PG Blazers - Win

[soxperry]

rewatched the 2nd half.. moments of brilliance but we made that look very hard.

[rilamann]

That #9 seed did knock 3 other teams besides the Bucks out of the playoffs, including Boston. I think they deserve a little more respect put on their name.

Based on the last three games, might be early for Rilaman to take a victory lap on firing Bud.

That said, seems clear Giannis wanted a new voice in the locker-room. But the odds were always great that we'd go backward with a new hire.

I did my victory lap the day Bud was fired, about a week after we lost 4-1 to a #9 seed. I was just happy that he was gone and I still am.

I'm not here to say that Griffin is some sort of a great head coach. Griffin wasn't my top choice either, but it's still too early to definitively say how good or bad of an NBA head coach he is when his entire head coaching career spans a total of 17 games.

My thing is that Bud is grossly overrated as an NBA head coach and absolutely had to go after last season. Is Griffin the answer? I don't know yet, I would have much rather had Nurse, but I would also much rather roll the dice with Griffin than go through a repeat of last season with Bud.

So far so good, through 17 games we are 1.0 GB for the best record in the league and in the Driver's seat for the #1 seed in the season tournament. You'd never know it by reading half the posts around here.

Bucks thru 17 games last season under Bud 12-5 record, 3 double digit losses.

Bucks thru 17 games this season under Griffin 12-5 record, 3 double digit losses.

And remember, the Bucks have a rookie head coach and haven't even begun to play their basketball yet.

But keep trying to tell yourself that we're going backwards.

[paulpressey25]

That #9 seed did knock 3 other teams besides the Bucks out of the playoffs, including Boston. I think they deserve a little more respect put on their name.

Based on the last three games, might be early for Rilaman to take a victory lap on firing Bud.

That said, seems clear Giannis wanted a new voice in the locker-room. But the odds were always great that we'd go backward with a new hire.

So far so good, through 17 games we are 1.0 GB for the best record in the league and in the Driver's seat for the #1 seed in the season tournament. You'd never know it by reading half the posts around here..

And yet you’re also up at 4am posting.

[Sigra]

Griffin does some good things and much needed things. Like trying zone at defense or like using Brook more at offense. He also gives rookies more time than Bud would give them.

But he should never change main things that Bud discovered and that worked so much. Mainly how to use Brook and Giannis at defense. If he just uses Bud defense (with a slow implementation of some zone) but without Bud's stubbornness about matchups he would look like genius. At offense more authority to force more Dame and in general to make them know who does what and when.

[aboveAverage]

That was an impressive comeback. Sucks to again go down by so much to a bad team, but huge credit for that comeback. Sometimes a team is just going to shoot the lights out no matter what you do, and it’s really reassuring to know that we have the mental fortitude to come back and win a game like that.

[TroyD92]

I dislike players with bad attitudes who can't defend or pass. That's Beasley all day. The team almost lost today because Beasley thought it was important for a grown man to have a birthday party, at a club.

Sucks Giannis has to carry clowns like him.

Damn you've never gotten drunk the night of your birthday and showed up to work the next morning? lol

I did an 8 day bender in thailand just for the hell of it on my bday this year.

It makes more sense how crappy they played thinking they could just show up hung over and beat the blazers.

HK I always wanted to ask are you actually from Hong Kong or an expat?

[greekbuck34]

I would rather suck on defense and need the brillance of our 2 best players to win a game than blowout half the league in the regular season with huge scoring contribution and 3p shooting from bench and role players who will instantly disappear the moment the playoffs begin.

I would rather excell on offense, improve our spacing and try and drill different defensive schemes to see what's viable and what's not the entire season than fill the entire roster with unstable 3p shooting defenders, shaky spacing and master the 1 trick pony defense that will instantly get exploited in the playoffs from Miami and Boston.

This season we are trying to solve all our problems. Half court offense, clutch time and more stable 3p shooting are already solved. We are struggling in other things right now but so do the rest of the playoff teams. Every playoff team seems vulnerable this season in some ways.

Denver despite having the best player in the NBA look like a playin team without Murray. Their defense also seems again problematic against athletic/quick guards with Jokic on the floor.
Boston hope Porzingis to stay healthy and their team to blowout each opponent in the playoffs to evade choking in the clutch.
Miami hope they shoot lights out and Butler to play like MJ in order to hide their offensive lack of firepower.
Sixers hope they can finally pass the 2nd round and not choke another series with Embiid.
Dallas have no defense and they're struggling in the clutch despite having Doncic and Kyrie.
Phoenix hope their big 3 will stay healthy and outscore all their problems(defense, bench).

Nobody is perfect at the moment. Every team has challenges ahead and ours is the defense and Middleton's health.

[ShootingtheJ]

You don’t miss the shots you don’t take. After 3 scoreless starts, it might be awhile before he gets a 4th.

If Khris isn't back Tuesday, AJJ will start again.

If he does, I hope he’s more aggressive. 4v5 offensive threats leads to hole-digging.

The Bucks have a good offensive rating with AJJ on the floor because he aggressively sets up others for great shots. Screening, cutting, and passing are important elements to good offense.

