PG: Nets Edge Out Bucks in Game 2

[Pachinko_]

There is a scenario out there that Bud has overachieved with this roster the past three years. Not sure I subscribe to it, but plausible.

Outside of being pretty stubborn and having a ceiling of what he is as a playoff/situational coach, I think Bud probably got the best out of what he had.

It's a yes and no for me, it's not an easy answer.

Bud got the absolute best out of squeezing the numbers and the analytics. The decision tree of our offense is strictly constructed by value: first try for layup/dunk/free throws (highest value), if that fails try to find a three (second highest value), and if that fails too give it to Mids to do his best. It literally doesn't get better than this, and it's Bud who did it, we owe him that. The difference from someone like Kidd and many other NBA coaches is night and day.

However, Bud did nothing to prepare and condition his stars for the pressure of the playoffs.
When his big boys get stuck and can't score for whatever reason, or get tired, or get in foul trouble during random games in the regular season, Bud bails them out by:
A) resting them immediately
B) using the team system to convert bench and role players to scorers by simply putting them in the right spots and giving them value options (very effectively, it has to be said)
C) never letting his stars play with foul trouble
D) Going deep in his bench to keep the pace of the game artificially high but without having to do it with his starters
E) Never having long training sessions (Buds training times are always organised towards finishing as early as possible to keep high minute players fresh)
F) Other little details like he doesn't even let anyone go for offensive rebounds in case they get tired for **** sake.

The problem with doing that is that all those options typically disappear in high pressure games in the play offs. They just do, everybody is looking to your best 2-3 players to do everything.

You have to let your starters grind it out every now and then, but our starters are so pampered throughout the year that they just don't know how to deal with it. Lebron knows, Kawhi knows, you don't have to condition those type of guys because they know how to prepare themselves, but as it turns out you absolutely have to do it for the Giannis and Khris of this world. They just don't know, I'm guessing they must have this expectation in the back of their minds that the coach will bail them out again like he did all year.

And it's now hard to explain to Giannis specifically who is a notorious creature of habit, how the hell is it that what he always used to do (that got him 2 MVPs by the way) was actually wrong, and he probably has to change his whole annual routine all of a sudden.

That's my interpretation, I might be wrong but that's how I read it.

[Coach Carter]

Some of you guys are acting like 0-2 on the road that the series is over, we got at least 1 more game before we can say that for sure. Playing on the home court matters I think, NBA championship caliber teams overcome these odds. If belting a team at home to a 2-0 series lead meant it was over then I think we'd already have our ring.

It's not that we're 0-2, it's the way we lost those 1st two.

From the 1st min of game 1, khris n jrue seemed mentally checked out. We've been getting blown out and there's no fight.

Nets defense was suppose to be trash. I'm not seeing trash.

Blake is sagging off giannis and daring him to shoot long jumpers and giannis is taking the bait. That's not his game. When we post him up, he does the well known spin, they send a help defender and he is forced to give it up, if it doesn't result in a turnover.

The only good play i remember is when we ran a side pick in role with giannis n jrue.

Also why is khris trying to shoot over KD? Why does he go 0-7 and then hits his next 6 when we are down 30? I'll tell you, it's because he struggles to deal with pressure but he is not the only one on this team.

Nets have 2 guys that can get a bucket whenever they want. Giannis unless, he is getting to the rim, cannot. Khris who is our best shooter, is streaky at best. Jrue is not a relentless scorer. Forbes at stages has looked our best offensive option, now that's concerning.

When we double KD, he just dishes it out to the perimeter and we get killed by the open shooter.

The nets have been bringing it as expected. It was up to us to bring it as well, to stay with them but our offense is broken. They have the blue print on giannis. Giannis remember hit a lot of jumpers when we beat them but that was an outlier.

This is will soon be over.

[th87]

I watched for four years players who would not execute on a gameplan once you actually start playing the game. They forget certain things. They freeze up. Players are human, and you have to operate on a split second.

To me this all goes back to what we had in 2019 on the roster versus now.

Brogdon - calm as all get out. And hit big, big shots when we needed them

Hill - Had a way of getting guys on the second unit to play to their strengths

Ersan - Was like Merlin out there in regards to his ability to read the floor. Always in the right place.

