Milwaukee Bucks 2019 - 20 Season Thread

[owbc]

They need to do something to make the regular season more interesting. I’m all for major changes. And make the bad teams compete for better draft position!

[lcbj68c]

The in-season tournament is an interesting idea. I don't want to say it's meaningless, but I honestly don't know how much people will care about it. I'd like to see it get approved and see how much interest it gets.

 

I think the post-season play in idea is terrible. Adding a 9th and 10th team to the playoff format in the NBA is just a terrible idea. There's really only 2 or 3 teams in most seasons from each conference that have a legitimate chance of advancing, so adding 2 more teams to the mix just doesn't make sense at all. The NBA isn't like MLB where the goal is to just make the playoffs and get hot and any team can win it all. You have to go back 10 years to find an NBA title that wasn't won by either a 1 or 2 seed (and that was a 3 seed Dallas Mavericks). Giving a 33 - 34 win team a chance to get massacred by a 1 seed has no entertainment value at all.

 

Doesn't this improve that problem? Instead of 16 teams making the playoffs, it goes to 10?

[sveumrules]

They need to do something to make the regular season more interesting. I’m all for major changes. And make the bad teams compete for better draft position!

 

I've always thought a tournament between the non playoff teams to determine the #1/2 picks would be an interesting idea.

 

Think it would all but eliminate outright tanking & raise the floor of the league considerably.

 

Sure, you might have teams in the 7/8/9 range trying to lose at the end of the season to get in the draft pick playoffs instead of the championship playoffs, but that sounds better to me than multiple teams tanking entire seasons at a time.

 

Also think they should incorporate a 1 on 1 tournament somehow for All Star Weekend. Maybe top 4 or 8 vote getters are seeded, then the two who make it to the final get to be captains with winner picking first?

[Baldkin]

3- Where's the defense? The overall defensive rating is good, but they're giving up well over 100 points a game. They've won 7 games giving up 110+ points and lost games giving up 126 and 131. I know scoring is up league wide, but it just seems like they're having the same issues they had against Toronto. They're collapsing WAY too much in the lane - which doesn't make much sense given Lopez and Giannis have been really good challenging and blocking shots this year - and when they do that, it's leaving shooters wide open.

 

2nd best defensive rating in the league.

 

They give up a lot of points because they play faster than any other team in the NBA.

 

https://stats.nba.com/teams/advanced/?sort=PACE&dir=-1

[nate82]

That was a great game last night against the Jazz neither team quit and it was a fight for the whole game. It looked like the Bucks were going to run away with it after the end of the 3rd but the Jazz kept on fighting and holding on.

[stoutdude04]

That was a great game last night against the Jazz neither team quit and it was a fight for the whole game. It looked like the Bucks were going to run away with it after the end of the 3rd but the Jazz kept on fighting and holding on.

 

Much to my wallets dismay!

[DuWayne Steurer]

The jazz without Gobert had no answer for Giannis in the 2nd half. Really fun game to watch. Hot shooting from Utah kept it close to the last few seconds. Awesome block by Lopez to seal it.

[FVBrewerFan]

Pat C had 4 free throws all season. Steps to the line and hits two perfect free throws to ice it. Yea, I know, it's just free throws. But that was underrated and impressive.

[adambr2]

I really think it's NBA Finals or bust this season. It's hard to see anyone in the East outlasting us in a 7 game series this time around now that Leonard is out.

 

Last year they could still use the progress/gaining playoff experience excuse. This year, I really do think anything short of playing in the NBA Finals is a disappointing season. But they've still got to earn it.

