PG 4: Bucks Dominate Bulls

[aboveAverage]

Also, too much looking ahead to the Celtics. This series is not over yet.

[JimmyTheKid]

I'm not saying our defense is bad by any means, I'm just saying it doesn't make me all "rah rah" because we've held the garbage ass Bulls to what we have.

I'm personally all "rah rah" because we're the sitting champs and about to dispose of the hated Bulls and their entitled fan base in hilarious fashion. Does that mean our title defense is going to be a cakewalk? Or that we should somehow be overconfident heading into the next series? Of course not. But if we can't fully enjoy anything less than a title whats the point of even caring about sports?

I hear you. I'm absolutely excited with the win. I was more just trying to give some perspective to that stat that made it look like our defense was other worldly.

This gives me more confidence in future rounds while knowing it's going to be a battle that gets harder and harder. I'm definitely not the negative type that a lot of posters are. In fact, after game 2, I even commented I wasn't even slightly worried about this series like some were.

I got you. I thought the games would be closer after losing Khris thats for sure. But wasn't worried about the series. The fact that we boat raced the Bulls on their floor in back-to-back games after losing a guy giving us 20/5/5 is *chef's kiss*.

[Ron Swanson]

Every year it's always "It's working now but it won't work vs. Team XYZ". Meanwhile, we just keep trudging along putting on a defensive clinic. Refs might as well just swallow their whistles next round vs. Boston, cuz it's gonna be a street fight. Which is also why I'm not sold that they have "no shot" without Middleton. When you have prime Giannis and are putting forth this kind of defensive effort and execution? This team can beat anyone, anywhere.

[neiLz]

If our role players hit their shots and Giannis continues to feed them, I don't think there is a team that can beat the bucks even without middleton. Giannis is executing perfectly after game 2. He hasn't held down turbo and forced his drives, he's hitting guys all over the floor. his vision is amazing. If he plays like this, it will be tough but i think the bucks can beat the celtics without midds. Giannis has yet to unlock his scoring too. If grayson and co. keep hitting shots, teams cannot pack the paint, and Giannis will feast. cannot wait til the celtics. bucks just need to end this series by the 3rd before the bulls start playing reckless.

[CharityStripe34]

Bucks are a different animal for Boston than the Nets are. They are going to feast on the glass. And they have a superstar that's used to facing multiple defenders and physical play for 6 straight seasons.

Horford is having a mini-renaissance but Gianni solved him 3 years ago.

[aboveAverage]

I don’t know, I think we need Khris back badly for the Boston series. I don’t know how much longer we can ride the Wes Matthews train until the wheels finally fall off. He’s been incredible this year, but his age may catch up with him at some point.

[CharityStripe34]

I don’t know, I think we need Khris back badly for the Boston series. I don’t know how much longer we can ride the Wes Matthews train until the wheels finally fall off. He’s been incredible this year, but his age may catch up with him at some point.

Everyone agrees that Khris is needed for a title run. I do think Boston can be had and that the Bucks can extend the series to the point where Khris could potentially come back.

[aboveAverage]

The good thing about Khris possibly coming back against Boston in game 3-4 is that the Khris Middleton cycle is permanently set to prime MJ mode vs Boston, so there won’t be any adjustment time.

[FrieAaron]

They may be the worst team in the playoffs (but before they started how many people would have said NO was better than them?), but like Emunney said they weren't a 94 ORTG team. I would also say they came out and played way harder than anyone was expecting. The question about how much it's the Bucks defense and how much it's just the Bulls will remain until after the second round, but if you look at how teams are scoring compared to their regular season post-all-star:

Chicago: 110.7 - 94.2 = 16.5

Atlanta: 119.0 - 104.0 = 15.0

Minnesota: 119.4 - 107.3 = 12.1

Milwaukee: 119.1 - 107.7 = 11.4

Memphis: 117.4 - 113.2 = 4.2

Boston: 122.6 - 118.6 = 4.0

Brooklyn: 117.9 - 114.5 = 3.4

Denver: 118.1 - 116.2 = 1.9

Toronto: 113.5 - 111.7 = 1.8

Utah: 117.2 - 115.7 = 1.5

Dallas: 117.1 = 117.6 = -0.5

Phoenix: 116.1 - 117.0 = -0.9

New Orleans: 117.3 - 119.2 = -1.9

Miami: 115.6 - 118.4 = -2.8

Philadelphia: 117.8 - 120.7 = -2.9

Golden State: 113.7 - 125.4 = -11.7

Now obviously, there is more to it than just opponent defense, but Chicago has had the biggest drop in ORTG of any team in the playoffs.

