The year after the 2000/2001 season was almost as frustrating. High hopes following the ECF and much like this year a supreme failure to live up to expectations
This squad should be 50 wins easily
Good win tonight. Bucks were almost +10 in rebounds and also points in the paint.
They match up pretty well against Boston so need to pull for the 7 seed
Khris Middleton did his very best to piss it away again. This guy drives me friggin crazy. He turns the ball over, can’t handle ball pressure, and seems to always make the wrong choice. And the biggest issue is he doesn’t know this. He doesn’t recognize his weaknesses and this he has the inflated view of himself. You look at the numbers last night and you say “he looks like an All Star”. But if you don’t watch the game, you don’t see how often he makes an unthinkable mistake.
They need to improve this. By getting rid of him.
What ticks me off about Middleton is that he’s averaging 20PPG, but has really dropped off defensively and his 3pt shot has suffered as well. Coming into this season he shot at nearly a 40% clip from beyond the arc. This year? 36%. That’s a big slide.
It’s almost as if he watched old Allen Iverson tapes and said he needs to be a volume scorer and forget everything else.
Tschmack posted:The year after the 2000/2001 season was almost as frustrating. High hopes following the ECF and much like this year a supreme failure to live up to expectations
This squad should be 50 wins easily
Comparing those two teams is interesting.
Jabari Parker (admittedly hasn't played 3/4 of this year) is a very similar player to the Big Dog.
I was surprised when I looked how similar Cassell and Eric Bledsoe's stats are (almost identical career 3 FG% and overall FG%, similar assist numbers - Cassell slightly higher).
Then you had Tim Thomas compared to Middleton. Middleton is a better player and is almost the same size (two inches shorter).
Ervin Johnson, Lindsey Hunter, Scott Williams, and Jason Caffey in the rotation. Are those role players really that much better than Henson, Jennings/Brogdon, Thon Maker, Tony Snell, and Jason Terry?
I would argue that all those players above cumulatively are a close match talent wise.
So, would you rather have Ray Allen or Giannis? I realize they are completely different types of players, but that's the main difference. I think 100 of 100 people trade Ray Allen for Giannis if they are both in their prime.
So I guess coaching makes a difference - at least until you let you coach trade prime Ray Allen for fossilized Gary Payton and set the franchise back a decade.
Could they get Jeff Van Gundy or another coach to take over for the rest of the season? They are toast in the playoffs at this point.
They went 0-fer on 5 or 6 wide open 3s in that critical stretch in the 4th where they had a 103-100 lead. Bench didn’t contribute much at all. Big 4 over 70% of their scoring...
No way do I trade Giannis for Ray Allen. Giannis has not reached his prime. If he can develop a 3pt shot he will be the best player in the league. Allen was very good but was not a transcadent talent. This 34 has a chance to be that guy.
That’s what so damn frustrating about this team. They have a franchise player and for a small market team that’s a must if you want to compete. For how long? Who knows.
Tschmack posted:No way do I trade Giannis for Ray Allen. Giannis has not reached his prime. If he can develop a 3pt shot he will be the best player in the league. Allen was very good but was not a transcadent talent. This 34 has a chance to be that guy.
That’s what so damn frustrating about this team. They have a franchise player and for a small market team that’s a must if you want to compete. For how long? Who knows.
I agree with you. The way I worded it was by saying that anyone would trade Ray Allen away to get Giannis back. I agree that Giannis is the type of guy who you build a franchise around. Ray Allen is the perfect second (or third) guy on a championship team.
I agree on the frustration. Given where the league is right now with Kyrie Irving and Embiid both out, the East is ripe for the taking. The Bucks should be no worse than the 3rd best team in the East and staring at the likelihood of a showdown with the Cavs in the second or third round of the playoffs. The worst part is that they seem to be developing a habit of learning how to lose games instead of learning how to win. If they had won 7 more games this year, they'd be the 3 seed right now. They've lost 4 games to teams that are actively trying to tank (Mavs, Magic, and twice to the Bulls) and once to the Nets.
MichiganPacker posted:The worst part is that they seem to be developing a habit of learning how to lose games instead of learning how to win. If they had won 7 more games this year, they'd be the 3 seed right now. They've lost 4 games to teams that are actively trying to tank (Mavs, Magic, and twice to the Bulls) and once to the Nets.
That’s is 100% coaching. Talent used to win games in the NBA- coaching matters more now than in the past.
Once again, it's "wait till next year" on the Bucks. FFS
Good news is that they should have the pick of the litter of NBA coaching candidates. Bad news is that this Ownership group is turning out to be pretty unstable.
The most frustrating thing is that coaching is the least expensive part of the equation when it comes to being competitive. The Bucks will always struggle (just like OKC, Cleveland, Charlotte, Orlando, etc.) by not having the glitz and glamour of NYC, LA, or Miami. It's hard to keep a superstar in his 20s around in Milwaukee, Orlando, or OKC.
The Bucks have to make a decision on whether to pay Jabari Parker 18 million a year. Khris Middleton makes 14 million a year. Giannis is making 25 million a year (and if anyone is worth it, he is).
Gregg Popovich makes 6 million a year. Brad Stevens makes 3.75 million.
Just identify and spend the money on a good coach. It's a much better investment
Hell yeah!!
Keep it rolling.....
Milll---Wau-KEEE BUCKS!!
Pretty sloppy game- but I think it was Marques Johnson that said it was like watching a G league lineup for the Knicks. They’re pretty sad.
Thon Maker playing the 4 with Zeller at the 5? I hope this is a preview. Maker is no C. He can contribute as a stretch 4 and still help defend the rim.
Not sure what to think of Maker at this point. He is a liability on defense and until he can contribute on that end I would not be playing him.
