JB was very clear after the game that part of the reason for the early workout was because he wanted to get his hamstring warm, then let it recover, prior to gametime. I'm certainly no physical therapist, so I have no idea the reasoning behind that, but he did talk about it in very clear terms, and said he plans to do it again before game 3.
Except in Game 1, when the Bucks shot their season average?
The Bucks shot 41.1% in game 1. Their season average was 46.8%.
Regarding the Giannis as screener action - I wondered during the game if the Celtics were purposely not making an adjustment since the game was mostly in hand already and Ime didn't want to show his hand too early. Do coaches think that way?
But how much of their season 3PA average is changed without Middleton? Both from his own 3 point shooting and creating open 3 point looks for teammates?
How many times last night did Al grab a rebound or a loose ball and bring it up the court himself, denying Milwaukee the chance to set up on-ball pressure? I'm sure that was part of the game plan, but there are not a lot of big men who could do that successfully. Huge kudos to Ime and the coaches for the adjustment and Al for executing.
I forget the stats but the Cs weren't just good on the road in 2022, they were historically good. Let's hope that continues.
IIRC they set a record for most road games with a 20+ point lead. Something like half their road games.
My take is that they should continue to play aggressive basketball like they did in the first half, even it doesn't have the same results, rather than the way they did most of the second half. Which part of that do you disagree with?
I don't think they are 1-1 because of the 3pt distribution. Game 1 had far more to do with giving up a ton of turnovers, and a massive amount of fast break points and shooting 29% from 2 than it did with shooting 36% from 3.
Agreed. If the C's don't turn the ball over we'll be happy with plenty of open 3pt attempts that Mil willingly gives up.
There may have been some element of “let’s trade buckets and not let Giannis get a bunch of three point plays” but who knows if anything was held back, per se. I think they probably just executed those possessions poorly. Not aggressive enough on the switch, too slow to rotate, etc, and there was no rim protection in the game at those times.
If you don't want Pritchard getting beat by Jrue (you don't), then you definitely don't want Hauser getting matched onto Jrue. PP will at least be able to slide his feet and probably has a small footspeed advantage over Holiday. The latter can bully him, but he'd waltz around Hauser like a traffic cone. Unless Pritchard gets hurt or is somehow completely ineffective to the point that Ime has to "try something", I'd be surprised if we see Hauser.
Of course it is. Not sure that the plan is vastly different either way, but sure it's nice having one fewer talented player to worry about.
The C's defense will always include plenty of fouls called. You can't be physical and be afraid of the whistle.
I'm not saying it's 1-1 solely because of 3 pt distribution. I'll put it this way:
We're in trouble if Hauser is thrown in there. Not really a knock on him per se, but just look at all the game it took to get PP up to playing as the 8th guy for a playoff team. We can't have Hauser shitting himself out there.
As Eddie Jurak also noted, this doesn’t hold against the Bucks when the “good” shot is an open above the break three. It’s probably fine for Tatum to take those when they present since he has to work hard for any open look, but for the rest of the team, the Bucks defense is designed to give us that shot. It will pretty much always be there so there is no reason to take it with 14 seconds on the shot clock.
Definitely this.
I think the egregious ones, like where Grant Williams was plowed through, get played over and over for three days on ESPN while we wait for game 3 and that does more than anything.
I don't know. Maybe from shooting or reffing variance, but what adjustment can the Bucks make? Their offense without Middleton is Giannis with the ball in his hands driving and getting to the rim or kicking out to shooters. The Celtics just showed they can credibly guard him with either Al or Grant one-on-one. That's bad for them.
And this is a good play, IMO. Smart coming back, Brown will be less hobbled in the second half (hopefully), extra scrutiny on refs with Giannis. You won with all that missing, now you have more assets at your disposal. No need to get crazy with the clipboard.
If they shot their season average from 2 they'd have won by 5... the math is not very hard.
Yeah, the Celtics are the better team than the Bucks without Middleton. They may be better than them anyway, but the Middleton injury hurts. Especially since he kills the Celtics.
As of now nothing. If the Celtics happen to lose Game 3 and it’s officiated terribly again, I think Ime takes a page from Taylor Jenkins book and goes a little scorched earth
Agreed with this.
Yeah, the onus is on Milwaukee now to try and counter what Boston was able to do in Game 2. In Game 1 Milwaukee's core defensive strategy (pack the paint, get the ball out of Tatum's hands, and let marginal shooters fire away from three) was enough to stifle the Celtics, and they scrapped together enough non-Giannis offense from Holiday/Portis to get by. In Game 2 the Celtics made the appropriate adjustments in how they attacked the Bucks defense, and really exposed some of it's weaknesses with ball movement and better shot selection. Milwaukee looks like the team that will now have to adjust if they want to gain control in the series. Bud is a very good coach, and Giannis is a skilled problem-solver when it comes to dealing with teams trying to stop him, so there are probably several more counters still in play for both teams in this series.
Moreover, Milwaukee is struggling on offense.
I agree that that fastbreak points were the difference between the two games. It's interesting, though, because fastbreak points generally come from (1) turnovers and (2) rebounds off of missed shots. In G1 the C's were high-turnover and poor-shooting and MIL got a bunch of points off the break and smoked the C's. In G2 the C's were low-turnover and good-shooting and MIL got nothing on the break and got stomped. We've yet to see what happens if there is a split, so it's hard to say how the series will shake out once it settles.
The Bucks adjust more during the course of a game than most anyone. To assume they will change nothing following a big loss is setting yourself up for failure. If I’m Ime (that sounds funny) I’d be preparing for the Bucks to force Jaylen out of his comfort zone, run a second defender at him off the dribble forcing him to pass the ball which is a hole in his game. I’d look for them to run the offense more through Lopez at the top of the circle forcing a big outside of the paint and to run more action with Holiday. I’m sure there are other things he’ll look to do that are above my pay grade as well.
I think these two factors are about 1/2 the reason for the reduction in MIL shots attempted, and it will have a snowballing effect as the series wears on. I attribute the Celtics defense and preference for defending the 3 pointer as the other 1/2 of it. People are talking about Middleton being a big loss (especially with his additional length against the Cs), but his loss is specifically visible in these points (not dismissing his defense).
Wagon? They've been a Herkimer Battle Jitney tricked out with 30mm autocannons and trailing sharks with frickin' laser beams on their heads.
I wonder if the Celtics went into G1 with a strategy of "Don't Let Giannis Beat Us." In that game, GA took 28% of the Bucks 90 FGA and scored 24% of the Bucks 101 points.
You said that a hell of a lot more succinctly that I did... and I was trying... ugh.
In Game 2, especially in the first half, Giannis really settled a lot and honestly helped the Celtics out.
He might, but I have doubts he can constantly attack without running out of fuel, especially if he has to also defend a lot. It doesn't strike me as sustainable for an entire game.
When asked about the officials I say, “We don’t make excuses. We control what we can. We play hard.” And all the talking heads watch and then make the case for me.
Part of it was that he had difficulty with Horford and Grant, and had no passes to make, where game 1 they doubled and he found the open man. I do think early he was worried about getting called for charges... then in the 2nd he realized he wouldn't, or at least not enough to matter.
You can shoot 33% from 3 every possession or shoot 50% from 2 and have the same amount of points. Getting 3 point shots is good. Getting quality 3 point shots is a gift. Hitting your quality shots in volume leads to blowouts. It’s really not complicated.