Bledsoe - Yes he got the yips offensively, but on defense he could blow things up at the point of attack. Jrue is great, but Jrue isn't that type of defender. He's more a one on one guy versus top wings.

We've gone backwards on the roster. That falls on some sort of conglomerate of Horst, Bud and the Lasry's.

This is what Jrue was supposed to add, and I'm wondering if being new, he's not taking the leadership reins.

[TD75]

Something else regarding Giannis:

7/10 times I watch him with the ball in his hands I can predict exactly what he is going to try and do. The drive and spin move, the fadeaway shot, the step back jumper or everyone's favorite, the early 3 point shot.

How difficult do you think he is to read for NBA players that are guarding him?

Occasionally I am amazed that he still manages to score the way he does. However, his skillset needs a lot of work, even when it comes to avoiding telegraphing his plan.

[GoldenAntlers]

Something else regarding Giannis:

7/10 times I watch him with the ball in his hands I can predict exactly what he is going to try and do. The drive and spin move, the fadeaway shot, the step back jumper or everyone's favorite, the early 3 point shot.

How difficult do you think he is to read for NBA players that are guarding him?

Occasionally I am amazed that he still manages to score the way he does. However, his skillset needs a lot of work, even when it comes to avoiding telegraphing his plan.

Maybe because I've never watched another player so closely, but for me, he is easily the most predicable player.

[Antinomy]

Something else regarding Giannis:

7/10 times I watch him with the ball in his hands I can predict exactly what he is going to try and do. The drive and spin move, the fadeaway shot, the step back jumper or everyone's favorite, the early 3 point shot.

How difficult do you think he is to read for NBA players that are guarding him?

Occasionally I am amazed that he still manages to score the way he does. However, his skillset needs a lot of work, even when it comes to avoiding telegraphing his plan.

I talked about this several months ago, early in the season. I knew this top of the key BS was never gonna work after the Miami series.

We should’ve never lost to a team like that but his play vs Miami was some of the worst I had ever seen from a star player. He managed to escape criticism because he got injured.

He’s an extremely habitual player & you can often tell what move he’s going to make especially when he attacks from the top of the key. Even when he posts up, you know he’s going for the fadeaway over his right shoulder.

In the event he pulls out a move you’ve never seen before, there’s a great chance he misses.

[Pachinko_]

Something else regarding Giannis:

7/10 times I watch him with the ball in his hands I can predict exactly what he is going to try and do. The drive and spin move, the fadeaway shot, the step back jumper or everyone's favorite, the early 3 point shot.

How difficult do you think he is to read for NBA players that are guarding him?

Occasionally I am amazed that he still manages to score the way he does. However, his skillset needs a lot of work, even when it comes to avoiding telegraphing his plan.

Maybe because I've never watched another player so closely, but for me, he is easily the most predicable player.

Yep.
I've been saying since forever and a day, I think since his rookie year, that the guy is a defender. That's his calling card, that's what he is, and that's what the team should be focusing on taking advantage of.

Anything else that Giannis does should be left to chance and treated as a bonus, sometimes the D will give him stuff he can do and he'll finish with 30+ points, but if the D takes those things away then Giannis should be allowed to finish some games with 10 points, and that should be ok. Forcing him to be something that he's not has been a friggin disaster.

[rilamann]

Good breakdown of game 2. Love that he highlighted the play when Blake got switched on Forbes, and Forbes attacked washed up Blake and scored while Giannis watched at the 3pt line. That play and the play when Giannis basically curled up into a ball when Blake when up for that dunk pretty much sum up the game.

Watch on YouTube

[Antinomy]

Let's play "I spy."

I spy someone with a huge contract making 25% of his 3's on decent volume and 60% of his ft's in the playoffs.

It may not the first person you think.

Obviously you don't mean him but does Butler fit? Thought he was pretty bad with his throws iirc but may be not 60%.

It’s Jrue.

[th87]

Eerie is right. The number of bad parallels you can draw between the Packers over the past 10 years and the Bucks over the past few years is actually creepy.

Both teams having guys who have won multiple league MVPs but can't get it done in the playoffs is another parallel.

Both teams having coaches (McCarthy) who don't make adjustments and don't exploite match-ups and stick with what is workng is another parallel.

