Round 2, Game 2 - Bucks vs. Heat - 9/2- 5:30 CDT, 1:30 AM Athens, 8:30 AM Sydney - ESPN

[th87]

I won't feel totally out of it unless we fall behind 3-0 honestly. Would much rather be tied 1-1 than down 0-2 though.

I might agree if we had some ice-water dudes. Giannis will definitely miss clutch free throws, Middleton will go cold and throw the ball away, and Bledsoe...

Really should've tried acquiring Butler from Minnesota.

[MrHoneycutt]

Dear Coach Bud,

Please reward our collective hope and faith in you by doing something you have almost NEVER done before: adjusting your plans when faced with adversity, a wall, and/or diminishing returns.

Yours and love to the missus, Mr. Jerald Honeycutt

--

All in. 120 (118?)-104, series tied 1-1.

[Daver]

Funny thing is as well as butler played(40 pts) the bucks had many chances to win last game thats the frustrating part.The bucks shot better from 3 pt land which by itself is amazing.
They hit their FTs like the celts do or miami does cut down on unforced TOs score would of been different.I know would of could of should of

[Isocleas2]

I actually liked the changes they made to the defense to deny the heat 3s, they just were missing some needed personel. If bled (and wes) are healthy I think the defense clicks and bucks win by 10.

Clean up the turnovers, rebound a little better and stop bailing them out with stupid fouls. Its all stuff the Bucks normally are pretty smart about, so i have hope they make the needed corrections.

[DrWood]

The conditioning of the Bucks is terrible and it’s been a problem. Bud likes to play his most important players low minutes to prevent injuries to them. The downside of this is that they never get accustomed to playing big minutes so when big minutes are needed, they don’t perform well down the stretch because they’re exhausted. Below are some shooting stats this season for our two stars (FGM/FGA FG%):

In games playing less than 35 minutes:
Giannis: 711/1263 56.3%
Middleton: 476/969 49.1%

In the 4th quarter and OT of games when playing less than 35 minutes:
Giannis: 135/225 60.0%
Middleton: 86/168 51.2%

In the 4th quarter and OT of games when playing more than 35 minutes:
Giannis: 39/87 44.8%
Middleton: 33/74 44.6%

That's a great example of statistical bias.
They play more than 35 minutes against better teams or when they haven't been playing well.

[Plossum]

We’ll find out what Giannis is made of tomorrow. I think he’s going to come out and dunk on fools. Here’s hoping.

[Magic Giannison]

Hopefully this time we play with more passion and not just stay and look around doing nothing, this is for both players and coaches....

GO BUCKS GO

[AussieBuck]

We’ll find out what Giannis is made of tomorrow. I think he’s going to come out and dunk on fools. Here’s hoping.

I totally get this POV but he's also playing only reliable initiator and the only big guy role depending on if Lopez can stay on court. It's more than anyone should expect but I also kind of expect him to do it so I dunno. Not saying he's anywhere blameless for game one or won't be if game 2 goes bad but it just seems like a lot of one man glue holding this **** together. On a somewhat related note, I think we need to just pretend this is pre-bubble and more and just play Donte every minute he can handle and hope for the best and maybe he goes into NCAAA muscle memory mode. Giannis hanging out beyond the three point line trying to run things just makes me sad.

[AussieBuck]

We did the thing where you have Miami go into an 8 minute scoring draught where they got 9 points, only problem was that we only got 8 points in that time. I'm torn between tragic repeat and everyone finding that magic and blowing their door off by 20. I'm not above morning drinking if it goes bad though.

[mediocrityrules]

Have we found the switch yet? I have a feeling we left it back in Milwaukee.

[Bucknado]

It would be nice to have some rebounding on the floor so we can get into transition. Hopefully Bled can go.

[mediocrityrules]

No easy turnovers would be great. None of this almost absent-minded dribbling into the lane and then realizing that you have no outlet, but throwing it anyway.

