PG Indy - Pathetic

[ABucksFan]

If it's true that Giannis signed off on Grief, I find it hard for Giannis to say fire him because it would be admitting that he made a huge mistake. I think this is why in PG interviews he's optimistic and wants to work through it. Given that Giannis is a pretty stubborn dude, doubt we can get rid of Grief. Makes me sick to my stomach.

[-Jragon-]

Khris keeps doing his Bud impression from on the floor. Whenever Dame makes a shot or 2 you can bet your bottom dollar Khris says, 'my turn' and brings the ball coast to coast without even letting Dame touch it... Dame isn't that type of player... when he's hot you literally have to force feed him and let him get scortching. The problem is, Khris might need the same thing... Stagger their minutes AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE (for that and defensive reasons) or trade Khris and get someone else in that can contribute without having the ball much and gives more hustle/defense/screens. Time is running out to fix the roster.. maybe the coach staggering them fixes this bs... also Khris falling on his a$$ after demanding the ball from Dame up top was super *special wtf... Indy could double KM and take it anytime they wanted, they just saved it for an inopportune moment to humiliate us

Then when they are in without each other center the top of the offense around the one that's in.. screen for them and get them open and let them each keep shooting if they are hot instead of competing with each other. Give Khris the lead dog role for 7 min in the 2nd and 8 or 9 min in the the 3rd and beginning the 4th.. let someone else close that can D up and set screens for Dame and let him get back to Dame Time Dame. Some of those games he won at the end Khris wasn't playing. Giannis still will get his underneath.

[DingleJerry]

IDK, Khris shouldn't really be the lead ever when you have Giannis/Dame. Of course other than the occasional set or possession that just happens, I mean as far as planning "you are the lead ballhandler/initiator" for this 5 min stretch. Khris should be Klay Thompson style sharpshooting. Those other two infinitely better at leading than him and Khris quickness has fallen off so its even more difficult for him now, and he was never an elite ballhandler. Just take your wide open shots and drill them. He really shouldn't be the type that needs the ball in his hands

[tydett]

I think the "Griffin was Giannis' guy" thing is a bit overblown. I get the idea that Giannis really liked Ham and thought that Darvin was a good communicator of Bud's principles. I think when he left, there was some frustrations with Bud that kind of came to a head, and Giannis decided he wanted another coach more like Ham (a former player, long time assistant) than a guy like Bud. Griffin reminded him more of Ham while Nurse was more like Bud - and fresh off a disappointing season - Giannis said he'd prefer Griffin's background. I don't think it's anything more than that, and that if replaced, I don't think Giannis would lose much sleep.

[Ryan5UW]

Khris keeps doing his Bud impression from on the floor. Whenever Dame makes a shot or 2 you can bet your bottom dollar Khris says, 'my turn' and brings the ball coast to coast without even letting Dame touch it... Dame isn't that type of player... when he's hot you literally have to force feed him and let him get scortching. The problem is, Khris might need the same thing... Stagger their minutes AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE (for that and defensive reasons) or trade Khris and get someone else in that can contribute without having the ball much and gives more hustle/defense/screens. Time is running out to fix the roster.. maybe the coach staggering them fixes this bs... also Khris falling on his a$$ after demanding the ball from Dame up top was super *special wtf... Indy could double KM and take it anytime they wanted, they just saved it for an inopportune moment to humiliate us

I think Giannis has some guilt in some of this too. I can't remember which game it was, but I remember reading that (while Dame was hot) Giannis was in the huddle during a time out saying they needed to get Khris more involved.

[emunney]

As a team we've just got to stop bellying up to dudes 35-40 feet from the rim.

Either this or coherently getting back on defense are the lowest hanging fruit. They're connected, too, because picking up super high is either reason 1a or 1b the reason the paint is empty in transition.

The entire thing is ridiculous. Smart coaches and teams with a modicum of talent know they just blow past the Bucks. Then you either take the floater, or you dish to the cutter for the layup or dunk.

Another nonsensical component of this is why Giannis is many times a long ways from the hoop, ostensibly guarding the "corner three". I saw this a lot last night. He's so far from the hoop, he can't recover fast enough.

When he should be doing the opposite! You can recover to contest that shot (and Giannis has been doing it for years) much easier than you can get to the opposite side of the rim from the corner.