[BigO]

I was told PJ was responsible for last year's defense, not coach Bud? Was that possibly erroneous?

You waited a year to try and find some proof that PJ wasn't that important and this is the best you can come up with? The Bulls are by far the worst playoff team in the east and I think in the entire league. Need to come up with something better.

Sorry, that's not how data works. You can't throw away an entire series because you don't think the opponent is good enough.

That's what you take away from these posts?

A guy tries to state that this series shows that PJ wasn't a big factor in the Bucks playoff success and all facts show otherwise.

One series against a bad playoff opponent this season provides NO data to prove anything about PJ last season. But data from last season is relevant. Not a hard concept to understand.

[crkone]

Bulls are shooting wide open 3s at the 8th worst clip in the playoffs combining all the teams from the past 9 seasons. They are missing wide open shots at a historical pace. Their 14.8 missed wide open 3s a game is only bested by the '18-'19 Jazz playoff team that missed a laughable 16.8 wide open 3s a game in their 5 games.

On the other side of the coin, Bucks are shooting 50% on wide open 3s.

[FrieAaron]

Bulls are shooting wide open 3s at the 8th worst clip in the playoffs combining all the teams from the past 9 seasons. They are missing wide open shots at a historical pace. Their 14.8 missed wide open 3s a game is only bested by the '18-'19 Jazz playoff team that missed a laughable 16.8 wide open 3s a game in their 5 games.

On the other side of the coin, Bucks are shooting 50% on wide open 3s.

Where are you getting those stats from? According to NBA.com's advanced stats the Bulls are shooting second worst on wide open threes these playoffs and are barely worse than Utah. And who's taking them? Vuc, Dosunmu, Derrick Jones Jr. and Caruso are all shooting under 35% on wide open threes for the entire season.

Edit: Correction, Dosunmu was at 37.3%

[crkone]

Bulls are shooting wide open 3s at the 8th worst clip in the playoffs combining all the teams from the past 9 seasons. They are missing wide open shots at a historical pace. Their 14.8 missed wide open 3s a game is only bested by the '18-'19 Jazz playoff team that missed a laughable 16.8 wide open 3s a game in their 5 games.

On the other side of the coin, Bucks are shooting 50% on wide open 3s.

Where are you getting those stats from? According to NBA.com's advanced stats the Bulls are shooting second worst on wide open threes these playoffs and are barely worse than Utah. And who's taking them? Vuc, Dosunmu, Derrick Jones Jr. and Caruso are all shooting under 35% on wide open threes for the entire season.

As you noticed Utah is also having a bad time. I pulled up all the playoff teams from the past 9 years and parsed. They are taking and missing a lot of wide open shots each game.

Vucevic and Caruso aren't the ones dragging it down. They are both shooting better in the playoffs! (And bringing up the Bulls average). Patrick Williams and Coby White are 40% shooters on wide open 3s in the reg season and are shooting 23% and 12.5% on 21 total 3s taken between them. Dosunmu isn't helping with his 25% but he has at least made 2 of his 8 taken.

[emunney]

Bulls are shooting wide open 3s at the 8th worst clip in the playoffs combining all the teams from the past 9 seasons. They are missing wide open shots at a historical pace. Their 14.8 missed wide open 3s a game is only bested by the '18-'19 Jazz playoff team that missed a laughable 16.8 wide open 3s a game in their 5 games.

On the other side of the coin, Bucks are shooting 50% on wide open 3s.

Based on who's taking the shots and how they shot in the regular season on wide open shots, the Bulls have lost an average of 3.9ppg from not making their shots at prior rates. More than half of these lost points are from Williams shooting 3/13 in the series vs 11/25 in the regular season. Vucevic has taken by far the most wide open shots (and misses) but has actually shot slightly better than he had in the regular season.

Code: Select all

player     points lost
lavine     -0.648
derozan    1.153846154
caruso     -1.428571429
williams   8.16
vucevic    -1.590909091
jones      0.113207547
white      6.895734597
ayo        2.944099379
total      15.59940716

[ShootingtheJ]

You waited a year to try and find some proof that PJ wasn't that important and this is the best you can come up with? The Bulls are by far the worst playoff team in the east and I think in the entire league. Need to come up with something better.

Sorry, that's not how data works. You can't throw away an entire series because you don't think the opponent is good enough.

That's what you take away from these posts?

