2024 Playoffs Eastern Conference First Round: (3) Milwaukee Bucks vs (6) Indiana Pacers
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This would be a great time to foul MIL before the shot - no way they'd be expecting it to try to get a shot up.
They threw that into the backcourt just to get him a full head of steam---I was like "why' and then I saw the play.
What a game.
What a game.
Damn middleton almost banked another one in.
Can't believe he did this on his ankle. If they somehow get giannis healthy and escape this series, this is the middleton that makes the bucks a legit title contender. Or they could be on vacation in a couple of days.
Can't believe he did this on his ankle. If they somehow get giannis healthy and escape this series, this is the middleton that makes the bucks a legit title contender. Or they could be on vacation in a couple of days.
It’s really tricky. If the ballhandler isn’t in shooting position/range you’d prefer the clock running…..then on the next dribble they put themselves in shooting position to rise and pull if you go to foul for 3 shots.
View: https://twitter.com/eric_nehm/status/1784024331254747234?s=46&t=ewYMSuiVooy3RaQTShVJiA
Feels like indy is a half away from knocking out the bucks.
Feels like indy is a half away from knocking out the bucks.
I wish I could manage expectations down to subterranean depths with my boss even half as well as Doc Rivers does.
Seriously---it's impressive.
"Hey, not my fault, Dame was hurt and Giannis was out...."
Doc cannot possibly be expected to win playoff games in this economy.
But seriously folks, he's taken a team that was 30-13 under the prior coach (with realistic dreams of being a 1st tier title contender) and has lead them to a 18-21 record. All noise aside, WTF. I've said there's just no way the Bucks can fire him after this year because that would mean the Bucks would have to pay FOUR coaches next year, but if they were to fire him for performance related reasons, I can't logically think of how the season could have gone any worse (assuming the Bucks are done in 5 or 6).
This is all true, and yet, he may end up having the very legitimate excuse of being without his 2 best players. Hard to see how he's not back.
That said, the "Doc has turned them around on D!" takes from March have the same vibe as "the Lakers really figured something out with Rui on Jokic."
This season for the Bucks was a failure as soon as Adrian Griffin was fired. Apparently his coaching was trash, but perhaps the bad D is, you know, exchanging Jrue for Lillard, who can't give as much back on O as his prime.
LOLBUCKS
LOLBUCKS
I mean don’t you think expectations change without Giannis…..and then without Giannis and Lillard?
Doc will be back if Giannis wants him back (and, yes, also because of the four coaches thing). People talk about the Dame trade and this Bucks season as a "disaster" and yet— big picture— they got Giannis to sign an extension after an off-season where he was making noises about wanting to leave. If you're this franchise, the fact that you retained the most popular athlete in Wisconsin and remained relevant and competitive alone makes the season a qualified success.
Yeah, I know "LOL Doc making excuses" is a meme but it does really matter that Giannis isn't playing!
Of course it does! It matters that Dame is hurt as well. But you don't stand up in front of everybody and make excuses, especially in the present when you are in the middle of a still winnable series. Loser mentality.
It matters as to the results, but it doesn't change the comedy of the preemptive excuse making. How about going out and trying to win, instead of devoting a lot of thought bandwidth on how to deflect blame from you?
Coach Bud is better than anyone who has followed him - but one has to assume him going was part of Giannis resigning, and that was (appropriately) the primary motivator of all of their offseason decisions. So now they have an underpowered coach and an old, misfit roster.
Giannis, it's a whole lot on you both this year (if you make it) and next.
Giannis, it's a whole lot on you both this year (if you make it) and next.
Even for a "title or bust" team, success isn't binary (or maybe it is, but failure certainly isn't binary). If they lose to this super inexperienced and flawed Pacers team without Giannis (even if they played well against the Bucks earlier in the year, Haliburton is a shadow of what he was) after the way they played over the final couple of months of the season, this season was an abject failure for them. No Giannis is an excuse to not win the title, it's not an excuse to get bounced out of the first round by a decent at best Pacers team after going under .500 over the last half of the season. The Bucks ultimately fired Griffin despite the results - they fired him because even though they were winning games (at a 57 win clip), they didn't think they could win another title with him leading the team. What evidence have we seen from Doc that he can win a title win the same group? That's a question that is totally fair to ask even if Giannis is done for the year. Him being hurt doesn't exempt Doc and the Bucks from how they've performed over the last 3 months.