[FlagsFlyForever]

The conditioning of the Bucks is terrible and it’s been a problem. Bud likes to play his most important players low minutes to prevent injuries to them. The downside of this is that they never get accustomed to playing big minutes so when big minutes are needed, they don’t perform well down the stretch because they’re exhausted. Below are some shooting stats this season for our two stars (FGM/FGA FG%):

In games playing less than 35 minutes:
Giannis: 711/1263 56.3%
Middleton: 476/969 49.1%

In the 4th quarter and OT of games when playing less than 35 minutes:
Giannis: 135/225 60.0%
Middleton: 86/168 51.2%

In the 4th quarter and OT of games when playing more than 35 minutes:
Giannis: 39/87 44.8%
Middleton: 33/74 44.6%

That's a great example of statistical bias.
They play more than 35 minutes against better teams or when they haven't been playing well.

Then why does it only impact Giannis and Middleton late in those games? If what you say is true and fatigue is not a factor in their decreased productivity, then wouldn't you expect them to struggle throughout the entire game? But that's not the case.

Giannis has played >35 minutes in 12 games this season. In those 12 games, Giannis shot 92/168 (54.8%) in the first three quarters and 39/87 (44.8%) in the 4th quarter and overtime.

Middleton has played >35 minutes in 11 games this season. In those 11 games, Middleton shot 76/146 (52.1%) in the first three quarters and 33/74 (44.6%) in the 4th quarter and overtime.

[Sigra]

I think we lose this one and then win next 2. I also think this will go 7 games.

[machu46]

The conditioning of the Bucks is terrible and it’s been a problem. Bud likes to play his most important players low minutes to prevent injuries to them. The downside of this is that they never get accustomed to playing big minutes so when big minutes are needed, they don’t perform well down the stretch because they’re exhausted. Below are some shooting stats this season for our two stars (FGM/FGA FG%):

In games playing less than 35 minutes:
Giannis: 711/1263 56.3%
Middleton: 476/969 49.1%

In the 4th quarter and OT of games when playing less than 35 minutes:
Giannis: 135/225 60.0%
Middleton: 86/168 51.2%

In the 4th quarter and OT of games when playing more than 35 minutes:
Giannis: 39/87 44.8%
Middleton: 33/74 44.6%

That's a great example of statistical bias.
They play more than 35 minutes against better teams or when they haven't been playing well.

Then why does it only impact Giannis and Middleton late in those games? If what you say is true and fatigue is not a factor in their decreased productivity, then wouldn't you expect them to struggle throughout the entire game? But that's not the case.

Giannis has played >35 minutes in 12 games this season. In those 12 games, Giannis shot 92/168 (54.8%) in the first three quarters and 39/87 (44.8%) in the 4th quarter and overtime.

Middleton has played >35 minutes in 11 games this season. In those 11 games, Middleton shot 76/146 (52.1%) in the first three quarters and 33/74 (44.6%) in the 4th quarter and overtime.

Most likely just boils down to forcing shots at the end of tight games IMO. As you point out there, they're nearly doubling their shot attempts in the 4th quarter relative to the first 3. I would imagine the shot quality is far worse as a result.

[machu46]

Read on Twitter

This is pretty much it. If Butler is going to beat us by getting flukey hot on his jumpers, so be it. Our rim protection has to be a lot better moving forwards than it was in Game 1.

[steger_3434]

We did a great job limiting their threes. I’d rather use that same scheme and if dragic and butler beat us then so be it. Even with those two playing as well as they did without missed free throws we win the game


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[ReasonablySober]

Read on Twitter

[machu46]

Read on Twitter

I guess at least we know Bud is in fact calling the refs out. Guessing this story won't gain too much traction outside of NBA fans trashing the Bucks for this. Certainly don't expect anything to change in the games.

[Pachinko_]

Not gonna lie we kinda suck at the moment, and not just one guy. That break really killed our momentum.
Only hope there's enough games left to gain some of it back.