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I don't know what the Bucks do from here. They will be 9-6 after this game. They'll look good in the next 8 games and probably go something like 6-2 minimum. They'll be 15-8 or so, but this team as constructed right now is not a threat to go deep in the playoffs.

I mean, Pat Connaughton getting abused by Harrell multiple times in a row down the court?

They don’t quite have “it” and they manage to prove it every time they play a good team. Maybe they’re learning it. Maybe they just need more time. Maybe they’re just not good enough, and don’t have the skill to close the gap. They play stupid basketball a lot... they play well in flashes, then manage to fall right back asleep again.

Last edited by Music City
@Music City posted:

They don’t quite have “it” and they manage to prove it every time they play a good team. Maybe they’re learning it. Maybe they just need more time. Maybe they’re just not good enough, and don’t have the skill to close the gap. They play stupid basketball a lot... they play well in flashes, then manage to fall right back asleep again.

I think Bud is a MM coach. He's good at establishing a culture and making you competitive, but the drop defense just doesn't work against the better teams. The Lakers must have made about 12 corner 3s. Corner 3s are the most desirable shot in the NBA and many of the Laker attempts are so open  guys can double clutch and still be wide open.

The Bucks have played 3 good teams in the last 10 game and lost all 3. In those games, the Bucks allowed the Jazz, Nets, and the Lakers to go 59 for 119 from 3 against them. That's not a small sample size and teams made over 50%.

They'll now go and play a bunch of middle of the road and bad teams over the next 8 games. The teams will shoot much worse from 3 and Bud will think the defense is playing well. Then, the cycle will repeat itself when they play the Nets, Sixers, Celtics, etc. again.

it's just so frustrating to watch them lose the same way over and over against good teams.

@Boris posted:

It can work if you have Steph Curry on your team matching 3's

Will the Bucks get bounced in round 1 or 2 of the playoffs again??

On pace for 42-45 wins right now.

Remember only 72 games this year.

They've definitely taken a step back even though Holiday is a huge upgrade over Bledsoe and Portis is an upgrade over Marvin Williams/Ilyasova.

I think the good teams have figured out schemes to beat them. Bud does what he does and hope that teams don't make a bunch of 3s against them. Good teams do. They force Giannis to shoot outside the paint and he's never going to be able to do it.

I think they'll win a hard-fought first-round series as a 3 or 4 seed and then bow out in the second round again.

They are wasting the talent on this team because Bud is an MM “we do what we do” clone.

Teams have figured out how to beat this club.  Bud has not adjusted.  Now Horst goes out and remakes the roster and Bud is still screwing things up.  The rate at which they are allowing teams to shoot and make 3s is ridiculous.  And he insists on playing Pat C all these minutes?   Why?

Unless something changes drastically this is yet another Bucks team that will fall short come playoff time.   If Holiday doesn’t return then what?

Just so frustrating to watch this team right now.

The weird thing this year is that a lot of the individual players are playing well. Th team is less than the sum of its parts which could be needing to develop more team chemistry or the coaching (or both).

Middleton has been outstanding.

Holiday is just a great addition. As good as we could have hoped

Portis is more than we could have expected.

Lopez is what he is, but he's not any different than last year.

Same for DDV, he hasn't really taken a leap, but he's not a liability.

Connaughton is playing too many minutes, but he's been as good as you can expect from a guy making 5 million a year. He's not supposed to be a 6th man.

Augustin and Forbes have struggled and Torrey Craig deserves some minutes, but this is tinkering around the fringe, it shouldn't be a huge deal.

The two biggest problems right now are Bud, and, dare I say it, Giannis. Giannis looks good on the stat sheet, but hasn't really passed the eye test this year. He looks lost on offense way too much for a superstar, he stands passively around on offense when he could be going for position as an offensive rebounder (compare him to Portis, Thanasis, or Connaughton in that regard), and he has fallen asleep a LOT on the defensive end this year. His FT shooting is terrible and the team plays better in the 4th quarter on the offensive end when he sits (they made the 4th quarter run to get back in it when he sat down last night). The offense opens up for both Middleton and Holiday when he sits because it spaces the floor much better.

Last edited by MichiganPacker2

Bud being compared to MM is pretty accurate. I have zero confidence he can take this team any further....his philosophy is stale, has not brought the best out in Giannis, and worst of all his defensive scheme repeatedly leaving wide open 3 point shooters is a huge and constant FAIL.

