Wisconsin Herd Thread

[ShootingtheJ]

Do you guys see something that pops with Tyler Smith in the G League?

Not me, sorry, not even a little. He's just too stiff.

[Bernman]

Smith has potential to be a good role player (pick & pop big, rebounder, ok defender). But IDK if I'd bet on it, he's pretty far away right now, & the calls for him or AJ Magic for the big club right now are pretty ridiculous.

I'd be interested to see what Magic looks like surrounding the starters, cuz the Herd suck & it didn't look bad the 1 preseason game. But we aren't in position to experiment. And he doesn't allay our inability to bring the ball up w/out Dame & Giannis.

[PerkinsFor3]

At least with AJ I stuff that stands out, and he has some great tools to work with. With Tyler, I just dont see anything.

[Matches Malone]

Read on Twitter

[Bernman]

I think this finally seals the Livingston call-up. Here are the highlights, w/ Chris & AJ showing out.

Watch on YouTube

[ShootingtheJ]

Great to see AJ Johnson and Livingston have great games and show progress. Keep them where they are and let them build consistency.

[Bernman]

Great to see AJ Johnson and Livingston have great games and show progress. Keep them where they are and let them build consistency.

That applies to AJ, not Livingston. The latter's already built consistency. He arguably did last season even. It's going to stunt development at this point if anything. It's great for Johnson's though to just get pro reps, show improvement & can continue.

[engelmartin]

Livingston looks good man. Bring him up. Cut MarJon

[ShootingtheJ]

Livingston looks good man. Bring him up. Cut MarJon

He's already on the roster, you don't have to cut anyone, and he entered the day shooting 30% from 3. Great to see him have his 1st great game, but he's got a long ways to go

[Bernman]

He's already on the roster, you don't have to cut anyone, and he entered the day shooting 30% from 3. Great to see him have his 1st great game, but he's got a long ways to go

He's shooting 34% now & has a strong ts% of 65. Plus, you're leaving out context he's a primary on ball guy for the Herd. He'd get easier shots off the catch w/ the Bucks.

He'd be competing w/ Ajax, who doesn't shoot inside or outside. Chris is a clear upgrade inside. & he's a superior rebounder to Prince, + likely a better defender. These are starters. He'd even just need to be a spot minute guy to warrant the call-ups.

I don't think he's any ways away from situationally alleviating some of their issues right now, & the burden of proof is on the Bucks/you at this point. They dragged their feet on 3 of the younger guys, and they were wrong. Why not a 4th.

[BUCKnation]

I am surprised Livingston hasn't gotten a shot. I guess it'd probably take a front court injury, but he was the only consistently decent guy on our SL team, has the profile of someone who could be a nice role player, but hasn't gotten a look since, even in preseason.

[BigO]

Instead of wasting my time with the Bucks and Packers yesterday, I should have taken up my friend's invite to see the Herd.

He said Livingston looked great, much better than anyone on the court.

He said AJJ looked much better. His threes were hitting and when he got out on the break, he was hard to stop. He also said that AJJ still has a hard time in the half court getting by his man. He needs to work on his handle. When he starts getting to the free throw line, we'll know he's making progress.

Terrence Davis looked good too.

I should have gone. Missed seeing the famous Mac McClung, who has never seen a shot that he didn't like.

[BigO]

I don't think the Bucks made a mistake not playing Ajax sooner. You could make a claim that both Green and Ajax should have played in more Herd games last year, giving them important live game experience against other good players.

Practicing with the Bucks was good for both of them, but it's hard to replicate game experience sitting on the bench.

As for Livingston, I wouldn't call him up, unless they intend to play him right away, which you could make a good case for doing.

[Matches Malone]

Well, that was a waste of time. DSJ didn't want to play in Oshkosh, but has a deal now in Madrid, so good for him?

Read on Twitter

[Ron Swanson]

AJ having an impressive outing on offense means more to me from a "feel" perspective than Livingston doing the same, if that makes sense. I just don't see much of an avenue to Livingston being an additive player on the main roster if he can't turn himself into a consistent catch & shoot guy. Every time I watch him, it's very clear that he's getting his points and rebounds in a very "dude built like a tank playing against G-league talent" kind of way. I think if he were a little better/more fluid of an athlete, I might think differently.

[ReasonablySober]

He's taking 4+ threes a night and hitting at a not-awful 35%. Jumper looks good form-wise.

Would like to see him take even more threes while being active doing the hustle stuff. He's still so young but I think he looks promising.

[Bernman]

It's hard to not see Livingston having an additive effect in the near future w/ his special ability to re-jump for boards and putbacks ala Ersan.

And I thought he may have been the best defender on the big Bucks in limited time this season. If that's still the case, those things are enough. Though he's not anticipating/moving the same laterally. That could be the energy expenditure on offense or the growth spurt, which still makes him an undersized 4 but maybe less of a wing. We'll have to see in a more limited role in the NBA.

As I said, he's not getting many catch & shoot chances on the Herd, rather creating on ball, so I don't know why his performance is being translated. Like RS said, it's not like his efficiency is bad anymore. I'm agnostic whether he's a sufficient shooter.

The #1 way in which he's developing is in ball-handling. He needed reps & he's got them. It was his biggest weakness & it seems he's gotten better. So long as he doesn't overdo it, he can bring the ball up some w/out turning it over & attack close-outs.

[chonestown]

A good thing about Doc is that he has given the young guys a chance and allowed them to grow provided they offered a glimpse. Pure conjecture here, but I'm guessing he doesn't seem the same sort of flashes from Livingston that he has from Ajax, AJ and Rollins. If Midds continues to have shaky availability, might be time to see what Livingston could do in spot duty. Honestly surprised he hasn't played on the parent club, since his time in SL looked like it was designed to fill a need on the Bucks and less for him to be a tentpole for the Herd. We're coming up on a year since he showed out against Utah.

[Bernman]

Those players are all older than Livingston & they fit more a classic archetype, Doc, as an old-fashioned coach has shown to value. He hasn't shown respect to small ball 4 options. Almost exclusively plays 2 true bigs.

[ShootingtheJ]

Herd center Ibou Badji had 10 blocked shots tonight, and 10 rebounds, but did not get a triple double because he had just 6 points.

He is an elite shot blocker, but had no offensive game. Not good enough hands to be much of a roll man threat. Too bad.