Giannis getting in early foul trouble becoming a disturbing trend. Defense atrocious and gave up 60 first half. Shooting better, but another uneven effort and another deficit.
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Giannis picks up foul #5 in the closing minute of the 3rd... on a complete bullsh*t offensive foul.
4th q should be interesting... 
Bucks are +8 with Giannis on the floor and -15 without him.
7-0 Charlotte run to start the 4th.
Bucks get Malik Monked in the 4th... the Bucks don’t have anyone that can go off like that. Giannis in foul trouble and never got in rhythm... total crap on the D end though. All their weaknesses on display tonight spoiled a career night for Middleton.
I really was hoping for a leap from Maker this year. So far, that hasn't happened.
Jason Kidd defense- 126 in regulation ??!!
Malik Monk. Wow
The Bucks still lack a player that can break down a D. The league is filled with guts that can pull the string and get an open look stepping back- and then all the alternatives that comes from that. Giannis isn’t that guy. Middleton isn’t that guy. Brogdon isn’t that guy unless he has the mismatch. He isn’t there yet, and while he’s a solid player, he may not get there. He certainly can’t guard them, even though he’s a good defender.
Bledsoe is that guy. He gets hurt a lot, but he can break down a D and that makes everything work.
Music City posted:The Bucks still lack a player that can break down a D. The league is filled with guts that can pull the string and get an open look stepping back- and then all the alternatives that comes from that. Giannis isn’t that guy. Middleton isn’t that guy. Brogdon isn’t that guy unless he has the mismatch. He isn’t there yet, and while he’s a solid player, he may not get there. He certainly can’t guard them, even though he’s a good defender.
Bledsoe is that guy. He gets hurt a lot, but he can break down a D and that makes everything work.
Is Jabari Parker that guy by April?
Jabari Parker is coming off a second ACL. And while he was an effective player in stretches, he also is 22 years old and made a lot of mistakes. I think people forget that Parker was far from a finished player before the injury. Still had tendency to force, still turned the ball over, and was a major liability defensively. It’s not like the Bucks get an all star when he returns. A potential one, but he was playing his worst basketball last year when he went down.
And he doesn’t play G.
Coming into this year I was expecting big things from Thon Maker. So far, it hasn't happened and what frustrates me is Kidd is playing guys like Teletovic and Henson instead. Henson got 29 minutes. Why?
If you aren't going to play him then maybe you go ahead and make the Bledsoe deal because right now I see this as a 40-45 win team and not much better than last season.
I saw this stat yesterday- the lineup with the best +\- this season is Brogdon-Snell-Middleton-Giannis-Henson.
I hate to admit it, but last night they missed Monroe. And against OKC. Henson and Maker have no ass... they get pushed around a lot.
But as much as I love the scrappy play of Delly, they aren’t going very far with him at PG. He gets blown by all night and that is when the D breaks down.
The crapfest in the East will prevent the Bucks from being less than a 50 win team. But they’re not close to challenging. Parker could help- I don’t mean to count him out- but I just have tempered expectations. The odds are really really against him.
So what's the solution from being stuck in purgatory for the next 4 years? Giannis is good enough to get them to 45 wins or so in the Eastern conference so there is no chance of getting into the lottery and getting lucky. They have an MVP candidate, two good to very good players you can win with as starters (Middleton and Brogdon), and a decent role player/backup big guy (Monroe). Beyond that, they have just a bunch of guys right now. The guys that have to emerge in the next 1-2 years are Maker and Parker. Nelly, Teletovic, Henson, and Snell are guys that should be end of the bench guys, not guys who get major minutes.
Right now the Bucks are looking like the Michael Jordan Bulls pre-Pippen and Horace Grant. People sometimes forget that the year before Pippen and Grant arrived the Bulls went 40-42 with Jordan averaging 37. They had two other "good" players in Oakley and Paxson and a bunch of guys. That's what this Bucks team is starting to feel like.
Well, you look at every team, they have a G that can go by you, cross you, step back and bury it. The Bucks don’t have that guy on their roster. Of course they had one- Brandon Knight- but he’s devolved as a player and he’s just not on that level.
But that’s a start. Then you look at the 3- the Bucks hit 19 of them last night, but overall they’ve missed the open ones far too much. Other teams don’t miss those.
And rebounding- they are such a poor rebounding team... once again dead last. That’s why a Bledsoe deal should include Chandler. You add him and his D and rebounding to the mix, you’re automatically better.
I suppose they’re not going to do anything. They aren’t good. They aren’t smart. And unless they get All Star level play from Parker right out of the gate, they’re going to be inconsistent and average-ish. The piss poor EC is the only reason they’ll look good record wise.