This part isn't entirely on Doc, but if Giannis finishes his 3rd season post-title having won just a single playoff series, that is a massive hit to his legacy. He was just 26 when he won his first title, with 2 MVPs and a dominating playoff run under his belt. He was the best 2-way player we'd seen since Miami Lebron and seemed poised to just wreck the league as the older guard aged out. If this is it for the 2024 Bucks, the last several years have really been rough for him. He's seen Jokic surpass him as the best player in the world while ending multiple seasons on the injury report, with his only playoff victory being a first round win over the forever average Bulls. He turns 30 in December.
This part isn't entirely on Doc, but if Giannis finishes his 3rd season post-title having won just a single playoff series, that is a massive hit to his legacy. He was just 26 when he won his first title, with 2 MVPs and a dominating playoff run under his belt. He was the best 2-way player we'd seen since Miami Lebron and seemed poised to just wreck the league as the older guard aged out. If this is it for the 2024 Bucks, the last several years have really been rough for him. He's seen Jokic surpass him as the best player in the world while ending multiple seasons on the injury report, with his only playoff victory being a first round win over the forever average Bulls. He turns 30 in December.
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100%. I don't even think Doc is a bad coach - on the contrary. But the excuse making drives me crazy. Did you know that the PP/KG/Ray Cs never lost a play-off series when they were healthy?
Doc is PUMPED AND JACKED for this ready-made excuse:
View: https://twitter.com/shamscharania/status/1784261690395132236?s=46&t=11SXTvIYT-tl8b6e7iEUVQ
View: https://twitter.com/shamscharania/status/1784261690395132236?s=46&t=11SXTvIYT-tl8b6e7iEUVQ
I'll grant Doc that missing Dame and Giannis is huge and massive. On the other hand, it's hard for me to imagine Spo (or even Mazzulla) immediately going through the excuse bag. Doc just doesn't seem mentally resilient, and his post-Celtics teams have consistently reflected that attitude.
Indiana aren't worldbeaters. If you can psych your guys up for a couple games, maybe get more out of Middleton, you could steal a game or two and then get Giannis back. This is far from over, and the last thing the Bucks need is their coach going into excuse mode.
Indiana aren't worldbeaters. If you can psych your guys up for a couple games, maybe get more out of Middleton, you could steal a game or two and then get Giannis back. This is far from over, and the last thing the Bucks need is their coach going into excuse mode.
Curious to see Milwaukee today - a core of guys (Lopez, Middleton, and though newer to team Beverley) are proven playoff-type pros. And they all know that this is the game tehy really want to win - massive difference between 2-2 and down 3-1. Milwaukee needs a huge defensive effort and some surprise offensive games to have a shot; interested to see how much they compete towards that vs fold.
It would have been interesting to see them missing only Lillard— whether his absence could turn into a galvanizing thing for a game or two, where the team gets to clamp down on D and other players are challenged to pick up the scoring slack. No Dame AND Giannis is a bridge too far though— too many minutes for very limited players. Even the Pacers D should be able to hold them to 100 points if both those guys are out.
I’d feel better about the Bucks coming together as one for the big game if Middleton hadn’t already given them what he did in G3. I can’t imagine he has much left in the tank with his physical issues bouncing back like this.
From his Darko graph, it certainly looks like we're at the beginning of the gradual, inevitable downhill slope that kicks in for most everyone around 750 games played.
Agreed - not only rallying when hurt but also putting up, inclusive of the clutch threes, perhaps his single best game ever. A lot to ask for a repeat.
I wonder if Lopez can give them 20 something points? Portis is capable of the odd mid-upper 20s point game
But man...it's just a tough road for the Bucks