Hoops Tonight - NBA Cup Reaction: Giannis & Bucks DOMINATE Thunder, Milwaukee is BACK, OKC exposed?

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and go see an event. NFL is in full swing, college football's in full swing, NHL, NBA, all these sporting events that you can go see, college sports, concerts, comedy shows. Everything you got to get out and see one of these events. This is where game Time provides the best ticket buying experience in the industry. I personally have used them many times and I've consistently had the best experience with them. I highly recommend you guys check them out.

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want to start with the star matchup here. Obviously, all these basketball games are more complicated than just that, But the reason why the star matchup is so important in basketball is because that's typically the way that you initially break down a defense, and your ability to initially break down the beginning of a defense is going to play a much larger role in the result than the actual secondary part to that, like advantage, extending advantage, like play

finishing that kind of stuff. Your ability to compromise the defense upfront is the most important part, and that's usually.

shooting situation. The dead giveaway for me that Ajax was making Shaye pretty uncomfortable is that Shaye took a lot of bad shots, especially in that first half. He was taking just a lot of really difficult pull up jump shots. And that's what you do as a score when you're struggling to get to your easy stuff. You start to start grasping at straws and your decision making can get a little sketchy. And I thought that Ajax just kind of played Shae. It wasn't just that, it was also

the rim protection. We're going to get more into that detail here in a minute, but in terms of the initial matchup, it looked like Shae was struggling to break down Milwaukee's defense at the point of attack right.

through drives. One of the biggest things that stood out to me in this game in the big picture about Oklahoma City is their ability to rotate out of blitzes is so locked in.

their shooters. We're gonna talk about Oklahoma City shooting. They obviously had a very poor shooting game. There's a version of that game that looks somewhat different if Oklahoma City shoots better. But I thought Milwaukee generated better looks in this game for better shooters. Important detail. Milwaukee is the fourth best jump shooting team in the league per s Entergy. Oklahoma City is the eighteenth best jump shooting team in the league. You have an elite jump shooting team versus

a mediocre to bad jump shooting team. So when they play, there will likely be a jump shooting difference. Maybe not as big as what we saw last night, but they're gonna be. There's gonna be a jump shooting advantage for Milwaukee in this game. In this type of matchup, Milwaukee generated thirty four catch and shoot jump shots last night. Oklahoma City only generated twenty one and there's some decision making stuff there that will get into in a little bit.

But it wasn't just that Milwaukee shot better. They generated substantially more high quality shots. That helps guys start to build rhythm. That helps the lead to guys making shots. Like Milwaukee shot better than Oklahoma City in the first half. But it wasn't like Milwaukee shot great in the first half. Milwaukee shot okay in the first half, but they generated sixteen catch and shoot jump.

wasn't even just double teams all the time. Sometimes it was triple teams. There's a play where he hit up Brook Lopez for a little cut right in front of the rim where he drew a triple team on the left block, and it was in like the late first half period he was wrecking Oklahoma City's defense with his

presence around the basket. One of the things I talked about coming into this game, if you guys remember, I talked about how Yannis was going to be bigger and stronger than everybody on Oklahoma City's roster, and as long as as Milwaukee could avoid the problem areas with Oklahoma City, like turnovers in transition, then they would have a chance to bludgeon them with their size.

also had five stocks. It wasn't just post ups, it was also dribble penetration. Giannis was the best player on the floor by a mile.

starts getting out. In transition, they go on an eight to zero run, and it was one of the areas of the game where things got a little finicky for Milwaukee. But there was a really smart adjustment because again, you're playing into Oklahoma City's hands by running ball screens in a lot of ways, especially with your guards, because they love to blitz and they love to rotate out of it.

Like we talked about earlier, in the early fourth quarter, same group, instead of playing through a bunch of ball screens, they started playing through Bobby Portis in the post and running Dame off of off ball action, and they were the group that blew the game open. Bobby draws a double team, kicks out Gary Trent and hits a three. Dame comes flying off of an off ball screen. Dame knocks down to catching shoot three Brook Lopez. It's a

big three. They just got super hot from three by not getting into the ball screen thing, and they blew the game open. I thought it was a really really smart adjustment from the Bucks in that early fourth quarter stretch. Again, I don't know if it was Doc or I don't know if it was Dame or who it was, but they were smart. They went away from something that wasn't working in the first shift, and they were able to

kind of flip the script a little bit. Also, in a game where easy shots were tough to come by, Dame just hit a lot of tough jumpers and Shay and Jalen Williams were not hitting their tough jumpers, and that was a big swing factor in this game. I also thought it was one of Dame's best defensive games in his career. He was competing on the ball, he was flattening out drives, he was grabbing contested rebounds like an athlete. I watched him in the first half like

com flying in and grab a contested rebound. I'm like, holy shit, Dame is locked in in this game. On the details, he was closing out to shooters. I just thought he was really good. Brooke was amazing. He was super active defensively from the start. He had three threes. I talked about him cutting off the ball on Yon, his post ups, Gary Trent hit several big shots.

