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It's also kind of a poor comparison because when we drafted Jax, it was mostly on potential. He had played relatively little basketball in highschool, and wasn't a big minutes starter in college either. It was all ''we know what this guy has as tools, let's see if we can get it out of him''.
Herro, by comparison, was seen generally as a fairly polished player with an established skillset coming out of college, and to a large extent that has translated. Yes, he's been more impactful than Jax as a rookie, but Jax wasn't drafted to be impactful as a rookie: half the fanbase thought he was gonna get redshirted entirely. Herro, by comparison, was drafted to be a plug-and-play, NBA ready guy.
Different situations entirely.
Basketball.
I said it when we drafted JAX.
You don't go from a high school back-up to an NBA caliber player in two years. When drafted, he was three years away from being NBA-ready (I even argued that he should be assigned to Erie). That said, I praised the pick and it would take a lot for me to move him (there is simply too much upside to ignore). But with his limited playing experience, he does not have a 'feel' for the game. Everything he does (especially defensively) is very mechanical and he is very unsure of himself. You can see this every time a foul is called on him. That, "what did I do wrong" look on his face is not by coincidence. Though is frame is slight (that will work itself out with maturity), his footwork is atrocious as evidenced by his inability to defend, boxout and rebound.
I think he has a chance to be a real game changer...but right now he changes the game in the wrong direction save for the occasional highlight reel dunk..
For Best Portrayal in the Nutcracker, the Oscar Award goes to KYLE LOWERY.
Budenholzer is just so garbage at 2 of the most vital playoff skills a coach can have.
Brilliant regular season coach. Great system. But he's too ideologically wedded to that system to make the necessary changes in the playoffs: either his roster has the ability to overcome his coaching issues or it doesn't, but that's the deciding factor, not the coaching mind game. Cause when he runs into a coach who really does that stuff, like Spoelstra or Nurse, he just gets mopped up.
This series is a great example. Down 2-0, he played Giannis 36 minutes game 2, 37 minutes game 1, and he's on pace to play Giannis 32 minutes game 3.
Meanwhile, Toronto has 34 year old Kyle Lowry playing 46 minutes when they're down 2-0 because Nurse knows that's the only way they're going to win.
Giannis is 25 years old and does not have significant injury history. If he has to average 41 minutes a game to win this series, you have to play him 41 minutes a game: no use trying to keep it down to 34 if the end result is elimination and you end up saving him for nothing.
Play your best players, together, for as many minutes as is possible. How is this so difficult?
Somebody alert the news media.
Coach Bud has made an adjustment.
Took him 11 quarters but he's done it. By God.
It's a one possession game with less than 7 minutes on the clock. If the Bucks lose this game, they're down 0-3: that's a killer.
Giannis has played 28 minutes.
Bud has him benched.
Sounds wild to think about Bud getting fired, but might he? You've got to think there's some discomfort in the Bucks organisation. Giannis is a year away from free agency and this is the second post-season in a row that they're truly underachieving, and a huge part of why is Budenholzer's inflexible coaching style and obsession with minutes management. He's legitimately a big part of their problem at this point.
The refusal to play Giannis 40 minutes under any circumstances might be a bigger problem for the Bucks than any individual roster issue.
It's just baffling to me that in the 3rd quarter Bud finally made an adjustment to create some motion and get Giannis moving without the ball, it started to create some opportunities, and then at the start of the 4th Bud sat Giannis and apparently just forgot about that idea entirely.
Brought him back in, stagnation's returned, Miami are putting the hurt on Milwaukee, and Bud just watches.
Disgraceful. Absolutely disgraceful
But hey, at least Giannis only played 35 minutes. Khris Middleton only 36. Thank GOD, they have to save their energy for their fishing vacation next week. Jesus Christ.
I mean, that was a knee-jerk comment.
I don't think it's impossible though. Bucks have been a monstrous disappointment. Don't see the Lakers as an overwhelming force or anything. Neither the Clippers. Raptors are the best coached team left in the playoffs but Celtics have the roster superiority.
Getting big ''David Robinson wins the MVP only to get absolutely worked by Hakeem in the playoffs'' vibes from Bucks/Heat except it's not even Giannis' fault that they're getting worked. At least not entirely.
Sad!
Budenholzer says Giannis/Middleton playign 35-36 minutes is “pushing the ceiling”…wow
— Vincent Goodwill (@VinceGoodwill) September 5, 2020
Clown mentality
Giannis in response to a question from @eric_nehm: "I feel great. Yeah, I could play more."
— Matt Velazquez (@Matt_Velazquez) September 5, 2020
lol
Giannis all but telling us
Lakers vs Rockets is a rare series where the Lakers should be playing 2 bigs. They don't have the perimeter defense to lock Harden down, let alone Harden and Russ together but we all know they're happy to take a million bad threes and long 2s if you let them.
So let them, and focus on preventing drives.
Westbrook is alive.
Imagine that 19 year old rookie Zion was roasting this same PJ Tucker...looking like an all world defender tonight...
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