Bucks/Pacers Lead-up - Dame Cleared for Practice

[MickeyDavis]

Game 1 is Saturday at noon on ESPN/FDSWI. I'll put up a game thread on Friday.

This season:

11/22 - Bucks 129, Pacers 117 in Milwaukee. Giannis triple double

12/31 - Bucks 120, Pacers 112 in Indianapolis. Giannis 30/12-5/2

3/11 - Pacers 115, Bucks 114 in Indianapolis. Giannis 19/17/7

3/15 - Bucks 126, Pacers 119 in Milwaukee. Giannis 34/10/7.

They were pretty cocky last year beating us without Giannis and with Dame hobbled/missing 2 games.

The goal of the road team is to win one of the first two and take back home court. I believe we'll do just that.

[Baddy Chuck]

A shame we're going into another postseason with a key guy down but it is what it is. Got some guys showing they can step up recently, hopefully that continues and super saiyan Giannis can carry us. Would love to get one on Indy. Go Bucks.

[Plossum]

I want to believe but I don’t trust this team.

If we are going to win:
* Giannis needs to not go 5v1 and trust those around him. It’s gonna be tough for him. Everything will rest on his shoulders and he’ll have to find the right approach to attack and defer.

* Role guys have to step up. We have no #2 on this squad. We need someone to go with Giannis each game. Doesn’t matter who but guys have to step up.

* defend our backsides off. We’ve lost a lot of offensive firepower with no Dame or Midds. Defence will need to be our identity.

* Doc has to step up. We don’t have the luxury of letting Dame and Giannis do their thing so doc has to coach the **** out of this team. He can’t be playing favourites with his vets if the young guys should be playing. Brook and TP have been great for us this year but they may not be right for this series in big minutes.

I want the Bucks to win but Indy is genuinely good and seem to have a 4 leaf clover permanently lodged up their arses atm so it’s gonna be tough. I’d lean Indy in 6 or 7 but hope to god I’m wrong.

[blazza18]

We have Giannis but we wont be expected to win the series. Pretty interesting place to be.

[RiotPunch]

I'm choosing to ride or die with Gianni. He's locked in right now not only as a scorer-- but as a passer, rebounder, and defender. He also seems to be healthy.

Take care of the Pissers and then just embrace the underdog mentality. Giannis is better in the hunter role versus the hunted. Maybe he can prolong this thing enough to give Dame a shot to come back.

[AussieBuck]

KPJ hasn't been in the playoffs, thats the wrinkle here. If he can do his per minute thing with a starter's minutes, we'll walk right through them. If not, we'll need GOAT level Giannis, top 15 all time guy won't do it.

[tsamo]

I'm sorry, a noon game? What the hell man?
I know it suits me cause of the time difference, but it feels like Giannis always has issues with early games...
Really hope we come out strong.

Let's do it Bucks!

[mediocrityrules]

Giannis needs to keep up his amazing run with assists. Trusting the other guys has really given another dynamic to this team. There are free points in the dunker's spot all day long if they put up a wall.

[MickeyDavis]

Pacers are 4.5 point favorites in game 1 and 2-1 favorites to win the series.

[GiannisAnte34]

Thinking back to those Cavs teams LeBron played on with very little quality starters. He definitely carried the Cavs past better teams than this Pacers squad

[CharityStripe34]

Saw an interesting video comparing 2025 Giannis to 2015 & 2018 LeBron. As far as having to carry a mediocre roster with his running mate going down. The now reliable mid-range J and excellent decision-making with the PG duties should shine in the playoffs. They won't be able to simply just wall off the paint with 2-3 guys and leave others wide open. Just need the others to knock down shots and cut to the right spots. And Giannis has to continue to trust them.

Keep playing with pace and moving the ball. And, for the love of God Doc, do NOT stick with that idiotic starting lineup for too long.

[soxperry]

Big test for kpj.

Pacers will try to speed him up and force him to make bad decisions. Can he compose himself and make the right plays? If he struggles, can he bounce back? Hes 24 and he's never been in this situation, so i think we could get anything. But there's definitely a world where he makes them pay for the pressure and generates some really easy buckets for us. Giannis seems to struggle in early games and in game 1s, so it would be nice to have a super nova kpj experience and take the pressure off of him.

