PG Mavericks: Bucks get hot at right time

[RiotPunch]

Super fun win. Great to have peak Giannis/Dame performances to make you kinda forget who your coach is for a bit.

Giannis with a second consecutive game of mostly smart basketball. Still a little reluctant to screen for Dame on occasion, which is understandable when you're on a heater like he was tonight. Dominant performance, best of the year all-around for him.

Dame picked his spots and kept things moving. Some big deflections on defense (quietly 2nd in the league in deflections per game) when we really needed stops. He's gonna get roasted from time to time, but he has solid enough of a team defender and is a pretty smart risk taker.

Dame and Payne really jumpstarted that comeback in the 3rd-- having two instant offense guys out there is such a welcome sight after years of feeling like a 10+ point deficit late was nearly insurmountable.

Pat had the good outweigh the not so good, had some massive clutch moments to silence the haters.

Brook imposed his will, Dallas couldn't do anything with him. He and Giannis ate Lively's lunch all night.

Fastbreak Bobby has gone on long enough. Don't negate a good thing like Bobby blowing up a screen and getting a steal by letting him barrel down the court and turn it back over immediately.

Very satisfying seeing the Luck of the Irish fade away from Grant Williams.

[Milbucks96]

Our starting lineup is finally a positive on cleaning the glass. It’s weird that our defense has been ok with Dame on the floor but our offense has been terrible. Tiny sample size with lots of noise I think but still weird after these last couple games. I would like to know what the offensive rating is for the last 4 of 5 games he’s played. Like the results but still think we should be working towards a more Dame centric offense in the long run. Think that’s the only way we can score consistently come playoff time.

[greekbuck34]

Last 10 games for Giannis.

30/10/5/1/1

Restricted Area = 71/85 (83.5%)
Mid-Range = 10-24 (41.7%)
3s = 6/20 (30%)
Fadeaways = 5/11 (45.5%)
FTs = 63.3%
TS= 64.5%

He only takes a couple of midrange shots and a couple of 3s each game which is nice. Last night he made one but it was the kind I want him to stop taking anymore(walking slowly the ball up to take the pullup 3 with enough time on the clock for something else).
Just stick on 2-3 wide open catch and shoot 3s per game please.
Overall his shot selection is pretty good though and his midrange looks nice. If he gets his FTs and his Assists/TO ratio up a little he will be the best possible version of himself to date.

[kanyon]

I was only able to catch parts of the 2nd half. Fun game to watch. When I turned it on I got to see AJJ blow up a play on D but then I think they took it back by calling def 3 seconds on someone? That was weird.

[MickeyDavis]

I re-watched the game this morning, there are always things missed when at a game. Very fun even when knowing the outcome.

[sidney lanier]

Right now the team is winning with incredibly hot shooting. The question is does that sustain, as a result of understanding the gravity that Dame creates on the court. I.e. we become the Celtics, where every three goes down?

I would say not incredibly hot shooting, but predictably hot shooting. Shooters have space and time because of not one but two gravitational forces. I like our binary star system.

[tedbrogen]

Building on Riot’s point on Dame. To my eyes, he’s not the worst defender on the team. That would be Pat, Beas, Brook outside of the lane, and Bobby in the lane.

Dame when he is locked in doesn’t really get beat off the dribble. He uses his quickness to stay in front. His issues are he isn’t tall and doesn’t use his length well to contest shots (compared to how well he uses his length for deflections). So, guys can get their shot off over him or get a step back shot against him anytime they want. He also dies on screens a lot.

I will say that the way he plays D is far less detrimental to the team defense.imo than the turnstile allowing everyone to drive past you D that Beas and Pat have been playing. That puts you in rotations. You don’t want to constantly be in rotations as it’s exhausting and it magnifies weaknesses (players making poor decisions, gambling in passing lanes, lack of lateral quickness for some, giving up offensive rebounds, and flying by on closeouts)

I think if they can find a closing lineup with Dame as the only bad defender (i.e.- one without Beas and Pat out there), they’ll be more than fine. It just looks bad right now when they close with all three on the floor.

[tedbrogen]

Right now the team is winning with incredibly hot shooting. The question is does that sustain, as a result of understanding the gravity that Dame creates on the court. I.e. we become the Celtics, where every three goes down?

I would say not incredibly hot shooting, but predictably hot shooting. Shooters have space and time because of not one but two gravitational forces. I like our binary star system.

Exactly this. I’d like to see the numbers but the hot three point shooting seems to have occurred with having shooters in the corners more and the Bucks have seemed to have been taking a lot of corner threes that are open or wide open these past few games.

[MissKhriddleton]

Giannis and Dame need to suit up every home game. Don’t care who they’re playing. There’s a different sort of buzz with Dame and I could see the fans/team feeding off of each other and us putting up the best home record in the league. Any time either sits it’s such a momentum killer even if they do eke out a win.

The Giannis three was such a bad shot, if he misses Dallas can go up 12-13 with 8 minutes left. But he made it and it was huge to keep the comeback going.

[Profound23]

Two of our best games vs Charlotte and Dallas.

Great to see improvement. Of course we also shot lights out in both games, but seeing a lot of improvement on both sides of the ball.

