Giannis Dominates and Propels Bucks to Convincing Victory Over Bulls in Feisty Matchup

[00:00:00] On this episode of Bucks Beat, Bucks win their fifth in a row. We're going to talk about

[00:00:04] their defensive rating since Doc Rivers has taken over. For now the Bucks slatted in

[00:00:08] a second in the East. We're going to break that down and finally the dogs are back in

[00:00:13] Milwaukee. Let's go.

[00:00:15] We'll be back in a row.

[00:00:22] Welcome to the Cream City!

[00:00:24] Dating time has arrived!

[00:00:28] You're listening to the Milwaukee Bucks Beat,

[00:00:31] sponsored by Hungry Lion Productions Video Production Services.

[00:00:35] Video production from start to finish.

[00:00:38] Hire them today at HungryLionProductions.com

[00:00:42] And now here's your host, Michael Edwards.

[00:00:46] Welcome to the Bucks Beat! I'm your host, Michael Edwards.

[00:00:49] Bucks win their fifth in a row.

[00:00:51] They beat the bulls 113 to 97 on Friday night.

[00:00:55] And tonight they've got a big one coming up against the Clippers.

[00:00:59] We'll talk more about that later.

[00:01:01] Wow!

[00:01:03] What a stretch here.

[00:01:05] Coming out of the All-Star Break, the Bucks have won five in a row.

[00:01:09] I knew they were going to get hot.

[00:01:11] I knew they were going to and the thing is they're going to get even better.

[00:01:13] Once Chris comes back and they install some of the new plays

[00:01:17] and schemes, this team's going to be dangerous.

[00:01:21] And you're starting to see all the pundits that were jumping on them going,

[00:01:25] oh wait a minute, probably shouldn't have said that because it really is getting quiet.

[00:01:29] The crickets are very loud out there.

[00:01:33] You know, it was funny too during halftime.

[00:01:35] I heard Perkins and some of the other people at ESPN saying good things about the Bucks.

[00:01:41] And I was like wow, this is weird.

[00:01:45] This is really weird to hear them talking kindly about us.

[00:01:47] Bucks now have the second best defensive rating in the league

[00:01:51] since January 24th, a 109.7 trailing on the Timberwolves who we beat.

[00:01:59] And seven of their 18 games played in that stretch

[00:02:01] have come against offenses in the top half of the league that is impressive.

[00:02:07] Bucks also have held their opponents to under 100 points

[00:02:11] four games in a row. Only the second team in the NBA to do this this season

[00:02:15] calves are the other team during their hot streak in January.

[00:02:18] Wow, this team is playing Bucks basketball

[00:02:22] and they're getting ready. They're getting primed.

[00:02:24] The first part here I want to talk about with this win.

[00:02:27] And by the way, Janus with 46 monster game

[00:02:31] Brooke Lopez with 12 dang with 16

[00:02:34] and Patrick Beverly, 14 points

[00:02:38] all in the fourth quarter.

[00:02:40] We're going to talk about that in a second.

[00:02:42] Patrick Beverly, Bucks win 1397.

[00:02:46] Bucks go into this game

[00:02:50] and now the bulls had beaten the calves a day or two before.

[00:02:56] So I knew this was going to be no easy give me game.

[00:03:00] Bulls have played the Bucks tough lately but

[00:03:04] over the last 30 games or whatever the Bucks have still dominated the bulls.

[00:03:08] Central division is definitely taking shape.

[00:03:11] I mean, it used to just be an easy w if the Bucks played a central division opponent but not this year.

[00:03:19] So let's talk about the communication.

[00:03:22] If you're a Bucks fan you've been watching these games.

[00:03:24] You've been noticing that they've been talking a lot more to each other consistently.

[00:03:30] That wasn't something you saw early in the year and

[00:03:33] I really think that's made a really, really big difference.

[00:03:36] Janus talks about the Bucks communication.

[00:03:39] Two, three early in the first quarter that we didn't rotate as fast

[00:03:43] and like the whole everybody was on the same page

[00:03:46] like it was one was me and one was Dane.

