PG Indy - Pathetic

[soxperry]

People are **** on Dame for simply saying the obvious. Hes not used to not being the main guy. Totally new territory for him. To me, we could help maximize him by just having Giannis and Khris as our two main options and build the rest of the team with switchable, athletic defenders.

I just dont think this works any other way. Too old, too slow.

[yannisk]

The thing with Dame is

he is bad defensively, ok this is no surprise, we have to pair him with a defensive specialist, his pairing with Beasley does not work

he has not been particularly efficient. I don't worry about that, he has a body of work, he will get better

But I have not been impressed with his playmaking, he is no floor general for sure.

[BroncoBuck]

Have to fire Griff before the All Star break. It’s January and we’re still doing the same stupid **** every night.

[kanyon]

I guess we just gotta wait til we lose to the Pistons at the end of the month.

[Packbuckman]

They need to fire Grif now a coach that keeps playing Payne Pat and have Beasley guarding Hali over Jackson is just dumb we need athletes out there against this team MB and Ajax should get 30 minutes every game from now on. **** I would start giving Livingston minutes too!

[trwi7]

Watch on YouTube

Not sure who is a bigger idiot: Griff for being a con artist and terrible coach or Giannis for thinking this guy would be a good coach.

Can you really be an idiot if you duped a bunch of people into thinking you're smart and they give you millions of dollars for it?

[PG Graveyard]

I can't see this team beating Phili, Miami, let alone Boston. And now we have to worry about the likes of Knicks and Pacers. Never thought I'd say that.

Those teams might be better matchups for us than the Pacers. None have a PG of Hali's quality to burn us the way he does.

But they'll have Jimmy Butler's and Jayson Tatum's to torch Beasley and Khris.

I would hope at the very least if we have to play Miami in the playoffs Giannis is covering Jimmy Free Throws.

[PG Graveyard]

Griff may be an idiot I guess but there is no coach in the world that can make a good defense out of a Dame, Beasley, Middleton and an aging Brook as the anchor in a more spaced out league. It’s just bad defensive people. Also Carlisle has been cooking this Bucks team for years. He did it at Dallas as well. He knows how to flank the Brook drop defense. Him and Boston are the best at it.

[KidA24]

Griff may be an idiot I guess but there is no coach in the world that can make a good defense out of a Dame, Beasley, Middleton and an aging Brook as the anchor in a more spaced out league. It’s just bad defensive people. Also Carlisle has been cooking this Bucks team for years. He did it at Dallas as well. He knows how to flank the Brook drop defense. Him and Boston are the best at it.

Donovan Mitchell, Royce O'Neal, 31 year old Bogdanovic, 33 year old Jingles and Conley finished 4th in the league in defense.

It's not the defenders, it's the moronic scheme.

[PG Graveyard]

Griff may be an idiot I guess but there is no coach in the world that can make a good defense out of a Dame, Beasley, Middleton and an aging Brook as the anchor in a more spaced out league. It’s just bad defensive people. Also Carlisle has been cooking this Bucks team for years. He did it at Dallas as well. He knows how to flank the Brook drop defense. Him and Boston are the best at it.

Donovan Mitchell, Royce O'Neal, 31 year old Bogdanovic, 33 year old Jingles and Conley finished 4th in the league in defense.

It's not the defenders, it's the moronic scheme.

Scheme wise to me it appears we are trying a lot of different things…drop included and they are bad defenders.

The same coach that got those players to play good defense now has an awful defense in Atlanta. It’s on the players as well. You also neglected to mention a key component in Utah as well as the fact that Conley and Royce are both good defenders and Mitchell and Ingles are both better defenders than Beasley, Dame and Middleton

[BUCKnation]

Read in other forums where writers are describing Dame to be surprisingly passive and disengaged.

There were folks here who were once giddy with the thought of dunking on Jrue this season. Hopefully that opportunity still pans out for them.

Jrue violated and tarnished all trust I had in him. Love him for the title, I'm still making the trade for Dame 10/10.

He's in a good spot as a 4th-ish option for Boston, but I think his warts will resurface for them in the playoffs. Probably not against us, though, if we stick with Grief.

They already are. He got benched against the Thunder.

[Ron Swanson]

Only silver lining from this game is that Griffin finally seemed to acknowledge that you need to go small against this team when he rolled out the Center Giannis lineup to close out the 4th. Problem of course is that he put Middleton of all people on Haliburton and that had predictable results. I think putting a bigger defender with length on Hali is actually a smart move, but c'mon, Khris shouldn't be put in that situation. Just imagine a guy like DFS or Thybulle there instead of Khash though. At this point adding a swiss-army-knife defensive wing is the only thing that's gonna help this defense not get roasted by any good playoff offenses.

[pifhluk23]

Only silver lining from this game is that Griffin finally seemed to acknowledge that you need to go small against this team when he rolled out the Center Giannis lineup to close out the 4th. Problem of course is that he put Middleton of all people on Haliburton and that had predictable results. I think putting a bigger defender with length on Hali is actually a smart move, but c'mon, Khris shouldn't be put in that situation. Just imagine a guy like DFS or Thybulle there instead of Khash though. At this point adding a swiss-army-knife defensive wing is the only thing that's gonna help this defense not get roasted by any good playoff offenses.

What do we do with Brook though? He looks unplayable against any serious team, looked that way last year too.