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

even without Dame, if we can't beat this Pacers team we need to blow it up. Dame isn't the difference between the pacers and the elites

[Ron Swanson]

Complete disaster of a season where we're yet again going into the playoffs down one of our two best players? Sure. Are we going to be underdogs in every round? Yep. Should everyone in the coaching staff and front office be punted to the curb? Most definitely. But hey, we got a (for now) healthy Giannis, so you know the drill.

[blazza18]

Saw an interesting video comparing 2025 Giannis to 2015 & 2018 LeBron. As far as having to carry a mediocre roster with his running mate going down. The now reliable mid-range J and excellent decision-making with the PG duties should shine in the playoffs. They won't be able to simply just wall off the paint with 2-3 guys and leave others wide open. Just need the others to knock down shots and cut to the right spots. And Giannis has to continue to trust them.

Keep playing with pace and moving the ball. And, for the love of God Doc, do NOT stick with that idiotic starting lineup for too long.

Maybe he can get it back but the jumper has fallen off recently.

[CharityStripe34]

Saw an interesting video comparing 2025 Giannis to 2015 & 2018 LeBron. As far as having to carry a mediocre roster with his running mate going down. The now reliable mid-range J and excellent decision-making with the PG duties should shine in the playoffs. They won't be able to simply just wall off the paint with 2-3 guys and leave others wide open. Just need the others to knock down shots and cut to the right spots. And Giannis has to continue to trust them.

Keep playing with pace and moving the ball. And, for the love of God Doc, do NOT stick with that idiotic starting lineup for too long.

Maybe he can get it back but the jumper has fallen off recently.

I'm sure he'll go through some droughts as all the greats do, but he's at least comfortable with it and can reliably hit them. He's really been focusing more on PG duties in recent weeks, obviously. But in that last Detroit game where the main guys played he hit a few in the second half. A shot he got decent with that, for whatever reason, he tends to go away from is his little baby hook.

[jschligs]

The last 8 games give me great hope for this series. Doc seems to be playing the right guys in the 4th which is huge. Giannis has been top tier, not forcing, finding his shot, and playing some great defense to boot. KPJ is the difference maker IMO. If he gets 30+ mpg I think we win in 5/6. If Dame comes back I pray to god Doc doesn't reduce KPJs minutes. I think it's time to give less to Kuz and Prince and more to KPJ and GTJ. Having Bobby is back in big too.

[Profound23]

Need Giannis to stay healthy and KPJ to keep it going but we also will need Lopez to play well in the postseason.

It would also be nice if AJ Green could play his best ball right about now.

[German Athens]

Saw an interesting video comparing 2025 Giannis to 2015 & 2018 LeBron. As far as having to carry a mediocre roster with his running mate going down. The now reliable mid-range J and excellent decision-making with the PG duties should shine in the playoffs. They won't be able to simply just wall off the paint with 2-3 guys and leave others wide open. Just need the others to knock down shots and cut to the right spots. And Giannis has to continue to trust them.

Keep playing with pace and moving the ball. And, for the love of God Doc, do NOT stick with that idiotic starting lineup for too long.

Maybe he can get it back but the jumper has fallen off recently.

I'm sure he'll go through some droughts as all the greats do, but he's at least comfortable with it and can reliably hit them. He's really been focusing more on PG duties in recent weeks, obviously. But in that last Detroit game where the main guys played he hit a few in the second half. A shot he got decent with that, for whatever reason, he tends to go away from is his little baby hook.

Mid range was 44% on the year, and was 43% in April which was a bounce back from March. Small sample, but I think anything over 40% is probably fine for him.

As is the typical give and take, his down trend in midrange efficiency has coincided with an uptick in efficiency at the free throw line and the restricted area.

[Ron Swanson]

It's great that he feels more comfortable taking those shots and it bodes well for his game as he ages, but if Giannis gets baited into having a mid-range jumper party, then I doubt this series is gonna be all that competitive. Indy obviously wants to get out and run as much as they can, so you can't be gifting them possessions off of shots they'll gladly give us. We need Ruthless Aggression Giannis. Attack the rim, drive and kick, and then attack the rim even more.