PG: Bucks on the Brink

[ABucksFan]

[quote="Matches Malone"][/quote]

I don't mind ISO, but not when we don't have the players capable of ISO'ing. We just don't have that type of guy on our team. Everyone just wants to trade buckets with KD, so stupid. LOW IQ team and LOW IQ coach.

[Turk Nowitzki]

The only thing wrong with Giannis is that he can't accept the player he is and that he's not the player he dreamed of being when he was a kid/teenager playing basketball for fun. That part of him that still wants to be Kobe or KD is killing us. Until he can let that go, we're destined for playoff failure.

*also learn how to shoot FT's with a normal routine like an actual professional basketball player ffs

[MickeyDavis]

Nobody in this series understands how to move off the ball and no coach is going to fix that. It's just the wrong mix of players. DDV is the worst finisher in the NBA when contested and yet he has made over 60% of his shots at the rim in his career because he has great anticipation, reads the floor well, and recognizes opportunities to get easy finishes. The fact that his teammates find him also shows they have capable passers, but it's only one-off passing. Nobody understands the pass before the assist or the cuts before the cut that leads to an easy basket. Iso, iso, iso. There are similar issues on defense with the lack of anticipation and inability to read complex action instinctively. I'm all for trying a new coach but it's not going to fix the underlying issues. I'm starting to think even a floor general like Lowry or Conley would have trouble getting these guys to stop playing stagnant offense.

I don't know, maybe a micromanaging coach could get them to cut out the dumb plays incrementally, but the lack of good instincts is always going to be an issue IMO. It's actually kind of amazing that they've accomplished as much as they have the last 3 years considering their low BBIQ's. It kind of sucks to be a fan of the big, tall, talented team that keeps getting schooled by smarter, more poised, more gutsy teams they should be able to handle. Even if you like the Bucks as people, I would think a neutral fan sees them as the otherwise intimidating bully that regularly gets put in their place by a small, heroic upstart that you are more inclined to cheer for. And that's basically what it comes down to, bullying teams that have no chance against them and running up the score to hide their insecurities based on knowing they will always fold against true contenders. If I was a neutral fan, I would see them as goliath and take pleasure in them losing the same way I wanted Shaq to lose against the Rockets and Spurs early in his career. The freak has no clothes.

Agree with this. A new coach may improve the team incrementally but this is an overall dumb team that coaching alone can't fix. The team as constructed is not a legit contender. As I said earlier in this thread Giannis is a great player but he's not a smart player.
You can coach a team to death but basketball instincts always take over. And our instincts/BBIQ suck. And it gets amplified X100 in the playoffs.

[midranger]

Part of the problem is that no one has a defined role.

They just take turns bringing the ball up and trying to make something happen.

They aren’t super smart players, but there also isn’t much system to refer to when things get tight.

[machu46]

Nobody in this series understands how to move off the ball and no coach is going to fix that. It's just the wrong mix of players. DDV is the worst finisher in the NBA when contested and yet he has made over 60% of his shots at the rim in his career because he has great anticipation, reads the floor well, and recognizes opportunities to get easy finishes. The fact that his teammates find him also shows they have capable passers, but it's only one-off passing. Nobody understands the pass before the assist or the cuts before the cut that leads to an easy basket. Iso, iso, iso. There are similar issues on defense with the lack of anticipation and inability to read complex action instinctively. I'm all for trying a new coach but it's not going to fix the underlying issues. I'm starting to think even a floor general like Lowry or Conley would have trouble getting these guys to stop playing stagnant offense.

I don't know, maybe a micromanaging coach could get them to cut out the dumb plays incrementally, but the lack of good instincts is always going to be an issue IMO. It's actually kind of amazing that they've accomplished as much as they have the last 3 years considering their low BBIQ's. It kind of sucks to be a fan of the big, tall, talented team that keeps getting schooled by smarter, more poised, more gutsy teams they should be able to handle. Even if you like the Bucks as people, I would think a neutral fan sees them as the otherwise intimidating bully that regularly gets put in their place by a small, heroic upstart that you are more inclined to cheer for. And that's basically what it comes down to, bullying teams that have no chance against them and running up the score to hide their insecurities based on knowing they will always fold against true contenders. If I was a neutral fan, I would see them as goliath and take pleasure in them losing the same way I wanted Shaq to lose against the Rockets and Spurs early in his career. The freak has no clothes.