One Jannison Brook Lopez turning up the defensive intensity to back to what it was like in like twenty twenty two, twenty twenty one, Right, that was kind of the initial thing that happened that I noticed that really started to

carve out some achievable perimeter defense roles. Then they plugged guys into those achievable perimeter defense roles, namely Andre Jackson Junior and AJ Green, and those guys both just started doing a really good job and in the process did a lot of damage right, and then out of that just getting everybody else to do their and then on the offensive end of the floor again, like just Yannis playing at the highest level offensively that he's played at

in his entire career, his playmaking has taken a massive leap. I've talked a lot in the past about how Yanis has struggled sometimes to play make out of the middle of the floor because his ability to kind of perceive everything. He's been doing a ton of damage out of the middle of the floor as a passer, and it's just a sign of growth. He's just growing as a playmaker as he continues to see these reads and see the easy opportunities that come available to him off of all

the attention that he draws. This is a real team they're on again. If you're looking at the big picture for Milwaukee, it's about keeping your foot on the pedal right and continuing to build out those defensive habits because you have to be so sharp to overcome the types of disadvantages you're gonna have to deal with in a matchup with a team like Boston. Right, So again, you have to look at from now, from December eighteenth all

the way through to April eighteenth and the playoff. At the beginning of the playoffs, you have what's that like to January, February March ap four months here to really iron out the details and become as sharp as possible, because if you get into a setting. Here's the thing do like with Yiannis. I said out a poll because I was just kind of feeling out how people feel about the Yannis Jokic debate, and it's still about seventy five to twenty five in favor of Jokic, and I agree.

I think Nikola Jokic is the best player in the world. I think Giannis is playing close to his level, though, and he's making it a debate, which is something that it didn't even feel possible about a month ago with the level that Nikola Jokic was playing at. But here's the thing, Jiannis is sure as hell the very best player in the Eastern Conference, and that is a huge advantage to have you go into a series with Boston. Tatum's playing at a really high level Jannis is better

than him. So if you can iron out the details and you get the most that you possibly can get out of this roster, and you put yourself in a series where Yannis is the best player, maybe, just maybe he can put you over the top. Again, I'll be

picking Boston in that sort of situation. But there is an opportunity here, a little window, a little light at the end of the tunnel for Milwaukee that I didn't really see before the season, and they have just been proving that they're capable of reaching a level above and beyond what we saw before the start of the season. Really really impressive stretch of basketball here from the Milwaukee

Bucks on the Oklahoma City front. Again, like as I mentioned earlier, Milwaukee is shot forty five percent on unguarded ketchen choo jump shots all year. That rinks top five in the NBA. Oklahoma City doesn't shoot as well. That said, I think it's important to acknowledge that there was some real, there was some real shot variants in this game.

shots go in and you win. You got blown out for all intents and purposes, right, And so again this is where we have to look at what I think is the demon that Oklahoma City has to overcome. Every star player, every great team has a demon that they have to overcome, right. You know, like you look at Lebron and it's like he's got to learn how to knock down jump shots when teams are sagging way off

of him. Right, the early Golden State teams, when I'm talking like twenty thirteen, twenty fourteen, it was about Steph Curry and Klay Thompson buying in on the defensive end of the floor, which they did and things kind of took off for them from there. Right, there's always like this thing you have to overcome in Oklahoma City's thing,

in my opinion, comes down to their offensive process. There was a lot again just like the Dallas series, of trying rim protectors instead of making easy kickout The Thunder shot eight for eighteen in the restricted area last night below fifty percent. They also generated just twenty one catch and shoot jump shots compared to thirty four for Milwaukee.

That leads to a problem with your rhythm when you've got guys like j Dub Andshay and like, there's even play at the end of the Gamehere Kenridge Williams just decides to challenge Giannis Antennacoopo at the rim. It's like when you are challenging elite rim protectors at the rim instead of making kickout passes so that guys get more attempts to build their rhythm. That plays a role in you going ice cold at the end of the day.

