@Boris posted:Doc Rivers probably won't have a job at the end of this season
Jon Horst needs to go. Tomorrow morning would be fine with me.
He fired Bud because he lost in the playoffs the last two years without his second best player (2022) and with his best player missing half the series (2023). They were aiming higher.
Every decision this year he's made has been wrong. He couldn't have made worse decisions on the coaching staff if he had tried.
Fire him. It's time.
I honestly can't remember a stretch this bad and disappointing for the Bucks in like 8 or 9 years. I know there's always a chance somehow, they rally and find some way to turn things around. That said, instead of worrying about winning a title, you have to worry they won't even get out of the 1st round of the playoffs for the 2nd year in a row.
If that comes to fruition that they don't even make it as far as the conference title series, I sort of assume you have to semi blow things up.
Maybe all these bozos in the national media will get their wish and Giannis will force the Bucks to trade him if things continue to circle down the drain through the playoffs. Let's hope things don't get that bad, but these last 4 games might be a sign that things are just about to get Armageddon level bad.
As soon as Giannis goes to a large market team....he'll be MVP instead of the Bucks getting dissed by all the major media outlets & the NBA.
The NBA can... Kiss my ass
Can you imagine ending the regular season on a 8 game losing streak?
@fightphoe93 posted:I honestly can't remember a stretch this bad and disappointing for the Bucks in like 8 or 9 years. I know there's always a chance somehow, they rally and find some way to turn things around. That said, instead of worrying about winning a title, you have to worry they won't even get out of the 1st round of the playoffs for the 2nd year in a row.
If that comes to fruition that they don't even make it as far as the conference title series, I sort of assume you have to semi blow things up.
Maybe all these bozos in the national media will get their wish and Giannis will force the Bucks to trade him if things continue to circle down the drain through the playoffs. Let's hope things don't get that bad, but these last 4 games might be a sign that things are just about to get Armageddon level bad.
Lillard has to go.
Horst and Lillard can leave now. Horst is an idiot, and Lillard doesnât give a shit about team, only looking good and receiving praise. He knows he will get traded to wherever he wants at this point, because nobody will touch him without 100% approval from his highness. His value is now lower than its ever been, and he wasted a year of Giannisâ prime by wrecking team chemistry. Horst gave up the remainder of the 2020s draft capital to get him, and most coaches will be a âhard passâ on this shit show. Might be doing a complete retool for next year, as this owner group is not going to have patience for a trash product.
We're gonna put it all together when it matters...
#Bucks G Damian Lillard on why heâs confident that he, Khris Middleton and Giannis Antetokounmpo can play well on both sides of the ball and help Milwaukee win in the playoffsð
â Andrew Ludwig (@ALudwigSports) April 8, 2024
âI see us being able to put it together when it comes down to it.â pic.twitter.com/of4EiJwrMA
Anything more on Middletonâs mouth trauma? pic.twitter.com/aVhekvgft0
â Âŧ justmaĘĘa ðĶ (@MarLaEF) April 8, 2024
fightphoe thatâs about right. Been watching the Bucks a long time including some truly terrible 90s teams and this about as bad of a stretch as I can recall.
They had the game in control at half and completely imploded in the second half.
As for Dame, he is seriously out to lunch. Did he takes his cues from Baghdad Bob? Who is he kidding? This team is far more likely to get swept in round 1 than go on some kind of run.
The good news is I donât think my expectations have ever been lower going into the postseason lol.
This is always a good sign about 2 weeks before the playoffs.
https://twitter.com/TheAthleti.../1777334188313612684
On Saturday, according to sources briefed on the meeting, Bucks coach Doc Rivers held a film session with the teamâs top nine veteran rotation players in Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez, Beasley, Bobby Portis, Patrick Beverley, Connaughton and Crowder. During that session, each player was given a chance to speak his mind and explain what they have been seeing from their own perspective, as well as how they believe the team needs to operate selflessly as a unit moving forward.
âItâs only the start of these tough and necessary conversations,â one source described the session.
