Bucks up 9-5 early. Bulls without Lonzo Ball and Patrick Williams
Bucks without Ryan Rollins (shoulder) and Khris Middleton (career in hospice care?)
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Bucks 57 to 41 in the 2nd in what seems to be a fast paced game
There’s a lot to criticize about Dame Lillard’s overall game, but his work with Brook Lopez is simply outstanding.
Bucks up 12 at the half. Should have been more as they had the ball up 14 with the shot clock off, but as the Bucks were holding for the last shot, Dame gets trapped and turns the ball over for a transition layup.
Lead down to 8 as Levine stays hot. The Bulls can't guard anyone, but they've stayed attached mainly because Dame has continued to be terrible from deep. He's 1 for 6 tonight and 2 for his last 24 from deep.
Now down to 4. Bucks look terrible on offense. Dame and Giannis are terrible together.
Bucks push it back to 7. AJ Green has been their second best player tonight. He's rally locked down on Levine too. Green has become a really good defender.
Giannis can't hit his FTS (he's 3 for 8), but other than that the Bulls can't stop him. He's 13 for 17 from the floor (and one of the misses was a 3 point heave at the quarter buzzer).
How can the Bucks play not 1 but 2 starters that have ZERO points thru 3 quarters?
Bulls outscore the Bucks by 4 in the third despite GIannis going for 25 in the quarter.
Bulls go 7 for 11 from three. The Bucks defense is not good (despite AJ Green being great on both ends). Dame is such a liability on that end.
Giannis, Lopez, and Green are 28 for 37 from the floor. The three other starters besides Giannis and Lopez are 4 for 14.
Giannis sits and the Bulls come back within 4. Just absolutely pathetic execution on both ends without Giannis on the court. Dame has continued to play awful. Now 2 for his last 25 from three and 20 for his last 59 from the floor.
Prince and Jackson 0 for 4 from the floor, all missed 3’s, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 personal fouls in 31 combined minutes.
These are two of Milwaukee’s five starters tonight.
I’m with Ammo. How does an NBA team get to the 9 minute mark of the 4th with two starters not scoring a single point?
Milwaukee’s lead is down to 3 with Giannis at 38 points on 16 from 20 shooting.
Tuned in late. Prince and Ajax started? Still no points for either. 1:33 left to play.
Good Lord, I go to take a shower and come back to a 16 point lead.
Bucks have won 4 of 5. There are so many things to improve upon, but for now, I’ll just be happy to be trending in the right direction.
@lambeausouth posted:Prince and Jackson 0 for 4 from the floor, all missed 3’s, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 personal fouls in 31 combined minutes.
These are two of Milwaukee’s five starters tonight.
I’m with Ammo. How does an NBA team get to the 9 minute mark of the 4th with two starters not scoring a single point?
Milwaukee’s lead is down to 3 with Giannis at 38 points on 16 from 20 shooting.
Jackson is the nominal starter, but he played 11 non-garbage time minutes tonight and even fewer the last game. The guy getting starter minutes is AJ Green and he's been really, really good.
Prince is a placeholder starter until Middleton gets back (hopefully at some point). Trent Jr. plays more minutes than him anyway.
Jackson is maybe the worst offensive player in terms of scoring in the NBA. He does almost everything else well (rebound, run the floor, play defense, passing the ball, court vision), but there's a reason that a guy who is a tremendous athlete and was one of the key players on a national title team in college lasted well into the second round. He makes Dennis Rodman look like a shooter and a scorer. He can't shoot 3s, he misses layups, he has no midrange game.
If they can get Middleton healthy, surrounding Giannis with Dame, Middleton, Green, Lopez, Portis, and Trent Jr. in crunch time is a lineup where everyone but Giannis can shoot threes. They really need another wing defender because you can't play Lopez or Portis in crunch time against the Celtics or Pacers (and some other teams in a playoff series), especially since Dame is also a terrible defensive player. If it's a defense only possession at the end of game, Jackson Jr. is the guy.
@lambeausouth posted:Good Lord, I go to take a shower and come back to a 16 point lead.
Bucks have won 4 of 5. There are so many things to improve upon, but for now, I’ll just be happy to be trending in the right direction.
They are 6-9 but 4 of those losses are the Cavs and Celtics who are combined 56-8. And they lost two games to the Cavs by a combined 3 points. And they are missing their 3rd best player.
They aren't a 60 win team anymore, but they are really better than the current record.
The important thing is they are getting some quality minutes from a couple of their younger guys like Green and A Jax. Add in Trent Jr getting them double figures on a good shooting performance and it’s encouraging. Especially when you consider that Prince and Dame were a combined 2-13 from 3.
The Bucks may be old and slow but if Giannis is Giannis and everyone else plays at 80-90% of their capability then Milwaukee can compete with and beat just about anyone. That said, I do think they might have to move a Bobby Portis for another 3 and D guy or maybe another more athletic, defensive minded big that can move better than Brook. With the addition of Trent Jr and Prince being able to shoot the 3 then Bobby becomes a lot less important.
Checking the scores I see the Sixers lost yet again. 2-12. That’s shocking. People talk about Milwaukee being a disappointment but Philadelphia is a trainwreck. Maybe they choose to blow it all up. They currently have what could be the #2 overall pick in the 2025 draft - in a very good top heavy draft - and if they chose to deal PG13 and/or Embiid they could get a decent return. Although, Embiid’s stock is dropping like a rock. You deal him to a team like OKC and that would be interesting.