor due to the Bucks letting him go for cash considerations in order to pick up Tucker.

Last time we played a former team of Craig, it went very well.

Superbone wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 04, 2021 1:29 pm

Cap wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 04, 2021 1:19 pm

Superbone wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 04, 2021 1:17 pm

So, they have Tucker who used to be a Sun and we have Craig who used to be a Buck. This will be interesting to see how it develops. The Suns let Tucker go when we were bad and did him a favor. I think Craig has a much bigger revenge factor due to the Bucks letting him go for cash considerations in order to pick up Tucker.

Last time we played a former team of Craig, it went very well.

Let's hope for a repeat! Can you imagine a dominant 4 game Finals sweep for our Suns?! I can. (But not counting on it. I could also see a grueling 7 game series depending on Giannis' health. I mean we won 2 games by 1 point each this season against them. Seems pretty evenly matched.)

Wormwood wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 04, 2021 2:21 pm

I'm flying in from the East Coast to attend Game 2.

Most of the talking-head "experts" are picking the Bucks, but the modeling and simulation is favoring the Suns.