PG: Grizzlies enjoy venison meal

[Jstock12]

Anyone who thinks we wasted prime Giannis years is dumb. We collapsed (INCLUDING GIANNIS) after being up 2-0 in the finals. Yes bud was a large reason, but everyone is accountable. Then, we were on another historic regular season pace derailed by COVID.

Get outta here with that “wasted prime years” bs. TT is not the answer. And no, I’m not saying Bud is either.

I agree with this. I'd understand if the Bucks were bottom feeders and not even a playoff team, then you could talk about wasting Giannis prime, but now? Sounds like a lazy excuse. Did the Jazz waste Malone's and Stockton's prime years? Where exactly is the boundary?

[-Jragon-]

I don't need DDV or Pat C to be prime Jordan... I need them to make enough wide open 3s to keep the double team off Giannis so he doesn't have to barrel through 2 or 3 guys. DDV is a fine player, Pat is fine, Bledsoe was fine too but since Giannis can't really hit 3s we need our role players to be able to so Giannis doesn't get roadblocked every game.

[BucksTuga]

Wish Giannis could take some notes out of this Adebayo shot. If you're bigger and stronger than your defender just take the mf to the cup and shoot over him. It doesn't matter if it looks like a ugly ass Shaq-esque baby hook, as long as it goes down the net.

And yeah, I know he's constantly double teamed but he should be able to make that shot neverthless. No Dilon Brooks or whoever it may be can dream of blocking his shot, so just go for it whenever you're close to the basket.

[Matches Malone]

When was the last time we fed Giannis at the elbow? I could be wrong, but I feel like we haven't seen that element since he's come back. Would love to give him a better chance to score 1v1 or create assists from that spot, than him trying to charge through 3 defenders or take bad 3 attempts.

[BigO]

Anyone who thinks we wasted prime Giannis years is dumb. We collapsed (INCLUDING GIANNIS) after being up 2-0 in the finals. Yes bud was a large reason, but everyone is accountable. Then, we were on another historic regular season pace derailed by COVID.

Get outta here with that “wasted prime years” bs. TT is not the answer. And no, I’m not saying Bud is either.

The Bucks will not go very far in the playoffs primarily because of their defense and you are unable to give me one reason why the Knicks are a better defensive team than the Bucks after less than a season with a new coach and lesser defensive talent.

You can't give me a reason, because there is only reason and that is the coach. Give me TT's scheme and the Bucks are in the finals. The Bucks have excellent defensive talent that is being wasted because of a coach who is laser focused on a scheme that good teams and coaches have figured out.

But instead of focusing on the problem, let's complain about Forbes, Lopez, Middleton, et al every time they have a bad game. And believe me, I'm not a big Forbes fan, but he's not the problem.

[Perishable517]

Game over, we lost. Onto the next

Sent from my HTC U11 using RealGM mobile app

[randy84]

Anyone who thinks we wasted prime Giannis years is dumb. We collapsed (INCLUDING GIANNIS) after being up 2-0 in the finals. Yes bud was a large reason, but everyone is accountable. Then, we were on another historic regular season pace derailed by COVID.

Get outta here with that “wasted prime years” bs. TT is not the answer. And no, I’m not saying Bud is either.

The Bucks will not go very far in the playoffs primarily because of their defense and you are unable to give me one reason why the Knicks are a better defensive team than the Bucks after less than a season with a new coach and lesser defensive talent.

You can't give me a reason, because there is only reason and that is the coach. Give me TT's scheme and the Bucks are in the finals. The Bucks have excellent defensive talent that is being wasted because of a coach who is laser focused on a scheme that good teams and coaches have figured out.

But instead of focusing on the problem, let's complain about Forbes, Lopez, Middleton, et al every time they have a bad game. And believe me, I'm not a big Forbes fan, but he's not the problem.

Weren't the Bucks the best defensive team in the league in Bud's first year?