I thought all game that Oklahoma City Shooters looked uncomfortable and unconfident, and the only way to work around that is to continue to generate them as many quality opportunities as possible for them to build rhythm. This was the same problem they ran into in the Dallas series. Oh we didn't shoot well, Yeah, but she also kept challenging Derek Lively and Daniel Gafford at the instead of making easy kickout passes and trying to work for the great shot.

It's actually the same demon that the Boston Celtics confronted early on as they perpetually challenged rim protectors instead of making kickout passes and trying and trying to generate the great shot, instead of taking the good shot, right, That's gonna be the challenge. What you saw Oklahoma City deal with last night against Milwaukee is exactly what they saw in the series against Dallas, and it's exactly what they're going to see when they face rim protection in the

playoffs this year. Teams are going to sag off of ken Rich Williams, sag off of Loud Dort, They're gonna sag off of Aaron Wiggins, They're gonna sag off of everybody case on Wallace like Alex Caruso, chet Holmgrin. They are going to sag off of everybody. Load up in the paint and see if you're diligent enough to make the kickout passes again and again and again even if the shot doesn't go in, so that guys can get

confident and start making shots. That is the challenge. That is the demon this team has to overcome, and when they do, they're more talented than everybody except for maybe Boston. So when they do, they're probably going to win. But that's going to be the challenge. What's the timeframe? Are they going to win this year, next year, the year after that timeframe is going to be dictated by them

learning that lesson. If you sit here today and you think we just didn't make shots, and you're not willing to acknowledge the reality that Milwaukee was taking all of your help and turning them into open, catch and shoot jump shots, and you were taking all of Milwaukee's help and turning them into contested shots in the paint. I pulled there like they were as a team, seventeen for thirty nine in the paint. Why why? I don't understand? There were lots of Go watch the tape. There's lots

of opportunities. And again, for mediocre shooters, if they're getting only one, like two or three looks per game, they might just go oh for two or oh for three. But if they get four or five looks per game, they might find the rhythm and knock down one or two of them, and then it could be the onslought that turns things around for your team. I think again, it's it's always interesting to me when you're watching the development trajectory of young teams, there's always like the thing

they have to overcome. For Oklahoma City, it's a decision making piece and a willingness to hunt down the great shot instead of just the good shot, because again there is some jump shooting limitation here. But they're not like terrible. They're capable of being a good jump shooting team, but it has to be part of their identity. And again,

like it's one thing. It's one thing when you're when you're trying to ram it down their throat and transition, But like when you're in the half court and it's Brook Lopez and it's Giannis Antennacumpo, or it's Derek Lively and it's Daniel Gafford, or if it ends up being a Draymond Green, or if it ends up being an

Anthony Davis, whoever it is that you're playing. If you continue to try your six four sixty five sixty six wings against some of the best ris protectors in the history of the game, it's gonna end poorly for you. Like you got to find a way to work around that. And again, like you're Yannis can win Rock fights, and there was a lot of this Brook Giannis and Bobby they can win rock fights with their size. When things get ugly, they can just try to bludgeon you under

the basket. That's not a thing you have at your disposal. You're going to have to play really sharp on the perimeter to beat teams that load up on you. If you try to beat them with size underneath the basket, that's not a battle that you're going to win. It's not sky is falling for the thunder. There's still a very very good chance for them to get this thing done, but it's going to be about their ability to learn that lesson at some point before the end of the

season if they're going to accomplish their goals. All right, guys, it's all I have for today. As always, a sincerely appreciate you for supporting me and supporting the show. Got a bunch of fun stuff coming out later in the week that I've already recorded because we've got some guys taking time off for the holidays, so we're tomorrow. I've got the Nerd Sash guys coming on. We're doing a bunch of like toss ups. We're gonna talk a lot of jokichianis. We're gonna talk a lot about SGA and

the Thunder. We're gonna talk a lot of stuff around the Nuggets, Bucks, and Thunder with the Nerd Sash guys tomorrow, and then I already recorded a mail bag for Friday. And the mail bag, we're also going to be talking some big picture NBA stuff regarding the ratings and just the overall health of the league. Talk about the Memphis Grizzlies and they're kind of bizarre offense that they're running. Talk about like the correlation between three point shooting and offensive rebound.