A guy tries to state that this series shows that PJ wasn't a big factor in the Bucks playoff success and all facts show otherwise.

One series against a bad playoff opponent this season provides NO data to prove anything about PJ last season. But data from last season is relevant. Not a hard concept to understand.

It's not even a statement about PJ'S impact as a player. It's a statement about the outlandish idea that PJ, not Bud, was behind the defensive adjustments. The Bucks have clearly made major defensive adjustments as the series has progressed.

Yes, Chicago isn't a good overall team, but that's because of their defense. They're a more than solid offensive team.

[crkone]

Bulls are shooting wide open 3s at the 8th worst clip in the playoffs combining all the teams from the past 9 seasons. They are missing wide open shots at a historical pace. Their 14.8 missed wide open 3s a game is only bested by the '18-'19 Jazz playoff team that missed a laughable 16.8 wide open 3s a game in their 5 games.

On the other side of the coin, Bucks are shooting 50% on wide open 3s.

Based on who's taking the shots and how they shot in the regular season on wide open shots, the Bulls have lost an average of 3.9ppg from not making their shots at prior rates. More than half of these lost points are from Williams shooting 3/13 in the series vs 11/25 in the regular season. Vucevic has taken by far the most wide open shots (and misses) but has actually shot slightly better than he had in the regular season.

Code: Select all

player     points lost
lavine     -0.648
derozan    1.153846154
caruso     -1.428571429
williams   8.16
vucevic    -1.590909091
jones      0.113207547
white      6.895734597
ayo        2.944099379
total      15.59940716

So a combo of Bulls missing shots they should make, two Bulls stepping up but not enough, and the Bucks locking down the paint (57.5% RA).

[BigO]

Sorry, that's not how data works. You can't throw away an entire series because you don't think the opponent is good enough.

That's what you take away from these posts?

A guy tries to state that this series shows that PJ wasn't a big factor in the Bucks playoff success and all facts show otherwise.

One series against a bad playoff opponent this season provides NO data to prove anything about PJ last season. But data from last season is relevant. Not a hard concept to understand.

It's not even a statement about PJ'S impact as a player. It's a statement about the outlandish idea that PJ, not Bud, was behind the defensive adjustments. The Bucks have clearly made major defensive adjustments as the series has progressed.

Yes, Chicago isn't a good overall team, but that's because of their defense. They're a more than solid offensive team.

I'm not going back again to provide the evidence of PJ confronting Bud on the court early in the Miami series about leaving guys open. Waiting a year to try and litigate it again is silly. As to the Bulls,

" Bulls are shooting wide open 3s at the 8th worst clip in the playoffs combining all the teams from the past 9 seasons. They are missing wide open shots at a historical pace."

Bud is playing the right defense this series, because the Bulls haven't proven they can hit open shots. Why you bring Pj into this is weird. Leave it alone. Facts don't change because they are a year old.

I'd love PJ back. In fact, he is redundant in Miami. They already have a couple alpha guys.

[jute2003]

That's what you take away from these posts?

A guy tries to state that this series shows that PJ wasn't a big factor in the Bucks playoff success and all facts show otherwise.

One series against a bad playoff opponent this season provides NO data to prove anything about PJ last season. But data from last season is relevant. Not a hard concept to understand.

It's not even a statement about PJ'S impact as a player. It's a statement about the outlandish idea that PJ, not Bud, was behind the defensive adjustments. The Bucks have clearly made major defensive adjustments as the series has progressed.

Yes, Chicago isn't a good overall team, but that's because of their defense. They're a more than solid offensive team.

I'm not going back again to provide the evidence of PJ confronting Bud on the court early in the Miami series about leaving guys open. Waiting a year to try and litigate it again is silly. As to the Bulls,

" Bulls are shooting wide open 3s at the 8th worst clip in the playoffs combining all the teams from the past 9 seasons. They are missing wide open shots at a historical pace."

Bud is playing the right defense this series, because the Bulls haven't proven they can hit open shots. Why you bring Pj into this is weird. Leave it alone. Facts don't change because they are a year old.

I'd love PJ back. In fact, he is redundant in Miami. They already have a couple alpha guys.

I remember PJ having a moment and Bud looking on in bewilderment but was there actually any confirmation what it was about? I thought it was mostly potstirrers just guessing at what was being said...

[aboveAverage]

That's really nice analytics guys. Amazing quality that you get for free on the Bucks board.

Almost don't want you posting it because Chicago's coaching staff will see it, haha.

[crkone]

One more thing, Bulls are getting about 4 less free points a game from the line.