Agree with this. A new coach may improve the team incrementally but this is an overall dumb team that coaching alone can't fix. The team as constructed is not a legit contender. As I said earlier in this thread Giannis is a great player but he's not a smart player.
You can coach a team to death but basketball instincts always take over. And our instincts/BBIQ suck. And it gets amplified X100 in the playoffs.

I do kinda wonder if a more restrictive offense than Bud's could potentially help remove the thinking from the game for these guys and ultimately pay dividends, but that's not really the way I'd like the team to be built. Might just be the best course of action for this group of guys that we're seemingly locked into though.

But yeah, ultimately, we're a really good team but we just don't value good possessions enough and that tendency to have stretches of lazy/bad offense will almost certainly cost us one of these series even if we survive this one.

[paulpressey25]

Part of the problem is that no one has a defined role.

They just take turns bringing the ball up and trying to make something happen.

They aren’t super smart players, but there also isn’t much system to refer to when things get tight.

This is why you don’t spend a “Harden/AD level”trade package on a guy whose career has been defined as a player without a role, Jrue Holiday. We needed a Lowry.

[Siefer]

I’d like to thank Khris Middleton for showing up in games 3-5.

He was really the only guy last night who at least played at the level he’s capable of.

He's our smartest guy out there. He doesn't have the personality, or the elite playmaking (though he's good when his handle isn't being attacked) to drag us out of these messes, but he's a tier better than Jrue at running the offense in the half court, and miles ahead of Giannis. That's all to say we really miss guys like Brogdon and Hill.

[midranger]

Part of the problem is that no one has a defined role.

They just take turns bringing the ball up and trying to make something happen.

They aren’t super smart players, but there also isn’t much system to refer to when things get tight.

This is why you don’t spend a “Harden/AD level”trade package on a guy whose career has been defined as a player without a role, Jrue Holiday. We needed a Lowry.

I mean, okay.

But the coach could also install something besides tape boxes around the arc. Three years. No changes. No chemistry. Nothing.

The guy sucks.

[BucksRule18]

The players have there share to blame no doubt, but we've seen for 3 years now in the playoffs just how inept Bud is in big moments. Feels like the series is over, but im reminded we're still in this lol. its a crazy feeling.

I think you could also back to how he coached those Hawks' playoff teams when under pressure.

[M-C-G]

Nobody in this series understands how to move off the ball and no coach is going to fix that. It's just the wrong mix of players. DDV is the worst finisher in the NBA when contested and yet he has made over 60% of his shots at the rim in his career because he has great anticipation, reads the floor well, and recognizes opportunities to get easy finishes. The fact that his teammates find him also shows they have capable passers, but it's only one-off passing. Nobody understands the pass before the assist or the cuts before the cut that leads to an easy basket. Iso, iso, iso. There are similar issues on defense with the lack of anticipation and inability to read complex action instinctively. I'm all for trying a new coach but it's not going to fix the underlying issues. I'm starting to think even a floor general like Lowry or Conley would have trouble getting these guys to stop playing stagnant offense.

I don't know, maybe a micromanaging coach could get them to cut out the dumb plays incrementally, but the lack of good instincts is always going to be an issue IMO. It's actually kind of amazing that they've accomplished as much as they have the last 3 years considering their low BBIQ's. It kind of sucks to be a fan of the big, tall, talented team that keeps getting schooled by smarter, more poised, more gutsy teams they should be able to handle. Even if you like the Bucks as people, I would think a neutral fan sees them as the otherwise intimidating bully that regularly gets put in their place by a small, heroic upstart that you are more inclined to cheer for. And that's basically what it comes down to, bullying teams that have no chance against them and running up the score to hide their insecurities based on knowing they will always fold against true contenders. If I was a neutral fan, I would see them as goliath and take pleasure in them losing the same way I wanted Shaq to lose against the Rockets and Spurs early in his career. The freak has no clothes.

Agree with this. A new coach may improve the team incrementally but this is an overall dumb team that coaching alone can't fix. The team as constructed is not a legit contender. As I said earlier in this thread Giannis is a great player but he's not a smart player.
You can coach a team to death but basketball instincts always take over. And our instincts/BBIQ suck. And it gets amplified X100 in the playoffs.

