Dame in Milwaukee thread

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Lillard got the walk in on the Bulls broadcast. They showed his current stats. Respect

 
How’s it been? Lillard pauses to consider the question. It’s mid-February, days before the All-Star break, and Lillard is sitting behind a high-top table at a hotel in Memphis. How’s it been? It depends on what you are asking about. Personally, says Lillard, “it’s been a real transition.” At 33, this is the first time Lillard, who was acquired from the Trail Blazers in September, has been alone since he left Oakland for college. He built a support system in Portland, one that’s now gone. His three children stayed in Oregon with his ex-wife. Lillard’s downtime in Milwaukee is largely spent with his cousin Jon, rattling around a rented home playing Xbox and on FightHype streaming boxing videos.

Professionally it’s been, well, a transition. Lillard’s Bucks tenure can be summed up in stages. The first: shock. Lillard learned about the trade on Instagram, when he scrolled past a photo of him and Antetokounmpo in Bucks uniforms. “I thought it was speculation,” says Lillard. Moments later his agent, Aaron Goodwin, called confirming it. A text from Blazers GM Joe Cronin popped up. “He was telling me he called,” says Lillard. “But I didn’t see it.” Alone, Lillard started dialing family. He called his father. No answer. His mother. Nothing. His brother. Voicemail. He wandered downstairs, where he found his kids’ nanny. Needing to tell someone, Lillard blurted out, “I’ve been traded to Milwaukee.”

The next stage: excitement. It didn’t take long for Lillard to embrace the move. When he arrived in Milwaukee for his physical, Antetokounmpo met him in the training room. He asked for five minutes. They talked for an hour. About basketball. About trust. “I was just telling him, ‘Bro, there’s going to be a lot of s--- that probably takes place this season. But you’re never going to have to question where my head is,’ ” says Lillard. “There’s a lot of people with ability. But my biggest strength is mentally. I can be down bad and struggling, but you’re going to always be able to count on me.”

Early on, Lillard saw flashes of the potential in their partnership, and it helped that Stotts, Lillard’s coach for his first nine NBA seasons, was there. “I thought it would just start happening,” says Lillard. It didn’t, which led to the next phase: confusion. Sure, there was early success: three straight 30-plus point games in November, a game-winning buzzer beater to beat the Kings in January. But Lillard was searching. For the right role. For the right chemistry with Antetokounmpo. His shooting percentages dipped. For the first time in his career, he was indecisive. “I want to try to be complementary to how he plays,” says Lillard. “But I think the hardest part is just I’ve spent so much time knowing exactly how I was going to do this and do that and where I could get a shot at and when the ball was going to come. I was familiar with everything so I knew how to control it. I knew how to get what I wanted. And I think the biggest challenge here has been I don’t know where that is.”

There’s another stage, one Lillard hasn’t reached but believes is coming: vindication. Yes, the Bucks went 3–7 in Rivers’s first 10 games. But Lillard saw signs of progress. Stretches, he says. Of great pick-and-roll offense. Of connected defense. He believes in Rivers’s keep-it-simple approach. After the slow start under Rivers, Milwaukee won six straight, and the Bucks sit in second place as they visit conference-leading Boston Wednesday night. “Tell people what their jobs are,” says Lillard, “and people will usually do them well.” He shrugs off the criticism, mostly because he considers it uninformed. “This year more than anything I’ve learned that people don’t watch games,” says Lillard. “They look at a box score, they look at highlights or they look at what’s being said about games. But we’ve had moments. It is just not enough. People want it all the time, every time, and we have to do it more.”

The chemistry with Antetokounmpo is a work in progress. “We talk all the time,” says Lillard. “I’m not a fan of forcing a relationship to just blossom right away. It takes time. You got to go through the process of having a relationship.” Still, Rivers has looked for ways to speed it up. Recently, Lillard and Antetokounmpo flew separately to events in Portland. Rivers asked why they didn’t fly together. “Those are little things that will get them growing,” says Rivers. “They communicate, but they can communicate more. They have to.”

Shortly after accepting the job, Rivers gathered five members of the Bucks’ 2020 title team—Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez, Khris Middleton, Pat Connaughton and Bobby Portis—along with Lillard. He urged them to take ownership of the team. Singling out Lillard and Antetokounmpo, he said they had to be dominant. “We have to establish who we are, how we are going to play and then just be us,” says Rivers. “When you play Denver, you know what’s coming. Same thing with Miami. You have to deal with it. That’s how we have to be. That’s how we’re going to win.”

In February, following an ugly loss to Memphis, Giannis called for urgency. “Enough with our s--- don’t stink mentality,” he says. “Do we really want it?” And there is urgency. Lillard is 33. Antetokounmpo is 29. Middleton, who has battled injuries the last two years, is 32. Antetokounmpo signed an extension last fall, but—as was the case with Lillard, who signed a max extension with the Blazers 12 months before asking out—contracts do not always mean commitment. Another early playoff exit could have consequences. “I know Dame—what, he came here to lose?” says Antetokounmpo. “He didn’t come here to lose. I believe that guy is one of the baddest motherf---ers out there. When he’s operating, we’re all behind him. We give him that confidence to lead; he is one of the toughest guys in the league. And that’s what we need him to do.”

