PG Pacers - Bucks Drop Game 1

[Wooderson]

Am I trippin or was Giannis seeing doubles damn near all game? I don't think I'm tripping. Is there a nerd stat for this?

Regardless, moving the ball will help Giannis get easier buckets. Make the right play, not the hero play.

Check out the highlights, they mostly only sent help when he was already at the rim. He was killing 1 on 1s in the first half. His buckets *were* easy, I guess that's kinda my point. Like cut out the dumb 3s and he shot 14/21 and I'm pretty sure 2 of those misses were missed tip ins on OREB.

TP and Kuz are inept offensive players with the ball in their hands. Brook is Brook. I just don't see how that starting group gets anything done outside of Giannis going one on one. No one who can dribble/create, no one who can shoot on the move or scares the defense like Green/Trent.

If the Pacers are going to guard Giannis one-on-one and just hack him with late help, then it goes back to what a lot of us are saying. It's on Doc to do something about that. Giannis should be playing with shooters and being a playmaker for those shooters. Hire Stan Van Gundy right now.

That said, I don't think Giannis' buckets were easy today. I remember a lot of dribble moves and a lot of hard fouls (which should be easy points but alas). Easy to me is a dump-off from KPJ near the hoop, where all Giannis/Brook/Bobby/Sims have to do is lay it in. We had a couple. We can have more.

I don't think we're too far apart in what we saw, and I think we can agree that we looked a lot better when the ball started moving.

Oh yeah mentioned in most posts it's purely in the context of Giannis + current starters, which was a huge chunk of his minutes. Everything changes when you enter KPJ/Green/Trent...

And that's kinda the point, Doc is setting this team up to fail

[Bernman]

We are who we thought we were.

So is Doc. I made a bunch of posts about how he'd rather be playing or watching golf. You were the conductor of that train.

[yb90]

Check out the highlights, they mostly only sent help when he was already at the rim. He was killing 1 on 1s in the first half. His buckets *were* easy, I guess that's kinda my point. Like cut out the dumb 3s and he shot 14/21 and I'm pretty sure 2 of those misses were missed tip ins on OREB.

TP and Kuz are inept offensive players with the ball in their hands. Brook is Brook. I just don't see how that starting group gets anything done outside of Giannis going one on one. No one who can dribble/create, no one who can shoot on the move or scares the defense like Green/Trent.

Bucks were 2-12 on Giannis passes. Sharing the ball is not the problem.

Yeah, see, basketball is a game of flow. Rhythm is huge. Passing the ball with 3 seconds left on the shot clock isn't going to help. Running an offense would, though.

So that's the avg you came up with in your head or is that an official number?

Honestly, if Prince and Kuzma were just avg ball handlers they could/should get get so many points running side PnRs with Giannis.

[stellation]

I got up early for this, made a cup of tea, sat on my arse in the lounge room half asleep. I feel like that was more effort invested than most of the guys who got minutes for us.

Coach maxed your minutes, huh. What was your +/-

-12, but I logged all my minutes with the cat and she doesn’t handle playoff pressure.

[Wooderson]

Just watched the Doc presser. He won't say it but I will. Pass the ball, Giannis.

I'm not sure what passing the ball accomplishes with that starting group. They weren't collapsing on Giannis (which is why he scored or got to the FT line nearly every attack in the 1st q). No one else in that group can create off the dribble or can shoot on the move. Who's creating the advantage to benefit from ball movement if Pacers aren't sending help on Giannis?

We're gonna end up with TP dribbling or Kuz throwing up junk.

Every NBA team should *never* depend on that sort of 'collapsing on G' dynamic, because capable rosters use standard ball movement to eliminate any need to go that repeatedly failed route. It's a failed method. How many times did Giannis dribble into traffic, get tangled up in 3 or 4 guys, fall down, lose the ball? Should never, ever happen. The MORE the other 6 guys score in double digits, the LESS exhausted/beaten down Giannis will be, the MORE effective Giannis will be. Just putting up 36 solo points is useless. To His CREDIT, Giannis's assists are way up, today not so much. He was smiling at KPJ's going off the other day, but was way off all day.

Tell the coach to play the guys who can actually create offense or are dynamic shooting threats. Ball movement with the starters means Prince and Kuzma creating laughable offense. There's a reason a lot of the big run, better ball movement, and increased Giannis assists at end of regular season happened with KPJ/Green/Trent. That lineup barely played in the 1st half and the game was over.

[AussieBuck]

Feels like home with the coach punting a game one on his favourite lineup instead of what might work. It's a small series so lets have 6 guys who are either PFs or Cs in the rotation. What do we do with our 3 best guards? Start none of them and have the 4th guard in the lineup do it alone.

[German Athens]

I agree that I want Giannis looking for his teammates more, by specifically being patient after he makes a move (keep your dribble alive or start in more advantageous spots), but it’s gonna be really hard in that starting lineup regardless.

Ball movement comes with player movement, whether that’s movement on or off ball. We have virtually none of that hypothetical ability in that starting group.

