PG Atlanta: Dame clips Hawks wings in 4th

[MissKhriddleton]

Nehm asked Griff what they did defensively down the stretch to get stops and he replied, "Not sure exactly what we did but we did it great..."

[Matches Malone]

Nehm asked Griff what they did defensively down the stretch to get stops and he replied, "Not sure exactly what we did but we did it great..."

[mediocrityrules]

Beasley has been terrific on offense this season overall but he's still useless on D, so I guess that's how the Bucks are going to roll this season.

[blazza18]

Nehm asked Griff what they did defensively down the stretch to get stops and he replied, "Not sure exactly what we did but we did it great..."

So I think coaches obviously lying about things is a lot better than coming across as an absolute dummy. This is a truly bizarre response

[mediocrityrules]

Nehm asked Griff what they did defensively down the stretch to get stops and he replied, "Not sure exactly what we did but we did it great..."

So I think coaches obviously lying about things is a lot better than coming across as an absolute dummy. This is a truly bizarre response

Yep. Even if he obviously lied about it, it would show that he is thinking about the optics on this and he's aware of these things and that it needs work. Sound bites like the one he gave here make it seem like he just does not know what's going on.

[Prez]

That Griffin quote is not good for my rage so Imma pretend I didn’t read it

I’ll also take the L when it comes to Beasley, I prefer him as a bench gunner but given how MarJon has been a nothing player it’s hard to knock the decision and I’ll stfu about it

Spoiler:

until Dre comes back and operation #StartDre is fully back

[tedbrogen]

Doesn’t it annoy you equally as much watching Khris on D, knowing he’s making 30 million a year to boot?

Khris worries me more than he annoys me. Yes, Khris's lack of mobility these days is a major concern on defense. However, Khris has offense that translates very very well to the playoffs so it counterbalances things. Offensively, he's worth every penny. He's taking a back seat in shot attempts now with Dame here and the minutes restriction is a big nuisance but come playoff time it's going to be a luxury to be able to have him out there. You saw what he did in the Miami series without another creator on the court with him for the majority of it. Now he's going to have Giannis and Dame and all the space in the world to cook.

Beasley is almost entirely a catch and shoot specialist. He's shown some other wrinkles here and there like some driving ability, a floater, stop and pop mid range, etc.., but i dont envision his skillset consistently translating to success against tough playoff D like he's going to see against Boston, Philly, New York, and Cleveland. The offense isn't always going to be able to generate looks for him.

so that's my Ted Talk on why I dont mind Khris sucking on defense as much as Beasley.

I’d agree if he looked fit enough for 30 mins a game of high intensity playoff basketball; he doesn’t now and I don’t foresee that changing by April.

He just did that against the Heat last season…

[tedbrogen]

Nehm asked Griff what they did defensively down the stretch to get stops and he replied, "Not sure exactly what we did but we did it great..."

Well, basically the players stop doing what AG has been asking and instead of overplaying for steals/jumping passing lanes they try their best to expend that usually wasted energy to instead stay in front of their man, challenge shots the best they can, and crash the D boards.

It’s helped by the fact Dame is usually initiating the offense, calling for high double screens, and they are scoring at unreal efficiency so they are also back in D which cuts out the transition baskets which are usually created by AG’s whole “anyone can crash the offense boards anytime they want with no real system about it”.

If they just stop overplaying for steals, jumping passing lanes, and focused on getting back and had no one crash, they likely wouldn’t find themselves in a dog fight late in the fourth every game.

[tedbrogen]

Nehm asked Griff what they did defensively down the stretch to get stops and he replied, "Not sure exactly what we did but we did it great..."

So I think coaches obviously lying about things is a lot better than coming across as an absolute dummy. This is a truly bizarre response

Yep. Even if he obviously lied about it, it would show that he is thinking about the optics on this and he's aware of these things and that it needs work. Sound bites like the one he gave here make it seem like he just does not know what's going on.

Don’t need this quote to see he doesn’t know what’s going on. He already:
- Needed Brook to explain to him that Brook can’t play 30 feet from the hoop on D
- Needed Dame to explain minutes distribution
- Declared Beasley would take the toughest defensive assignment each night
- Pulled a power play on his lead assistant
- Has multiple times shown he doesn’t realize you can sub offense/defense at end of close games
- Failed to foul when up three
- Plays Dame off ball, a lot

[Sigra]

Nehm asked Griff what they did defensively down the stretch to get stops and he replied, "Not sure exactly what we did but we did it great..."

Play random. But at defense

[AussieBuck]

Beasley has proven me wrong on O but he's still comically unsuited for his role on D and that won't and can't change.

[DutchManDanFan]

Knicks are playing well, 3 straight wins

4 in a row is too much to ask from them.

[AussieBuck]

Anyone else have a small part of their NBA brain thinking "maybe if we get a gun defender in a trade at SG, we can just ride out this bozo coach and outgun everyone Denver style and take another title"???

[greekbuck34]

Offense has been incredible this season and it has never been easier for Giannis that's why his efficiency has been so good despite his overall numbers.
All because we traded Jrue/Wes/Carter for Dame/Payne/Beasley.
We can't get stuck anymore no matter the defense and just for that alone the defensive sacrifice worth it 100%.

The Hawks have imo the best forward duo(extremely athletic, long and strong like him) to limit Giannis' aggressiveness or atleast to make him work extra hard and they still need to give up the same floaters and midrange shots we give up usually. Jrue, Carter and Wes couldn't take advantage at all. Dame and Payne with their quick penetration and Beasley with his automatic shooting exploit the Giannis gravity immensely. The moment the opponent goes away from their plan Giannis feasts 1v1.

Defense has been better and Giannis seems to be adapting slowly to his new role which is more perimeter heavy than in the past. He was trash in the first 10-12 games, then he started to pick it up in the 4th quarters and in the clutch and in the last 2-3 games he is been better from the beginning.

I also think a huge factor is his stamina in the end of the games. Since his offensive game is much easier this season he's slowly realising that he has enough energy for more defensive hustle and more fouls to give up since he is not charging at walls as much as in the past.

[AussieBuck]

I'd start Wes if we had him for sure.

[greekbuck34]

Like this is beyond ridiculous level of offense. Nobody is even close to our scoring and efficiency.

We were averaging 111-112 OFFRTG in the Bud era in the 4th quarter on 57-58 TS%(This season its 66%) and now this in just 20 games of Dame and Giannis.

[Neuromancer56]

Nehm asked Griff what they did defensively down the stretch to get stops and he replied, "Not sure exactly what we did but we did it great..."

I was gonna post this myself l, but after a win where I saw actual improvement, I was willing to give Griff the benefit of the doubt. As long as we are trending slightly better over time, I'm willing to not dunk on him.

[Neuromancer56]

I'd start Wes if we had him for sure.

As another 3 point threat, Beas basically makes us un-defendable in the 4th when the starters are locked in. Plus we're pretty good on defense in the last few minutes of the 4th quarter, so I'm not sure Wes would give us enough more in crunch time.

[MiltownHawkeye]

So I see we're going to oscillate between "We won, maybe we can out-clutch people on the way to the Finals despite Griffin" and "We lost, fire Griffin" this year

[JayMKE]

Bucks have too much talent on offense to look bad on that side, our random defense is another story