PG Pacers - Bucks Down 2-0

[pifhluk23]

I'm still super pissed that we didn't drop to #6. We'd likely be 1-1 with NY even with Doc and a banged up Celtics round 2. It's just amazing the last 3 years how this organization has managed to not make a single good decision.

[Bernman]

If the Bucks were the 1st team to truly fire their head coach mid playoffs it'd make this season have been palatable. Doc deserves the shame, between the insanity lineups, constant mention he'd rather be watching golf, & asking busboys to pick up his tab while he's stealing $.

[emunney]

It's incredibly frustrating that the things we obviously need to do, and which have worked so far, are the things that a broad consensus of this board wanted as the original plan.

[tydett]

It's incredibly frustrating that the things we obviously need to do, and which have worked so far, are the things that a broad consensus of this board wanted as the original plan.

Like, we're slightly better than a group of monkeys with typewriters here, but we're also pretty die-hard fans. If normal schmoes like us can see the obvious changes that are needed and we're doing it for free, then surely a championship-winning coach who cares about his job and doing well should be able to as well. But the dude just wants to get a paycheck for getting fired and stay around the NBA's periphery.

[BUCKnation]

It's incredibly frustrating that the things we obviously need to do, and which have worked so far, are the things that a broad consensus of this board wanted as the original plan.

I'd feel better about losing if Doc wasn't trying to play with one arm tied behind our back by relying on big minutes from Kuzma, TP and Brook, which just doesn't work. Instead, I'm left annoyed that players like AJG, who've had a positive impact in both games are playing small minutes and not playing during crucial periods.

[GHOSTofSIKMA]

jericho sims needs to play more. hes our best defender by a mile in any scheme. not only do the numbers back it up in a small sample but just the eye test backs it up as well. hes the only big we got that can, or will, cut off a drive and stay active on shooters

his mobility, unselfishness, big body also gets us by far the best screens of the bunch. his impact offensively is underrated on that aspect alone. the guards can get free coming off of him and the ball just moves sooner with him in the pick and roll.

thats all from me. in a nutshell just one word. jerochosims

ps.... honestly i wish giannis would watch his ass in those two regards. he'd have such a bigger impact if he screened like that and wasnt caught flatfooted on defense so often. drives me crazy

[Ron Swanson]

On-court net-ratings of the starters this series:

Dame: -11.5
Rollins: -36.7
Prince: -36.3
Kuzma: -33.9
Giannis: -19.1
Brook: -36.0

Kuzma has played 98% of his minutes at SF so far. Prince has played 98% of his minutes at SG. Bobby has played 99% of his minutes at PF. Moronic, dinosaur NBA coaching. Game, set, match.

[LUKE23]

On-court net-ratings of the starters this series:

Dame: -11.5
Rollins: -36.7
Prince: -36.3
Kuzma: -33.9
Giannis: -19.1
Brook: -36.0

Kuzma has played 98% of his minutes at SF so far. Prince has played 98% of his minutes at SG. Bobby has played 99% of his minutes at PF. Moronic, dinosaur NBA coaching. Game, set, match.

Doc Rivers.

[SirChurros]

It's not like many guys are doing anything to convince Doc they should play. The problem isn't who he's playing, it's that he has to put 5 guys out there. I'd be tempted to roll with 4 if I could find a 4th.

This is what it boils down to. I get that Doc sucks, and he is an easy scapegoat, but this is just an objectively bad roster.

[LUKE23]

The roster has issues, but we are starting a big/slow lineup against a fast team. You are inherently ignoring your opponent when you trot out Prince, Kuzma, and Lopez all in the starting lineup.

Obviously, we need someone quick defensively at SG. That could be Porter, Trent, or Rollins. I wouldn't start Kuzma either, I'd bring him off the bench and go small. I'm fine with Brook starting but he needs a quick hook if we are getting destroyed off PnR.

I'd go Dame-KPJ-Trent-GA-Lopez. That gives you switch ability at the 2-3-4 positions and puts another penetrator/creator (KPJ) in the starting five. That lineup also has way more offensive firepower. I'd move Rollins back into the bench rotation as well to come in for defense to spell Dame early.