I think the part about that "it's only the start of these tough conversations" is referring to the fact that Dame has no pride in playing defense whatsoever. He has for a couple of games this year (maybe OKC was the most recent), but for the most part he plays the game like he just does't care about putting in effort on that end. Other teams just seek him out and attack him on switches. It would be one thing if this was to back him down and shoot over him, but that's not the biggest thing. It's the fact they switch onto him and he just offers no resistance on the perimeter at all. It's almost always a blow by without even making his guy switch direction. Beasley is just as bad. That's the underlying problem with the defense - two starting guards who look like they aren't trying. That's why when Pat Bev was playing they looked so much better. He actually contains penetration from the perimeter.
It's never going to happen, but if these guys didn't have the egos they have, you'd use Dame in a Vinny Johnson type role. In other words, bring him off the bench for 25-30 minutes as your sixth guy and get different matchups for him. The Bucks often get steamrolled at the start of second halves (and some first halves) because teams go after Dame (or Beasley) on defense and he's coming out looking to bomb away when he doesn't score enough in the first half and is more focused on that.
When Dame likely leaves the Bucks, he'll turn into that type of instant offense bench player (he's 35 next year) if he accepts that role, but I don't think you are ever going to win a title with him playing 42 minutes as your lead guard. Portland has sucked this year and Scoot Henderson has looked terrible, but I can imagine the Portland GM breathed a huge sigh of relief when Dame publicly asked out. They knew they were never going to win with him and he'd continue to put up empty numbers there. When he asked out, they were more than happy to acquiesce, but Miami tried to lowball them and that trade wasn't going to happen. At that point, Dame asked to come back and they basically told him "sorry, we moved on and don't let the door hit you on the way out" and shipped him out to Milwaukee (where he had asked to go). I would bet he thought there was no way Milwaukee would do a trade and he'd eventually either play for Portland again or force his way to Miami mid-year.
@Boris posted:Conference and Championship odds. You'll probably never get a better price
I'm worried about what these odds will look like for next season.
Well, for sure, they are definitely limping into the playoffs, especially with playing the Celtics tomorrow.
These are 4 teams that are in the mix to be potential first round matchups for the Bucks. Ironically, their defensive problems aren't as bad against teams that don't have quick guards that like to penetrate. Boston doesn't really have that and Miami really didn't have that until they got Rozier (who fits the profile of the 4 guys below).
The Bucks have been terrible recently for two reasons. First, is transition defense even after made FGs. The second is that players that play like Damian Lillard on offense kill them. If you look at the stats of the 4 guys below, they aren't really shooting that well from 3, but they are probably shooting almost 70% on twos against the Bucks.
If Dame played against a backcourt that played defense like himself, Beasley, and Connauhgton, his numbers on offense would be even better than Brunson's because he'd also hit the open 3s. Every half court possession seems to start with a blowbye or a pick and roll against Lopez or Portis in drop defense. Then the opposing guards either hit the mid-range stuff or get the defense scrambling so that guys like DDV are wide open for 3s after ball movement.
Pacers - Tyrese Haliburton - 5 games, 27-6-11, shooting splits of 53/38/91
Sixers - Tyrese Maxey - 3 games, 28-4-6 with splits of 47/44/78
Cavs - Donovan Mitchell - 4 games, 30-7-8 with splits of 52/34/63
Knicks - Jalen Brunson - 5 games, 37-4-6 with splits of 53/30/78
If Embiid is back to being healthy again, Iâm not sure Boston or Milwaukee or Orlando or the Knicks would want anything to do with Philly. However, Milwaukee is the one team out of that group with Lopez that could actually defend him.
Beasley played above his head for most of the year but heâs actually regressing back to the mean. The combination of him and Dame on the floor at the same time is a recipe for disaster as neither guy can defend nor shows much interest in defending.
It was only two weeks ago that the Bucks were coming off of their best win of the year - beating OKC with some smothering defense on SGA. They then took a 19 point lead and had the ball with 8 minutes left in the 4th quarter against the Lakers who were playing without LeBron. Giannis and Middleton were resting on the bench and doing back in with that lead.
They still lead by 10 with a little over 3 minutes left -and then didn't score again in the 4th quarter. They haven't been the same since.
They were about to go 47-25, had finally gotten Middleton back, and were looking like the team we expected at the beginning of the season. That Laker game seemed to break them.