[DuWayne Steurer]

I agree that at this point in the season they're definitely the best team in the east. Even without Mids. A superstar, a good Supporting Cast and a deep bench. It's all there. I guess we'll see what other teams do at the trade deadline, but right now it's reasonable expectations to see them getting to the finals. Hard to see anything other than a bucks vs. Lakers finals

[brwrsfan]

3- Where's the defense? The overall defensive rating is good, but they're giving up well over 100 points a game. They've won 7 games giving up 110+ points and lost games giving up 126 and 131. I know scoring is up league wide, but it just seems like they're having the same issues they had against Toronto. They're collapsing WAY too much in the lane - which doesn't make much sense given Lopez and Giannis have been really good challenging and blocking shots this year - and when they do that, it's leaving shooters wide open.

 

2nd best defensive rating in the league.

 

They give up a lot of points because they play faster than any other team in the NBA.

 

https://stats.nba.com/teams/advanced/?sort=PACE&dir=-1

 

I know what the metrics say, but watching this team play defense it's nearly impossible to call it good. The Utah game is a prime example IMO (same as the Toronto series last season). The Bucks collapse on penetration WAY more than they should. It happened over and over and over against the Jazz where guys would inexplicably collapse (which doesn't make a ton of sense when Giannis and Lopez are in, both capable of protecting the rim). The Jazz would kick it out, sometimes requiring an extra pass or two but wound up with at least 25 wide open threes because the Bucks put themselves in scramble mode and the Jazz had good ball movement.

 

It's just one game, but it happens consistently. That's ok when teams miss shots or when you're playing a poor shooting team, but against the Jazz (top ten in 3 point %), it made very little sense and the Jazz made them pay with something like 20 made threes. This might be nitpicking but Toronto exploited this big time in the playoffs last year.

[True Blue Brew Crew]

Numbers don't lie.

[Outlander]

It definitely isn't impossible to call the defense good, it is good.

[FVBrewerFan]

I agree that at this point in the season they're definitely the best team in the east. Even without Mids. A superstar, a good Supporting Cast and a deep bench. It's all there. I guess we'll see what other teams do at the trade deadline, but right now it's reasonable expectations to see them getting to the finals. Hard to see anything other than a bucks vs. Lakers finals

 

Boston is going to be tough, now that Irving is gone. But I will disappointed this year without an NBA title. Also, I can see the Clippers from the West. Leonard and PG haven't played much together yet, but they'll be full speed come playoff time.

 

Bucks will likely need to make a strategic move later this season. Not sure what they even need quite yet, but they have trade pieces to use when the time is right.

[brooks_quichenick]

Midds returning to action tonight

[CheezWizHed]

I know what the metrics say, but watching this team play defense it's nearly impossible to call it good. The Utah game is a prime example IMO (same as the Toronto series last season). The Bucks collapse on penetration WAY more than they should. It happened over and over and over against the Jazz where guys would inexplicably collapse (which doesn't make a ton of sense when Giannis and Lopez are in, both capable of protecting the rim). The Jazz would kick it out, sometimes requiring an extra pass or two but wound up with at least 25 wide open threes because the Bucks put themselves in scramble mode and the Jazz had good ball movement.

 

It's just one game, but it happens consistently. That's ok when teams miss shots or when you're playing a poor shooting team, but against the Jazz (top ten in 3 point %), it made very little sense and the Jazz made them pay with something like 20 made threes. This might be nitpicking but Toronto exploited this big time in the playoffs last year.

 

If the numbers say they are the second-best team in the league and by eyeball test, you think they should be better, that might say something about the offensive talent in the league more than the Buck's actual defensive capabilities. Time to adjust expectations.

[nate82]

I agree that at this point in the season they're definitely the best team in the east. Even without Mids. A superstar, a good Supporting Cast and a deep bench. It's all there. I guess we'll see what other teams do at the trade deadline, but right now it's reasonable expectations to see them getting to the finals. Hard to see anything other than a bucks vs. Lakers finals

 

I believe the Rockets, Clippers or the Jazz could knockout the Lakers

[adambr2]

Midds returning to action tonight

 

I must be losing it. I thought he was supposed to be out a good month or more.

[Fear The Chorizo]

Midds returning to action tonight

 

I must be losing it. I thought he was supposed to be out a good month or more.

