PG Charlotte: Loss

[Wooderson]

It'd be nice if Middleton decides to play basketball some time this year.

I wouldn't count on Middleton until the playoffs start.

Like last year, will that even matter? Middleton being out will force Giannis and Dame to push themselves to point they could be injured. They need him to meaningfully contribute for most of the regular season or his playoff play might be meaningless.

[drdrG]

I don't get the naysayers on Giannis today. Isn't this what we want from him? More effort on defense, smarter playmaking on offense, getting others involved and lower effort offense that's more sustainable long term. He was great. Was he 3/7 on midrange? 4/7 every game and he's a Khris/KD level midrange shooter...

What better shot were we getting there? 4 seconds left, no one else on the team can create a shot for themselves except Bobby. I'm good with our 2 time MVP isolated at the free throw line. They had 3 guys camped in the paint. Maybe put AJ Green in the game and run a screen for him at the wing.

[milwaukee bunks]

can wright not shoot the ball ever again

[theFireBlanket]

We’re learning that Giannis plus four replacement players *can’t* win 50 games.

Not necessarily.

I'd take that bet any day.

[randy84]

It'd be nice if Middleton decides to play basketball some time this year.

I wouldn't count on Middleton until the playoffs start.

Like last year, will that even matter? Middleton being out will force Giannis and Dame to push themselves to point they could be injured. They need him to meaningfully contribute for most of the regular season or his playoff play might be meaningless.

Yep. That's why he should've been trade two years ago. Mids is injury prone at this point in his career and he is eating up a significant amount of cap space.

[ShootingtheJ]

Giannis has to go the rim there and obviously that was an awful call, but we get a double digit win if we could secure a rebound during those stretches.

I agree, but in guessing he didn't trust the refs to make the call if Charlotte hammered him on the way in.

[Matches Malone]

Read on Twitter

[ShootingtheJ]

I wouldn't count on Middleton until the playoffs start.

Like last year, will that even matter? Middleton being out will force Giannis and Dame to push themselves to point they could be injured. They need him to meaningfully contribute for most of the regular season or his playoff play might be meaningless.

Yep. That's why he should've been trade two years ago. Mids is injury prone at this point in his career and he is eating up a significant amount of cap space.

If Mids isn't there come playoff time, then you'll be right, but as of now he's the only guy you can rely on when it matters.

[AussieBuck]

Charles Lee was obviously looking to force this game into a shooting contest and Doc decided today was not an AJ Green day. That's my main problem here. Refs were a joke but that's going to happen.

[mediocrityrules]

Doc is the reason we lost this game. His rotations in the 4th were especially bad. We were getting carved up inside because Bobby was the only big on the floor starting the last so we had zero interior defence, so he waits until about 8.5 mins to go and brings Brook in, meanwhile, Giannis just sitting on the bench as the game tightens up. Inexplicably, Giannis is not brought onto the floor in the fourth until just 6 mins to go.

It's not like Giannis had already played 30+ minutes through the first 3 qtrs either, he was on about 27mins of game time at this point. In the close games you would expect that Giannis gets 37+ minutes. Not sure if Doc is stubborn on rotations or what, but he sh*t the bed in the last. Giannis should have played most of that 4th, and the game wouldn't have been that close at the end.

[Balls2TheWalls]

Read on Twitter

Some of this stuff needed to be said. It is going to hit Doc in the wallet, but he can cover it.

[ShootingtheJ]

can wright not shoot the ball ever again

Or just wait for him to heat up. Career 43% 3 point shooter in the playoffs, including 60% last year. He'll get there. We have lots of cold shooters, but they'll get there.

[FrieAaron]

When the 2 minute report comes out he can demand his money back.

[ShootingtheJ]

Doc is the reason we lost this game. His rotations in the 4th were especially bad. We were getting carved up inside because Bobby was the only big on the floor starting the last so we had zero interior defence, so he waits until about 8.5 mins to go and brings Brook in, meanwhile, Giannis just sitting on the bench as the game tightens up. Inexplicably, Giannis is not brought onto the floor in the fourth until just 6 mins to go.

Giannis waited at the scorers table for 2 minutes. Sometimes you just get unlucky. Maybe you use a timeout, but we've needed all them.

[mke_design]

When the 2 minute report comes out he can demand his money back.

Don’t expect the league to mea culpa this

[RogerMurdock]

If you remove the 2 guys shooting 80% from three (none of them were getting the open shots down the stretch), we shot 26.9% from three

Good thing it's a team sport and those two players' shots count.

[ShootingtheJ]

We’re learning that Giannis plus four replacement players *can’t* win 50 games.

Yup, break Dame in to 3 good players, and we roll.

Maybe I should clarify: trade Dame for 3 quality players that are better fits. In no way do i want to dismember Dame. I couldn't imagine how slow his defensive slides would be if he was playing on stumps.

[Wooderson]

Like last year, will that even matter? Middleton being out will force Giannis and Dame to push themselves to point they could be injured. They need him to meaningfully contribute for most of the regular season or his playoff play might be meaningless.

Yep. That's why he should've been trade two years ago. Mids is injury prone at this point in his career and he is eating up a significant amount of cap space.

If Mids isn't there come playoff time, then you'll be right, but as of now he's the only guy you can rely on when it matters.

These things are related! If Giannis and Middleton switched minutes and workloads last year Giannis would have been healthy in the playoffs and Midds probably would have been out (assuming they even make the playoffs)

[JEIS]

I don't get the naysayers on Giannis today. Isn't this what we want from him? More effort on defense, smarter playmaking on offense, getting others involved and lower effort offense that's more sustainable long term. He was great. Was he 3/7 on midrange? 4/7 every game and he's a Khris/KD level midrange shooter...

What better shot were we getting there? 4 seconds left, no one else on the team can create a shot for themselves except Bobby. I'm good with our 2 time MVP isolated at the free throw line. They had 3 guys camped in the paint. Maybe put AJ Green in the game and run a screen for him at the wing.

Guessing it has to do with missing free throws. Having only 22 points when the other stars are out, and the frustration of losing by 1.

I wish they would use Brook better.

[theFireBlanket]

When the 2 minute report comes out he can demand his money back.

Don’t expect the league to mea culpa this

Give us a replay from that call, next time they meet Charlotte, before tip-off.