Bucks-Suns Postgame Thread 1/12/08

[unklchuk]

Is Ivey far & away our best guard defender?

Well, he and Bell give good effort. Consistently. And Ivey has more aptitude than Bell. So maybe he is.

But, my sunny side (currently infused by one hell of a Packer win) wants to make Ivey our Difference Maker defending guard. In that assigned role, he's a bit underwhelming.


I usually listen to Ted Davis (though I think Jim & Jon can be pretty good). Strikes me Davis has a little less to say lately about the emperor's clothing or lack thereof. Maybe it's old news.

[-Jragon-]

The other question I had was why didn't Ivey check Nash at all during his 12 straight made baskets? Its obvious Ivey is far and away the best defender at the guard position......TD did mention that nobody tried to fight throuh any picks which just allowed Nash to do what he wanted. A little of TD's frustration, his play of the game or turning point of the game was when the Bucks could have moved to within 2 with about a minute left and Redd threw it out of bounds.

Ivey is our best guard defender, best at getting through screens, and best at anticipating. The Suns set some really good screens on him.. it reminded me of how the old Miami Dolphins blocked so well for Dan Marino because they knew great things would happen if they did. Their bigs set their picks so well that nobody could get past - even Ivey. They aren't huge guys, but just strong and athletic. Nash just hit the open shot. We even tried the famous "switch defense" at the end which never works of course. Nash just passed to the big guy with the little guy covering and when the double came all the Suns were all setting up for open 3's and bombs away. That pick and roll is too damn good for them. I hope the Bucks learned from that.

[unklchuk]

Dang, the way you describe the quality and effectiveness of the Suns' pick & roll, it makes me wonder what there is to learn?

Humility?

[paulpressey25]

Nash is just so good at running that thing.....

But it also points out the dire need for Bogut to get a jumpshot. All those Suns guys who run the pick n roll with Nash are able to do so much more effectively because they are a double threat. Diaw, Amare, Marion.....they can all hit that 10-15 foot jumper.

One major problem I've seen with the pick n roll with Bogut is that teams are now packing it in on Bogut. Earlier in the year, that Bogut pick n roll was a great play during the winning streak. But now teams are on to it. If Bogut had the threat of keeping the ball, not rolling, and shooting the jumper, it would open up so many things.

[jerrod]

Nash is just so good at running that thing.....

But it also points out the dire need for Bogut to get a jumpshot. All those Suns guys who run the pick n roll with Nash are able to do so much more effectively because they are a double threat. Diaw, Amare, Marion.....they can all hit that 10-15 foot jumper.

One major problem I've seen with the pick n roll with Bogut is that teams are now packing it in on Bogut. Earlier in the year, that Bogut pick n roll was a great play during the winning streak. But now teams are on to it. If Bogut had the threat of keeping the ball, not rolling, and shooting the jumper, it would open up so many things.

yep, if you don't have the jaw dropping athleticism you have to have the total offensive package to be really good

[xTitan]

Nash is just so good at running that thing.....

But it also points out the dire need for Bogut to get a jumpshot. All those Suns guys who run the pick n roll with Nash are able to do so much more effectively because they are a double threat. Diaw, Amare, Marion.....they can all hit that 10-15 foot jumper.

One major problem I've seen with the pick n roll with Bogut is that teams are now packing it in on Bogut. Earlier in the year, that Bogut pick n roll was a great play during the winning streak. But now teams are on to it. If Bogut had the threat of keeping the ball, not rolling, and shooting the jumper, it would open up so many things.

Great, now we have a moderator who is a bogut Hater!..Just not right ....I actually agree with you 100%, Bogut just needs the confidence in that shot that he had in college, once that develops 18-20 should be easy with the correct number of touches and teammates who all share a winning goal and know how to do it. Having said all that it bothers me that Bogut's vastly improved low post game still is not fed enough, the Bucks seem very poor at passing into the post, which is not as easy as many would think.

[unklchuk]

I was sad at the re-signing of Mo. This season he's shown that he's a lot more player than I'd recognized.

But I still think it should be a high priority of this team (and expect that it actually is) to get a PASSING, leader-type PG. Watching the team on the floor, I get these feelings that they're playing pretty well considering what they're missing.

But the player (or 2) that we're missing isn't injured - he's not on the roster yet.

Yes, supporting players are showing signs of breaking out of deep, deep slumps. Yes. the cloud around Bogut seems to be lifting. But even with those positives, we still seem a player or two short of a full deck.

[deflated]

-= original quote snipped =-
<snip>

...the Bucks seem very poor at passing into the post, which is not as easy as many would think.

Yup. Nothing like a game against Nash to making your passing look pedestrian but we really don't have much in the way of flair when sending the ball around. I like Mo's approach where he rarely forces anything and avoids killer TOs but occasionally it'd be nice to have someone make a hard pass look easy.

If Bogut's going to be setting the pick, and he's rolling to the basket every time then a few little lobs as he breaks, some bounce passes off the pick...something to break up the routine.

(Trying to think about our ball movement in the 4th and I can't think of any real 'nice pass' moments; best I can think of was Bogut driving to the basket, kicking out to Bell for the 3. Were we really that vanilla?)