Bucks kicking this off today against Chicago
Bulls basically featuring all of their starters while Milwaukee is sitting out Giannis and Dame and Middleton
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Bucks win 105-102
They shot 48% from the field but only 31% from 3. Still, Beauchamp, Crowder, Lopez, and Beasley were a combined 9-19 from beyond the arc.
Hard to believe the season starts 2 weeks from Thursday
The first five days of the 2023-24 regular season will feature 10 national television games, with two doubleheaders each on @NBAonTNT and @ESPNNBA and one on @NBATV.
â NBA Communications (@NBAPR) August 17, 2023
Those games will showcase 14 teams and three rematches from the 2023 Playoffs (DEN-LAL, MIA-BOS and GSW-SAC). pic.twitter.com/D8mH5l4xdb
Brook Lopez = Giannis! ðĪĢ
ESPN is carrying the Bucks-Lakers preseason game tonight at 7pm EST. Supposed to be the debut for Dame with Giannis.
I'm watching ðð
Giannis and Dame with back-to-back THREES!!
Not thrilled with Giannis jacking up 3s and as a team they are 31% from beyond the arc.
Still, +10 in rebounding and taking care of the basketball and up 9 in the 3rd
Giannis jacking up an occasional three keeping the defense from packing the paint, is going to help everyone.
Not happening tonight but can't wait to see Khash money with these 2.
More worried about Brook Lopez missing all these shots. Jeezus bro.....you've been wide effing open all day. 1/6 from the arc.
Robin isnât going to play meaningful minutes, is he? Dude is washed.
Yeah....Rob-Lo looks like a bad Paul Mokeski with better hair
@Boris posted:Giannis jacking up an occasional three keeping the defense from packing the paint, is going to help everyone.
I think opponents will let him launch threes all night rather than drive it down their throats. I liken it to the guy with 40 HRs taking the bat out of his own hands by laying down a bunt.
I'd just be happy if he made 75% of his FTs.
@PackerRick posted:I'd just be happy if he made 75% of his FTs.
Think about closing out a game. Back when Shaq was playing it was "Hack-A-Shaq" just like Hack Giannis....if he can make 70% - 75% of his FTs, along with Middleton and Dame on the floor who are both 90% guys. They'll have no trouble. Game 6 of the NBA Finals in 2021, he was 17/19 from the stripe, channeling his inner Steph Curry ð. He can do it.
He was 1/1 last night but that one FT was dead center of the hoop nothing but net.
(FYI Dame.was 6/6 from the stripe)
To closeout games it'll be Dame and Khash money initiating offense and one of those 2 will be heading to the line - instant death for the opponent.
He could average an extra 5 points per game until they stop intentionally fouling him. It's hard to understand a player so skilled hasn't improved at the line. Karl Malone was about a 50% FT shooter his first couple years and became proficient at it.
The one thing people forget about Jrue Holiday is as a Bucks player he only shot about 75% from the FT line in the playoffs. Dame shoots around 90%.
I say this because in crunch time if you foul him (like Middleton) is practically automatic if he gets to the FT line.
Guys like Lopez and Crowder and Portis are all 80% from the line and Cam Payne is 82% from the FT line. Giannis is certainly the outlier.
Like Boris mentioned, itâs going to be super interesting in close games because you canât leave Lillard alone nor can you foul him. You sag off him defensively (even near half court) and heâll bomb it and likely make it. Also, heâs so much quicker than Jrue at initiating the offense that I fully expect we will see a lot less contested 3s on kick outs or multiple guys trying to pack the paint to defend against Giannis or Holiday as he tried to post up his defender.
Giannis said as much last night. Double Dame? Cool. Then 34 or 22 will be singled up and not sure thereâs anyone in the league that wants Giannis 1 on 1 to defend near the basket with no help. Middleton wonât have to work as hard either and if you leave him open heâs going to knock down those shots. He made 40% of his 3s with a lot of them being contested.
Whoa. Stotts out. From JSO:
Milwaukee Bucks head coach Adrian Griffin had an unexpected shakeup to his coaching staff a week before his first season is to begin, as assistant coach Terry Stotts resigned Thursday.
ESPN first reported the decision by Stotts, who was one of the first hires for Griffin. Stotts, 65, had been out of coaching for the last few seasons after being fired by Portland following a nine-year run that saw him guide the Trail Blazers to the playoffs eight times.
Stotts was on the Bucks' recent preseason road trip that took the team from Memphis to Los Angeles and to Oklahoma City. They conclude the exhibition schedule at home on Friday and begin the regular season on Oct. 26.
This was to be his third trip through Milwaukee.
Stotts first came to Milwaukee as an assistant coach under George Karl in 1998 and stayed on the Bucksâ bench until moving to Atlanta in 2002. After earning his first head coaching job with the Hawks for parts of two seasons he was an assistant in Golden State for one year before becoming the Bucksâ head coach in 2005.
He held that position for the better part of two seasons, compiling a 63-83 record in the regular season and a 1-4 mark in the playoffs. He was fired after 64 games in the 2006-07 season.
After a stint assisting in Dallas â which included winning the 2010-11 NBA championship â he was the head coach in Portland from 2012-21 where the Trail Blazers went 402-318 in the regular season and 22-40 in the playoffs. They reached the 2018-19 Western Conference Finals and he departed with the most wins in franchise history.
The most important thing is that I hope Stotts is healthy and not leaving because of some illness or family medical situation.
Having said that, if that is not the case it may be a major cause for concern. Stotts coached Lillard for the first 9 years of his career. The dynamic of having a superstar player end up on a team where the Assistant Coach is a guy that knows more about him than any coach in the league and having a first-time head coach could be an issue. For all we heard about Lillard not being able to get the Blazers deep into the playoffs, they did make a WCF in 2019 only to lose to the Curry/Klay/Draymond Warriors. Stotts is a very good coach who might have been a better choice as a head coach than Griffin.
There are now reports that Terry Stotts still plans to coach, just not with the Bucks.
That's not a good sign for the Bucks.
He's been charged with installing the new offense for the Bucks and they start the regular season in a week. It's a long season and there will be time to adjust, but you have to wonder if someone didn't like the offense being installed. Giannis?
This news on Lillard is something to be aware of as well.
Well, this is certainly on point for the WI sports scene this year.....