[Sigra]

Griff may be an idiot I guess but there is no coach in the world that can make a good defense out of a Dame, Beasley, Middleton and an aging Brook as the anchor in a more spaced out league. It’s just bad defensive people.

I said same thing yesterday. But today someone mentioned Miami and their Hero, Duncan, Love etc "defenders".

[PG Graveyard]

Only silver lining from this game is that Griffin finally seemed to acknowledge that you need to go small against this team when he rolled out the Center Giannis lineup to close out the 4th. Problem of course is that he put Middleton of all people on Haliburton and that had predictable results. I think putting a bigger defender with length on Hali is actually a smart move, but c'mon, Khris shouldn't be put in that situation. Just imagine a guy like DFS or Thybulle there instead of Khash though. At this point adding a swiss-army-knife defensive wing is the only thing that's gonna help this defense not get roasted by any good playoff offenses.

What do we do with Brook though? He looks unplayable against any serious team, looked that way last year too.

We should be looking to trade him. The drop doesn’t work against these space ball teams

[Ron Swanson]

Only silver lining from this game is that Griffin finally seemed to acknowledge that you need to go small against this team when he rolled out the Center Giannis lineup to close out the 4th. Problem of course is that he put Middleton of all people on Haliburton and that had predictable results. I think putting a bigger defender with length on Hali is actually a smart move, but c'mon, Khris shouldn't be put in that situation. Just imagine a guy like DFS or Thybulle there instead of Khash though. At this point adding a swiss-army-knife defensive wing is the only thing that's gonna help this defense not get roasted by any good playoff offenses.

What do we do with Brook though? He looks unplayable against any serious team, looked that way last year too.

I mean....no? It's clear to me that this team needs two reliable lineups going into the playoffs. The starters (Dame/Beas/Middleton/Giannis/Brook) are the 3rd most used 5-man lineup in the league and are bulldozing people (+12.9 net-rating). That's gonna be your lineup against Philly, Miami, or a potential Finals matchup with Denver. But against teams like Indiana, Boston, or a potential Finals series vs. say, the Clippers? We don't really have that proven small-ball lineup yet. Crowder can slot in at the 4 but then that still probably leaves you one defensive perimeter guy short. That's where you need to get a Thybulle or Caruso.

[Brewhoopfan]

It's simplistic to always talk about "making adjustments" but when you face the same team 5 times in 34 games and play the exact same schemes each game YOU NEED TO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS.

But it's certainly not just coaching. Not by a long shot. The players were lethargic and lazy. Complaining to the refs. You can't chalk it up to "we're an old team". Lack of hustle isn't an age thing, it's just lazy.

Yeah it's a long season. Six months/82 games is dumb. Every team has slumps. If you play hard and lose, so be it. Suck it up. I'd love to work 82 days a year for that money.

There is no easy fix. Finding the mythical "defensive stopper" isn't easy nor a magical potion.

We're a good team, we are contenders. So act like it.

I'm among the more optimistic here. I don't let losses bother me. But my patience is about gone.

On to San Antonio.

Have you ever been in a position where leadership is aggressively setting you up to fail? Not only can disorganization lead players to looking like they're not giving effort when instead it's confusion, but it's MUCH harder to go all out when you have no confidence in the process. Really feels like that's what's happening.

Brooks body language tonight spoke volumes.

Yep, we get about 3-4 of these WTF expressions from Brook on the defensive end every game.

[DutchManDanFan]

What do we do with Brook though? He looks unplayable against any serious team, looked that way last year too.

I mean....no? It's clear to me that this team needs two reliable lineups going into the playoffs. The starters (Dame/Beas/Middleton/Giannis/Brook) are the 3rd most used 5-man lineup in the league and are bulldozing people (+12.9 net-rating). That's gonna be your lineup against Philly, Miami, or a potential Finals matchup with Denver. But against teams like Indiana, Boston, or a potential Finals series vs. say, the Clippers? We don't really have that proven small-ball lineup yet. Crowder can slot in at the 4 but then that still probably leaves you one defensive perimeter guy short. That's where you need to get a Thybulle or Caruso.

Or put all your trust in AJJ's development and live with his mistakes. Teach him to become the defender we desperately need. Same with MJ as a major piece from the bench. And be open about it that you're fine with a few more losses than needed.

[Profound23]

Also, I don't care what you guys say about Haliburton.

He seems destined for a great career however:
1.) He carries on almost every possession
2.) He is pretty full of himself for a guy that hasn't accomplished anything in the NBA. Come playoff time this Pacer team will be humbled quickly by any one of Boston, Philly, Milwaukee, or Miami.

[Brewhoopfan]

The thing with Dame is

he is bad defensively, ok this is no surprise, we have to pair him with a defensive specialist, his pairing with Beasley does not work

he has not been particularly efficient. I don't worry about that, he has a body of work, he will get better

But I have not been impressed with his playmaking, he is no floor general for sure.

If Dame wants a title, he's gonna need to get into a stance and show some heart. He still has above average quickness, anticipates really well, and has good strength. He's not getting a pass from me. I've seen flashes of him being really good on the ball. Even his lack of height is offset by a good (6'7") wingspan. The tools are there, and he is no longer on a team needing him to save his energy to carry the offense. How bad does he want it? We shall see.