The phonetically correct pronunciation is: “SHEESH!”
It always helps to get chummy with a hedge-fund manager. Or, so I’ve heard. He can fill up your foundation coffers, hire your kids for plum jobs, throw some weight around to stifle some bad press, offer up his jet when you need a quick plane ride or two. He can also buy a basketball team, kick its sitting head coach to the curb, and hand that job over to you, once you recognize your own employment situation kinda sucks.
People, let me tell you ‘bout Jason Kidd’s best friend. Marc Lasry’s a warm-hearted person who will love Kidd ‘til the end. But the hardwood is far from all the places where Lasry’s allegiances lie. In return for his undying support to Clan Clinton, Lasry was one presidential election away from being offered a primo White House executive gig under the new administration, a duty likely requiring him to abdicate his fiduciary duties with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Well, the Electoral College has spoken. And J-Kidd dodged a big one. What does an under-contract NBA head coach, with a losing (79-94 in Milwaukee) record on a regressing team, who ISN’T hired by his good buddy, look like? Larry Drew.
To be fair to Kidd, who signed an extension through 2020 this past summer, similarly well-heeled co-owners Wes Edens and Jamie Dinan publicly say they’re thrilled to have a coach (and de facto GM) with the playing experience and caliber of Kidd hanging around in Brewtown. But truth be told, they’d be just as ecstatic about somebody else, too. After-all, no one can hedge as well as hedge-fund managers do.
But no matter, Lasry stays. And so does Kidd, who now gets to focus on keeping his Bucks (5-4) overachieving, including a victory in Atlanta against the Hawks (7:30 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, Fox Sports Wisconsin).
What makes 5-4 overachieving? One of the worst offenses in basketball last season relied heavily on guard Khris Middleton (and, to lesser extents, Jerryd Bayless, and O.J. Mayo) to save the day when it was time to hit perimeter big shots. Bayless bid adieu this summer to go do the same job in Philadelphia. O.J. Mayo O.J. Mayo’d his way out of the league altogether. And then, scoring leader Middleton went under the knife after tearing his hammy in September, declared out-of-action until at least March.
Middleton’s injury was a huge blow for a team looking to improve upon last season’s 33-49 record. But the setback occurred early enough to encourage Kidd to throw caution to the wind, refashioning Milwaukee’s offensive attack into one built on grit (Jabari Parker), guile (world-champion Boomer barnacle Matthew Dellavedova), and ginormous length.
The Giannis Antetokounmpo Point Guard Experience is Dead. Long live the Giannis Antetokounmpo Point Forward Experience! Alpha-Bits is posting up around the paint and posting up big-time numbers (21.3 PPG, 5.3 APG, 8.2 RPG, 2.0 SPG, 2.1 BPG, 57.9 2FG%, 75.5 FT%, all career-highs so far) almost completely across the board in his fourth NBA season, the 6-foot-11 manchild using his Go-Gadget reach to find leverage against garden-variety NBA opponents.
In the Bucks’ last game on Saturday, a 106-96 victory over visiting Memphis, Giannis (27 points, 5 assists) bullied around James Ennis to start the game, then ran down the court for alley-oops, and then became a distributor, a chameleon the Grizzlies couldn’t catch no matter how often they adjusted.
Giannis’ defensive exploits were also on full display versus Memphis (six rebounds, four steals, four blocks), the only NBA baller currently averaging at least two swats and two swipes. His range could still use a lot of work (17-for-60 beyond 5 feet from rim; NBA-high 9.0 FGAs per game within 5 feet, 70.4 FG%), as was the case for Jabari (19.1 PPG, 34.8 3FG%). But, in the mind of a man once known as Ason Kidd, that’s just part of his grand plan.
Key to the Bucks’ mini-resurgence is a commitment to shooing opponents off the perimeter and forcing tough 3-point shots, perhaps more than just coincident with Kidd adding former Hawk Stacey Augmon to the coaching staff.
Milwaukee foes are hitting an NBA-low 30.8% on threes, 29.1% above-the-break (Atlanta ranks second with 30.5 opponent 3FG% in this zone). Kidd is throwing Bucks, like the late Shawty Lo at the Blue Flame, at opposing perimeter shooters. He’s got Dellavedova, rookie Malcolm Brogdon (1.3 SPG), and preseason acquisition Tony Snell to hassle would-be shooters, plus Parker and Antetokounmpo running and roving to make looks extra difficult.
The Bucks will keep an eye out for Atlanta’s Kyle Korver (42.9 3FG%), who’s out to make amends after a quiet Tuesday night in South Florida. But they’d better pay similar attention to Deadeye Dennis Schröder (42.9 3FG%), who isn’t high-volume lately, but is 4-for-4 in his past two games.
Schröder (five away from 2,000 career points) has hit nylon on his first three-point attempt in each of his past four games. And then there’s always a surprise like the Muskie Musket of Mike Muscala, whose back-to-back threes gave the Hawks some breathing room at the close of the third quarter last night. Or Tim Hardaway, Jr. (20 points @ MIA), or Kent Bazemore, or Thabo Sefolosha. The Bucks are not used to an opponent capable of spreading the floor as well as Atlanta, but they’ll try their best to keep the Hawks cool.