It’s what Lillard wants. He’s had success. Four seasons of 49-plus wins. Eight trips to the playoffs. One to the conference finals. It’s the ring that’s eluded him. The challenges of this season have not discouraged him. They only harden his belief that success will follow. “When stuff like this starts happening, I start thinking there’s a reward coming,” he says. “Because I do s--- the right way. I don’t change. Some things take time. Especially the stuff that’s most rewarding.” https://www.si.com/nba/2024/03/20/milwaukee-bucks-damian-lillard-doc-rivers
 
Rivers hasn’t complicated Milwaukee’s playbook. Rather, his mantra has been simplify. Simplify the offense, which wasn’t doing enough to feature Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard. The Freak–Dame pick-and-roll was effective; entering the All-Star break the Bucks averaged 1.23 points per pick, third best in the NBA, per Sportsradar. They just didn’t run it enough, ranking 25th in the number of pick-and-roll actions. At the Bucks’ first practice, Rivers ran dozens of pick-and-roll drills for the pair. Since the break the pair has run 6.1 pick actions per game together, up from 4.8 before it. “When they are making plays for each other,” says Rivers, “they are unguardable.”
 
Sounds as if he wants Lillard to get back on D quicker.
On film, he noted the 6' 2" Lillard crashing the glass. “That’s a death sentence for a defense,” says Rivers.
 
UKRAINEFAN said:
How’s it been? Lillard pauses to consider the question. It’s mid-February, days before the All-Star break, and Lillard is sitting behind a high-top table at a hotel in Memphis. How’s it been? It depends on what you are asking about. Personally, says Lillard, “it’s been a real transition.” At 33, this is the first time Lillard, who was acquired from the Trail Blazers in September, has been alone since he left Oakland for college. He built a support system in Portland, one that’s now gone. His three children stayed in Oregon with his ex-wife. Lillard’s downtime in Milwaukee is largely spent with his cousin Jon, rattling around a rented home playing Xbox and on FightHype streaming boxing videos.

Professionally it’s been, well, a transition. Lillard’s Bucks tenure can be summed up in stages. The first: shock. Lillard learned about the trade on Instagram, when he scrolled past a photo of him and Antetokounmpo in Bucks uniforms. “I thought it was speculation,” says Lillard. Moments later his agent, Aaron Goodwin, called confirming it. A text from Blazers GM Joe Cronin popped up. “He was telling me he called,” says Lillard. “But I didn’t see it.” Alone, Lillard started dialing family. He called his father. No answer. His mother. Nothing. His brother. Voicemail. He wandered downstairs, where he found his kids’ nanny. Needing to tell someone, Lillard blurted out, “I’ve been traded to Milwaukee.”

The next stage: excitement. It didn’t take long for Lillard to embrace the move. When he arrived in Milwaukee for his physical, Antetokounmpo met him in the training room. He asked for five minutes. They talked for an hour. About basketball. About trust. “I was just telling him, ‘Bro, there’s going to be a lot of s--- that probably takes place this season. But you’re never going to have to question where my head is,’ ” says Lillard. “There’s a lot of people with ability. But my biggest strength is mentally. I can be down bad and struggling, but you’re going to always be able to count on me.”

Early on, Lillard saw flashes of the potential in their partnership, and it helped that Stotts, Lillard’s coach for his first nine NBA seasons, was there. “I thought it would just start happening,” says Lillard. It didn’t, which led to the next phase: confusion. Sure, there was early success: three straight 30-plus point games in November, a game-winning buzzer beater to beat the Kings in January. But Lillard was searching. For the right role. For the right chemistry with Antetokounmpo. His shooting percentages dipped. For the first time in his career, he was indecisive. “I want to try to be complementary to how he plays,” says Lillard. “But I think the hardest part is just I’ve spent so much time knowing exactly how I was going to do this and do that and where I could get a shot at and when the ball was going to come. I was familiar with everything so I knew how to control it. I knew how to get what I wanted. And I think the biggest challenge here has been I don’t know where that is.”

There’s another stage, one Lillard hasn’t reached but believes is coming: vindication. Yes, the Bucks went 3–7 in Rivers’s first 10 games. But Lillard saw signs of progress. Stretches, he says. Of great pick-and-roll offense. Of connected defense. He believes in Rivers’s keep-it-simple approach. After the slow start under Rivers, Milwaukee won six straight, and the Bucks sit in second place as they visit conference-leading Boston Wednesday night. “Tell people what their jobs are,” says Lillard, “and people will usually do them well.” He shrugs off the criticism, mostly because he considers it uninformed. “This year more than anything I’ve learned that people don’t watch games,” says Lillard. “They look at a box score, they look at highlights or they look at what’s being said about games. But we’ve had moments. It is just not enough. People want it all the time, every time, and we have to do it more.”