[fan230]

Anyone who thinks we wasted prime Giannis years is dumb. We collapsed (INCLUDING GIANNIS) after being up 2-0 in the finals. Yes bud was a large reason, but everyone is accountable. Then, we were on another historic regular season pace derailed by COVID.

Get outta here with that “wasted prime years” bs. TT is not the answer. And no, I’m not saying Bud is either.

The Bucks will not go very far in the playoffs primarily because of their defense and you are unable to give me one reason why the Knicks are a better defensive team than the Bucks after less than a season with a new coach and lesser defensive talent.

You can't give me a reason, because there is only reason and that is the coach. Give me TT's scheme and the Bucks are in the finals. The Bucks have excellent defensive talent that is being wasted because of a coach who is laser focused on a scheme that good teams and coaches have figured out.

But instead of focusing on the problem, let's complain about Forbes, Lopez, Middleton, et al every time they have a bad game. And believe me, I'm not a big Forbes fan, but he's not the problem.

I do value your thoughts. So I was wondering if you have any perspectives on this: I seem to remember that Kidd’s switching scheme was a successful defensive plan for the Bucks but in later years, was figured out by other teams, and try as he might, he was unable to find an answer. He was probably fired mainly for that reason. Bud’s situation with a completely different type of defensive plan, seems analogous. Any perspectives on this?

[KidA24]

Anyone who thinks we wasted prime Giannis years is dumb. We collapsed (INCLUDING GIANNIS) after being up 2-0 in the finals. Yes bud was a large reason, but everyone is accountable. Then, we were on another historic regular season pace derailed by COVID.

Get outta here with that “wasted prime years” bs. TT is not the answer. And no, I’m not saying Bud is either.

The Bucks will not go very far in the playoffs primarily because of their defense and you are unable to give me one reason why the Knicks are a better defensive team than the Bucks after less than a season with a new coach and lesser defensive talent.

Turns out, experimenting and learning new defenses is hard. Especially with no practice time. This team has been exploring and experimenting the entire season and hasn't had their top 8 healthy for more than 20 or so games.

So, once again, I'll ask you with all your "super smartness" and "Only the playoffs matter-isms", and "BUD NEVER PLAYS ANYTHING BUT DROP DEFENSE" screaming, why are you harping on Bud for taking a game against a crappy team and using it as a practice and learning experience and a way to experiment with different lineups and defenses?

[Ron Swanson]

The only person who's wasted Giannis' prime so far (if you wanna call age 23-25 a guy's prime) is Giannis. You can hate it, but you know it's true.

[emunney]

We'll see what happens in the playoffs, but given what we've seen in the regular season, we've got two competing theories here:

1) Bucks are good, but not great, not even very good.
2) Bucks are still great but don't give half a **** about the regular season.

I think there's plenty of evidence that could go either way. Their demeanor reminds me a lot of last year's Clippers' team. Hopefully we finish stronger than they did.

[BigO]

Anyone who thinks we wasted prime Giannis years is dumb. We collapsed (INCLUDING GIANNIS) after being up 2-0 in the finals. Yes bud was a large reason, but everyone is accountable. Then, we were on another historic regular season pace derailed by COVID.

Get outta here with that “wasted prime years” bs. TT is not the answer. And no, I’m not saying Bud is either.

The Bucks will not go very far in the playoffs primarily because of their defense and you are unable to give me one reason why the Knicks are a better defensive team than the Bucks after less than a season with a new coach and lesser defensive talent.

You can't give me a reason, because there is only reason and that is the coach. Give me TT's scheme and the Bucks are in the finals. The Bucks have excellent defensive talent that is being wasted because of a coach who is laser focused on a scheme that good teams and coaches have figured out.

But instead of focusing on the problem, let's complain about Forbes, Lopez, Middleton, et al every time they have a bad game. And believe me, I'm not a big Forbes fan, but he's not the problem.

