So far, Giannis' post-game rant about everyone needing to be better hasn't had much of an effect. The Jazz have 12 points in the 2:44 of game time. Transition offense, layups, wide open 3s, and failing to box out for offensive boards. Hard to believe, but all of those things have already happened.
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Getting absolutely destroyed.
21-9 with more wide open 3s for the Jazz in less than 5 minutes.
21-9 Jazz now
Jazz 7 of 12 58.3% from three.
What was the stated reason for Dame’s being out?
With or without Dame the Jazz shouldn't be dropping 41 pts on you in the 1st quarter
Maybe the most embarrassing defensive quarter of the season, and that's saying something.
Bucks give up ELEVEN, 11, threes to Utah in the first quarter. They are getting killed on dribble penetration. They have no one that can guard anyone on the perimeter. Portis is useless on defense.
The Bucks offense was almost as bad. Giannis was 2 for 3 from the field. The rest of the team was 5 for 21.
Down 41-23 at the end of one, and it didn't seem that close.
Down 18 in the first quarter. Good God this team sucks.
45-23 now
50-26.
If Giannis was mad after the last game, I don't think we've seen anything yet.
This is as bad a half that I've seen the Bucks play since pre-Bud.
No hustle. No defense. No offense.
Something has to be up in the locker room for things to get this bad against a sub-500 team.
@lambeausouth posted:Jazz 7 of 12 58.3% from three.
What was the stated reason for Dame’s being out?
Personal reasons.
56-29.
Bucks are now getting booed at home.
Marques Johnson calls it "pathetic performance"
Giannis just airballed an open 16 footer. At least 3 feet short.
Middleton just airballed a 5 footer.
77-46 at the half.
This has to be rock bottom.
Marques now says this is "disgusting"
Utah makes 16 of 30 from three. They outbound the Bucks 37-22. They have 9 offensive rebounds.
Portis goes 1 for 7 in 8 minutes.
Middleton is 2 for 10.
Beauchamp was 0 for 4.
AJ Green and Beasley go 6 for 10. Giannis is 4 for 9. The rest of the team is 6 for 29 from the floor.
This is really, really bad. The body language is even worse.
LOL. Bucks go on a 7-0 run to (LOL)
cut the lead to 24.
Cut it to 18, but way too late.
Giannis is really out of sorts. Taking 20 foot jump shots. Clearly frustrated.
Got it to 13
Bucks get it back to 8, but end up at 10 after the Bucks blow the last 20 seconds. Could have had the last shot, but shot it with 10 seconds left (and 7 on the shot clock), missed, and gave up a layup on the other end.
Back to 15 after Portis gets a tech and the Jazz get 6 quick points on penetration.
Back to 17. The comeback attempt was mostly the Jazz taking their feet off the pedal.
I don't watch the Bucks much but I do like to check the box score. So can someone tell me why they have Connaughton? He plays 20 minutes a night, gets less than 10 points, usually less than 5, 1 or 2 rebounds, maybe an assist. That sucks. Can't find someone who can at least double that production?
Got back to 8, but had to play Livingston and Jackson to get defense in and they just had 3-4 terrible offensive possessions in the last 2 minutes.
Back to 13.
Bucks announcing team must have gotten a call - Marques now saying that he hates moral victories but says they have to look at it like this and only lose by about 10.
End up losing by 16. Have lost 4 of the last 5 and Boston will likely blow them off the court in the next game.
Not sure what they can do, but they are not good right now.
@ammo posted:I don't watch the Bucks much but I do like to check the box score. So can someone tell me why they have Connaughton? He plays 20 minutes a night, gets less than 10 points, usually less than 5, 1 or 2 rebounds, maybe an assist. That sucks. Can't find someone who can at least double that production?
He doesn't make mistakes and is in the right spots. He is also switchable on defense.
The problem now is two fold. His 3 point shooting has regressed. He hit 37-39 percent from three in the title run and the following year. He's down to 34% the last two years.
He's also lost a step on defense. It was a step he couldn't afford to lose.
He's now on a terrible contract - first year of a 3 year, 29 million dollar contract and just turned 31.
