Cavs at Bucks

Giannis now 13 from 25 from the line for the year. 

Up 11 after 3. Giannis 4 of 8 from the line. 

Bucks shitting the bed again. LEad down to 5. 

Back up to 9. 

Ended up getting a 20 point lead. 7 guys with more than 14 points. A lot of depth. 

FTs still in the 60% range and Giannis is barely above 50%. 

Thanks Michigan for providing a running commentary.  Couldn't see the game and really enjoyed it.

Not boxing out -- team needs to continue playing as a team & for each other. 

I really like Wes Matthews & Ilyasova. They've been kinda holding the team together. Pat C played great last night. Very good depth on this team -- now they need to trust each other. Play better defense & keep moving the ball to find the open shot. They're amazing in transition & you can see the defense Feed the offense.

It's early. Marathon, not a Sprint. Good early season test with 6 out of 7 on the road. Starts with Boston on Wednesday night.

The Bucks defensively have been atrocious. Their P&R defense statistically right now is among the worst in the NBA. They’re giving up an alarming number of open 3s. 

The Bucks get a fair amount of offense from their defense- like last night, they go on a big run to close the game out by playing defense and scoring directly in transition. 

A big positive after 3 games is the effect Kyle Korver is going to have come playoff time if he's healthy. If you swap him in for Mirotic in last year's playoffs, the Bucks are probably wearing rings right now. 

Some of the struggles right now are related to Bud needing to figure out the rotation patterns and who to pair with who on the floor. 

I definitely thought the Bucks looked a notch better this time last year than they do this year, but perhaps I have selective memory.  There really are a lot of new pieces that they'll have to figure out how to integrate.  That said, nobody will care how they play in this early portion of the season if they're hoisting a trophy in June. 

fightphoe93 posted:

I definitely thought the Bucks looked a notch better this time last year than they do this year, but perhaps I have selective memory.  There really are a lot of new pieces that they'll have to figure out how to integrate.  That said, nobody will care how they play in this early portion of the season if they're hoisting a trophy in June. 

Agree. It was great to get to 60 wins and #1 seed last year to establish a culture of success. This year the only thing that matters is the post-season. It doesn't matter much if they are the 1 or 2 seed, or if they have home court advantage in the EC Finals if they get that far.

The key things they need to develop:

1. Who runs the offense when Giannis sits? Bledsoe can attack a lot of guys he plays in the regular season and get to the rim, but is that a viable option in the post-season. Same goes for Middleton. Their go-to in the time that Giannis rests is perhaps the most important thing they have to solidify. Is it going to be Brook Lopez on the post? 

2. Is Giannis an option at the end of games? In other words, can he hit a 20 foot jumper in crunch time? 

I haven’t been particularly impressed with their execution so far through 3 games especially for the starters.  It doesn’t seem like they are passing the ball as well and defensively they are not sharp at all in terms of allowing open looks and fouling like crazy.  

Heck, through 3 games the opposition has gotten to the line 98 times.  They’ve been to the line 66.  That’s a big differential.  

The good news is they have plenty of time to figure out their rotations but at least early it looks like Hill and Ersan and Pat C will be their primary backups with Korver and Lopez as needed.   What’s also encouraging is Giannis is getting rest and they will need to keep him fresh and healthy.   Not like the Jason Kidd days where he played almost the entire game.