PG Lakers: Bucks Implode

[Siefer]

Last night looked like a repeat of our last two games against miami in the playoffs last year.

It was not a jrue, or bud, or whose the SG issue. middleton choked last night but he was a dagger against miami. need to isolate and acknowledge the real problem if were going to improve

The equipment manager?

[paulpressey25]

I mean, we did just trounce an actual contender the previous game with Dame scoring 11 points on 12 shots...

In our new era NBA, matchups are now taking on significant importance. In ye olden days, the Kobe/Shaq Lakers could trounce everyone. In the new era, we can trounce OKC because we can pound them inside.

With LA, it seems like AD always get up for playing Giannis, which cancels out that matchup advantage we usually have. Then you come back to whether some of their more energetic guards (and forward in Rui) can run our guys ragged or exploit the scheme. Honestly, they are a worse matchup for us when LeBron sits.

You've theoretically got to be able to match-up with everyone and every style now to win the title. Simply noting that to win that title, I believe we need one more top-7 playoff rotation guy who is highly athletic.

[Dick Tate]

Last night looked like a repeat of our last two games against miami in the playoffs last year.

It was not a jrue, or bud, or whose the SG issue. middleton choked last night but he was a dagger against miami. need to isolate and acknowledge the real problem if were going to improve

Funny, I thought of game 5 when Giannis tossed up a casual 3 with 30 seconds left in the 3rd. Then those 3 TOs in the first 2 minutes after checking back in in the 4th. Ugh.

[CharityStripe34]

What's amusing is that they closed out the first half and third quarter really, really well. Then they forgot how to play middle of the 4th.

[Magic Giannison]

That was the most painful game i ever watched, what a ****

[GHOSTofSIKMA]

Last night looked like a repeat of our last two games against miami in the playoffs last year.

It was not a jrue, or bud, or whose the SG issue. middleton choked last night but he was a dagger against miami. need to isolate and acknowledge the real problem if were going to improve

Funny, I thought of game 5 when Giannis tossed up a casual 3 with 30 seconds left in the 3rd. Then those 3 TOs in the first 2 minutes after checking back in in the 4th. Ugh.

the missed fts and the inability whatsoever to score or even play the right way when a defense is dialed in and the effort is highly focused to stop him. he has the abilty to become a numbnuts and his lack of fundamentals can be exposed. we waste possessions around him that would get hs teams running after practice if they played that way

and it isnt just about building a wall. its that his core offensive principles dont work in certain settings unless a guy like middleton or dame or jrue or whoever go supernova to bring him back. we need a championship #1 in those settings and giannis needs to focus on all the little things and he doesnt do that very well when hes gassed or stressed.

anyway....it isnt a issue with secondary players or coaching. we simply needed our guy to either lock up AD or come over the top of him last night. While AD was taking away the rim from dame, locking up giannis, hitting 3s and knocking down clutch fts last night the gap felt obvious. They had a guy and last night we didnt. It was just one night anyway....but its been a reoccurring theme when it matters

[BUCKnation]

What's amusing is that they closed out the first half and third quarter really, really well. Then they forgot how to play middle of the 4th.

Felt like they were trying to coast that game after the early huge lead and would give a few minute stretch to build back a comfortable lead, but it bit them in a** after they tried to one more time after they got back up 10 with 3 min left.

The offense wasn't pretty, but the looks from both Khris and Dame were good enough that you wouldn't expect them to go 0/7 or whatever it was down the stretch. If Giannis wasn't a bit of a spaz in the beginning of all that, I would have at least tried to feed him more and trust his kick outs.

[paulpressey25]

We were up 94-75 at the 8:01 mark of the 4th quarter, when Middleton came into the game for AJ Green.

Then DLo, AD and Austin Reaves went wild on us. Wasn't just one guy. All three of them.

[rilamann]

I mean, we did just trounce an actual contender the previous game with Dame scoring 11 points on 12 shots...

In our new era NBA, matchups are now taking on significant importance. In ye olden days, the Kobe/Shaq Lakers could trounce everyone. In the new era, we can trounce OKC because we can pound them inside.

With LA, it seems like AD always get up for playing Giannis, which cancels out that matchup advantage we usually have. Then you come back to whether some of their more energetic guards (and forward in Rui) can run our guys ragged or exploit the scheme. Honestly, they are a worse matchup for us when LeBron sits.

