Its best offense vs best defense. I'm not going to dissect every detail but I will say this. The Bucks core have been around for a few years while the Nets are just getting started. Will the Nets big three are able to offset the Bucks superior team chemistry? The good thing is Harden is a good glue guy that knows how to direct traffic on the fly and make plays. That critical 4 game losing streaks towards the end of the season against the elite team proves this point and that KD and Kyrie are not good at play making. Note: -I believe missing DiVincenzo is more critical then missing Green if only for his on ball defense and better at spacing the floor for the Bucks top two player. -I don't fully trust Claxton who I believe will be the the key to the Nets success in disrupting the Bucks interior game plan (blocks, offensive RB...etc). He's just too young for this stage, lacks any offensive game for the exception of alley-hoops plays which is basically where all of his points comes from. As long as he doesn't do things out of his comfort zone, he will make an impact on the defensive end. Lets hope this series is entertaining and not a short series like most in RealGM is predicting.
I expect the scoring efficiency to fall dramatically in this series for both teams. Both teams dominated their first round matchups but I expect a tough and close matchup between the two. The pressure and intensity of these games will be amazing and perhaps be the real championship determinator. I like the talent, defense, size and continuity of the bucks but their previous playoff failures and no show leaves me favoring the Nets. Durant and Irving have proven they can perform at the highest levels in the clutch in the postseason. Harden is a dynamic offensive playmaker and the preeminent mismatch exploiter. Add in arguably the best 3 pt shooter in the league and a decent assembly of role players, the Nets are looking scary. Key to the series aside from the obvious (who hits their 3, can nets protect the boards) is how will MIL defend the screens hunting either Lopez or conington or other mismatches. The Nets will be actively seeking out mismatches for Harden, Irving, Durant to exploit as they've done all season and did so with Tristan Thompson, Fournier, Williams, etc last series. The key is... If the bucks can limit the mismatches or defend it well, they can avoid leaving shooters wide open on the 3 point line and easy penetration. For the nets, Durant is likely to score efficiently regardless. The key is Harden has to attack and own any mismatches and also perform well when guarded by jrue or Middleton. Forcing the bucks out of their normal defensive rotation will be key. Irving must continue his efficient scoring. Defensively, Durant will be key protecting the paint and rebounding.
The Nets have a better record than the Bucks even though the big 3 barely played with each other. The Nets have upside where as the Bucks are who they are. They aren't even as good as last year's team.
There is a reason triple star systems are rare and typically hierarchical. Plus even a little stress on the system can result in a star being ejected or crashing into another. Question is just how long until that happens.
The Bucks beat the Nets twice by 9 points total and that was with Harden out. I have no idea why people think the Bucks have some kind of key to stopping the nets or that the Nets can't stop them. The Nets beat the Bucks without Kyrie.
Why would they score 45% on this defense? They didn't on the Celtics defense, the Bucks are even better defensively. Also, the bucks don't need that, they have shooting. It's not an either-or thing. It's more like the Bucks might very well shoot an insanely high FG% in the paint...and pairing that with average shooting and good defense could be enough to get them past the Nets.
I would love to see the Greek Freak get manhandled by The Beard. b**** ass fool disrespecting James over the last few years. Nets in 6.
okay 42.6% from the arc and? the nets has cutters too and midrange and the bucks shooters? 32.7% from the arc
I thought about how the Bucks looked in the first round but I also think the Celtics (even without Jalen Brown) are a better team than the Heat Rocket River
Question is. . . . How much better is the Buck's offense than the Net's defense? Is that gap as big or bigger than the reverse? People say the Nets cannot stop anyone .. . I don't think that is true Esp in crunch time Rocket River
I wouldn't look at one series and take that stat, Miami was a good defense that made them shoot a lower percentage but outside of that one series, as in the regular season, they shot 38.9 from three. Right under the Nets shooting. The nets have cutters and midrange...but they don't have a paint protector, the Bucks have several.
And you said they couldn't shoot? Blocked shots are a meh stat. It's like sacks. Nice to have a lot of sacks, but how often are you pressuring the QB into making mistakes? Blocked shots is that stat. A better stat? Milwaukee was 3rd in the NBA in OPP points in paint, the Nets were 17th. So yeah, the Bucks protect the rim much better than the Nets do, that's certainly going to be a factor in the series.
Pretty much. Can the Nets stop the Bucks and Giannis from dominating the paint and killing them on the boards. Conversely can the Bucks stop Harden from exploiting mismatches (lopez, connington etc) which would lead to open threes, fouls or layups. Both scenarios, Harden killing mismatches and Bucks dominating the paint/boards will result in higher % three point shots. If either team can stop the other from one or the other, they will likely win the series IMO.
I remember as a rocket he struggled with bucks a lot. They ran some strange defense with Bledsoe on him and he was getting really pissed off. Now it will be jrue/pj and 7game series. This one will have games when nets will just crush them when hitting shots and Miluwakee stealing games. It will be close series