I do value your thoughts. So I was wondering if you have any perspectives on this: I seem to remember that Kidd’s switching scheme was a successful defensive plan for the Bucks but in later years, was figured out by other teams, and try as he might, he was unable to find an answer. He was probably fired mainly for that reason. Bud’s situation with a completely different type of defensive plan, seems analogous. Any perspectives on this?

A couple points:

1) I know you weren't comparing Kidd to Bud, but just to be clear, Kidd was a horrible coach and Bud is a good coach. But one of the reasons Bud is not in my top 6 or 7 coaches in the league is that he is not as capable of adapting to what the other team is doing. So while he is belatedly trying some things, he is not adept at these other defenses. Kidd had the same problem, but had so many other problems, that this got lost.

2) I have arguments with friends about the level of coaching in college vs. pros and my position is that pro coaching is at a much higher level. And one of the things really good NBA coaches do well is pick apart what works. The Bucks were a top rated defense for a long time under Bud, but good teams now know how to play against it. It doesn't mean you can't have one base defense, like the Knicks and Lakers, but the drop defense to me, is more of a secondary defense against certain teams.

[chonestown]

You can't give me a reason, because there is only reason and that is the coach. Give me TT's scheme and the Bucks are in the finals.

If Thibs was coaching, Giannis would have Dr. James Andrews on speed dial and ponder which shows he should binge while on rehab. Personally, I'd suggest Sledge Hammer! but YMMV.

I know it's a long time ago, but once upon a time Thibs had a squad featuring a healthy KAT, another #1 overall choice and James Field Goals.

They were not, how you say, good.

[Siefer]

We'll see what happens in the playoffs, but given what we've seen in the regular season, we've got two competing theories here:

1) Bucks are good, but not great, not even very good.
2) Bucks are still great but don't give half a **** about the regular season.

I think there's plenty of evidence that could go either way. Their demeanor reminds me a lot of last year's Clippers' team. Hopefully we finish stronger than they did.

I lean towards #2, though I wonder about things like the 20 minutes of 2-3 zone we saw from the starters on Saturday. Like, do we really need to be messing around with that at this point? It's looked awful both times we've tried it now, and I'd rather we spend more time getting comfy in man and switching looks.

I agree about their demeanor. They often look existentially inconvenienced, and "aw shucks, we're just happy to be here" isn't the only healthy mode, but yeah, the Clippers folded under the first real duress they encountered last year.

[BigO]

Anyone who thinks we wasted prime Giannis years is dumb. We collapsed (INCLUDING GIANNIS) after being up 2-0 in the finals. Yes bud was a large reason, but everyone is accountable. Then, we were on another historic regular season pace derailed by COVID.

Get outta here with that “wasted prime years” bs. TT is not the answer. And no, I’m not saying Bud is either.

The Bucks will not go very far in the playoffs primarily because of their defense and you are unable to give me one reason why the Knicks are a better defensive team than the Bucks after less than a season with a new coach and lesser defensive talent.

Turns out, experimenting and learning new defenses is hard. Especially with no practice time. This team has been exploring and experimenting the entire season and hasn't had their top 8 healthy for more than 20 or so games.

So, once again, I'll ask you with all your "super smartness" and "Only the playoffs matter-isms", and "BUD NEVER PLAYS ANYTHING BUT DROP DEFENSE" screaming, why are you harping on Bud for taking a game against a crappy team and using it as a practice and learning experience and a way to experiment with different lineups and defenses?

1) Bud runs his drop defense and usually switches out of it when he is already significantly behind in a game. Against Memphis, he did change up in the second half, but ONLY after the drop was decimated in the first half. And they played Memphis even in the second half, so it worked better than the drop defense. So he didn't start the game experimenting (which would have been fine with me). He only "experimented" when he was way behind, which is his usual way of "experimenting".