You've theoretically got to be able to match-up with everyone and every style now to win the title. Simply noting that to win that title, I believe we need one more top-7 playoff rotation guy who is highly athletic.

You are really overthinking things.

The Bucks dominated the first 40 minutes of a 48 minute game against a Lakers team team that is painfully mediocre even when LeBron plays and were up 94-75 with 8 minutes to go.

The Bucks lost because a team that boasts Giannis/Lillard/Middleton couldn't make a shot down the stretch.

Even if some of the guys on the Lakers got hot, Bucks still win if the Bucks can hit a couple shots in the final 8 minutes. Lakers ended the game on a 26-7 run to force overtime. If Lakers go on 26-8 run, the Bucks win the game.

Plus, the Lakers got hot because they were given a new confidence and new life due to the Buck's inability to close the game. When the Bucks were up 94-75 with 8 minutes to go, the Laker's body language didn't look great. Lakers would have threw in the towel if the Bucks had scored just a couple more baskets. But once the Lakers realized the Bucks were chucking & choking down the stretch, they were like, Wait a minute, we can steal this thing.

Also, don't forget, the Bucks were still up by 10 with about 3 minutes to go if my memory is correct.

It's not about match-ups so much as it is about coming to play for 48 minutes.

[rilamann]

Last night looked like a repeat of our last two games against miami in the playoffs last year.

It was not a jrue, or bud, or whose the SG issue. middleton choked last night but he was a dagger against miami. need to isolate and acknowledge the real problem if were going to improve

That's an interesting point.

You are 100% correct, last night's game looked like a replay of games 4 & 5 vs Miami last season. Almost eerily similar.

But the Miami games last season were Jrue & Bud's fault, right?

[Wooderson]

anyway....it isnt a issue with secondary players or coaching. we simply needed our guy to either lock up AD or come over the top of him last night. While AD was taking away the rim from dame, locking up giannis, hitting 3s and knocking down clutch fts last night the gap felt obvious. They had a guy and last night we didnt. It was just one night anyway....but its been a reoccurring theme when it matters

The Bucks are 23-13 in the clutch this year (5th best win%). The 2021 title run was won on the back of clutch wins.

and it isnt just about building a wall. its that his core offensive principles dont work in certain settings unless a guy like middleton or dame or jrue or whoever go supernova to bring him back

Supernova?? Middleton and/or Lillard just needed to not miss quite literally everything and they win. Hell if Lillard or Middleton hadn't been ass the entire game scoring the ball they'd have been up 25 and there isn't even a comeback (instead of being up just 12 when Giannis returned with 6 minutes left in the 4th quarter).

Did Giannis stink offensively? Yes, but they were also allowed to be incredible physical with him in the 2nd half. The Lakers literally went 20 minutes of game action at the end without a foul calls. And Giannis was still do little things with awesome defense and monster rebounding. Unlike Lillard or Middleton (Midds horrendous foul on DLo crushed them).

Like the reason the Bucks had a big lead WAS Giannis. That should have been enough alone to secure a win if his #2 or #3 guys showed up instead of getting outplayed by Austin Reaves.

[GHOSTofSIKMA]

Last night looked like a repeat of our last two games against miami in the playoffs last year.

It was not a jrue, or bud, or whose the SG issue. middleton choked last night but he was a dagger against miami. need to isolate and acknowledge the real problem if were going to improve

That's an interesting point.

You are 100% correct, last night's game looked like a replay of games 4 & 5 vs Miami last season. Almost eerily similar.

But the Miami games last season were Jrue & Bud's fault, right?

the same against boston to a lesser extent the previous year.... and toronto and miami the years before that.

teams can defend the giannis led bucks when it matters and the giannis led bucks offense can run stone cold.

i think his usage is too high, i think he needs to pride himself more on the defensive end, i think he needs to set better screens, i think he needs to box out, i think he needs to be the first one back on defense and play more of a leader on that side then he does on offense.

he is a force offensively when shots are falling and hes playing downhill or against softer opposition or regular season intensity..... but its a one trick pony kind of offense and there is no counter to it.

that to me is the problem with this team. its not that its giannis obviously we wouldnt be good without him.... but there is an element there that may almost involve some lucky bounces to get past no matter who we pair with him and no matter who coaches him.

when we play well we look amazing but when we fail we fail gloriously. we won a championship but if we hadnt the pressure on giannis would be as immense as any great player in the history of the league with the rest of his resume

to me, at this point.... the answer will always lie with him. not anybody else... with him.