[00:03:49] We went back to the timeout and the bench and everything.

[00:03:52] Jay was talking to us, Paddle was talking to us.

[00:03:54] You know, the national started to us, the culture was talking to us.

[00:03:57] Like everybody has to be on the same page.

[00:03:59] I feel like in the last couple of games we'll be doing that and that's why our defense

[00:04:02] have taken a step.

[00:04:05] Hopefully we can keep it up.

[00:04:07] And the defense is crazy.

[00:04:10] When I heard someone say this,

[00:04:12] I don't know who it was.

[00:04:13] I think it was Doc Rivers.

[00:04:14] They were told that they couldn't play defense.

[00:04:17] Now that's our strength.

[00:04:19] Say what you want about this team.

[00:04:22] We've got Philly, two against Charlotte and one against Chicago.

[00:04:25] This is the NBA. I've talked about this.

[00:04:28] Holding a team under 100 points in the offensive era of the NBA is not easy.

[00:04:33] Matter of fact, only one other team has done this all year.

[00:04:37] That's held in the opponent under 100 points for games in a row.

[00:04:41] Celtics haven't done it.

[00:04:42] He doesn't done it.

[00:04:43] Nobody in the West has done it.

[00:04:45] So it's a feat.

[00:04:46] It's you know, ignore all the other people talking what they're going to talk.

[00:04:51] It's quite the accomplishment here.

[00:04:53] Box have a big challenge coming up though.

[00:04:55] We'll see if they can make it five in a row,

[00:04:57] but I wouldn't hold your breath on that because the clippers are coming into town.

[00:05:00] But there was a major part of this bull's game on Friday.

[00:05:03] I want to talk about,

[00:05:04] I want to talk about tomorrow's and on the Chicago Bulls.

[00:05:08] He's debatably the best player on that team.

[00:05:11] Probably the most talented offensive player on that team.

[00:05:14] And he was getting clamped.

[00:05:16] So with about two minutes left in the third quarter,

[00:05:20] Patrick Beverly is guarding him like a glove.

[00:05:23] Knocks the ball away.

[00:05:24] Goes over half court, comes back and then he gets decked.

[00:05:27] Now call the foul on that,

[00:05:29] but I actually thought this should have been reviewed.

[00:05:31] It was a pretty dirty foul.

[00:05:32] It was a high hit on Beverly Beverly,

[00:05:34] went down to the ground, got up clapping.

[00:05:37] I mean, I would have got up probably fighting, right?

[00:05:39] I don't know if I really would have,

[00:05:41] but I mean in the real world,

[00:05:42] if that happened to me,

[00:05:43] I would have got up and like what the hell man, right?

[00:05:45] I would have gotten the guy's face.

[00:05:47] Patrick Beverly didn't do that.

[00:05:49] Clap to his hands.

[00:05:51] It took the ball, you know, side court, whatever, moved on.

[00:05:55] So maybe 45 seconds later,

[00:05:57] Bobby Portis gets a rebound over Demar Rosen.

[00:06:02] And Bobby kind of did a little bit of a pause.

[00:06:04] Bobby's being Bobby and Bobby realizes,

[00:06:08] okay, knock himself out of it.

[00:06:11] Kind of stirs it to Rosen, knock himself out of it,

[00:06:13] dribbles the ball up the court.

[00:06:15] And then we get to have court Demar Rosen kind of lines up

[00:06:18] and swings a little bit with his arm and fouls Bobby.

[00:06:21] And Bobby just kind of shrugged him off like,

[00:06:23] nah, whatever walked away.

[00:06:25] And a flagrant one was issued.

[00:06:29] And finally in the fourth quarter,

[00:06:31] AJ Green was in there.

[00:06:33] And this was the moment the game really turned,

[00:06:35] like for real.

[00:06:36] And we're going to talk about AJ Green here in a second.

[00:06:39] Very interesting line about there too.

[00:06:41] We'll talk about that.

[00:06:42] So AJ Green driving baseline against Vukovic.