Rodgers not attempting a throw to a prime Jordy Nelson who was being covered by a one armed Richard Sherman in the 4th quarter of the 2014 NFC Championship game. When all we needed was a couple first downs to advance to the Super Bowl. Giannis not attacking a washed up Blake Griffin in one of the biggest games of his career. I'll stop there, but there's so many. This is extra cruel for those of us who are also Packer fans...lol.

The Packers are in a league of their own when it comes to chokes.

But we also have Wisconsin down the stretch in the title game, the Brewers blowing the NLCS at home, Wade and Diener going ice cold against Kansas, Big Dog missing that bunny.

Thank goodness for Desean Jackson or we wouldn't have had anything.

Luckily I am not a Brewers fans, but yeah, they blew it against the Dodgers. Crazy to think how much more success our teams could have had in the past 20 years if they just did what they were supposed to do in 1 game. Or simply just did what they normally did when it mattered most.

Even if you just look at the past 3 years.

2018: Brewers play in the World Series if they simply win game 7 at home.

2019: Bucks play in the NBA Finals if they simply don't blow a 2-0 series lead and proceed to lose 4 straight to the Raptors.

2020: Packers play in the Super Bowl if they simply just win at Lambeau vs old ass Tom Brady.

So close to a Wisconsin pro sports team hat trick.

Seriously. You'd think the coin would flip in our favor more than once. Maybe a sign to stop watching sports?

[Sigra]

Khris is our only elite shooter & he’s being forced into a shootout with Durant & Irving because nobody else wants to attack the paint against 6’3 Bruce Brown.

let him play like an elite shooter then. He has 6/23 and 7/20 so far and he keeps missing Joe Harris on defense. All team has under performed but is one of the worst if not the worst.

In this game 2 the Nets played defense this way:
Joe Harris defended Jrue
Brown defended Middleton
Blake defended Giannis
Durant defended Lopez
Irving defended Tucker

Its shame that Middleton cant score over smaller Brown. Actually, he always played best against smaller defenders. Must be mental.

Jrue should be faster then Harris but Nash made good decision here because Jrue actually attack mostly with his strength and not his speed.

Giannis should eat old Blake but.....

[rilamann]

Yeah, Giannis could score 40+ and have Blake and Claxton in foul trouble if he wanted. But....

Sucks Blake Griifin washed up until last Saturday. What a coincidence.

[kanyon]

Lol @ "Edge Out"

[yannisk]

In this game 2 the Nets played defense this way:
Joe Harris defended Jrue
Brown defended Middleton
Blake defended Giannis
Durant defended Lopez
Irving defended Tucker

Its shame that Middleton cant score over smaller Brown. Actually, he always played best against smaller defenders. Must be mental.

Yes this is one of Middleton's best characteristics, he always kills smaller defenders, but not in this series so far. Nets even get away with possessions that Irving is on Khris. It could be mental (all team seems super anxious) or it is just bad luck that he has bad games. But it is not the case like in 2019 when Siakam was on him

[BucksRule18]

My gut tells me the Bucks jump to a 10-point lead midway through the first quarter with the crowd behind them. Then Durant & Kyrie (with a couple Griffin dunks mixed in) will effortlessly go on a 24-10 run to end the quarter, and we'll fold like a deck of cards. This team's current mindset is very fragile (similar to the Toronto series in 2019 and Miami 2020). They cannot handle adversity. Our best hope is for the Nets to have a completely off night shooting and we're up 20 heading into the 4th quarter.

[ABucksFan]

If we don't jump out to a lead or see shots falling early tomorrow night......boyyy it's going to be ugly. This team has showed 0 mentality/capability to bounce back.

[GHOSTofSIKMA]

Woke up this morning annoyed. This will sound harsh because some of it was in the early days but Midds/Giannis have now been involved in playoff games/series where we once lost by 60 to the Bulls at home, were one of the rare teams who couldn't close out a perennial choker Toronto Raptors despite leading the series and taking home court advantage, got blown out to a young Celtics team in a game 7, lost 4 straight to Toronto while leading by double digits in multiple games, blew games late in multiple games on route to getting gentlemen swept by Miami and now falling apart again against Brooklyn. We can rightfully blame coaches and in part inexperience but maybe they are who they are at this point.