2) I've said before that I'm not a fan of the drop as a base defense, but I'm also not a fan of the zone or switching as a base defense.
I like Bud's thoughts on trying to stay with a straight man defense, but there are multiple ways to run it. In a league that uses the high ball screen almost on every play, Bud plays it passively and drops the off ball defender into the paint giving up wide open shots on every play. Instead, I'd love to see him attack the screen and allow the ball defender time to recover and continue to guard his man.
I also would like him to be less willing to have his 3 point defenders drop down to help out. They give up way too many open threes.

[emunney]

We'll see what happens in the playoffs, but given what we've seen in the regular season, we've got two competing theories here:

1) Bucks are good, but not great, not even very good.
2) Bucks are still great but don't give half a **** about the regular season.

I think there's plenty of evidence that could go either way. Their demeanor reminds me a lot of last year's Clippers' team. Hopefully we finish stronger than they did.

I lean towards #2, though I wonder about things like the 20 minutes of 2-3 zone we saw from the starters on Saturday. Like, do we really need to be messing around with that at this point? It's looked awful both times we've tried it now, and I'd rather we spend more time getting comfy in man and switching looks.

I agree about their demeanor. They often look existentially inconvenienced, and "aw shucks, we're just happy to be here" isn't the only healthy mode, but yeah, the Clippers folded under the first real duress they encountered last year.

My simplistic take on the zone is that teams come into the games with Bucks expecting to get certain looks and while the Bucks look different in a zone, the shots they give up aren't very different, so it's not disruptive to switch to a zone, it just leads to more communications problems with a Bucks' team that's not experienced in executing it.

[M-C-G]

Weren't the Bucks the best defensive team in the league in Bud's first year?

I think that is the beef. We were, then teams figured it out and we haven't adequately adjusted to their adjustment. Same thing on offense, 'let it fly' was great, until playoffs figured out if they just wall Giannis, the other dudes can't shoot well enough to win it, unless Middleton could have at least a good game.

That's why I think there is one part that we don't care as much about the regular season (which we haven't been good enough, long enough to not care about HCA), one part we are experimenting with new wrinkles, one part we have almost an entirely new roster that hasn't had enough time to gel yet.

But this team needs to get it together and we are somewhat running out of time for everyone to fill their post season roles on this team. To Bud's credit, I think he does some weird line ups just to experiment and gives them enough run time to prove they don't work. I also think he stretches players in different roles during the regular season to help them grow. And lastly, I think part of the way he rest Giannis is to force the team to learn how to not suck when he is off the court.

But this team is locked in to this roster for the most part for the next few years. So if we don't get it done this time, the easiest thing to do is try another coach before you break it apart.

[soxperry]

Recap of tonight's game.

Watch on YouTube

Thats.....not something i want to watch. You okay?

[soxperry]

We'll see what happens in the playoffs, but given what we've seen in the regular season, we've got two competing theories here:

1) Bucks are good, but not great, not even very good.
2) Bucks are still great but don't give half a **** about the regular season.

I think there's plenty of evidence that could go either way. Their demeanor reminds me a lot of last year's Clippers' team. Hopefully we finish stronger than they did.

Not even the team knows what they will be come playoffs so it doesn't really make much sense to try and quantify it right now.

However i think we have two things going for us that we didnt in the past two runs:

1. We have Jrue, which means we have a floor general who wont shy away from big moments and can distribute the ball calmly and methodically without dribbling off his leg (khris) or barrelling into three guys (giannis).

2. Giannis has shown a significant improvement in his free throw shooting. If that holds up its really big for us in the playoffs.

If you apply these two things to the Toronto series we are probably world champs. This run will be more challenging. Philly is better, Brooklyn is now a thing, and Miami is still lurking as a bad matchup for us if their shots are falling.

If Giannis is 100% and PJ is in shape and healthy i think we got s decent shot. Our championship potential will always come down to the evolution of Giannis. If he plays like the best player on the court then we are for real. If he doesn't, we arent.

[StickeeFingaz]

I get caught up in it every year but I always have to remind myself that the last 15-20 games of the regular season are weird and mostly meaningless.

A veteran team like the Bucks will work on a few things but we’re really just waiting for the playoffs.