[MiltownHawkeye]

I think we somehow need to turn the Marjon/AJJ/Green/Pat/Beasley hodgepodge into an actual starter. I said before the season I dont think our actual starting 2 is on the roster yet but was hoping I'd be wrong.

Also Beasley officially has a positive +/- on the season after a disastrous start in that area. He absolutely shouldn't be starting and maybe shouldn't even get playoff minutes past r1 or so but otherwise idk what else you'd want from a minimum. He's hitting shots at an obscene rate and he's playing hard (if ineffectual) on D

[MickeyDavis]

AJJ is 11th in minutes played so it's a small sample size. I like his potential but his impact has been minimal thus far. There are always a variety of stats that tell various stories. I'll cherry pick some. His defensive rating per 100 possessions is 120, behind Dame, Pat and the much maligned Beasley. His offensive rating per 100 possessions is 122. OBPM is -3.5, All rotation players are higher. His DPBM is better, -.4, making his overall BPM at the bottom of the rotation at -3.9. His PER is only 8. His TS% is very good, .706. There are some other positive stats, my point is AJJ is being put on a 103 minute pedestal that might be a bit premature

Individual stats rely a lot on who else is on the court. I like the guy, I think he's going to be a good rotation player at some point. He deserves minutes to continue to develop.

[HKPackFan]

Damn you've never gotten drunk the night of your birthday and showed up to work the next morning? lol

I did an 8 day bender in thailand just for the hell of it on my bday this year.

It makes more sense how crappy they played thinking they could just show up hung over and beat the blazers.

HK I always wanted to ask are you actually from Hong Kong or an expat?

Born in Madison, grew up in Milwaukee suburb Graduated from UW Milwaukee.

Spent 10yrs living in South Florida, before moving to Hong Kong.

Now close to 14yrs in HK. Definitely a long term expat.

I'm a packers season ticket holder which I ironically got only after I moved to FL. But I used to fly up for one or two games a year.

Now my brother uses them, I haven't gone in a few years. My bro also is an (on/off) 20yr bucks season ticket holder. That's how I got to go to all the finals home games. I flew in for that.

I'm in US for several weeks over the holidays now. Unfortunately there are no bucks games the Xmas week I'm in Milwaukee

It's still wild to me when I'm in hk or Asia and I see someone wearing bucks gear. That was impossible 5-6 years ago.

[Daver]

I did an 8 day bender in thailand just for the hell of it on my bday this year.

It makes more sense how crappy they played thinking they could just show up hung over and beat the blazers.

HK I always wanted to ask are you actually from Hong Kong or an expat?

Born in Madison, grew up in Milwaukee suburb Graduated from UW Milwaukee.

Spent 10yrs living in South Florida, before moving to Hong Kong.

Now close to 14yrs in HK. Definitely a long term expat.

I'm a packers season ticket holder which I ironically got only after I moved to FL. But I used to fly up for one or two games a year.

Now my brother uses them, I haven't gone in a few years. My bro also is an (on/off) 20yr bucks season ticket holder. That's how I got to go to all the finals home games. I flew in for that.

I'm in US for several weeks over the holidays now. Unfortunately there are no bucks games the Xmas week I'm in Milwaukee

It's still wild to me when I'm in hk or Asia and I see someone wearing bucks gear. That was impossible 5-6 years ago.

Very cool sounds awesome would love to see HK sometime.
Giannis is huge in colombia when i go with my wife to visit her gsmily in cartagena i see tons of buck giannis jersys

[trwi7]

Bucks thru 17 games last season under Bud 12-5 record, 3 double digit losses.

Bucks thru 17 games this season under Griffin 12-5 record, 3 double digit losses.

And remember, the Bucks have a rookie head coach and haven't even begun to play their basketball yet.

But keep trying to tell yourself that we're going backwards.

One of those double digit losses last year was a game where we had a starting lineup of Carter/Beauchamp/Nwora/Portis/Lopez. We also won a game in that stretch last year with that same lineup just substitute Allen in for Nwora. How much does Griffin lose by if he's given that lineup?

We also didn't need to make 26 point comebacks to beat bad teams either.

[emunney]

A decade ago, this would have been a legendary win.

[HKPackFan]

HK I always wanted to ask are you actually from Hong Kong or an expat?

Born in Madison, grew up in Milwaukee suburb Graduated from UW Milwaukee.

Spent 10yrs living in South Florida, before moving to Hong Kong.

Now close to 14yrs in HK. Definitely a long term expat.

I'm a packers season ticket holder which I ironically got only after I moved to FL. But I used to fly up for one or two games a year.

Now my brother uses them, I haven't gone in a few years. My bro also is an (on/off) 20yr bucks season ticket holder. That's how I got to go to all the finals home games. I flew in for that.

I'm in US for several weeks over the holidays now. Unfortunately there are no bucks games the Xmas week I'm in Milwaukee

It's still wild to me when I'm in hk or Asia and I see someone wearing bucks gear. That was impossible 5-6 years ago.

Very cool sounds awesome would love to see HK sometime.
Giannis is huge in colombia when i go with my wife to visit her gsmily in cartagena i see tons of buck giannis jersys

HK is an amazing city and shockingly has a lot of nature as well, most tourists don't know that. Would always be willing to show a realgm bro around.

