Official Game Thread: Bucks at Hawks -- ECF GAME 3

[Iverwig]

1 hour ago, hawkman said:

I'm biased, but I feel like these "consistent ref-related mistakes" always seem to favor Milwaukee and always kill the Hawks' momentum during runs. There's a rhythm to the game during runs that only gets interrupted when the Hawks have it going or have a double digit lead. When Milwaukee is on a run, everything that can go their way, does go their way. It's frustrating to watch. But once again, I'm biased and I know being a fan often skews reality. 

I agree with you. The refs have been mostly one sided in this series. I do wonder if the refs get tired of Trae being critical of them during the games. He seems to have been getting less calls lately. 

[Spud2nique]

16 minutes ago, kg01 said:

I'd rather see Solo than Snell.  At least he might fall into someone and have an impact like that statue/ref did last night.

Unless Snell has a revengeful side as to why the Bucks dumped him and wants to exact revenge but he’s got a turtle type of personality he’s super chill, matter of fact he kinda resembles a turtle a bit. 

[marco102]

24 minutes ago, bleachkit said:

In the 76ers series we we're also the beneficiaries of some epic collapses, or incredible comebacks, depending on you look at it. Milwaukee appears more poised in crunch time. Game 4 is a must win, no two way about it. 

At the same point in the 76ers series we would have said the same thing about the 76ers.  Remember game 1 of the 76ers  came back from 26 down to almost take the lead.  Game 2, what's his name went nuclear to destroy our hopes.  Game three they pretty much beat up the Hawks at home.  Game four and five is where the Hawks started fighting back. 

 

[Spud2nique]

@kg01 I haven’t listened to much media outside of NBA radio this whole playoff run. I’m not going back now everyone probably saying it’s over.

Kamla was on the Hawks side a couple days ago so let’s see where he is today. Where is AD Antonio Daniels, I really don’t love Amin El Hassan. Termine and EJ should be fun too. I expect them all to jump on the Bucks bandwagon with the narrative being Trae’s ankle.

Just now, marco102 said:

Game four and five is where the Hawks started fighting back. 

One more time baby!

[hawkman]

Just now, Iverwig said:

I agree with you. The refs have been mostly one sided in this series. I do wonder if the refs get tired of Trae being critical of them during the games. He seems to have been getting less calls lately. 

But the bad calls/non calls don't always involve Trae. That offensive basket interference was egregious. There's no way that should have been missed. It's not like the Hawks are constantly riding the refs either. In fact, the entire Hawks team held their collective tongues during the Knicks series and the officials still let several flagrant fouls go. 

[AHF]

31 minutes ago, bleachkit said:

I have some adjustments. Play Cam Reddish instead of Solo. Play OO 30 minutes. Get more touches for JC. 

You, AtLaS, me and everyone else has some adjustments.  I just don't think they will be enough to win us a game if Trae can't be Trae.  Even when his shot isn't going, his playmaking and ballhandling are hugely important to our offense.  Lou, Huerter, etc. can't replace enough of that to enable us to compete without a Trae at least at 75%, imo.  If Trae is limited, I sure hope I'm wrong but that is my gut.

[Diesel]

45 minutes ago, bleachkit said:

In the 76ers series we we're also the beneficiaries of some epic collapses, or incredible comebacks, depending on you look at it. Milwaukee appears more poised in crunch time. Game 4 is a must win, no two way about it. 

I think Milwaukee's star player is better conditioned.  But they have the same odor as Philly.   They need somebody to step up big in order to beat us.   Philly needed big games by Maxy and Milton to beat us in the games that they did.  I think it's that we have a threshold.  Our Threshold is a star and 1.  We can take the full scoring of your star player and maybe 1 of your others... but beyond that... No.   we proved that beating Rose and Randle...  We proved that beating Embiid and Curry. 

Our slips happen when guys like Harris, Maxy, Milton,  or Barrett or Bullock sneak in and have a good game.   So My guess is that if Giannis and Holliday have a big game, we can still win as long as nobody else does.  But when we start letting Middleton and others step up.. they surpass our threshold. 

We were on our way to a win yesterday.. but we have to keep a cap on Middleton and Portis. 

 

[bleachkit]

1 minute ago, AHF said:

You, AtLaS, me and everyone else has some adjustments.  I just don't think they will be enough to win us a game if Trae can't be Trae.  Even when his shot isn't going, his playmaking and ballhandling are hugely important to our offense.  Lou, Huerter, etc. can't replace enough of that to enable us to compete without a Trae at least at 75%, imo.  If Trae is limited, I sure hope I'm wrong but that is my gut.

If Trae is limited he might settle for long threes. It could get ugly. 

[Diesel]

30 minutes ago, Iverwig said:

I agree with you. The refs have been mostly one sided in this series. I do wonder if the refs get tired of Trae being critical of them during the games. He seems to have been getting less calls lately. 

I do wish that Trae would stop arguing with the refs as much as he does. Not that the refs hold a grudge.. but maybe the refs hold a grudge and swallow their whistles.  Trae does it alot... He often tells them calls that they should have made.   If only we had an CP3 on this team to tell Trae how not to do that. 