[-Jragon-]

You guys are right... I just mean that if Khris needs a bunch of shots in small amounts of time to get hot and Dame does too then create that opportunity by staggering their minutes. They kind of are competing with each other in the same role but also detracting from each other. Khris had some really nice stretches last night but also yes I'd prefer to handle it less at the top than he wants to since he's easy to trap for athletic teams like Indy.

[BUCKnation]

Going small was fun (finally) and the team actually showing some emotion when getting their a** beat was nice to see (finally) even though the results werent there.

[FrieAaron]

This conversation has me looking at the usage rating of our big three:

Giannis - 32.2
Dame - 27.0
Khris - 23.8

That's a higher usage for Giannis than 2 of Bud's years and this is the lowest Lillards usage has been since 2014/15. I just see no reason why Dame should have a usage rate closer to Khris than Giannis. Offensively we're still beating a lot of teams on talent alone but even there it feels like we're still not playing to our strengths at this point.

[jimmybones]

From the General Board, outside perspective, Nuggets fan:

After watching Adrian Griffin's post game interview... the Bucks are in a lot of trouble if they don't sack this guy soon.

[-Jragon-]

I hope we're showcasing KM with that usage rate and Giannis/Dame are in on it... maybe he wants to go closer to his hometown for his last years and lead a team or maybe he loved Texas

[aboveAverage]

I came across this gem from Grief talking about our defense before the season started.

https://wtmj.com/sports/2023/10/16/bucks-coach-griffin-breaks-down-defense-starters/

The first-year head coach said that protecting the paint and minimizing high-percentage shots, including paint touches and free throws, will be the top priority for his team. From there, the team will look at taking away corner three-pointers — the easiest type of 3-point shot to make, statistically.

Last, but certainly not least, Coach Griffin says his Milwaukee Bucks will try to chase shooters away from above-the-break 3-pointers, forcing them into contested jumpers from deep or in the mid-range area. Once the bread-and-butter of NBA jump shooters, non-paint, two-point shot attempts are now considered the most favorable from a defender’s perspective.

“We’re not going to ever leave one guy on the island. Obviously, you’ve gotta take pride in guarding your man, keeping him in the front, but we’ve got to help each other; and when somebody helps, you’ve got to help the helper so we’re tied together, and that’s what makes a great defensive team,” Coach Griffin explained.

I mean, we are 26th in the league at protecting the paint, and the worst team in the league over our last 5-6 games (even worse than the Pistons, Spurs etc).

Does the Front Office do this simple level of self-analysis or do they simply say "Ahhh we're 24-10, we have Giannis and Dame, we'll be fine" and end the self-reflection there? There can't be many positive stats around this team other than 4th quarter net rating maybe? Ballooned by offensive rating.

Horst is a smart guy. I’m sure he’s well aware of the problems with this team. I guarantee you that he’s not happy with our defense. Let’s see what he decides to do about it.

[jimmybones]

What's extra wild to me about trying to place this emphasis on turnovers is that not only do we not have the defensive personnel to do it but we also have the offensive personnel to make it an unnecessary risk. If your team is full of athletes but can't score in the halfcourt, it makes sense. Our team is built to efficiently score in the halfcourt. You don't need defense to create offense when your offense can create offense. Make teams consistently make tough contested shots to beat us and own the boards, not chase them and open the red carpet for them to walk in to the lane.

[BroncoBuck]

From the General Board, outside perspective, Nuggets fan:

After watching Adrian Griffin's post game interview... the Bucks are in a lot of trouble if they don't sack this guy soon.

We’ve been getting dunked on by every analyst and talking head all season, but a segment of Bucks fans called them out because we whooped up on the dredges of the league for a month. You’d think Griff had the resumé of Steve Kerr with the leash he’s gotten.

[DingleJerry]

From the General Board, outside perspective, Nuggets fan:

After watching Adrian Griffin's post game interview... the Bucks are in a lot of trouble if they don't sack this guy soon.

We’ve been getting dunked on by every analyst and talking head all season, but a segment of Bucks fans called them out because we whooped up on the dredges of the league for a month. You’d think Griff had the resumé of Steve Kerr with the leash he’s gotten.

Thing was they weren't even whooping up on them. They were skating by crap teams

[soboMP3]

Who exactly was giving Griffin any more than "lets give him XX games"?