PG Pacers - Bucks Down 2-0

[Ron Swanson]

Don’t let Voodoo see this, but Kidd would have us at 1-1, right?

This is the worst playoff coaching I can ever remember for the bucks.

This, probably. The last time it was this obviously a coaching issue was when Kidd was actively sabotaging a 60-win core before getting kicked to the curb. And yet I'd still have more faith he'd at least get these guys ready to play better than Doc has. This has been a coaching/infrastructure failure of the highest degree I've ever seen. And I lived through Larry K., Skiles, Dunleavy Sr., and George Karl actively sabotaging a Conference Finals team.

[LUKE23]

It really comes down to playing more actual guards, even Rollins, and going with more small lineups. We are playing big lineups that aren’t giving us a big advantage on thr boards, are slowing our pace, and putting us in disadvantaged matchups defensively. Prince is a 4 and he’s playing 2. Doc is an unbelievably terrible coach.

[drew881]

It really comes down to playing more actual guards, even Rollins, and going with more small lineups. We are playing big lineups that aren’t giving us a big advantage on thr boards, are slowing our pace, and putting us in disadvantaged matchups defensively. Prince is a 4 and he’s playing 2. Doc is an unbelievably terrible coach.

This. Expecting Dame and Prince to guard Halliburton and Nemhardt is laughable. Why Doc feels he has to play Kuzma and Prince is beyond me.

[JimmyTheKid]

Tempting to talk offseason but let’s see what happens Friday.

That said, it’s been clear the rest of the league has gotten far more athletic the past five years. We just don’t have any of those guys. Teams like Indy, Minny, etc. are just able to get to the ball faster.

Can’t really use this excuse anymore. We’ve got plenty of athletic dudes. Some of them kinda suck, but no one’s telling Doc he can’t play them more.

Yup. The glaring issue has been apparent for a long, long time. I love Brook. He's a Bucks legend. But he is the single biggest liability on the floor. His deep 3's and blocks are seemingly fun, but when you weigh them against whats most important they're actually not. We're one, two, three steps behind on every single defensive possession because of his mobility issues. We simply cannot string together enough stops to win a high level basketball game with Brook on the court. And no, going into a gimmicky zone to hide him under the hoop is not a real solution. Many of us were pleading with the organization to move him in the offseason, and then again at the deadline, but for whatever reason Doc and his stable of head coaches didn't view it as a pressing issue. The only current fix is to keep Brook on the bench. At least that gives us a puncher's chance. But wasting another year of Giannis' prime should be unforgivable and heads better roll. Starting with Horst and Doc.

[German Athens]

We’ve always needed guys who can get to the rim outside Giannis, and Kuz did that some yesterday, but nothing looks repeatable from him.

Like you’d swear the ball accidentally went in when he scores in the paint - his touch is so unbelievably bad.

Play Pat over him. He’ll still find a way to the rim, but has better touch, and much better passing instincts when he gets there.

[German Athens]

Sims is close to being a nice player, but has terrible hands, and that means you’ll be left wanting with him as a play finisher and rebounder, and those are things you absolutely need him to be able to do.

That said, his movement in space defensively, and his ability to wall up are really important for us. He should get more playing time.

The bar is so damn low.

[jschligs]

Its just mind blowing that the FO can watch and be like "yea, Doc's our guy"....and let him trot out these line ups and horrible offensive and defensive schemes.

[soxperry]

The most annoying thing about this is we all know that Indiana isnt going to hit a bunch of long jumpers against Cleveland and are going to be lucky to win two games.

Sitting through them thinking they are something is so annoying. We played like dogs.hit for 80% of the game and they won by 8.

[CharityStripe34]

I don’t know why late when we needed a 3, Doc didn’t put Dairy in for Kuz.

We then posted up Giannis, they doubled off Kuz, and the ball swung to him wide open up top.

I literally LOL'ed at that set. Game was there for the taking, the Pacers were peeing themselves, and Gianni's strong-side outlet was KUZMA for three. My cousin and I were like "Really?"

Kudos to Bobby for having a really good game, he was even active defensively if a limited player there. The Freak/Bobby/Trent/Green/Dame (with some KPJ, Prince, Kuzma, Rollins sprinkled in) is the money lineup. Putting four shooters around the most dominant player alive usually works, Doc.