[00:06:46] And it was a dirty, dirty play.

[00:06:49] Vukovic gets a flagrant to you, gets tossed.

[00:06:52] The way Bobby and Pat Bev came running to AJ Green

[00:06:55] and then they just went to their side.

[00:06:57] It was the thing of beauty.

[00:06:59] The one moment of the 21 championship

[00:07:02] that really stuck to me and its legend now is when

[00:07:06] PJ Tucker was interviewed and he said,

[00:07:09] we dogs.

[00:07:11] And that's one thing I think that's always been missing from this team.

[00:07:14] Is that dog mentality of,

[00:07:16] you protect your home, you protect your own,

[00:07:19] but you don't cross that line.

[00:07:22] The first part of this is how the Bucks defense

[00:07:25] just frustrated the crap out of the Bulls.

[00:07:28] Duck Rivers talks about that.

[00:07:30] It was fun there guys were even talking about it.

[00:07:32] They thought the stretch in the game,

[00:07:34] the Chicago game the other night where God intense.

[00:07:37] The only reason they got intense was because of defense.

[00:07:41] And nothing dirty just because of street defense

[00:07:44] and it created frustration in that turn to game force.

[00:07:47] So they're starting to really believe in it.

[00:07:50] Belief is half the battle with this team

[00:07:53] and they weren't believing earlier on in the year.

[00:07:56] They didn't have leadership, now they have that leadership

[00:07:59] and you're seeing what it's doing.

[00:08:01] Janus talks about the Bucks having a little bully in them.

[00:08:04] Guys, bullies?

[00:08:05] Be sure not to buy bullies.

[00:08:08] Hey man, it feels good.

[00:08:12] Not to disrespect the game in any way

[00:08:15] but I feel like I have a lot of passionate players

[00:08:18] from Bobby, from Bad, from Jay, from Ajay, from B's,

[00:08:23] or from everybody.

[00:08:24] Broke, we have passion in us and we want to win.

[00:08:28] And sometimes you know, with my sharp push

[00:08:32] or bit more physical than usual

[00:08:35] it's good to have a team like that.

[00:08:38] And Doc Rivers continues about the Bucks

[00:08:40] on how they have instigators on their team.

[00:08:42] We have instigators for sure,

[00:08:45] but it only is good if you can do that

[00:08:47] but you don't get caught into it.

[00:08:49] And I thought tonight it was right on the edge

[00:08:51] and then we backed off.

[00:08:53] I was happy that that reviewed took an hour

[00:08:56] because a lot of everybody to kind of get their composure back

[00:09:00] because you don't want that either.

[00:09:01] And that's one thing I was impressed with.

[00:09:03] It's as a fan, I was pissed.

[00:09:05] I was like, yo, what are you doing to our team man?

[00:09:08] Right? We're beating you and this is how you're handling it

[00:09:11] and seeing the Bucks keep their stuff together

[00:09:14] and not lose it and not cross that line.

[00:09:17] But knowing that they had an edge on them on the bulls

[00:09:20] I thought was fantastic.

[00:09:22] Now let's talk about Ajay Green.

[00:09:24] So the lineup that was out there was really interesting.

[00:09:28] I noticed it and I was like, okay, this is interesting.

[00:09:30] So it was, I want to make sure I get this right here.

[00:09:33] It was Janus, Ajay Green, Pat, Portis and Beverly

[00:09:38] which I thought was a really unique lineup.

[00:09:41] And ultimately Ajay Green was being ignored

[00:09:44] because Janus was being doubled

[00:09:46] and that's a guy you don't want to ignore.

[00:09:48] I actually think he's our secret weapon,

[00:09:50] not so secret anymore, but the dude can play.

[00:09:53] The dude can play offense that obviously can shoot

[00:09:55] the dude can play solid defense.

[00:09:58] I mean, he's not the MVP on defense,

[00:10:00] but he is a solid, solid basketball player.

[00:10:03] I'm really glad he's on the team.