[dbrodz7]

Last night looked like a repeat of our last two games against miami in the playoffs last year.

It was not a jrue, or bud, or whose the SG issue. middleton choked last night but he was a dagger against miami. need to isolate and acknowledge the real problem if were going to improve

That's an interesting point.

You are 100% correct, last night's game looked like a replay of games 4 & 5 vs Miami last season. Almost eerily similar.

But the Miami games last season were Jrue & Bud's fault, right?

If only one was a meaningless regular season game and the other two were playoff games with the season on the line...

[GHOSTofSIKMA]

anyway....it isnt a issue with secondary players or coaching. we simply needed our guy to either lock up AD or come over the top of him last night. While AD was taking away the rim from dame, locking up giannis, hitting 3s and knocking down clutch fts last night the gap felt obvious. They had a guy and last night we didnt. It was just one night anyway....but its been a reoccurring theme when it matters

The Bucks are 23-13 in the clutch this year (5th best win%). The 2021 title run was won on the back of clutch wins.

and it isnt just about building a wall. its that his core offensive principles dont work in certain settings unless a guy like middleton or dame or jrue or whoever go supernova to bring him back

Supernova?? Middleton and/or Lillard just needed to not miss quite literally everything and they win. Hell if Lillard or Middleton hadn't been ass the entire game scoring the ball they'd have been up 25 and there isn't even a comeback (instead of being up just 12 when Giannis returned with 6 minutes left in the 4th quarter).

Did Giannis stink offensively? Yes, but they were also allowed to be incredible physical with him in the 2nd half. The Lakers literally went 20 minutes of game action at the end without a foul calls. And Giannis was still do little things with awesome defense and monster rebounding. Unlike Lillard or Middleton (Midds horrendous foul on DLo crushed them).

Like the reason the Bucks had a big lead WAS Giannis. That should have been enough alone to secure a win if his #2 or #3 guys showed up instead of getting outplayed by Austin Reaves.

we play alot of iso one on one because if giannis isnt destroying people his way its basically 4 on 5 with the other guys.

normally youd get the ball to giannis in the block or the elbow or a safe pnr game and youd trust him in those moments and our guys would play off of him.....but besides khris comfort playing with him not a soul besides him knows how to integrate giannis into the offense if he doesnt have the ball. right now dame is a turnover machine trying to get it to him

missing shots in tough iso situations is to be expected btw. we **** have dame lillard and khris and we still cant get predictable looks in rhythm. they may be open enough but they all look rushed and off balance when they take them. there is no flow to our offense late in games

[msiris]

I mean, we did just trounce an actual contender the previous game with Dame scoring 11 points on 12 shots...

In our new era NBA, matchups are now taking on significant importance. In ye olden days, the Kobe/Shaq Lakers could trounce everyone. In the new era, we can trounce OKC because we can pound them inside.

With LA, it seems like AD always get up for playing Giannis, which cancels out that matchup advantage we usually have. Then you come back to whether some of their more energetic guards (and forward in Rui) can run our guys ragged or exploit the scheme. Honestly, they are a worse matchup for us when LeBron sits.

You've theoretically got to be able to match-up with everyone and every style now to win the title. Simply noting that to win that title, I believe we need one more top-7 playoff rotation guy who is highly athletic.

You are really overthinking things.

The Bucks dominated the first 40 minutes of a 48 minute game against a Lakers team team that is painfully mediocre even when LeBron plays and were up 94-75 with 8 minutes to go.

The Bucks lost because a team that boasts Giannis/Lillard/Middleton couldn't make a shot down the stretch.

Even if some of the guys on the Lakers got hot, Bucks still win if the Bucks can hit a couple shots in the final 8 minutes. Lakers ended the game on a 26-7 run to force overtime. If Lakers go on 26-8 run, the Bucks win the game.

