PG Utah: Bucks run out of gas

[Ron Swanson]

That Jae may or may not be cooked is pretty much the reason why I don't think flipping Bobby for Grant Williams is the worst idea. Personally I think he has something left in the tank, but it's not like you're really gonna know for sure until after the trade deadline.

[Siefer]

Jae looks like Jae out of the corner of my eye, but he's not rebounding, can't really handle the wings he's on, and his shooting has fallen off. I know he's still working his way back from injury, but his lineup numbers are absolutely terrible. I just can't see how we can keep rolling these bench guys out there like this.

[sidney lanier]

One thing I liked last night was the cohesion. When the punk Sexton clocked Giannis in the face (no call, of course) and then stood over him like Ali over Sonny Liston...



... Beasley went after him. And in the 4th qtr, when Olynyk elbowed AJ Green (no call, of course), Crowder was there to administer just retribution.

OK, a loss, but a team evolving into one with loyalty to the new coach and each other. I don't see a better one in the East.

[HKPackFan]

We sort of need Brogdon back guys. Can play D, run the offense and look for his own shot.

I thought you wanted to get younger. He's also in early 30s.

[Profound23]

All I know is the Bucks missed like 20 wide open shots coming from Giannis setting them up perfectly. He attacked, drew the double/triple teams and kicked it out for an open shot.....which was bricked at least 5-6 times in crunch time.

Jazz made every shot in the final few minutes and the Bucks missed every open shot. Jazz did not play better defense than us, we just missed easy shots. I have seen some improvement from this team over the past week, especially on defense.

[Ron Swanson]

Weird that the instant improvement in the defense has seemingly come at the expense of the offense. Since Griff was canned, we're up to 11th in defense, but the offense has been 18th during that same span. I guess I wouldn't put too much stock into it until we see a larger sample.

[msiris]

Weird that the instant improvement in the defense has seemingly come at the expense of the offense. Since Griff was canned, we're up to 11th in defense, but the offense has been 18th during that same span. I guess I wouldn't put too much stock into it until we see a larger sample.

That comes fom a slower pace. Like I posted before last night they had 12 3s, which they made only 2 , and 5 2s in the 4th. Not going to win too many games doing that Not having Khris or Brook closing out really hurt us. Bobby and Jaes D was so bad last night.

[Prez]

After sleeping on it, I’m not as annoyed. 2nd of a B2B at altitude in Utah, down Brook/Khris, having to play Pat for trade deadline purposes most likely, hobbled Dame and to an extent Giannis as well, and garbage officiating. That’s a lot of cope, I acknowledge that, but I think most of it is fair.

The process defensively is so much better that we at least have a chance in all these games.

If Horst can replace Bobby/Pat with a real defensive guard/wing somehow I’m still feeling pretty good.

[paulpressey25]

We sort of need Brogdon back guys. Can play D, run the offense and look for his own shot.

I thought you wanted to get younger. He's also in early 30s.

I want to win a title. He’s the one player on the market who checks multiple boxes for us, assuming he can stay healthy.

[Siefer]

Weird that the instant improvement in the defense has seemingly come at the expense of the offense. Since Griff was canned, we're up to 11th in defense, but the offense has been 18th during that same span. I guess I wouldn't put too much stock into it until we see a larger sample.

Small sample and missing guys, but I could see the offense taking a step back for a bit as they work on a better plan than "good players score somehow."

[paulpressey25]

Nate and Danny did a recap of the game.

-noted Olynyk coming in to run the offense was what changed the game around. Was spacing the floor, allowing them to drive.

-said Dunn did a great job blanketing Dame

-were glad Beasley only got a tech for body checking Sexton. Said Sexton did a complete acting job, pretending he was knocked over.

[raferfenix]

I want to win a title. He’s the one player on the market who checks multiple boxes for us, assuming he can stay healthy.

Betting on Brogdon staying on the court is scary.

However if he ever were to do it playing a big role during a deep playoff run in his contract year certainly would be motivating.

If the health wasn't a concern we couldn't get him on the (relative) cheap. But we'd also need to be ready to pay the man unless we want to cede that salary slot.

[JimmyTheKid]

Colin Sexton is the absolute worst in so many ways. Yaps all night. Elbows Giannis is the face, talks sh*t to the GOAT while he's down, then flops on Beasley's soft shoulder, spends all night flailing and screaming every time he initiates contact on a drive (while OF COURSE somehow getting a more generous whistle than Dame). If Cam, Pat, Jae, and Robin (ROBIN!!) are are here/part of the rotation after the trade deadline, this is going to be a brutal second half of the season. Waking up in cold sweats to the flashbacks of Andre Jackson, Jr. planted on the bench a la early in the year. And Doc's one regret was not going back to Robin? For what exactly?

[Brewhoopfan]

Positives: The first half was as connected defensively as they've been all year. Dairy Bird was really good on both ends in the first half. Giannis midrange game was on point. Bobby was great offensively.

Negatives: Doc drove the starters into the ground - no chance getting 50/50 balls in the 4th. Bobby was just brutal defensively. Again. He has exactly 1 block in the last 261 minutes on the court. Dame: yuck.

[tydett]

I guess I'm in the minority that just expected us to get stomped from the beginning. Didn't expect Giannis or Dame to play as much as they did (and Dame wasn't very effective anyways), but those two guys showed us what we already know - there's always a chance to win when they play.

Reminder that this Bucks team got absolutely demolished a few weeks ago by this same Utah team without Dame playing. On the second night of a B2B with two key guys injured, I'm not really too worried about this loss. Certainly not as much of a "burn the tape and fire the coach" as the last Utah game.

ETA: Brook and Khris were out, not injured - my bad.

[sidney lanier]

I want to win a title. He’s the one player on the market who checks multiple boxes for us, assuming he can stay healthy.

Betting on Brogdon staying on the court is scary.

However if he ever were to do it playing a big role during a deep playoff run in his contract year certainly would be motivating.

If the health wasn't a concern we couldn't get him on the (relative) cheap. But we'd also need to be ready to pay the man unless we want to cede that salary slot.

It seems like only yesterday, but it was a few years ago when the now 31-year-old Brogdon was referred to on this board as slow-footed, with a slow shot release -- just slow at everything.

Funny that we want him back now. However, I wouldn't mind it a bit.

[paulpressey25]

And Doc's one regret was not going back to Robin? For what exactly?

Walker Kessler was a +22 and Olynyk a +24. The game shifted when Utah went big in the fourth with those two. We could have used Robin in there to rough up Kessler for a couple minutes.

This is where we miss Brook badly.

[MoreTrife]

And Doc's one regret was not going back to Robin? For what exactly?

Walker Kessler was a +22 and Olynyk a +24. The game shifted when Utah went big in the fourth with those two. We could have used Robin in there to rough up Kessler for a couple minutes.

This is where we miss Brook badly.

Yeah, it was palpable how small we felt out there in the fourth.

[Ron Swanson]

You shouldn't really be feeling "small" when your frontcourt is 6'11 and 6'10 though. And thus the Bobby conundrum continues.

[BUCKnation]

Just so sick of the bench vets giving us nothing. Glad AJ Green got rewarded with some more time and was actually pretty nice defensively. Clarkson tried him quite a few times and he forced some misses and tough makes. Should have gotten a nice charge on Olynyk.

At least with the young guys we could potentially see some growth, but with the vets its the same s***, different day, especially with Pat. Bobby was really good, but clearly lost his legs in the 4th, which was amplified by them going double big.