[00:10:05] And I mean, he only had seven points,

[00:10:07] but in nine minutes, he turned that game over

[00:10:11] and that is what you need from your bench.

[00:10:14] Ajay Green is a freaking stud.

[00:10:16] That is his origin story.

[00:10:18] Do not be surprised if you see Ajay Green getting more minutes

[00:10:21] and including in the playoffs.

[00:10:23] I will not be shocked.

[00:10:25] Doc Rivers knows what he has in Ajay Green.

[00:10:28] That dude is underrated and the fact that he turned a game,

[00:10:31] the box needed this game too

[00:10:33] because this was a division game

[00:10:35] and you're looking at tie-breakers against the calves.

[00:10:37] The head to head tie-breaker against the calves

[00:10:39] is not a factor because it's two and two.

[00:10:43] We don't play the calves anymore.

[00:10:45] Then you go by division opponent in your division

[00:10:48] and right now so the box finished at 10 and seven

[00:10:51] where normally they run that over.

[00:10:53] Normally they have that tie-breaker,

[00:10:55] but the Pacers beat us four times this year,

[00:10:57] which I don't think they beat us right now,

[00:11:00] but they caught us at the right time and they beat us.

[00:11:03] And so now the calves have two more games.

[00:11:06] They're both against the Pacers.

[00:11:08] I think they have to win both of them.

[00:11:10] Otherwise then that's tied,

[00:11:11] but I think the box can pass the calves and create a gap

[00:11:14] so I don't know if that matters as much.

[00:11:16] But this is still a game you wanted to have.

[00:11:18] And when you look at this game,

[00:11:19] the box ball movement was fantastic.

[00:11:21] Their shooting was good.

[00:11:22] I mean, of their five games,

[00:11:24] this was their lowest shooting performance, 43%.

[00:11:28] But we're talking the second net of a back to back here.

[00:11:31] So that's something you really got to put in perspective here.

[00:11:34] And this team was tired and they played a hell of a game.

[00:11:37] They did shoot 32% from three.

[00:11:39] So the three shot wasn't really there too much.

[00:11:42] Dame not getting called on some, you know,

[00:11:45] when he's getting fouled,

[00:11:47] it's becoming a little frustrating for me

[00:11:49] because you want to look at the game and say,

[00:11:51] okay, am I being a homer?

[00:11:53] Which most of the time you are.

[00:11:55] There's some plays where Dame is getting hit pretty hard

[00:11:58] and they're not calling it.

[00:11:59] What a great start to the second half of the season here.

[00:12:02] And last night Sunday night,

[00:12:03] the Nick's beat the calves,

[00:12:05] Bucksled in a second.

[00:12:06] And the crazy thing is,

[00:12:08] the Nick's are shorthanded.

[00:12:10] I mean, their three best players are out.

[00:12:12] I mean, Brunson gets hurt in the first minute of the game,

[00:12:15] really totally free play too by the way.

[00:12:18] And I said out loud, I said,

[00:12:19] well, this game's over.

[00:12:20] And boy was I wrong.

[00:12:21] Dante and David Chenzo went off.

[00:12:23] So shout out to Dante for that one.

[00:12:25] Thank you for helping out the Bucks.

[00:12:27] He's playing out of his mind by the way.

[00:12:29] Dante is he's third in three points made in the league.

[00:12:34] That's insane.

[00:12:35] I wish he had done that when he was with us,

[00:12:36] but good for him.

[00:12:37] So finally, we're going to talk about schedule coming up.

[00:12:41] This is it.

[00:12:42] This is where we're really going to,

[00:12:45] either pull away or keep this nerve rockingly close

[00:12:48] for the playoffs' seedings coming up.

[00:12:50] The Bucks have tonight in Milwaukee,

[00:12:53] the LA Clippers.

[00:12:54] It's going to be a grueling eight days on the road

[00:12:57] on the road at the Warriors,

[00:12:59] at the Lakers, at the Clippers,

[00:13:01] and then Bucks that Sacramento.

