2023-24 Milwaukee Bucks Season Thread

Rivers probably refused to settle for less. Usually a 4 year deal is for a rebuild. That's not what should be happening here, but apparently there are players who Rivers believes need to be traded because they don't fit into his game.

Names bantered around from what I understand are Connaughton, Payne, and Portis, as well as Beauchamp. It's almost as if he has the impression that they are the cause of failure, not the fact that the trade for Lillard was stupid, because it cost us the glue of our defensive efforts, in Holiday.

On a further note, Horst handled the Holiday situation horribly, and I think it has repercussions and resentment on the team. Holiday wasn't even told he was going to be traded, he found out when his wife saw it in the media. To me that was a callous disregard for a valuable team asset. I can't help but believe that this attitude wasn't wasted on Middleton, and the rest of the players.

As for Rivers. He was handed a roster that was going to win an NBA title even if the towel boy was running it, because it relied on top assistants, and players skills.

Watching the Cavs game last night I have only one word to describe what I saw. Pathetic.

I wish we still had Holiday, and a decent coach. We could be watching another run for a championship. No matter how much Lillard scores, I'm not a Dame fan. He just doesn't seem to care if he plays defense or not. That is not how the game needs to be played.
 
I hope Rivers saw the lack of defense last night, and the failure to move the ball around like they should. Beasley & Connaughton held their shooting guards down, but Lillard failed miserably on defense at the point. We have to expect that. He does not play defense. In fact, he gave up most of Murray's 35 last night. But...... he's a super star...... most people only see his offensive stats.

First order of business. Dame has to play defense whether he likes it or not. Lopez needs back side help, and needs to play around the bucket. Giannis has to share the ball better on offense. But, to share, players need to move to open lanes so he can dish off. They aren't doing that because they know he's not giving it up. There's a lot of defenders sagging on him and leaving our guys open for the 3s. He could actually score more, with less defense against him, if he does give it up. Right now, they hack him and see a low return on points for the Bucks from the free throw line.

Someone has to decide to let Middleton turn it loose and put the ball up. He's a good shooter and being totally under utilized. Portis needs to be more comfortable with his role on the team, and not be dangled as trade bait. Same with Connaughton, who needs more playing time, because he does offer quite a bit on both sides of the ball. He's one of the few players I've seen who plays tenacious defense against guys that have a half a foot more more height advantage over him. He plays it smart, and keeps the arms and hands up, not clawing at them and fouling. I'd like to know how the guys he guards actually score against him compared to their normal averages and percentages. I'd bet they're significantly lower than their averages.

The Bucks shouldn't be forcing themselves to put players on the floor that match up against the opposition. It should be the opposite way around. Teams should be scrambling to match up with the Bucks. There's enough talent on our team to force that to happen. That's one mistake that Griffin constantly made. He was on the defensive when it came to match ups, but he did it in a scoring perspective. You need to do it aggressively, and force the other team to do the match ups.

We have that kind of talent on the team. It needs to happen.
 
Dame has not played a lick of defense in his career. I don't know if he even knows how to attempt to. MKE knew that when the traded for him. Was pick your poison with him. Score more then you would with Holiday or play better D. At this point Lillard is not scoring enough to show he was worth giving up the defense for.
 
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GBP4EVER said:
Dame has not played a lick of defense in his career. I don't know if he even knows how to attempt to. MKE knew that when the traded for him. Was pick your poison with him. Score more then you would with Holiday or play better D. At this point Lillard is not scoring enough to show he was worth giving up the defense for.
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I didn't like the trade from day one. Gave up too much, and Horst was a fool doing it. To me, Holiday could score less than a half of what Dillard can and he's be a much better fit for what the Bucks need to do.

To top it off, I think he's moody. If the shots aren't going for him, the rest of his game gets sloppy.

I keep thinking about how he said he needs to play the entire first quarter to be sharp. To be honest, I don't know of any player in the NBA, who plays both sides of the ball, that can run a stretch that long, and not have their tongue hanging out. Not him, he coasts through every time the opposition has the ball. What a horrible mistake going after him. It's going to end up being Horst's folly if something doesn't change.

To be honest, he's so darned athletic that if he wanted to play defense, he could probably be one of the best at it. But, it would exert energy, and he couldn't save it to play offense. Don't be surprised if he doesn't "demand" to be traded after this season is over. To be honest, I don't care. Just don't do something stupid and give him away. That seems to be Horst's way of doing business.
 
TW said:
I didn't like the trade from day one. Gave up too much, and Horst was a fool doing it. To me, Holiday could score less than a half of what Dillard can and he's be a much better fit for what the Bucks need to do.

To top it off, I think he's moody. If the shots aren't going for him, the rest of his game gets sloppy.

I keep thinking about how he said he needs to play the entire first quarter to be sharp. To be honest, I don't know of any player in the NBA, who plays both sides of the ball, that can run a stretch that long, and not have their tongue hanging out. Not him, he coasts through every time the opposition has the ball. What a horrible mistake going after him. It's going to end up being Horst's folly if something doesn't change.

To be honest, he's so darned athletic that if he wanted to play defense, he could probably be one of the best at it. But, it would exert energy, and he couldn't save it to play offense. Don't be surprised if he doesn't "demand" to be traded after this season is over. To be honest, I don't care. Just don't do something stupid and give him away. That seems to be Horst's way of doing business.
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i don't know why you have to be so wishy-washy about it. just say how you really feel about it.
 
Another loss. This time against Portland. The Blazers hit over 50% from the field, and over 40% from 3. Nothing much to say except Portland isn't even good enough to make the playoffs.

The Bucks once again showed they either can't, or won't play defense. Rivers needs to make an impact soon, or this season is in the crapper.
 
TW said:
Another loss. This time against Portland. The Blazers hit over 50% from the field, and over 40% from 3. Nothing much to say except Portland isn't even good enough to make the playoffs.

The Bucks once again showed they either can't, or won't play defense. Rivers needs to make an impact soon, or this season is in the crapper.
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I think this season is going to follow last year. Bucks will be lucky maybe to make it out of 1st round and if they do they will lose in 2nd round to a team that can play D and shoot perhaps a 76ers team.
 
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Bucks are a crappy 6-4 in last 10 games. You expect better for a team in 2nd place in the East.
 
are teams getting up to play the Bucks? ie Portland shot >50% in total and >40% for 3's. Was it a hot shooting day that made the defense look bad, or was it bad defense that gave them too many open shots? I watched part of the game last night and didn't think their defense was all that bad, but Portland shot well.
 
HowardK4 said:
are teams getting up to play the Bucks? ie Portland shot >50% in total and >40% for 3's. Was it a hot shooting day that made the defense look bad, or was it bad defense that gave them too many open shots? I watched part of the game last night and didn't think their defense was all that bad, but Portland shot well.
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If it was a one off game, I'd say they got lucky. The fact is, this keeps playing out game after game. If it can't be corrected, get rid of players and start rebuilding with a team that can play both sides of the ball. The Dame trade was a horrendous decision.

Griffin wasn't the only one that needed to be fired. Horst should have been sent packing too. He's done nothing towards improving this team. His trades are hurting the future of this team, and getting nothing for today.
 
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