Shutting down the outside allows the Bucks to dare teams to engage in a duel inside the 3-point line. Led by Antetokounmpo and Parker, the Bucks average an NBA-best 49.6 PPG in the paint, the only NBA team (+7.8) faring better than Atlanta (+7.6) in outscoring opponents in the paint. Only the Hawks’ last opponent, Miami (34.1) gets more restricted-area shots per game than Milwaukee (33.1), and the Bucks’ 63.4 restricted-area FG% ranks 5th, three spots below second-ranked Atlanta (66.9%).
All this activity in the paint is custom-made for the Hawks’ Dwight Howard. But along the way to schooling Miami’s rebound-happy Hassan Whiteside last night, Howard (11 points, 11 boards, 5 TOs but 3 steals @ MIA) bruised his lower thigh in the third quarter. He’s questionable for tonight, but it’s a perfect setting on a back-to-back to rest Dwight’s quad and unleash the Moose (not you, Greg Monroe).
Muscala continues to lead all NBA centers with a -20.4 percentage-point differential on field goals defended within 6 feet of the rim (min. 4 opponent FGAs per game). As for Milwaukee, the Miles Plumlee Starting Experiment was DOA, Kidd returning on Saturday to blocks-or-bust John Henson to man the middle, with Monroe the primary backup 5.
If Hawks ballhandlers can get their bigs the ball, either of Muscala (65.5 FG%, NBA-high for min. 5 games and 5 FGAs per game) or a one-legged Howard (62.2 FG%, 4th in NBA for same category) should be able to feast. Moose has also racked up eight assists (zero turnovers) in his last 41 minutes of play. Kris Humphries must step it up if Howard’s a no-go tonight.
If the middle gets muddled for Milwaukee (as Paul Millsap is apt to make things with his active hands), there’s always Monroe, the bench big who has been making his living with putbacks and the occasional jumper from the elbows. And who’s awaiting the kickout over at the right corner, where the Bucks’ 1.4 threes per game (NBA-high 50.0 right-corner 3FG%) is below only Miami’s 1.6?
That safety valve could be sixth-man gunner specialist Mirza Teletovic (career-high 42.1 3FG% so far), who set an NBA-reserve-record 181 threes last season in Phoenix. It could be the resurgent Rashad Vaughn (41.4 3FG%), or Delly, or offensive fillers Jason Terry and Michael Beasley (season-high 19 points vs. MEM on Saturday), or even Parker (34.8 3FG%) or, in the worst case, Snell (team-high 5.3 attempts per game, 26.2 3FG%).
Kidd’s Bucks don’t take many threes, but 94.3% of their makes are assisted (2nd in the league behind, you guessed it, Miami, who they’ll visit tomorrow). Far better known for this sort of thing, Atlanta’s 91.2% of threes assisted ranks 4th in the NBA.
“…the best teammate I have ever played with in these four years,” Giannis told NBA Australia recently. Sorry, Larry Sanders, Giannis isn’t referring to you. No, he’s talking about Outback Jesus. Dellavedova and Antetokounmpo are making hay offensively on screen plays, most notably with Delly as the screener, mimicking plays the guard often ran with point-forward par excellence LeBron James. Milwaukee’s roll-man plays lead to an NBA-best 67.9 eFG% and 1.31 points per possession.
The Hawks should be mindful of the need to hedge those screens (not like those fund managers would) when Giannis is the ballhandler, in part to stop a Greek Freak Streak toward the rim, in part to make him move laterally and put the ball on the floor where it could reasonably be reached.
Despite the obvious size mismatch, guards pestering Antetokounmpo outside the paint can also encourage him to pick up the ball and either take long-range shots over them (advantage Hawks) or look for open shooters, the latter a tougher task if Delly is occupied by a switched big and Hawk forwards are hunting for deflections and steals (NBA-high 10.6 team SPG).
Both the Hawks and the Bucks produce an NBA-high 19.3% of their offense from plays following opponent turnovers. The bad news is the Hawks crank out a league-high 17.7 TOs per 100 possessions. Another slopfest is in the offing against the Bucks (15.7 TOs per-100, 9th-most in NBA), Atlanta arriving home just hours after combining for 44 turnovers with the heat during the Hawks’ 93-90 win.
If Schröder (5 TOs @ MIA, fortunately not 6 in the closing seconds), who can get under opponents’ skin himself, has bothered to read the scouting report, he won’t allow Dellavedova’s antics to distract him from executing the proper plays.
The similar principle applies with Atlanta’s transition defense as it does when playing against LeBron. If Giannis has so much as a step on his defensive assignment when a loose ball goes Milwaukee’s way, that Hawk might as well go make a gyro and some tzatziki sauce, because it’s a wrap.
The safest NBA coaching seat outside of Texas remains secure, so long as J-Kidd’s buddy system remains intact (right, Marc? Marc?). While the reinforcement of his job security gives a victory tonight less urgency, Kidd is still looking to show his Bucks are on the upswing. Because you can never tell when outside influences might force your one-percenter pal’s hand.
Let’s Go Hawks!
~lw3