[Ron Swanson]

I'll go to my grave advocating that we left at least one NBA Finals berth on the table from this 2-season stretch simply by not hiring Kenny Atkinson. I doubt you'll find anyone that says this roster is perfect sans the coach, but you guys aren't gonna convince me that Giannis/Dame surrounded by the #1 3PT shooting offense "can't even compete" with other contenders under slightly more ideal coaching circumstances. This amount of self-sabotage is actively dumber than anything Jason Kidd ever did.

[Bernman]

This was the key play of the game, right after we made a run to be in striking distance.

Read on Twitter

Zaprudering it, it's tough how much to assess blame between all the culprits. It's clear once Kuz switches onto Turner, Bobby should leave that double to help outside, but his strong-suit is covering an area/man, not help. Kuz ideally wouldn't shift to Turner w/ Bobby inside already. But Dame points in Kuz' direction initially, then to Bobby. So you could put this the most on Dame for his miscommunication.

It's an unacceptable team breakdown to leave a wide open shooter, not even having been beaten physically & a microcosm of bigger issues.

[LUKE23]

I'll go to my grave advocating that we left at least one NBA Finals berth on the table from this 2-season stretch simply by not hiring Kenny Atkinson. I doubt you'll find anyone that says this roster is perfect sans the coach, but you guys aren't gonna convince me that Giannis/Dame surrounded by the #1 3PT shooting offense "can't even compete" with other contenders under slightly more ideal coaching circumstances. This amount of self-sabotage is actively dumber than anything Jason Kidd ever did.

100% correct

[German Athens]

I'll go to my grave advocating that we left at least one NBA Finals berth on the table from this 2-season stretch simply by not hiring Kenny Atkinson. I doubt you'll find anyone that says this roster is perfect sans the coach, but you guys aren't gonna convince me that Giannis/Dame surrounded by the #1 3PT shooting offense "can't even compete" with other contenders under slightly more ideal coaching circumstances. This amount of self-sabotage is actively dumber than anything Jason Kidd ever did.

Kenny was a guy who seemed like a great candidate for years that teams hadn’t picked up for some reason.

Do you feel even remotely similar with any of the other candidates out there that would now be available?

[braindazer]

First thing, Porter,Green,Sims need a hell of a lot more minutes. Kuzman is fine long as he's driving , slashing and doing his best Ben Simmons imitation of playing defense and staying away from the three-point ball. They need to set up AJ Green and Damian Lillard for3-point shots. We must get AJ Green involved more often . A shooter can't get hot if he doesn't shoot. This is not a series conducive to Lopez looking good on defense.

[MickeyDavis]

Last season, after watching the Bucks struggle to defend at a high level for the first time in five years, Rivers knew he needed to make a change before this season. That meant recruiting Buckner, who spent the past four seasons as a Cleveland Cavaliers assistant, to join his coaching staff and run the defense.

“I tried to get him to Philly, but him and JB (Bickerstaff) are literally best friends,” Rivers said of Buckner on Wednesday. “I called JB and asked for permission (while with the 76ers), and he was like, ‘Get the hell out of here. No.’ (laughs) And so at least they were honest.

“The minute JB was released from Cleveland, I think I called Buck that day. I said, ‘Hey, listen, I think JB is going to get another job at some point, but…’ And we had a great talk. I met him somewhere. I met him in L.A. probably a couple of times. And then we flew him here and we got it done. So I’ve always liked his philosophy. It matches a lot of what I’ve done in the past.”

“I hate comparing him to anybody, but he did remind me — just his demeanor and his makeup — of (Tom Thibodeau) a little bit because he’s a gym rat,” Rivers said. “He lives and breathes it. And then he’s very commanding, like he’s not messing around. Like, this is what we do. And he sells it.

“And then Cleveland, the last three or four years, they’ve been at the top on defense. I also felt I felt like they matched our team. They played with their size. We have size. We don’t have speed. So I thought we needed to change our philosophy.”

While Rivers has not given a detailed rundown of the Bucks’ defensive strategies to reporters this preseason and we’ve yet to see Antetokounmpo and Lopez share the floor, Rivers made it clear he would like the Bucks to do a better job taking advantage of their dual rim protectors this season.

