Bucks at Hawks

Middleton starts out 2 for 7 from the floor. Counting the 4th quarter of the first Philly game, his 0 for 6 last game, and today he is 2 for his last 16 from the floor.

Bucks really struggling against the zone. Mainly because Middleton and DDV have missed some easy shots. DDV drives you crazy. He makes great hustle plays and is a willing defender, but he just can't finish at the rim and is never going to be the consistent knockdown shooter they need. You can obviously seen what they saw with Bodganovic as the upgrade.

Bucks up 8 at the half. Holiday has been dominant. Bogdanovic can't guard him.

Bucks up 7, but can't pull away mainly because Middleton is killing them. He's now 3 for 11.

Giannis and Holiday are 12 for 16.

The rest of the team is 11 for 34.

Only up 6 and the Hawks are almost in the bonus with 8 minutes left in the third quarter.

Bud, quit running plays for DDV. He's a black hole on catch and shoot 3s. He's just not good enough. Bud does bring Forbes in for him.

Time for Nwora, maybe? Bucks offense is bogged down because DDV and Forbes can't hit those wide-open 3s the Bucks offense gets them. They are 0 for 6. Forbes is always Mr. Blowout in that he hits an inordinate number of 3s when it doesn't matter and is just a slightly above-average shooter when the game is close.

DDV, Middleton, and Forbes are 5 for 22 and 1 for 10 from 3.

Bucks up 6. Giannis drives and Bryn Forbes misses another 3 with no one within 6 feet of him. Go down to the other end, and Forbes gets iso'd and fouls Gallinari which will probably get the Hawks within 4. Why not try Nwora? I just don't get it.

Forbes is so frustrating.

Bud with an idiotic coaching decision to start the 4th. He decided to matchup Connaughton on Gallinari. Nothing like giving up 6 inches and about 60 pounds in the post. It was a guaranteed easy shot or a double team that got the defense scrambling.

Of course, Middleton throwing a pass 20 feet over the head of the spot-up shooter doesn't help either.

Hawks within 2 as Giannis misses a 3 footer and the Hawks get a wide open 3 for Bogdanovic by getting Lopez into the pick and roll.

Giannis' miss was basically a 5 point play.

Lou Williams killing them because DDV is getting roasted.

Someone should remind the Bucks that this game counts as much as the Philly game.

They’re just burying them with threes now...

The Bucks start giving up a few threes and the whole team goes into panic mode, firing up the first look they get. They’re rattled, and this is where Budenholzer needs to make his fucking money. Settle them down before they shoot themselves out of the damn game...

They’ve given up 6 threes in the last 4 minutes... 25-11 4th quarter.

22 free throws for Atlanta in the second half.

This team is not very clutch.

Killed by a retiree.

@Goalline posted:

Killed by a retiree.

Killed by the fact DDV has been awful on offense and defense. Forbes was worse. Teague almost as bad.

Why not try Nwora?

Why is BUd leaving his starters in down 10 with 20 seconds left on the second night of a back-to-back. That's just fucking stupid. He's asking for a freak injury.

I last saw the score with the Bucks up 8 in the 3rd.  Why isn't Tucker on the court when we are getting lit up at the 3 point line?

Bud the tortoise.

@Goalline posted:

Killed by a retiree.

Lou Williams also got going because the Hawks kept getting Lopez into the pick and roll and he dropped and left Lou Williams wide open. It was just stupid coaching not to adjust.

Bud also had Connaughton guarding Gallinari to start the 4th. It was a guaranteed easy shot or forced double team every time.

@The Crusher posted:

I last saw the score with the Bucks up 8 in the 3rd.  Why isn't Tucker on the court when we are getting lit up at the 3 point line?

Bud the tortoise.

Tucker was out tonight. The Bucks really got beat because of two things.

1. The Hawks targeting Lopez in pick and roll.

2. DDV, Forbes, and Teague were awful. DDV is maddening. He's just not good enough for the role they've slotted him into. After watching this game, imaging Bogdanovic instead of DDV on the Bucks. DDV can't finish at the rim, he can't consistently knock down wide-open looks, and he gambles too much on defense.

What I don’t understand is why they sat Tucker against ATL but played him in a blowout the day before when he wasn’t really needed?  

Lopez probably shouldn’t have been playing at all in this one.  The Hawks abused him defensively.

This team has more than enough talent to win it all but Bud gives me little reason to think that they will.   His decisions at times are questionable at best.

@Tschmack posted:

What I don’t understand is why they sat Tucker against ATL but played him in a blowout the day before when he wasn’t really needed?  

Lopez probably shouldn’t have been playing at all in this one.  The Hawks abused him defensively.

This team has more than enough talent to win it all but Bud gives me little reason to think that they will.   His decisions at times are questionable at best.

Without Tucker, there really aren't better options against small-ball lineups than Lopez. Portis isn't any better on defense on the perimeter and you lose a lot of rim protection.  Thanasis would be a better option on defense, but you completely lose floor spacing.

What they need for these situations in terms of depth (if Tucker is unavailable) is a guy that can switch on the perimeter and still be respectable from 3. You know, a guy like Torrey Craig who they gave away for nothing a month ago. Maybe he quietly requested a trade or to be released, otherwise why would you let him go?

Lopez has to hit 40+ percent of his threes to make leaving him on the floor against small-ball lineups a good idea. If you are not going to post him up against guys 5 inches shorter than he is, you are much better off playing a 6'7" guy that can hit 35% of his threes than can switch effectively on defense. You know, like Torrey Craig. Craig's weakness was that once he had to dribble, he was a negative on offense, but you aren't doing anything different with Lopez than you were with Craig. If Tucker can play 25 minutes a game in the playoffs, then this is hopefully how they'll deal with this. If not, they may have to go to a "break glass in case of emergency approach" and try Nwora. He can't be any worse on defense against small ball lineups, and he's Korver-like in terms of his 3 foot shooting in terms of a quick release and he's shooting 46% from there.

They really need to start giving Nwora more looks.  He’s a very good outside shooter, and is also a pretty good rebounder.  The book on him is he’s not very effective as a one on one defender, but in a help defense role he’s solid.

@Tschmack posted:

They really need to start giving Nwora more looks.  He’s a very good outside shooter, and is also a pretty good rebounder.  The book on him is he’s not very effective as a one on one defender, but in a help defense role he’s solid.

Neither is Forbes. Coach Bud playing stupid political games.

Forbes can really only do one thing and he does it well - shoot open 3 pointers.

He is a liability on defense and doesn’t rebound well.  He’s got a mediocre handle and isn’t exactly a pass first type guy.  Not to mention he’s really undersized at the 2 guard.

Typical NBA - the Hawks get blown out by the Pistons a night after beating the Bucks.