[00:13:03] And when we get to that Sacramento game,

[00:13:05] that will clear out the 10-game sample

[00:13:07] that I talked about a few podcasts ago.

[00:13:10] I'm not going to go through the 10-game sample now

[00:13:13] because I just went through it last podcast

[00:13:15] and not enough time's gone by.

[00:13:17] Those numbers really haven't changed, so.

[00:13:19] Bucks looking good.

[00:13:20] Clippers game though.

[00:13:21] That's going to be a challenge.

[00:13:22] That's the team that's playing really well right now.

[00:13:24] And Yannis talks about the challenge

[00:13:26] of playing the LA Clippers.

[00:13:42] So ball movement, communication, intensity, brotherhood.

[00:13:44] That is what this Milwaukee Bucks team has become.

[00:13:46] And I couldn't love it anymore.

[00:13:48] Even if they lose, it's okay right?

[00:13:51] I mean, coming out of the break,

[00:13:53] they were flipping that ball,

[00:13:55] and then they were like,

[00:13:57] they were like,

[00:13:58] I'm going to get out of here and play,

[00:13:59] so I'm going to be a little bit later on.

[00:14:00] I'm going to be a little bit later on.

[00:14:01] I'm going to get out of here and play

[00:14:02] and play, so I have to do a bit of job just,

[00:14:04] be honest with you.

[00:14:05] Taking that individual pride

[00:14:07] and just making it as fast as possible.

[00:14:09] Just for them for the next two teams we play

[00:14:11] in the break,

[00:14:12] they were four games back of the calves.

[00:14:14] And now they've already passed them five games in.

[00:14:17] That's insane.

[00:14:18] That's insane to me.

[00:14:20] That's crazy.

[00:14:21] The way the calves are playing,

[00:14:23] I did not see this coming.

[00:14:25] So Bucks win tonight.

[00:14:27] They get a full game ahead of the calves.

[00:14:29] And this is where they can start to create some distance.

[00:14:32] I mean, there's some games on the schedule.

[00:14:34] I think there's a kind of like five games

[00:14:36] that are quote easy by against non-playoff teams

[00:14:41] but of their remaining games,

[00:14:43] most of these games are going to play off opponents.

[00:14:45] I mean, I'm going to run through these.

[00:14:47] I know I just said where we're at,

[00:14:49] but when the Bucks come back from playing the Kings,

[00:14:51] they have at home the Sixers,

[00:14:53] the Suns,

[00:14:54] the Celtics on the road,

[00:14:56] the Nets,

[00:14:58] the Thunder.

[00:14:59] That's going to be a tough one.

[00:15:00] Again, then the Lakers again,

[00:15:01] Pelicans, Hawks.

[00:15:03] Some of those games are going to be really challenging

[00:15:05] and Metal Sharpen's Metal, right?

[00:15:10] So this is what you want going into the playoffs.

[00:15:12] We'll get a podcast probably Thursday,

[00:15:16] Thursday morning.

[00:15:17] We'll have one for you.

[00:15:18] And I'm thinking of going to those LA games.

[00:15:21] I probably won't.

[00:15:23] I probably won't.

[00:15:25] But the thought had popped in my head.

[00:15:27] Bucks play Friday and then they play Sunday both in LA.

[00:15:30] I'm like, hey, a week in an LA.

[00:15:31] That could be fun.

[00:15:32] Probably not doing it though.

[00:15:34] I'm excited about this team winner lose.

[00:15:36] I mean, coming into this 10 game sample

[00:15:38] and they're five and no.

[00:15:40] I had said win six would be a victory the way we were playing

[00:15:45] at the El Star break.

[00:15:46] And now I'm hoping of these five,

[00:15:48] I'm hoping we can win three of them.

[00:15:50] Come out of it eight and two.

[00:15:52] That'd be pretty damn good, right?

[00:15:54] 10 game sample.

[00:15:55] So that's it.

[00:15:56] That's what I got for you.

[00:15:57] I appreciate you.

[00:15:59] Thanks for listening.

[00:16:00] We'll see you on the next one.