[tedbrogen]

The shooting seems semi-sustainable because it’s wide open looks and a lot of corner threes. And even when the shots are not falling from deep, they can have Dame and GA attack the rim or ISO Midds or ISO Bobby. The offense should absolutely finish top five or better based solely on the gravitational forces.

[Shaffty]

Super fun win. Great to have peak Giannis/Dame performances to make you kinda forget who your coach is for a bit.

Giannis with a second consecutive game of mostly smart basketball. Still a little reluctant to screen for Dame on occasion, which is understandable when you're on a heater like he was tonight. Dominant performance, best of the year all-around for him.

Dame picked his spots and kept things moving. Some big deflections on defense (quietly 2nd in the league in deflections per game) when we really needed stops. He's gonna get roasted from time to time, but he has solid enough of a team defender and is a pretty smart risk taker.

Dame and Payne really jumpstarted that comeback in the 3rd-- having two instant offense guys out there is such a welcome sight after years of feeling like a 10+ point deficit late was nearly insurmountable.

Pat had the good outweigh the not so good, had some massive clutch moments to silence the haters.

Brook imposed his will, Dallas couldn't do anything with him. He and Giannis ate Lively's lunch all night.

Fastbreak Bobby has gone on long enough. Don't negate a good thing like Bobby blowing up a screen and getting a steal by letting him barrel down the court and turn it back over immediately.

Very satisfying seeing the Luck of the Irish fade away from Grant Williams.

hes tied for 4th but still a hilarious list of names for him to be on

Read on Twitter

[MissKhriddleton]

Tied for 8th but yeah.

[RiotPunch]

Super fun win. Great to have peak Giannis/Dame performances to make you kinda forget who your coach is for a bit.

Giannis with a second consecutive game of mostly smart basketball. Still a little reluctant to screen for Dame on occasion, which is understandable when you're on a heater like he was tonight. Dominant performance, best of the year all-around for him.

Dame picked his spots and kept things moving. Some big deflections on defense (quietly 2nd in the league in deflections per game) when we really needed stops. He's gonna get roasted from time to time, but he has solid enough of a team defender and is a pretty smart risk taker.

Dame and Payne really jumpstarted that comeback in the 3rd-- having two instant offense guys out there is such a welcome sight after years of feeling like a 10+ point deficit late was nearly insurmountable.

Pat had the good outweigh the not so good, had some massive clutch moments to silence the haters.

Brook imposed his will, Dallas couldn't do anything with him. He and Giannis ate Lively's lunch all night.

Fastbreak Bobby has gone on long enough. Don't negate a good thing like Bobby blowing up a screen and getting a steal by letting him barrel down the court and turn it back over immediately.

Very satisfying seeing the Luck of the Irish fade away from Grant Williams.

hes tied for 4th but still a hilarious list of names for him to be on

Read on Twitter

Ah, I looked before it updated, I guess. Still awesome.

[soxperry]

I forgot how good Giannis was. Yeah he put up 54 against Indy, but that seemed a lot more labor intensive. Last night, he was fluid and skilled. Wasnt just doing it with sheer athleticism. At one point he took over the game on both ends. That version of him is why we are capable of being title favorites.

But even that version of Giannis will struggle against elite playoff D. Not having the consistent jumper limits him unless we get lucky and play a team without adequate bigs (Its too bad we arent in the west because holy hell would that be easy). Thats why Dame is the perfect compliment. We will not flinch in a shootout.

[PaulKellerman]

lolololololol

skip to 6:09

Watch on YouTube

Giannis WTF hahahahahaha

King!

[old skool]

Giannis has one elite half court offensive move - shots at or near the rim.

Holiday had elite strength that he used to drive to the basket, but that strength could be negated by taller rim protectors.

Lillard has three elite ways to score in the half court, which is where so many playoff games are decided. One, he can shoot from deep. Two, he can drive to the basket. Three, he can force a foul.

For me, the deep 3-point shooting was a given. I expected that. I didn't appreciate how easily, with a burst of speed, he can accelerate past most perimeter defenders and then use his quickness to score a layup even when confronted by a big. His inside quickness is very Giannis-like, just in a smaller player.

Finally, I see defenses on their heels, not sure if they should be defending the rim or the perimeter, making it fairly easy for him to drive into contact and draw a foul. In a close game, the coaching staff almost doesn't need to draw up a play. It can just be "Dame, get a foul". It looks to be one of the Bucks surest go-to plays down the stretch.

Lillard's elite offensive versatility can unlock easy scoring opportunities for Middleton, Beasley and Connaughton.

[RiotPunch]

lolololololol

skip to 6:09

Watch on YouTube

[ShootingtheJ]

Just 6 turnovers last night. That's a winning recipe. Dame effect? Maybe, but he actually usually averages more turnovers than Jrue.

My take? Griffins offense is better than Bud's offense.

[RiotPunch]

Just 6 turnovers last night. That's a winning recipe. Dame effect? Maybe, but he actually usually averages more turnovers than Jrue.

My take? Griffins offense is better than Bud's offense.

It's not Griffin's offense, though. There's no way.