“I think the biggest change you’ll see in our defense is the basket will never be without one of them. Never,” Rivers told The Athletic during Bucks training camp in Irvine, Calif. “I don’t want Brook running out to f—ing corners. I want Brook protecting the basket. I want our guards to run out to the corners on 3s.

“And so the biggest change we’re making is in our shell defense — forget pick-and-rolls — where we would like both of them down there. But one of them will always be there, and those two now are a tandem. And they gotta understand if one’s out, the other one has to work his way down there, and they’re working on that.”

The changes the Bucks are making this season and the responsibility of teaching the new defensive scheme will fall to Buckner, the Bucks’ defensive coordinator. Rivers told reporters that using a coordinator on one end of the floor was inspired by his practice of following NFL coaches around during their training camps in the summer.

“Football. That’s literally where I got it from,” Rivers said. “I remember way back with Jon Gruden. I trail football coaches during training camp, and Jon Gruden and I walked in the defensive meeting. They start throwing stuff at us.

“(Coming) from basketball, I was like, ‘What the hell?’ And they were joking and they’re like, ‘Hey, coach, he’s never in here. He’s just showing off.’ And when he walked out, he said, ‘No, I don’t even go into defensive meetings.’ For a basketball coach, that’s crazy, but that’s the way it’s done. And so from that point, I changed and started doing it.”

Rivers believes that hiring Thibodeau as associate head coach of the Boston Celtics in 2008 was the first time he had used a defensive coordinator. Since that experience, Rivers says he has now leaned in that direction, outside of a few years with the Los Angeles Clippers where he used an offensive coordinator.

When asked to consider what makes Buckner a strong defensive coordinator, Rivers quickly rattled off three main characteristics.

“Being organized, knowing exactly what you’re supposed to do and holding everybody accountable,” Rivers said.

And while on the outside, fans may only be able to see Buckner throw his hands up in the air after a mistake, Bucks players confirm Buckner is doing plenty to articulate his vision on the floor.

“I mean, he’s gonna correct you. He’s not going to let anything slide,” Wright said. “So, in practices, if anybody messes up, he’s going to correct them because he’s not afraid to coach us. And I feel like the more he does that, the quicker we’re going to get what he wants.”

“He brings like a certain toughness, a certain ideology,” Gary Trent Jr. said. “(He’s a) former player. He was pretty solid on the defensive end during his time. So just bringing what he knows and what coach wants us to do and try to formulate that all in a plan to make it work.”

The Bucks finished last season ranked 19th in defensive rating, per NBA.com. Rivers believes undeniable title contenders must finish the season in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive rating. If the Bucks are going to get to that level on the defensive end, or at least see considerable improvement on defense, they’re going to need “Coach Buck” to take control and coordinate the team’s improvement on that end.

[Packbuckman]

Doc sucks ass that is all

[JimmyTheKid]

"I don't want Brook running out to f***ing corners."

Thats great, Doc. But not only is Brook still running out to corners, he's also guarding Tyreke Haliburton, 1 on 1, IN SPACE, multiple times a game. You know this. You saw this. Your adjustment to fall back into a sh*tty zone was easily eviscerated because zones in the NBA are gimmicky and don't work for long periods of time. Give yourself a chance to win the game. That means going small. That means less to no Brook. That means more minutes for our single mobile big, Jericho Sims.

[msiris]

This was the key play of the game, right after we made a run to be in striking distance.

Read on Twitter

Zaprudering it, it's tough how much to assess blame between all the culprits. It's clear once Kuz switches onto Turner, Bobby should leave that double to help outside, but his strong-suit is covering an area/man, not help. Kuz ideally wouldn't shift to Turner w/ Bobby inside already. But Dame points in Kuz' direction initially, then to Bobby. So you could put this the most on Dame for his miscommunication.

It's an unacceptable team breakdown to leave a wide open shooter, not even having been beaten physically & a microcosm of bigger issues.

But this has happened a lot over the last couple of years. Not just Bobby. Guys napping in the paint. Players look clueless. People want Brook gone, but Bobby can't defend bigs eiher. Prince can't defend smaller or quicker guys and Dame well isDame. Kuzma was fine in the beginning but now he doesn't seem to care.

[CJTURT]

Got nothing out of Trent Jr.