There is a scenario out there that Bud has overachieved with this roster the past three years. Not sure I subscribe to it, but plausible.

if in place of giannis we had lebron, curry, kawhi, joker, donkic.... even if we had a paul, trae, lillard..... then this roster is better and we'd probably already have a title. this roster is good enough if we had that guy. i believe it in my heart.

but turly.....we have overacheived each and every year in the regular season just like the atlanta teams did. unfortunately just like buds atlanta teams we lack a true championship level #1. you cannot cross up russell westbrook and andre drummond into the ultimate stat getter and win championships with that as your #1. this is now my reality and i will not be satified with this team until giannis is dealt for a shot at a player who can shoot, pass, play with gears, play with confidence....basically make his teammates better with something more than "gravity" because of his ability to put his head down....drive....and try to dunk. i should add try to dunk and hopefully not get fouled and to go to the line to give us that buzzkill instead.

we have a brutal painful road ahead. it is going to suck to be a bucks fan for awhile now.

[BucksRule18]

Woke up this morning annoyed. This will sound harsh because some of it was in the early days but Midds/Giannis have now been involved in playoff games/series where we once lost by 60 to the Bulls at home, were one of the rare teams who couldn't close out a perennial choker Toronto Raptors despite leading the series and taking home court advantage, got blown out to a young Celtics team in a game 7, lost 4 straight to Toronto while leading by double digits in multiple games, blew games late in multiple games on route to getting gentlemen swept by Miami and now falling apart again against Brooklyn. We can rightfully blame coaches and in part inexperience but maybe they are who they are at this point.

There is a scenario out there that Bud has overachieved with this roster the past three years. Not sure I subscribe to it, but plausible.

if in place of giannis we had lebron, curry, kawhi, joker, donkic.... if we had paul, trae, lillard etc etc..... then this roster is better and we'd have titles plural. i believe it in my heart.

we overacheived each and every year in the regular season just like the atlanta teams did. but just like buds atlanta team we lack a true championship level #1. that is a fact in my mind now

We just have to come to a realization that this team has hit its peak. We basically lucked out drafting Giannis at 15. We got Middleton via the Brandon Jennings trade, and sold the farm to get Jrue. No super star wants to come play for Milwaukee. We either had to pay Middleton or trade him for a lesser player who would likely leave Milwaukee the first chance they got. Wish the Bucks had tanked in a year where the top 2 picks weren't Wiggins and Jabari.

[drew881]

Something else regarding Giannis:

7/10 times I watch him with the ball in his hands I can predict exactly what he is going to try and do. The drive and spin move, the fadeaway shot, the step back jumper or everyone's favorite, the early 3 point shot.

How difficult do you think he is to read for NBA players that are guarding him?

Occasionally I am amazed that he still manages to score the way he does. However, his skillset needs a lot of work, even when it comes to avoiding telegraphing his plan.

Maybe because I've never watched another player so closely, but for me, he is easily the most predicable player.

Yep.
I've been saying since forever and a day, I think since his rookie year, that the guy is a defender. That's his calling card, that's what he is, and that's what the team should be focusing on taking advantage of.

Anything else that Giannis does should be left to chance and treated as a bonus, sometimes the D will give him stuff he can do and he'll finish with 30+ points, but if the D takes those things away then Giannis should be allowed to finish some games with 10 points, and that should be ok. Forcing him to be something that he's not has been a friggin disaster.

This works if you have Joel Embiid and you are asking Giannis to be Ben Simmons.

[Fotis St]

I read someone in another thread asking how a team that averages 120p per game in regular season scores 86p on a playoff game ?

Let me clear your view a bit ...

1st of all ... Bud decided to replace Donte a SG with a PF/C like PJ Tucker. This is huge for both our starters and the 2nd squad. Our starting line has become probably the slowest in the NBA, which means less effective on off ball movement, cuts , almost zero transition points that affects everything. We are too slow and easy to guard , this is why most of our shots are contested too.

I honestly thought those 14 coaches we have should have figured it out by watching and thinking what happened at game 1? Why can't we score ? The answer is ... WE CAN'T RUN , WE ARE TOO SLOW ... Bud has done this before with Mirotic starting at SG ... Anyway the adjustment is to START Forbes and with Jrue we need them to average 40+ minutes

This analysis is based on my basketball soul, not freaking stats, maybe this is why they haven't figure it out already