 

that was the original forecast, but apparently it wasn't nearly as bad as initially thought. Sounds like the plan is to keep his minutes very limited and ease him back into the rotation...which makes alot of sense. Glad to see him able to return to the lineup!

[adambr2]

For how great Giannis is, his free throw shooting just keeps getting worse and worse. He's going to start getting Shaq hacks if he can't start at least hitting them at a reasonable clip.

[stoutdude04]

Pretty sure he started 0-6 too. Crazy

[brwrsfan]

I know what the metrics say, but watching this team play defense it's nearly impossible to call it good. The Utah game is a prime example IMO (same as the Toronto series last season). The Bucks collapse on penetration WAY more than they should. It happened over and over and over against the Jazz where guys would inexplicably collapse (which doesn't make a ton of sense when Giannis and Lopez are in, both capable of protecting the rim). The Jazz would kick it out, sometimes requiring an extra pass or two but wound up with at least 25 wide open threes because the Bucks put themselves in scramble mode and the Jazz had good ball movement.

 

It's just one game, but it happens consistently. That's ok when teams miss shots or when you're playing a poor shooting team, but against the Jazz (top ten in 3 point %), it made very little sense and the Jazz made them pay with something like 20 made threes. This might be nitpicking but Toronto exploited this big time in the playoffs last year.

 

If the numbers say they are the second-best team in the league and by eyeball test, you think they should be better, that might say something about the offensive talent in the league more than the Buck's actual defensive capabilities. Time to adjust expectations.

 

Guess we’re going to have to agree to disagree on this one. Overall, yes the defense has been good. But they’re allowing the 4th highest three point percentage in the league (almost 38%). I guess this is because they’ve made it a point to protect the paint more, but they don’t seem to adjust this game plan much based upon their opponent. If you rewatch the Jazz game (7th best team in the nba on threes), they exploited this over and over. I’m not against helping on penetration but there were many times it just flat wasn’t necessary or guys left their man in the corner without much purpose and it lead to open threes time after time.

 

Their on ball defense is good, they challenge shots well. Just not understanding the strategy of collapsing as frequently as they do.

[DuWayne Steurer]

I think when you look at it, Utah shot 21 and 45 from 3 and still needed a few late threes to make it look close. Utah only got to the free-throw line 11 times. They also got outrebounded by 9. Collapsing and defending the paint gives you a lot of advantages. Some nights, any given team will just get hot from outside the arc.

 

The Bucks defensive rating from last year and this year has shown that defending the paint and denying high-percentage shots is effective. Denying the opponent trips to the free-throw line is effective. It definitely sucks when the opponent gets hot from 3 and it definitely is aesthetically ugly but they won 60 games last year, and they are 15 and 3 this year and their defensive efficiency rating points out that this is working. When you take something away such as the interior, you have to give something up.

 

Everybody knows this, but interior shots are just higher percentage. Teams worked their tails off to deny the paint to Giannis in the playoffs. They'd rather have him kicking out to Middleton or Lopez and having them shoot threes then having Giannis laying it up or dunking it. The numbers don't lie. It's a good strategy, but it's easy to point out that it's not perfect on a given night that it doesn't look like it.

[CheezWizHed]

Exactly, no NBA defense is going to take away everything...which is why I stated that it says something about the NBA offensive skill (and the desired type of play) in the NBA. No one wants to watch a Detroit Pistons circa 1990 slug-fest game.

 

Yes, individual games someone will beat them. All teams have that "problem". And the NBA finals last year, it was the Buck's offense (or lack of) that lost the series (in 7 games) and not the defense.

[True Blue Brew Crew]

The Bucks are strategic about what they concede. And it often requires the opponent to shoot well beyond statistical probability to beat them.

 

Statistically it's a good defense and they have the league leading point differential to prove it. Doing the best job in the league at scoring more than your opponent is the primary objective after all.