TP, Kuz, Brook, Rollins are absolutely not movement shooters, and Brook isn’t quick enough to reliably cut, Kuz is, but has zero touch and terrible hands, TP doesn’t have the athleticism for it. Rollins is your best bet on those cuts but he’s also the smallest dude on the court.

We also have basically no on-ball ability besides Rollins, and that’s still just a skillset that’s in development. He’s more a catch and attack player, or catch and shoot player at this point.

If it were me,

I’d have two of KPJ, Rollins, Dairy, or GTJ on the court at all times.

[paulpressey25]

We are who we thought we were.

So is Doc. I made a bunch of posts about how he'd rather be playing or watching golf. You were the conductor of that train.

[Frank Nova]

The overreactions here are truly insane and I like it. Let Giannis stew on a bad loss for a few days, it usually doesn’t end well for the other team. Out coached game 1, they still gotta win 3 more. We’re not even close to panic mode yet you just gotta believe. Bucks in 6

[CJTURT]

I hope Rivers reads all this stuff like dude your time passed you by a long Time ago, shame on our brass for hiring you you big dumb ass

[CJTURT]

Pick the best team right now in the NBA and put Doc rivers on there and he would run them right into the dirt

[blazza18]

Giannis continues to make comments in his presser that makes it sound like he prefers the bench group more.

[machu46]

I tend to think Doc is overhated but I do think the sport has passed him by philosophically. And while I think our issues are mostly just the team not being good enough, I do not for the life of me understand the lineups we've played throughout the year. Like Kuzma is a very flawed player and maybe never would have worked out anyways but I do not understand trading for him if these are the lineups you intended to use with him/this is the way you planned to utilize him. It just feels like there's a major disconnect between front office and coach (unless the primary purpose of the trade wasn't basketball related, which is possible but would be kinda pathetic).

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[bucksfansince88]

If the Pacers aren't bringing help on Giannis when the starters are out there, ball movement isn't doing anything. The possessions Giannis was moving/off ball you ended up with TP trying to attack Hali (a Doc favorite) or Rollins dribbling to nothing. Giannis was killing single coverage in the 1st half which he should do.

Giannis was more offball and moving it with KPJ/Green/Trent out there. Offense looked better despite missing many open 3s. The looks they missed were a lot better and from better shooters.

The starting group is dead in the water. Giannis is the only dude who can create with that group and the only good shooter (TP) needs like 5 feet of space b/c he has to be completely stationary with time to shoot effectively.

Sounds like doc is sticking with that group smh

[bucksfansince88]

Giannis continues to make comments in his presser that makes it sound like he prefers the bench group more.

He trusts those guys way more and it’s obvious. He thinks they play harder too

[German Athens]

Play KPJ, Rollins, Dairy, and GTJ all 30+ mpg. Have two of them on the court at all times, and probably 3 a good chunk, too.

TP gets the other 20 or so as a forward.

Giannis 40 mpg.

Get Bobby up over 30, and fill in the other 20+ with Sims.

Keep them in front of you defensively, and force them to hit shots over the top.

If Indy starts posting up littles left and right, double on the move, not the catch. Be physical and compete.

When Dame comes back, get rid of TP’s minutes, and slide Dairy and KPJ up to cover them.

If you play drop, have the big come higher to once again deny dribble penetration. Or, if you put Brook out there, because Sims just ain’t it, put him in the center of zone more often.

[FrieAaron]

Am I trippin or was Giannis seeing doubles damn near all game? I don't think I'm tripping. Is there a nerd stat for this?

Regardless, moving the ball will help Giannis get easier buckets. Make the right play, not the hero play.

Check out the highlights, they mostly only sent help when he was already at the rim. He was killing 1 on 1s in the first half. His buckets *were* easy, I guess that's kinda my point. Like cut out the dumb 3s and he shot 14/21 and I'm pretty sure 2 of those misses were missed tip ins on OREB.

TP and Kuz are inept offensive players with the ball in their hands. Brook is Brook. I just don't see how that starting group gets anything done outside of Giannis going one on one. No one who can dribble/create, no one who can shoot on the move or scares the defense like Green/Trent.

Bucks were 2-12 on Giannis passes. Sharing the ball is not the problem.

I mean, what's the norm? He's had a 20 assist game recently and had been averaging like 12 assists. His teammates weren't shooting 100%, he was creating more opportunities.

[Matches Malone]

We are who we thought we were.

So is Doc. I made a bunch of posts about how he'd rather be playing or watching golf. You were the conductor of that train.

Doc was sent by ESPN to ruin Giannis' prime years. Infiltrated the team, got the old owners to side with him, get the job and coach like a buffoon.

It's 2025, there's way too much data and information hitting these guys over the head telling them what is working and what isn't. The fact this staff doesn't make any changes is hard to watch. They're just hoping the original plan works and if it doesn't, oh well. Bud was like that, but at least he put out more productive lineups that fit together.

[Sigra]

Start Porter, Trent, Prince with Giannis and Lopez. Portis, Kuzma, Green from bench. 8 man rotation. Lets go!

[TroyD92]

Lot of talk about kuzma, but somehow I think TP is even worse