Plus, the Lakers got hot because they were given a new confidence and new life due to the Buck's inability to close the game. When the Bucks were up 94-75 with 8 minutes to go, the Laker's body language didn't look great. Lakers would have threw in the towel if the Bucks had scored just a couple more baskets. But once the Lakers realized the Bucks were chucking & choking down the stretch, they were like, Wait a minute, we can steal this thing.

Also, don't forget, the Bucks were still up by 10 with about 3 minutes to go if my memory is correct.

It's not about match-ups so much as it is about coming to play for 48 minutes.

The shot selection was gross in the forth. Our big three went into hero mode and took shots early in the shot clock.

[randy84]

Not going to lie but the more I see this team with other coaches, the more I realize Bud was one hell of a coach to win a championship with this team.

[Wooderson]

anyway....it isnt a issue with secondary players or coaching. we simply needed our guy to either lock up AD or come over the top of him last night. While AD was taking away the rim from dame, locking up giannis, hitting 3s and knocking down clutch fts last night the gap felt obvious. They had a guy and last night we didnt. It was just one night anyway....but its been a reoccurring theme when it matters

The Bucks are 23-13 in the clutch this year (5th best win%). The 2021 title run was won on the back of clutch wins.

and it isnt just about building a wall. its that his core offensive principles dont work in certain settings unless a guy like middleton or dame or jrue or whoever go supernova to bring him back

Supernova?? Middleton and/or Lillard just needed to not miss quite literally everything and they win. Hell if Lillard or Middleton hadn't been ass the entire game scoring the ball they'd have been up 25 and there isn't even a comeback (instead of being up just 12 when Giannis returned with 6 minutes left in the 4th quarter).

Did Giannis stink offensively? Yes, but they were also allowed to be incredible physical with him in the 2nd half. The Lakers literally went 20 minutes of game action at the end without a foul calls. And Giannis was still do little things with awesome defense and monster rebounding. Unlike Lillard or Middleton (Midds horrendous foul on DLo crushed them).

Like the reason the Bucks had a big lead WAS Giannis. That should have been enough alone to secure a win if his #2 or #3 guys showed up instead of getting outplayed by Austin Reaves.

we play alot of iso one on one because if giannis isnt destroying people his way its basically 4 on 5 with the other guys.

normally youd get the ball to giannis in the block or the elbow and youd trust him in those moments and our guys would play off of him but besides khris comfort playing with him not a soul besides him knows how to integrate him into the offense if he doesnt have the ball. right now dame is a turnover machine trying to get it to him

missing shots in tough iso situations is to be expected btw. we **** have dame lillard and khris and we still cant get look looks in rhythm. they may be open but they all look ruched and off balance when they take them. there is no flow to our offense late in games

You're acting like this has been a systematic problem this year which it hasn't been. They have a top 5 clutch ORtg this year (basically the same as #3 Denver and #4 Clippers, and that's mainly without Middleton) - they were only top 5 once before this year since 2019. I'm just curious why you called out last night as part of the recurring theme, what makes it different than other regular season games other than fitting your point of view? Guys have bad stretches.

Giannis this year arguably has better clutch stats than non-clutch. Lillard's stats are definitely better in the clutch. What makes last night different?

Dudes got lax last night and thought they had the game in the bag and went iso. Giannis is not the reason they made one or fewer passes on 18/26 possessions in the 4th quarter. Hell Giannis only played half the quarter and the Bucks only scored 6 points in the first 6 minutes of the 4th without Giannis.

[Ron Swanson]

Fun fact. We have the highest assist rate in clutch minutes (63.7%) this year unless you wanna count the Spurs (-13.5 net-rating in the clutch). Way too many people defaulting to comfortable agendas no matter what actually happens in these losses. This team has pretty much flipped the script from previous years (we used to suck offensively in the half court and clutch situations and now we're awesome), but we've always been a good passing team.

[paulpressey25]

It's not about match-ups so much as it is about coming to play for 48 minutes.

Co-Signed:
Jason Kidd
Adrian Griffin

[CharityStripe34]

Yeah, those first 6 minutes of the fourth were a major brick fest. But the troubling thing was Lakers targeting Khris over and over again and getting buckets or to the line. Good film for Khris to clean up some of the angles he takes. It's one thing to have someone make a contested jumper, but guys were flying past him. And I'm not trying to pin it all on him, because he's still getting his legs under him.

But that first half of the 4th is what allowed LA to creep back into the game.