 

[AHF]

9 minutes ago, bleachkit said:

If Trae is limited he might settle for long threes. It could get ugly. 

I think he has settled for too many of them anyway during our playoff run but when they come with a lethal floater that is ok.  If the floater is effectively off the table then long threes are not going to get us where we need to go.

[NBASupes]

34 minutes ago, AHF said:

You, AtLaS, me and everyone else has some adjustments.  I just don't think they will be enough to win us a game if Trae can't be Trae.  Even when his shot isn't going, his playmaking and ballhandling are hugely important to our offense.  Lou, Huerter, etc. can't replace enough of that to enable us to compete without a Trae at least at 75%, imo.  If Trae is limited, I sure hope I'm wrong but that is my gut.

I still have faith but I'll be lying if I said this wasn't a monster. Trae's production is why we are even here. 

[marco102]

 

Edited June 28, 2021 by marco102

[AHF]

7 minutes ago, marco102 said:

 

Really hope they can help him feel normal for Game 4.  Ankle injuries can vary tremendously in terms of needed recovery.  Trae is at an age where players can sometimes bounce back a bit quicker.  And we know Trae is tough so I'm sure he'll do whatever he can to be ready.

[hawkman]

1 hour ago, NBASupes said:

I still have faith but I'll be lying if I said this wasn't a monster. Trae's production is why we are even here. 

He was amazing in the 3rd quarter before he got hurt. They had no answer for him. I just knew the Hawks were about to go up 2-1 before that happened. 

[marco102]

1 minute ago, AHF said:

Really hope they can help him feel normal for Game 4.  Ankle injuries can vary tremendously in terms of needed recovery.  Trae is at an age where players can sometimes bounce back a bit quicker.  And we know Trae is tough so I'm sure he'll do whatever he can to be ready.

Yeah, I'm hoping he can come back and at least have his burst.  I have no doubt that he will play and it didn't appear to be a high ankle sprain. 

[AHF]

2 minutes ago, marco102 said:

Yeah, I'm hoping he can come back and at least have his burst.  I have no doubt that he will play and it didn't appear to be a high ankle sprain. 

I've just had too many ankle tweaks to think it might not affect him.  If he is anything like he was in Game 3 after the injury, I think we are sunk or going to need multiple guys to throw out breakout games.  Trae having an off night shooting is nothing like the negative repercussions we would see if his movement is crippled like it was yesterday.

[marco102]

4 minutes ago, AHF said:

I've just had too many ankle tweaks to think it might not affect him.  If he is anything like he was in Game 3 after the injury, I think we are sunk or going to need multiple guys to throw out breakout games.  Trae having an off night shooting is nothing like the negative repercussions we would see if his movement is crippled like it was yesterday.

I agree 100%.  Maybe they sit him out game 4 if it's too bad and let him come back for game 5.  Bogi and Hunter being injured or hurt makes Trae's injury so much worse. 

Edited June 28, 2021 by marco102

[bleachkit]

1 minute ago, marco102 said:

I agree 100%.  Maybe they sit him out game 4 if it's too bad and let him come back for game 5.  Bogi and Hunter being injured or hurt makes Trae's injury so much worse. 

Bogi needs to hit shots. He was moving fine yesterday. But the ball wasn't going in the basket.

[REHawksFan]

2 hours ago, AHF said:

The one thing that I believe would make this series unwinnable is if Trae can't recover in time.  If he can't play or plays like he did last night after being injured, we are done and there is no change in strategy or rotation that can let us win, imo.  If Trae can get back to near full strength, then I fully agree that there are adjustments that can be made that could have swung last night's game and could swing future games.

My take - and precisely why I have "fallen off the ledge" - is that the Bucks have so many more options than the Hawks do at the moment considering Bogie is still struggling and now Trae is hurt.  Clint and JC at the rim have been all but eliminated given the Bucks size on the interior.  And they need Trae doing his thing anyway.  Without Trae, there is no flow to the offense. 

Even WITH Trae it sometimes falters if he's not hitting his floater and making good decisions.  I just think the Hawks are too banged up compared to a fully healthy Bucks team.  They have more weapons and more options. It feels an awful lot like the Knicks series in reverse where the Bucks just have so many more options that scoring is easy. If one guy is off, another just steps up. With the Hawks, where are the options?  They are mostly hurt or playing poorly.    

IF Trae is 100% effective AND Bogie is hitting AND JC is on AND Gallo AND Huerter etc.... That's what the Hawks need to be successful right now.  I just don't see it for 3 out of 4 games.  

[Lurker]

Yeah the way Trae shoots isn't that big of an issue, but if he can't move well, the Hawks are sunk without major contributions from other players.

Speaking of which, it looks like the best way to handle him is to try to take away the interior passing that he does, which limits his playmaking. As that hasn't been there really from game 1 here. Before he sprained his ankle, his scoring was fine in 2 of the 3 games, but it didn't feel as if he was able to pass well inside like he did against the Knicks or Sixers.