I feel sorry for Giannis, he's trying to be something he will never be. Him running the point, dominating the volume, firing up 3's with time on the shot clock, poor shot selection, plowing into the wall for 3 years, etc....is sad. His game hasn't markedly improved (IMO because of how he's used -Bud ?) and added the versatility he's capable of ....  and in many ways is getting worse. Teams have figured it out !!! He needs to be used more like Hakeem Olajuwan, post up, turn around jumpers, screen game, etc....Let Jrue and Midds run the offense and let Giannis dominate inside and wreck on the glass, open floor, and defense.

Sadly, all in moves this off-season and the Bucks look worse. The bench is simply horrid other than Portis. Hopefully they can figure it out but I have my doubts.

First play of the game last night was a called isolation post-up of Giannis on AD. He gets the ball on the block, backs his way down, and hits a layup with an AND 1. AD might be the best post defender in the league, and Giannis just dominated him to open the game. Then......

They never ran that action again during the entire game if I remember correctly.

Get Giannis the ball on the block iso'd on one side 15 times a game. Holiday and Middleton are great options to feed him there because their defenders are not going to sag off when the have the ball on the wing. If no double comes, he's going to convert 80% of those. If the double comes (which is going to happen with every non-AD defender in the league), you have an offensive set that virtually guarantees you an open 3 within 1 to 2 passes (or cut to the basket behind the guy going for the double - it's basically every offensive set for the Lakers).  Every other player getting minutes is a decent 3 point shooter. Why would you not run that play again? Why would you not run it until they stopped it? That's what the Lakers did with Harrell on Connaughton in the 4th quarter.

I hadn't read this when I posted, but I guess my question is obvious to many.

https://www.theringer.com/nba/...e-like-anthony-davis

Bud gets ripped in this article. Can't argue with any of it.

The Bucks could learn a lot from the NBA’s reigning champions. If Milwaukee wants to get over the hump and reach the Finals, it needs to go back to the drawing board with Giannis. How the Lakers use Davis is a good place to start.........

Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer still doesn’t understand what he has in Giannis. Davis is the only player in the league who can do as many things as him on defense, and guard as many types of players. The difference is that Lakers coach Frank Vogel actually takes advantage of his star 7-footer, especially in the playoffs..........

Milwaukee should be doing everything in its power to keep Antetokounmpo involved in the main actions on defense. Instead, it’s disarming him before the game even starts. That’s what happened in the Bucks’ loss to the Nets on Monday. Giannis spent most of the game on Jeff Green (34.0 possessions) and DeAndre Jordan (6.3). He barely guarded James Harden (2.0) or Kevin Durant (1.9). Would they be using him any differently if he were a glacially slow big man whom they were trying to hide as much as possible?


A year ago, the Bucks rolled through both LA’s and Boston. They were kicking teams’ asses and we thought it was on. They finally arrived. Then March came... and the Lakers showed out sent a message. The Bucks lost 9 of their last 13 games, and the pressure cracked them in the playoffs.

Their poor play right now just proves that everything is different this year. The Bucks have smart people running the organization, and smart people coaching. They know what’s going on. They’re remaking the mental makeup of the team. The scheme may not look different, but I don’t think they’re going to just tell everyone what they’re doing. I am guessing they’re assembling data to build a plan for playoff time. That’s what I would do...

The elite players have Giannis’ number... he better be playing the long game. They talk about it a lot.

Last edited by Music City

It’s a different year, that’s for sure.  I mean, Miami is 6-9.  Denver and Dallas are hovering around .500.  The Bucks have been up and down.   The only teams that have looked consistently good are the LAL and Utah.

I keep reminding myself that there really wasn’t much of an offseason and they have several new pieces they are trying to integrate and figure things out.   That being said, the early returns are not very positive which seems odd given that Portis and Holiday and DDV and Middleton have played better than we were all expecting.

The last two years the Bucks have been criticized for running it up in the regular season and then imploding and bowing out early in the playoffs.   Will any of us care if they are a 3 seed but advance to the Finals?   I mean, that’s the goal.   In some respects, these games feel a bit like preseason or summer league.  Spotty on defense and a bit disjointed on offense.

Last edited by Tschmack

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