PG Bulls - Win

[rilamann]

I like what AJ Green brings, think he is more playable than just a 3 pt shot or nothing type player. He gives good effort and I don't think he gets killed defensively. He needs to shoot better than he has this year, but he could easily be a contributor.

Yeah, this notion that AJ Green gets hunted and destroyed defensively every second that he's on the court is a fable.

[BigO]

The Bucks are now back down to 23rd in Defensive Rating. The offense is awesome(3rd in ORTG) and good enough to carry them to wins against bad teams. But that defensive number just flat out isn't going to cut it if the Bucks want to win a title.

Griffin's forte, in his own words, is defense. He has no offensive philosophy, so he defers to others.

Conclusion: Bucks would be better off if Griffin had no strengths.

[buckboy]

The legend of Bryn Forbes continues to grow. He had 2 good games in blowout wins and scored like 110 points in the other 21 games in those playoffs.

[Brewhoopfan]

The Bucks are now back down to 23rd in Defensive Rating. The offense is awesome(3rd in ORTG) and good enough to carry them to wins against bad teams. But that defensive number just flat out isn't going to cut it if the Bucks want to win a title.

I'm confident a good coach with a solid scheme aligning with the Bucks strengths can get the Bucks to the upper teens. As bad as Griffin has been, this roster isn't capable of being above league average.

[German Athens]

Giannis has been so much better with not holding down turbo and barrelling into guys. he had a quote about it last night:

“They were double-teaming and guys were open,” Antetokounmpo said. “In the pick-and-roll, they were showing hard, guys were slipping (screens), they were open again. When I got the ball in the pocket, they were coming and swarming me. Brook was open. Guys in the corner were open. I was just trying to make the right play.

“There’s going to be games and there’s going to be teams around the league that I’m going to draw so much attention, which sometimes me taking a shot over two guys is not the best shot. Me trying to play in the crowd is not the best shot. I think I’ve gotten to the point that I’ve accepted that.”

He's figuring it out and his efficiency is off the charts.

He's keeping his dribble alive longer, which is huge. Good on the short roll without a dribble, sure, but when he's driving, he's often not picking the ball up until he's well into the paint and can use those long legs to get an edge from a near-standstill. It's an important step toward actually utilizing the ball-handling skill that makes him so unique.

Yes, definitely. It’s been the most encouraging development of the season so far for me.

It’s always been about space for Giannis, but that conversation always went to space=3p shooting. The reality is there’s other ways to carve out space. How about a pick n roll 15 feet from the basket where you put the defender on your back (like what he did to Patrick williams last night in crunch time)? Sounds like space to me.

Giannis keeping his dribble alive and being patient with the ball have been great to see, and I think it’s something that will make him much more dangerous in the playoffs. It honestly could be the biggest Giannis development we’ve seen in years.

[Siefer]

This team is deeply unpleasant to watch on D, but the offense is indeed awesome, even with Dame not looking right.

Dame's a hard guy to read, but sometimes he seems pretty damn frustrated and he's not always moving very well. I could see him bouncing hard off the coaching, and I could also see this being a lingering injury (oblique?) that he's trying to power through.

[El Pooch Grande]

Sources say Griffin is getting fired. I don’t trust my sources. But this is the first time I’ve heard it from them?

Like he's legit getting fired or he's on the hot seat if they don't improve?

This person I know is well connected. There’s concerns about my trust just because they usually don’t say much, I don’t know them that well, so I don’t really know what to make of it. There’s no timeline so I would read this as turbulence - does that result in a firing at any moment? Probably, if this is accurate.

So from the sounds of what you’re hearing it appears that Griff is “on notice” so to speak?

[MissKhriddleton]

Like he's legit getting fired or he's on the hot seat if they don't improve?

This person I know is well connected. There’s concerns about my trust just because they usually don’t say much, I don’t know them that well, so I don’t really know what to make of it. There’s no timeline so I would read this as turbulence - does that result in a firing at any moment? Probably, if this is accurate.

So from the sounds of what you’re hearing it appears that Griff is “on notice” so to speak?

He’s on a PIP.

[MissKhriddleton]

The legend of Bryn Forbes continues to grow. He had 2 good games in blowout wins and scored like 110 points in the other 21 games in those playoffs.

Please do not diminish the contributions of Bryn Forbes to the championship run in 2021. Him and his 3-point shooting captured the hearts of an entire city.

[BUCKnation]

I think that play toward the end of regulation when Beasley gambled for a steal instead of staying in front of Coby White and lead to a wide open 3 at the end of the shot clock was a nice summation of Griff's D this year.

[tedbrogen]

I legitimately don't understand how we're the 4th best defense with a 98.6 DRTG in the clutch. Like, this team really does wait until they're about to lose in order to clamp up defensively.