Surprised that Zeller doesn’t get more minutes. I know they like Henson and what he can do offensively but there’s only one basketball to go around and they need more defense and rebounding. He got 12 last night but so did Parker.
Which leads me to my next point. I’m not thrilled with having to pay Parker but if it’s him or Middleton I pay Parker. Middleton is simply taking way too many shots and quite frankly he’s just not that good. He should be their 3rd or 4th option yet he’s getting and taking as many shots acting like he’s the #1 guy. 8-22 isn’t going to get it done.
Keep thinking about Kevin Garnett saying Thon would be an eventual league MVP. Er, not seeing it.
Not until he puts on about 30 pounds of muscle.
Thon Maker isn’t Durant. Right now he’s not anything. But he’s played 2 years out of position with no real coaching- we have no idea what he is.
But I am hopeful the addition of Vin Baker will help deprogram him and get him on the right track. He’s talented.
I see he has game. He has vision, and moments when he shows he can play. One thing the Bucks have not done effectively is use his speed. Many times he beats his man down the floor and no one sees it. Easy baskets are there for the taking.
I’d just like to see him do more than camp out at the 3pt line. Defensively, he has to do something, anything. I agree on the coaching piece but at some point he needs to step it up.
They get Brogdon back tonight so that’s encouraging. I think his loss was a bigger deal than we are thought.
Boy, Brogdon looks noticeably trimmer. Cut. He’s really busted it in rehab. I’ll bet once he has his legs back he’ll be more explosive. That’ll be nice...
6th seed now. Cavs have fallen out of the 3rd- Philly is there. Bucks play Philly Wednesday to close it out. Hmmm...
With Irving's injury, the 7th seed is much more appealing than the 6th seed. Who wouldn't rather play the limping Celtics over the surging 76ers?
With that in mind, I wouldn't mind a loss on Wednesday & a Heat win. But I'm sure the Heat are thinking the same thing...
I am opposed to manipulating the standings for a specific seeding. I don’t know the statistics, but if you avoid one for another, you embolden the latter and that just works against you.
I say win, especially if they’re going to rest their guys. If that gets you Cleveland so be it. Take on LeBron and go after them. It’s not a better matchup per se than Boston or Philly, but this team isn’t good enough to lose purposely. They need to play to win, let the chips fall.
Philly may not want Milwaukee, though. They turn the ball over a lot, and the Bucks thrive on this. Giannis rested, Bledsoe playing his best ball all season, bench getting rhythm, Parker a 6th man... they will shrink the rotation and hopefully tighten up defensively.
I really like resting Giannis’ ankles. He has been really struggling defensively and this will get those ankles a chance to heal and improve his lateral quickness. He’ll need that versus Lebron, which is who I think they’ll play.
Music - you really think they'll end up as the 6th seed playing Lebron and the Cavs as the #3 seed. Basically, that means beating the Sixers tomorrow.
Do, do you sit Giannis and give him an even longer time to recover for the playoffs? If you do that, they are more likely to slide into the #7 seed and get the Celtics. Or do you bring him back and play to win and get the #6 seed?
It's still amazing to think that the Bucks preferred crunch time playoff lineup has never played a minute on the floor as a unit. In fact, they may not have played any minutes with even 4 of those 5 on the floor together - certainly not during the last two seasons.
Giannis, Parker, Bledsoe, Brogdon, and Middleton.
Parker came back the same game Brogdon got hurt this year.
Middleton came back last year from his leg injury during the same game Parker got hurt (if I'm remembering correctly).
Even last night when Brogdon is finally back, Giannis sat down for rest.
Bledsoe arrive until earlier this year when Parker was still out.
Lambeau Lobo posted:But I'm sure the Heat are thinking the same thing...
As evidenced by the Heat getting outscored 39-12 in the 4th quarter last night against the Thunder after leading by 5 going in to the 4th. The Bucks will be the 6th seed - no way the Heat will try and beat Toronto tomorrow night.
MichiganPacker posted:Music - you really think they'll end up as the 6th seed playing Lebron and the Cavs as the #3 seed. Basically, that means beating the Sixers tomorrow.
Do, do you sit Giannis and give him an even longer time to recover for the playoffs? If you do that, they are more likely to slide into the #7 seed and get the Celtics. Or do you bring him back and play to win and get the #6 seed?
Cleveland has one game left versus the Knicks. They’ll win that one.
And though Philly has a pretty bad Atlanta team tonight, they’re going back to back Wednesday against the Bucks. If they are tied with Cleveland the Cavs get the 3 seed. Unless Cleveland loses, which I don’t think they will, Philly needs to win both games of the back to back. They might not want to go hard like that- and if they are playing the same “who would you rather play” game I’m guessing they’d rather not play Milwaukee than Indiana. Though Indiana is a pretty tough team, the Bucks have Giannis.
So I think it’s the Bucks and Cleveland. That is a very interesting matchup, and for the Bucks it’s a lesson they must learn- how to defend the 3 and get rebounds.
Oh- and if they get the 6 seed they keep their first round pick:
The Bucks are very likely the 6 seed and will get a tough matchup no matter what. The Cavs may not be as dominant as they have been but they are really good and LeBron is just playing at a different level. The Sixers are pesky because they rebound extremely well and are on a roll. I also think they are the one team in the East that can match Milwaukee’s length and athleticism.
Still, this Bucks team is so damn unpredictable that it would not surprise me to see them get swept or actually compete hard and possibly spring the upset in round 1.
Already down 16-6 in Philly
Cue Jim Mora about our chances in the first round.
Do the Bucks actually scheme to give up as many wide open 3s as possible?
Why is Giannis playing in this game
Just stupid management