Siefer wrote:BigO wrote:Siefer wrote:
Bobby has been driving me nuts all year, but I think calling for Bobby to get DNPs (at least during the regular season) is a bit too much. Partially because we just don't have enough behind him to make it work, partially because I just think Bobby can figure it out, and partially because so many of his minutes come with PC, who might be the biggest drag on the team relative to minutes played.
I think you're right on the substance, that his high post touches are some of the worst offense we have, and there's a reason we didn't see as much of it under Bud. Bobby is a guy that flourishes when he's put in the right positions, but he's clearly fallen in love with junky post offense, and he's not facing repercussions for playing so small on D. It feels like 2 rebounds are just taken out of his hands a game this year.
PC getting parked, and Crowder going back to the bench (although I'd be happy to see him parked) might do some work for perceptions of other guys in their orbit.
Again, both of these are bizarre analyses.
Bobby doesn't call his own offense. The coaches are calling specific post ups for Bobby.
You can even see it when Bucks coaches say something and they immediately go to a BP post-up. If Bobby was dictating to the rest of the team to get him the ball (pretty laughable concept), then the coach would just tell them to stop.
And Bud used BP on post ups all the time. It's a good staple for the Bucks and they'd be fools to go away from it. It's also why some teams have doubled BP in his post ups. They want the ball out of his hands. They did it again last night against him.
And criticizing BP on rebounding is strange. He is second on the team in rebounding by a large margin and plays a lot less than the starters.
As was mentioned in a story this morning, BP and Giannis seemed like the only two who came to play last night.
Criticizing BP is legitimate, but only after you spend 10 paragraphs criticizing the playing time PC and Crowder are getting.
BP is the least of the problems on this team. He's a bright spot of someone who brings it every night, is on a reasonable contract and is always available.
Bobby's post-ups are some of the least efficient offense we regularly run, and the numbers have improved recently! He's up to .96 PPP which is 41st percentile. I don't care who's calling for the post-ups, they're often bad offense for us, especially when they come at the expense of action involving Giannis, Dame, Midds, or open threes by good shooters.
The whataboutism is particularly strange given that I've been pretty vocal about PC and Crowder being negatives, and the primary guys I want out of the lineup. I even go out of my way to profess optimism about Bobby moving forward. I don't really get this reply, O.
Except for a few obvious posters, I don't know who has criticized PC or Crowder and who hasn't. So I didn't mean to put you in the pro camp. Sorry.
But we can agree to disagree on BP. I think he has been one of the most valuable and consistent Bucks over the last few years for all the reasons I've delineated.
As to the TS% and PPP and all the rest of the advanced stuff, I'm sure some of them are more valid than others, but I just don't buy a lot of the stuff I see. A few weeks ago, I detailed the list of TS% and the other shooting advanced stat and few of the names meet the eye test of players you want as part of your rotation.
I am admittedly an old timer that relies on old tools that I still find pretty convincing; namely shooting percentage, rebounding, blocks etc.
Here's where Bobby Portis stands in comparison to other Bucks this season:
1) Overall shooting percentage is second on the team next to Giannis at 49.4%
2) Rebounding is second on the team and by a wide margin and is still significantly lower than last year because of the scheme he has been forced to play this year.
3) Tied for first in three point percentage at 38.5% for regular rotation players
So basically one of the most efficient shooters on the team and the second best rebounder (second best in defensive rebounding which is a critical part of defense).
So yes, if I was the coach, posting up would be a mainstay when BP is on the court, especially in the regular season. He is so good they are starting to double him.
I would be searching for mismatches for BP when he is on the court, which is what every one of his coaches has done, to their credit.
My only caveat is in the playoffs the matchups become less advantageous. For example, I wouldn't post him up against Tatum, but if you can get some switching in, I would post him against Brown and other Celtics.
As to his defense, I certainly don't see a horrible defender. I am not a big defender of defensive stats, but since many on here are, here's what Statmuse says about who the Bucks best and worst defenders are:
https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/milwaukee-bucks-players-defensive-rating-this-seasonAccording to this, BP is one of the best defenders on the team. Out of the regulars, only Brook and Giannis rate higher.
But since I'm old school, I rely mainly on my eye test and BP is one of the most valuable Bucks in my opinion and the old school stats confirm it.
There are plenty of Bucks players to go after about defense, mainly on the perimeter. Beasley has been bad, as has Lillard and Connaughton.
The fascination with a negative view of BP is weird to me. Are all the coaches who pick the USA team and Olympic team (he is on the big list before the final cuts) wrong? They could be, but I don't think so.