I’d like others take on why as well, but to me it’s a few factors:
1) Dame and Midds definitely pace themselves and don’t go all out on D until they absolutely need to (we’ve seen repeated instances where they are getting cooked for most of the game then are making stops in ISO in the last couple minutes)
2) Brook also has a bit more juice late in games and will occasionally make a nice play when switched onto a guard (see the block on White last night or that block on KD in game 7)
3) Giannis turns up on the intensity even more and is all over the court (he picked DD’s pocket in ISO last night but the ball unluckily ended up in White’s hands for an open three)
4) They’ve gotten lucky a couple games when they gave up wide open threes that would have tied the game. So small sample size benefiting them?
5) The offense is so efficient and puts so much pressure on the other team to match shot for shot that it just becomes too much for the opponent’s to handle so most of them wilt

[AussieBuck]

Giannis with fouls to spare at the end of games is a menace.

[tedbrogen]

I think that play toward the end of regulation when Beasley gambled for a steal instead of staying in front of Coby White and lead to a wide open 3 at the end of the shot clock was a nice summation of Griff's D this year.

So much this. And it’s not a knock on Beas who has been awesome the last few weeks. AG clearly wants them to go for steals but it makes no sense because it puts an older team that doesn’t want to really try until the last five minutes into constant rotations. So their lack of energy and effort is giving up wide open shots and offensive rebounds.

The bit of effort they do show is wasted going for steals and guarding guys 30 feet from the rim. The low key reason the zone works sometimes is it keeps everything in front of them, stops the over aggressiveness, and lets dumb-dumbs take low percentage 30 foot threes.

And while I think Beas has been doing his absolute best on D, the idea that you want him guarding Hali 1on1 late in games is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen an NBA coach do.

[Diggr14]

Why are they holding onto griffin. Can we be done with this already?

[AussieBuck]

Why are they holding onto griffin. Can we be done with this already?

Even if everyone with power agrees it needs to happen, you have to imagine that they want to find a sweet spot of less embarrassment from a super early admitting of **** up the hire and enough time for the replacement to save the season. They also have to sound out the replacement on the quiet and get all the needed ducks in a row.

Half a season sounds about right. Get the new coach in with a couple of weeks before the all star break to implement something in time for playoffs.

[tedbrogen]

Why are they holding onto griffin. Can we be done with this already?

Even if everyone with power agrees it needs to happen, you have to imagine that they want to find a sweet spot of less embarrassment from a super early admitting of **** up the hire and enough time for the replacement to save the season. They also have to sound out the replacement on the quiet and get all the needed ducks in a row.

Half a season sounds about right. Get the new coach in with a couple of weeks before the all star break to implement something in time for playoffs.

I’d argue coming off that hilariously bad performance against the Pacers and then almost losing to the Bulls, again, is a nice sweet spot for firing Grief. But I guess waiting to get boatraced by the Pacers on Wednesday works too.

[Karsenmitsche]

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[nagawicka]

Lillard taking 4 more shots than anyone else while shooting 17% is laughable. Other starters + Bobby shot 34 / 57.

so far i think his total impact is below what we had with bledsoe. and im tired of pretending it isnt

There's obvious spacing impact even when he's sucking. Giannis has never had this space before.

The misuse of newly-acquired star athletes in this manner is negligent as hell and has to stop right now. Dame is not here to stand to one side while Giannis plays like a broken record over and over until it doesn't work anymore. Giannis is playing much much better and reaping the benefits but like everyone's saying that's not good enough when the team looks broken and plays like this. Signing superstar wide receiver John Jefferson to pair with James Lofton is totally wasted when you never throw the ball to him; bringing in Dame to have some effect by NOT having him, y'know, PLAY but instead just stand off to one side for excellent spacing is, well, sorta lazy; it buys what it won't work for, and that's not enough; it's not sufficient basis to set some wild expectation that brilliant level of play will magically gel INSTANTLY without the mke mamu mystique to make manifest some mojo. sidney lanier is right : working a new roster to the point of gelling is more likely to be ugly than somehow resemble some fan's dream parade of instant gratification. Every team has to work out the kinks every single season and if that were pretty or a guaranteed rose garden no one would show up to witness the fireworks.

[nagawicka]

Should wait until Jae Crowder is healthy before jumping to anything.

Crowder really had it goin' and it'd be fantastic to see him come back just as strong-- Can't help but think that Jae's contribution right about now would've offered some stability. Imagine rotating Jae, midds, and PJ Tucker for high-energy minutes and vet continuity while giannis and dame and the scheme sorts itself out

[ReasonablySober]

Should wait until Jae Crowder is healthy before jumping to anything.

Crowder really had it goin' and it'd be fantastic to see him come back just as strong-- Can't help but think that Jae's contribution right about now would've offered some stability. Imagine rotating Jae, midds, and PJ Tucker for high-energy minutes and vet continuity while giannis and dame and the scheme sorts itself out

Top four lineups by minutes.

Lillard/Beasley/Middleton/Giannis/Lopez +17.8
Lillard/Beasley/Pat/Giannis/Lopez +20.5
Lillard/Beasley/Crowder/Giannis/Lopez -6.8
Lillard/Beasley/Pat/Portis/Lopez +21.7