Bucks down 29-27 a little into the second quarter.
DDV's great game hasn't carried over. He's 0 for 4 and isn't exactly distinguishing himself on the defensive end.
Good to see Holiday back.
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I don't know if they'll win this game in the end, but they are up 9 in the second quarter and they are +12 in Holiday's 6 minutes. He makes a huge difference.
Bucks play well in the first half and end up in front 53-48.
Bucks go up 7 and then Giannis and Lopez miss long 3s early in the shot clock and it's down to 2 quickly before Middleton hits a 4 point play.
Bucks go up 10 and then let Beverly get an offensive rebound one on four with all the Bucks standing around and DDV failing to block out. Drives me nuts when stuff like that happens. Pretty quickly a 5 point game.
When they move the ball and don’t just focus on letting it fly, they’re a very dangerous team. You cannot give Giannis open holes, and open holes are available when they stick and move. I don’t like the “take the first shot you see” shit... it always leads to losing basketball.
13-0 Clippers run. Bucks behind with just a complete lack of half-court offense.
WTF. DDV stands around for about 7 seconds doing nothing and forces Thanasis to put up a 3 at the end of the shot clock.
What a joke. Clippers end the third on a 21-7 run. We have to remember that Holiday is rusty, but it's the same old thing against a good team. The Bucks can't get offense in the halfcourt when the other team ups the intensity.
Forbes is -13 in 11 minutes. It will look a lot better when Holiday absorbs some of his minutes.
Of course, Lopez getting played off the floor by Ibaka didn't help either.
Does Bud set up defensive schemes to give up corner 3s. It sure seems like it sometimes.
Bucks down 6. Giannis has disappeared on offense and continues to throw up long 3s early in the shot clock. 1 for 6 from deep
Down 7.
Giannis misses 6 shots and has a turnover in about a 5 minute span
Bucks not working hard enough on the offensive end. Just forcing everything. Need to get back to off ball action to get things flowing again...
It's the simplest play in the NBA.
Force a a switch of Lopez onto a smaller player. Paul George drives by him like he's not there - wide open corner 3. Bucks down 6 immediately after a timeout.
I don’t know what you do with Lopez at this point. Unless he’s shooting 40% or better from 3 he’s a problem out there.
Augustin with a nightmare game today
Giannis' FT problems reappear in a close game against a good team.
1 for 3 with an airball from the line.
Why the hell do you put Connaughton and Holiday on Kawhi in the 4th? How hard is this? Put Giannis on him.
Honestly I don’t know what Bud is coaching this team on defense based on their schemes and rotations
You know Kahwi is getting the ball and Pat C is defending him?
Bucks are 1-5 in games decided by 5 points or less this year.
In the half-court against small-ball lineups, Augustin, Forbes, and Lopez are liabilities on defense. They need to go with Giannis, Middleton, Holiday, DDV, and I guess Connaughton.
Why is Holiday not out there in crunch time? I realize this is his first game back but he hasn't played that many minutes.....
That's what happens when you have to play a guy like Connaughton at the end of a game. He's an 8th or 9th guy, not a guy you close with.
Holiday initiating that offensive set makes a huge, huge difference.
Yes! Bucks need gamed like these to toughen them up
Liked the energy and intensity in the final few minutes. Hopefully a sign of more to come.
Pretty good defense in the 4th quarter, holding them scoreless through the last few minutes. Good win today...
Whoa nellie!!
The Bucks came to play today baby!!!
Bucks clamp down and allow 4 points the last 4 minutes.
You know when it happened? The Bucks called timeout with 4:01 left and when they came back out Giannis was matched up on Kawhi. Kawhi didn't get another shot (other than the 28 foot 3 point attempt against Connaughton at the end) against anyone other than Giannis or Middleton.
@Music City posted:Giannis blocks 2 dunks... holy moly!!!
FILTHY!!!
THIS GIANNIS BLOCK WAS FILTHY.
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 28, 2021
(via @NBAUK)pic.twitter.com/iuLe9rtZgz
What a strange month... Bucks start the month winning 5 straight, then lose 5 straight, then win 5 straight to finish.
Giannis shot 75% from the line in February, averaged 30.4 ppg, 12.1 rpg, 6.1 apg, 1.6 bpg, 1.4 spg, and reduced his turnovers from 4.1 to 3.3 while playing 34 min/game. He just became the first Bucks player since Kareem to average over 35 ppg for 5 straight games (1973). Just a helluva month.
We are starting to see some glimpses of a player that I think may be taking that next step in Giannis. Kahwi was ready to snatch the game away from the Bucks, but Giannis would not allow it to happen and lead them to a tough win.
I agree. Giannis has changed his approach. As mentioned in another thread, he’s way more controlled now. He probes, forces the opponent to commit their move to create the wall first, then counter moves. He’s doing better work on the block. And he’s doing more without the ball. The Bucks need more of the movement they showed yesterday in stretches. When they get back to “my turn, your turn” iso no passing just stand around the perimeter offense, they get stagnant. That’s how they blew an 11 point lead yesterday.
But looking at the final quarter yesterday, they were going out of their way to run everything through Giannis. He responded by scoring 17 of their final 20 points, but I would say ideally that’s not how you want things to go in the final quarter. You want more movement. But these are also scenarios he has to step up in. Produce in a playoff environment. Yesterday’s game definitely had a playoff vibe. Are they doing these kinds of flawed schematic approaches (running the offense through Giannis exclusively) because he needs to experience it? The guy in 26 years old... 10 years ago he was a scrawny kid selling knock-off sunglasses in an Athens ghetto. He’s done so much, accomplished so much... it’s easy to forget he’s still just getting started.
People want him to be LeBron, when he wasn’t bred to play the game like that. Knowing how to navigate all this takes time. Maybe they’re breaking eggs with him now, giving him game reps in certain scenarios so he can compile that experience. If you are trying to make a superstar better, that might be the only way to do it.