The other advantage of hk is a couple hours away from all the beautiful countries. I was in Boracay, Philippines last month and we bumped into some Greek ladies and we instantly bonded over Giannis! Spent the whole day hanging out. I love meeting people from all over the world.

[sidney lanier]

I would rather suck on defense and need the brillance of our 2 best players to win a game than blowout half the league in the regular season with huge scoring contribution and 3p shooting from bench and role players who will instantly disappear the moment the playoffs begin.

I would rather excell on offense, improve our spacing and try and drill different defensive schemes to see what's viable and what's not the entire season than fill the entire roster with unstable 3p shooting defenders, shaky spacing and master the 1 trick pony defense that will instantly get exploited in the playoffs from Miami and Boston.

This season we are trying to solve all our problems. Half court offense, clutch time and more stable 3p shooting are already solved. We are struggling in other things right now but so does the rest of the playoff teams. Every playoff team seems vulnerable this season in some ways.

Denver despite having the best player in the NBA look like a playin team without Murray. Their defense also seems again problematic against athletic/quick guards with Jokic on the floor.
Boston hope Porzingis to stay healthy and their team to blowout each opponent in the playoffs to evade choking in the clutch.
Miami hope they shoot lights out and Butler to play like MJ in order to hide their offensive lack of firepower.
Sixers hope they can finally pass the 2nd round and not choke another series with Embiid.
Dallas have no defense and they're struggling in the clutch despite having Doncic and Kyrie.
Phoenix hope their big 3 will stay healthy and outscore all their problems(defense, bench).

Nobody is perfect at the moment. Every team has challenges ahead and ours is the defense and Middleton's health.

Good post, greekbuck, and excellent summary of the playoff field and the flaws of each team.

I agree on our two main challenges, although I wonder a little about how bad the defense is. It's hard to assess how bad a team is on defense against the backdrop of what has been called the "points explosion" in the NBA. Last season teams averaged 114.1 points per game, a number not seen in 50 years. This year it's about the same (a fraction lower).

With everybody scoring, it's always going to appear that your team sucks on defense. Griffin's proposed fix from his postgame presser was more aggressive closeouts on threes, but these days shooters seem to make contested threes like breaking sticks. Maybe there is no fix.

[Daver]

Born in Madison, grew up in Milwaukee suburb Graduated from UW Milwaukee.

Spent 10yrs living in South Florida, before moving to Hong Kong.

Now close to 14yrs in HK. Definitely a long term expat.

I'm a packers season ticket holder which I ironically got only after I moved to FL. But I used to fly up for one or two games a year.

Now my brother uses them, I haven't gone in a few years. My bro also is an (on/off) 20yr bucks season ticket holder. That's how I got to go to all the finals home games. I flew in for that.

I'm in US for several weeks over the holidays now. Unfortunately there are no bucks games the Xmas week I'm in Milwaukee

It's still wild to me when I'm in hk or Asia and I see someone wearing bucks gear. That was impossible 5-6 years ago.

Very cool sounds awesome would love to see HK sometime.
Giannis is huge in colombia when i go with my wife to visit her gsmily in cartagena i see tons of buck giannis jersys

HK is an amazing city and shockingly has a lot of nature as well, most tourists don't know that. Would always be willing to show a realgm bro around.

The other advantage of hk is a couple hours away from all the beautiful countries. I was in Boracay, Philippines last month and we bumped into some Greek ladies and we instantly bonded over Giannis! Spent the whole day hanging out. I love meeting people from all over the world.

Ill put that on my bucket list .I feel the sane way when i go to south america for the most part people like americans n ill talk to people all day about tbeir football(soccer) and abdolutely love the culture n the people(women wow absolutely drop dead stop traffic gorgeous and like you said the scenery outside the city limits breathtaking from the from the seascape to the andes mts if i could speak any ounce of spanish we eould be living there now

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

Missed the whole Beasley party thing and just assumed all the hangover comments were jokes about us sucking on a morning game. Can someone provide a detailed recap of the events for all of us to judge the actions of the players?

[jimmybones]

Strictly looking at record is equivalent of looking at ppg of a player and not taking into account he leads the league in ppg while shooting 30 times a game at 35%


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

Your record of games won is not evidence of your ability to *checks notes* win games?

[greekbuck34]

Missed the whole Beasley party thing and just assumed all the hangover comments were jokes about us sucking on a morning game. Can someone provide a detailed recap of the events for all of us to judge the actions of the players?

Nothing concrete. A 600 follower twitter account posted not before the tip off to seem legit but right after a 15-20 point lead from the Blazers that he saw a bunch of players, who atm of the game were looking terrible in the first half, party hard at a club for Beasley's birthday and that he knew the Bucks will look terrible in this game.

Read on Twitter

I'm not saying that's complete BS but I doubt its something serious. People can party and then do their work tomorrow. MJ used to drink heavy and play poker till the morning and then drop 40 points a few hours later. All the players(Except MarJon) who did indeed look bad at the time of the tweet played great in the 2nd half.