Giannis is clearly pissed off at the end of this game. The press conference tonight could be interesting.
Get ready for the Joe Prunty era part 2?
Truth be told, I think even Red Auerbach or Phil Jackson would have a hard time turning this team into an NBA Champion in today’s era. Not sure Middleton will ever be what he once was as an overall player even though he’s good. He’s no longer top 25 player in the NBA caliber good as an overall player. Pat C is in decline. Lopez doesn’t match up well against certain teams.
Maybe if Lillard can consistently find the fountain of youth in April/May/June he and Giannis can carry this team. But other than something drastic happening, that’s the only way this team has any prayer of getting a title. They are old and slow, their younger guys aren’t skilled enough to help as much as we would like. It’s Giannis and Dame and a bunch of role players.
@fightphoe93 posted:Get ready for the Joe Prunty era part 2?
Truth be told, I think even Red Auerbach or Phil Jackson would have a hard time turning this team into an NBA Champion in today’s era. Not sure Middleton will ever be what he once was as an overall player even though he’s good. He’s no longer top 25 player in the NBA caliber good as an overall player. Pat C is in decline. Lopez doesn’t match up well against certain teams.
Maybe if Lillard can consistently find the fountain of youth in April/May/June he and Giannis can carry this team. But other than something drastic happening, that’s the only way this team has any prayer of getting a title. They are old and slow, their younger guys aren’t skilled enough to help as much as we would like. It’s Giannis and Dame and a bunch of role players.
I'm not sure what they can do at this point. They weren't winning another title with Jrue. He's not a good enough offensive player.
Middleton is never going to be the 2021 version again when he turned into Kevin Durant during the playoffs. But he's not the problem.
The underlying problem is they don't have a single wing player that is a good 2-way player. Connaughton was a good enough two-way player to stay on the floor 3-4 years ago, but he looks washed up.
Dame, Beasley, Payne, and Barry all transcendent to above average offensive players, but are all bad to horrible defenders. Throw in the fact that Portis can't play defense either. All of those guys get targeted when they are on the floor. Brook Lopez is unplayable on defense against a lot of teams.
Beauchamp, Jackson, and Livingston are young and not good enough offensive players to be getting minutes on a contender.
You take all that and add in the fact that Robin Lopez and Thanasis shouldn't be on NBA rosters and, as you said, no head coach that has ever lived is going to win deep into the playoffs in that situation.
Griffin is not a master tactician by any means, but he's not the biggest problem.
It's Giannis, a somewhat diminished Middleton, and Dame (who is a terrible defender) and a bunch of one-way guys.
I think the Bucks will need to seriously consider retooling the roster now if they want to really win in the playoffs. That doesn’t mean trading guys like Payne or Beasley. It means making a big move or moves. The problem I see is that some guys have more value than others, or there are other contingencies in play.
In theory, Dame has a lot of value - i.e. he could net you at least 2 1st rounders and/or a really good player and a pick or two, but I don’t think there are a bunch of landing spots for him either because of the position he plays or the physical location (team) he’d want to play for.
Brook Lopez has some value, but similar to Dame it would have to be the right team for the right reason because he’s not playable against certain teams. At best, you might get a 1 for him.
Portis would have some value as he’s really good offensively, and OK as a rebounder, but defensively he’s limited and would need to be in the right situation (contender) to be effective.
But other than those three I’m not sure who else you have? Obviously the guy that has the most value is Giannis, but that’s a move that would require a complete organizational mindset change. I mean, if Murray or Gobert can net you 3 or more 1s, then Giannis could literally get you 4-5 1s plus a good player or two in return. I mean, personal feelings aside, it may be on the table depending on what you do or don’t do with Dame.
All I know is that right now, as currently constructed, the ceiling for this team is probably the 2nd round of the playoffs.
I keep looking at the date on my watch
@Boris posted:I keep looking at the date on my watch
I guess it's possible he doesn't consider trying on defense until the playoffs. The shooting is going to come around - after all, this is Dame Lillard. A minimal effort on defense is what has to happen. He doesn't need to be Gary Payton, but he can't keep doing what he's doing on that end. At least try.