[Ron Swanson]

Pretty much knew it the second we got off to that 2-8 season start, but it's something that we discussed possibly even earlier than that. Doc thought this was gonna be an easy gig, and he's been coasting all season long. Dude only left his cushy TV job for the massive pay check. The complete lack of preparation for the start of the regular season, and now the complete lack of preparation for a **** playoff series. No Bucks team in the Giannis era has ever given off these kind of "we're just going through the motions" vibes, and that's what happens when you bring in a coach who doesn't really even seem to wanna be here. The players may have already quit on Doc, but he quit on them first.

[soxperry]

Its just mind blowing that the FO can watch and be like "yea, Doc's our guy"....and let him trot out these line ups and horrible offensive and defensive schemes.

Hes getting fired. No question

And then we will get the run down when hes a guest on the Simmons pod

[EasyE31]

1) Start GTJ in place of Kuzma
2) More Sims minutes, less Brook minutes. Sims needs to play alongside Giannis
3) Play the Giannis + shooters small ball lineups that worked so well down the stretch

This is still a winnable series if we stop spotting them 10 points at the beginning of each half.

[fan230]

How can we have a chance to win Game 3?

Doc not playing tp and kk to start and replaced by Green and Trent?

As everyone has said: we are falling behind early every game because of the useless starting roster that Doc is putting up.

The other problem now is that Dame is a shadow of his normal self as he is just recovering physically; not sure what the solution for that is.

Firing Doc before Game 3?

[msiris]

How can we have a chance to win Game 3?

Doc not playing tp and kk to start and replaced by Green and Trent?

As everyone has said: we are falling behind early every game because of the useless starting roster that Doc is putting up.

The other problem now is that Dame is a shadow of his normal self as he is just recovering physically; not sure what the solution for that is.

Firing Doc before Game 3?

Of course we can win game 3. We are just a bad road team.

[German Athens]

The most annoying thing about this is we all know that Indiana isnt going to hit a bunch of long jumpers against Cleveland and are going to be lucky to win two games.

Sitting through them thinking they are something is so annoying. We played like dogs.hit for 80% of the game and they won by 8.

They’re an extremely well coached and prepared team, and they are playing with confidence, because they trust in what they are doing.

But yes, they lack top end talent to be a top flight contender.

[Bernman]

1) Start GTJ in place of Kuzma
2) More Sims minutes, less Brook minutes. Sims needs to play alongside Giannis
3) Play the Giannis + shooters small ball lineups that worked so well down the stretch

This is still a winnable series if we stop spotting them 10 points at the beginning of each half.

Yeah, but you're setting them up to be down 7 instead of 12-15. The 1st thing we need to shore up is the d, not offense. Against the average offense, Lillard-Trent allowed 115 per 100 & 116 per 100 in Portland. In Milwaukee it's up to 118. This series so far it's 126. That's consistently bad. You're setting yourself so you need a nuclear offense to win, & you can't count on that.

Rollins/Green at sg, w/ Bobby/Sims at the 5 should contain the Pacers' offense so every little run of yours isn't answered.

[German Athens]

Scoring 115 points would have been enough to beat the losing team of every game that’s happened in the playoffs so far.

We’re playing a team that has nothing for Giannis, he’s scoring really efficiently on high volume, and yet we can’t even remain in contact, because we keep trotting out dinosaurs that are getting lit up defensively for large stretches of the game.

[Coach Carter]

Horst if you're reading this, put down that Hershey's bar, pick up the phone and call Michael Malone.

[Bucksmaniac]

How can we have a chance to win Game 3?

Doc not playing tp and kk to start and replaced by Green and Trent?

As everyone has said: we are falling behind early every game because of the useless starting roster that Doc is putting up.

The other problem now is that Dame is a shadow of his normal self as he is just recovering physically; not sure what the solution for that is.

Firing Doc before Game 3?

Firing Doc and letting him hit the links like he wants would probably be the best tactic but it will never happen.

[nagawicka]

It really comes down to playing more actual guards, even Rollins, and going with more small lineups. We are playing big lineups that aren’t giving us a big advantage on thr boards, are slowing our pace, and putting us in disadvantaged matchups defensively. Prince is a 4 and he’s playing 2. Doc is an unbelievably terrible coach.

This. Expecting Dame and Prince to guard Halliburton and Nemhardt is laughable. Why Doc feels he has to play Kuzma and Prince is beyond me.

Any relentless POA defender would've been worthwhile in the drop. Myles McBride, Jevon Carter--realGM posters want the sun and the moon, all they need is a guard who can defend. Noting for the record that Rollins + Ajax were relentless the other day in terms of suffocating the opponents lead scorers--and all we needed last night were a few stops. Not trading baskets, defensive stops.