2023-24 Team Developments: Trades / Free Agents / News / Rumors / Ideas

Strength of schedule can only be planned out based upon last year's records, but every new year has it's own challenges for sure. Injuries will be hit and miss for everyone, so when you have a chance to win certain games, you simply have to take advantage. That is why Golden State is 5-2. They may not be a better squad, but they are winning the ones they are supposed to win.

 

I agree but we lost against Magic without Fultz, Wendell and Harris, 2 starters and 1 core rotation. Even at full force is a bad loss, much worse when they had to play their 3rd string center

 

Already Trouble in paradise
Damian Lillard is playing the worst defense of his career, and it might cost more than just the Bucks
No system works if the best players aren't committed, and at the moment, to suggest Lillard is uncommitted to playing defense would be an understatement. In reality, the guy is playing some of the laziest, flat-out worst defense of his career, and that is really saying something for a guy who has always been a pretty apathetic defender. It's been borderline disgraceful at times.

We've always known, of course, that Lillard was a bad defender. But in Portland, where he long basked in the honeymoon glow of small-market loyalty, and where he benefited from the plethora of built-in excuses afforded him (Neil Olshey never gave him any help!), he was never held accountable for the significant part of his defense, or lack thereof, played in that team never becoming a true contender.

It will be different in Milwaukee, where early returns have been shockingly bad. The Bucks, even with two DPOY-caliber defenders in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez, have been the worst defense in the league on a point-per-possession basis, according to Synergy, and the second-worst according to Cleaning the Glass, which filters out garbage time.
Adrian Griffin has put in a defense that doesn't mesh with his personnel, one that is on default scramble mode trying to generate chaos, which has worked if you fancy turnover total; last year the Bucks' defense tallied just 11.8 turnovers per game, which ranked dead last. This season that number is up to 16.8, good enough for eighth league-wide.

But it's also the reason the Bucks are in constant rotation, giving up open 3s and free lanes to the rim as they're not, with the exception of Giannis, fast or athletic enough to play that style. Brook Lopez and Pat Connaughton and Bobby Portis and Malik Beasley, and certainly Lillard, cannot be tasked with running to double -- which is necessary when you're too willingly switching into mismatches -- and then racing back to shooters

 

LOL. He is a 35 old gunner. What were they expecting, Jrue Holiday?

 

Dame has always been a bad defender.

The bigger issue for them is Griffin is not a good coach (yet?) and when you're a contender gambling in a rookie HC, you cannot afford to be wrong. You better have an iron clad bench next to him. Seems they tried and he ran off Stotts and they haven't filled that void yet.

Any coach who has Beasley as their wing stopper, like as an actual plan, is not qualified to sit in that chair.

 

Lol..The season is only 6 games old guys....damn. You folks do realize,that the team that will be crowned NBA Champion this season, will play at least another 100 games? It's waaay to early to be making definitive declarations about anyone, good or bad IMO.

 

Draymond green gets hit by his own signature move

 

which game did we lose that we were supposed to win? we're missing half the rotation.

 

Orlando

 

I'll bite..why should we have beaten Orlando? Because they sucked last season?

 

we don't know if they'll suck this year, and it was a road game missing four rotation players. should it have been closer? yes. but a loss there didn't shock me. a loss at miami down half the rotation wouldn't shock me, either (vegas agrees, btw). it's hard to win when you're forced to play guys who were the in-case-of-injury guys for heavy minutes. even harder on the road.

 

They're going to just revert back to the heavy drop scheme they used to play. It's really the only thing you can do with two very good rim protectors (I reject the notion that either are DPOY quality, but they're a level below that) and s*** perimeter defenders. Force teams into midrange jumpers or floaters (which are more open now, without Holiday chasing guys over screens) and outscore them on the other end. As bad as their defense has been, they knew it would be worse with Dame in place of Holiday. The tradeoff was supposed to come on the other end, but right now Dame and Giannis aren't playing off each other very well.

 

There also aren't many "easy" wins in the league right now either. I still think of Orlando as a pushover, but they've got two pretty legit guys in Banchero and Franz, plus a supporting cast that's athletic and plays really hard. There aren't many teams I'd make home underdogs to the current version of the Lakers with 8 healthy guys.

 

exactly my point. i'm not positive you expect us to win road games without 4 guys projected to play 20-30mpg this year.

 

You can't make this s*** up.

Everyone before their team faces the Lakers

 

It's Brad Botkin CBS sports reporter
It's his job to make statements like that for 24/365

 

Lol...Yes some of the Lakers Nation really do! Absolutely..a few of them frequent this place.

 

We are the Lakers..we remain a big deal for EVERYBODY.

 

Orlando is a borderline play-in team. They have nice young guys and we won't win every time, but they were also missing Fultz, Carter Jr and Gary Harris. So they were missing their 3rd, 4th and 6th best player. We're missing guys but our top4 is intact and we have 2 superstars that they don't have.
Also the way it happened was bad, just lack of effort and low energy.
It's fine, but if we are ok losing to Orlando, we are ok losing against other 15 teams in the league. That doesn't put us in the top4 at the West

 

We'll be top 4 in the West before the playoffs. That's more important. Right now I'll take it on a game by game basis. Somebody said that D'Angelo is the bell cow so far, if he plays well, we win, if not we lose. We'll see moving forward.