old skool wrote:Odds & Ends:
To me, the Bucks look much more cohesive of late. As if the players have a better understanding of what they are trying to do. The ball is being funneled defensively, somewhat like past seasons. The offense seems to have a purpose, even if the results are often sketchy.
The rotations are pretty good. Stable and logical. NBA players like that.
The Bucks are a good team in the "clutch", because they don't play the young guys at the end of games. No Beauchamp, Green or Jackson. And often less Portis. That is not to slam the young guys. The Bucks are just better as a team when they have their big salary guys on the court together. Plus, at the end of games, Lillard seems to be more engaged defensively. Not good, just better. Kind of like Grayson Allen-lite.
The Bucks also conserve energy for the end of the game. Giannis had only 5 FGAs and 12 points when he entered the game with 9:00 left in regulation. In the last 9:00 he scored 15 points on 5-7 FGAs, and added another 5 points in OT. Lillard has had similar results in other games.
The Bucks were absurdly efficient in OT, scoring on every possession but one. They missed only 1 FGA (a Lillard 3) and had zero turnovers. Three missed FTAs (7-10 from FT line) were the only offensive weaknesses. It helped that, unlike the OT loss in Chicago, Middleton did not spend the OT on the bench under minutes restriction.
The Bucks have a top heavy roster - we know that. When some of the starters are sitting, veterans like Derozan, hunt weak defenders like Lillard and get easy looks. That does not work as well when a weak defender is backed by Giannis and Lopez.
I think we fans often confuse shooting variances with playing well. First half the Bucks are 12-20 from 3-point. Second half 5-15, while the Bulls were 6-12. Variances happen. Coby White was 6-10 from 3-point. Two of those makes came off broken plays, where White just threw up a shot because the shot clock was winding down.
Assistant coaches seem to be more involved with in-game instruction than they were under Budenholzer. Assistant involvement seems to be organized, with different assistants responsible for different groups of players, without real time input from Griffin.
Beasley is looking useful. He was good offensively for three quarters. After sitting for the first three minutes of the 4th Q, he played the final 14 minutes of the game during which his stat line was 2 points and a barrel of zeros - no misses, no fouls, TOs, rebounds, assists, steals or blocks. Zero. His presence helped space the floor. He facilitated and defended while the high salary stars dominated the ball. Looks like he really understands his role. While he is frustrating, what more could be expected of a vet minimum?
Lillard looked brutal - nothing like the end of game savior he has been so often this season. Looked like he was trying to hide a minor injury/tweak? But looked healthy on that vicious OT frustration slam.
The question I have for this team, is how much of this is on purpose? They know what happened the past few years when they blow out teams during the regular season and then fail hard in the playoffs. This is Dame's style as well, slow start finish strong. You'd think it would be nice to win a few games before the 4th quarter but maybe they are just taking it easy knowing they can win a lot of games just turning it on at the end.
My main concern is the losses to Boston and Indiana.