I haven't read all 27 pages, but a big part of the problem is the way Giannis plays and it gets compounded when he is being an idiot. -He holds the ball for long periods of time and continually backs out to the behind the three
-Is way too prone to just charging right at guys or using the spin which other teams are stripping at an alarming rate
-When he has the ball, no one knows what to do, zero cuts off ball they all want to stay out of his way
-In this series, he is still kind of demanding the ball from Middleton and Jrue, but he is doing it at the free throw line which is clogging everything up for everybody
-Although the new little floaters is a nice wrinkle if he can hit it, he continually makes the game of basketball and scoring harder than it has to be by the way he plays, never mind bailing out crap defenders like Harden with turnaround fade aways that I suspect he shoots about 20% on
-And the freethrow routine, my god how did we get to this point...terrible free throw routine, takes forever, the whole time the crowd is getting in his head, then on top of taking too long he has like a hitch stop in the middle of the throw. His routine literally gives him more time than anyone else in NBA history to either be psyched out by the crowd or psych himself out on top of crappy mechanics
-Other than the Forbes handoffs which are probably not great shots, his gravity has almost been zero for this entire series
-And why in the world wouldn't we put him on Durant? Middleton did and admirable job, but maybe the guy with a 6-12" higher reach could disrupt him more?

I am not sure what is going on in his head, but he is playing like a moron and it almost seems like he is willing to be a moron to prove some kind of point. I've never been this frustrated because if he wants to set this hero ball crap aside, we win last night, we win the series and have a legit shot at the NBA title. But if he wants to KD or recreate Kawhi's playoffs, this team isn't going anywhere.

[SupremeHustle]

Just jumped to 5.5 favorites tomorrow..

That number will likely grow. popular opinion is harden will sit and nets will limit KDs minutes and play to win game 7.

Hilarious if true.

[GHOSTofSIKMA]

getting an elite playmaker would elevate middleton and lopez more than giannis. we need to recognize that

i think an elite playmaker would want giannis to quit mucking everything up anytime he wasnt involved in a play.

[StickeeFingaz]

Can we stop describing the Jrue trade package as "AD level"? We didn't give up all those picks AND a Josh Hart/Lonzo Ball/Brandon Ingram package. It's not even close.

[EastSideBucksFan]

Part of the problem is that no one has a defined role.

They just take turns bringing the ball up and trying to make something happen.

They aren’t super smart players, but there also isn’t much system to refer to when things get tight.

This is why you don’t spend a “Harden/AD level”trade package on a guy whose career has been defined as a player without a role, Jrue Holiday. We needed a Lowry.

Can't disagree

Bucks painted themselves in a corner and then had to do whatever it took to get Giannis to sign

Trading Jrue and/or Mids needs to be on the table this summer

But, only way we get an upgrade is if Giannis can get Steph, Dame or Beal to demand a trade to Bucks

Otherwise, all we can do this summer is fire the coach and move around some edge pieces.

[GHOSTofSIKMA]

jrues value to this team defensively is wickedly underrated here. when the new coach comes in and starts mixing up our defensive looks and running something besides let it fly or giannis/middleton sets up top hes going to be worth alot more than he is to us now

[ABucksFan]

I honestly feel like Khris and Jrue are kind of checked out and super annoyed at Giannis. They're too nice to really call his ass out too. Their selfish moments stem from Giannis and it's really frustrating. Giannis just isn't as good as he thinks he is.

[Profound23]

At this point part of me just wishes we lose tomorrow because I am sick of this team.....not to mention all of our teams.....getting my hopes up for nothing.

Only a small part though because I want to beat Blake Griffin if nothing else.

[Ron Swanson]

The 2019 Raptors didn't win a championship because they switched coaches. They won because they went out and got a player who doesn't **** his pants when games tighten up. This team needs a drastic overhaul from top to bottom. The new GM will have a 4-5 year window to build a roster around Giannis. As flawed a superstar as he is, they'll have to do a better job of surrounding him with the right talent than Jon Horst has done.

[StickeeFingaz]

I kinda feel like we win this in 7.

[ABucksFan]

We are the Raptors pre-Kawahii.