Charles Barkley just tells it as it is. Or at least as he sees things. He’s not the one to mince his words, and he’s going to be harsh every single time he’s got the chance to be harsh.
That’s why it wasn’t a surprise to see him completely blast the Milwaukee Bucks following their epic meltdown in Game 5 against the Brooklyn Nets.
The Bucks led for most of the game and had a double-digit lead at halftime, yet they imploded once again and dropped a pivotal game by 6 points.
And, even though Kevin Durant deserves a lot of credit for his majestic 49-point, 17-rebound, 10-assist performance, the Bucks are also to blame for allowing this to happen, said Barkley on NBA on TNT:
“I wouldn’t feed them dudes on the plane. That was embarrassing basketball,” Barkley started. “I think the Milwaukee Bucks are gonna win the world championship. I really do. But they gotta be the dumbest team. They made between stupid fouls and bad shots, not taking advantage of this matchup…” he added later.
While Barkley’s words should often be taken with a grain of salt, he couldn’t be more on point this time. The Bucks dropped the ball and didn’t make smart decisions, as simple as that.
James Harden was clearly limited throughout the game, yet they refused to attack him. Steve Nash successfully hid him in the defensive end, and the few times Giannis went at him in the low post, he settled for contested shots and fadeaway jump shots.
Giannis continued to pull up from beyond the three-point line even though that’s clearly not his shot, leaving the door wide open for this epic collapse and a historically great comeback from the Nets.
Coach Budenholzer and the Bucks still have two more chances to right this wrong, but they have to be near perfect this time.