The chemistry with Antetokounmpo is a work in progress. “We talk all the time,” says Lillard. “I’m not a fan of forcing a relationship to just blossom right away. It takes time. You got to go through the process of having a relationship.” Still, Rivers has looked for ways to speed it up. Recently, Lillard and Antetokounmpo flew separately to events in Portland. Rivers asked why they didn’t fly together. “Those are little things that will get them growing,” says Rivers. “They communicate, but they can communicate more. They have to.”

Shortly after accepting the job, Rivers gathered five members of the Bucks’ 2020 title team—Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez, Khris Middleton, Pat Connaughton and Bobby Portis—along with Lillard. He urged them to take ownership of the team. Singling out Lillard and Antetokounmpo, he said they had to be dominant. “We have to establish who we are, how we are going to play and then just be us,” says Rivers. “When you play Denver, you know what’s coming. Same thing with Miami. You have to deal with it. That’s how we have to be. That’s how we’re going to win.”

In February, following an ugly loss to Memphis, Giannis called for urgency. “Enough with our s--- don’t stink mentality,” he says. “Do we really want it?” And there is urgency. Lillard is 33. Antetokounmpo is 29. Middleton, who has battled injuries the last two years, is 32. Antetokounmpo signed an extension last fall, but—as was the case with Lillard, who signed a max extension with the Blazers 12 months before asking out—contracts do not always mean commitment. Another early playoff exit could have consequences. “I know Dame—what, he came here to lose?” says Antetokounmpo. “He didn’t come here to lose. I believe that guy is one of the baddest motherf---ers out there. When he’s operating, we’re all behind him. We give him that confidence to lead; he is one of the toughest guys in the league. And that’s what we need him to do.”

It’s what Lillard wants. He’s had success. Four seasons of 49-plus wins. Eight trips to the playoffs. One to the conference finals. It’s the ring that’s eluded him. The challenges of this season have not discouraged him. They only harden his belief that success will follow. “When stuff like this starts happening, I start thinking there’s a reward coming,” he says. “Because I do s--- the right way. I don’t change. Some things take time. Especially the stuff that’s most rewarding.” https://www.si.com/nba/2024/03/20/milwaukee-bucks-damian-lillard-doc-rivers
Click to expand...


Fucking Olshey.
 
e_blazer said:
Fucking Olshey.
Click to expand...
What you don't think surrounding Dame with the likes of Aminu (out of league, ool), Biggie (RIP), Harkless (ool), Crabbe (ool), Nards (ool), Melo (ool), Nas (pretty much ool), Bazemore (ool), Hezonja (ool), Ariza (ool), Covington (almost ool), Hood (ool, gets a pass), Tolliver (ool), Whiteside (ool), was a good idea?

None of his FRP paid off except CJ, which was not an ideal fit with Dame.

Gave up two FRP for Covington? sm-mf'ing-h

You can't make shit like this up. Oshley was a fucking clueless tool. It's like he wasn't even trying.
 
Cugel said:
What you don't think surrounding Dame with the likes of Aminu (out of league, ool), Biggie (RIP), Harkless (ool), Crabbe (ool), Nards (ool), Melo (ool), Nas (pretty much ool), Bazemore (ool), Hezonja (ool), Ariza (ool), Covington (almost ool), Hood (ool, gets a pass), Tolliver (ool), Whiteside (ool), was a good idea?

None of his FRP paid off except CJ, which was not an ideal fit with Dame.

Gave up two FRP for Covington? sm-mf'ing-h

You can't make shit like this up. Oshley was a fucking clueless tool. It's like he wasn't even trying.
Click to expand...
#FireStotts
 
UKRAINEFAN said:
Rivers hasn’t complicated Milwaukee’s playbook. Rather, his mantra has been simplify. Simplify the offense, which wasn’t doing enough to feature Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard. The Freak–Dame pick-and-roll was effective; entering the All-Star break the Bucks averaged 1.23 points per pick, third best in the NBA, per Sportsradar. They just didn’t run it enough, ranking 25th in the number of pick-and-roll actions. At the Bucks’ first practice, Rivers ran dozens of pick-and-roll drills for the pair. Since the break the pair has run 6.1 pick actions per game together, up from 4.8 before it. “When they are making plays for each other,” says Rivers, “they are unguardable.”
Click to expand...
How bad was Griffin if fucking Doc Rivers solved their problem in like a month?
 
UKRAINEFAN said:
Sounds as if he wants Lillard to get back on D quicker.
On film, he noted the 6' 2" Lillard crashing the glass. “That’s a death sentence for a defense,” says Rivers.
Click to expand...
Russell Westbrook laughs as he shoves Serge Ibaka out of the way for the fifth time in ten minutes. "Defense is for losers, winners go home and fuck the prom queen"
 
UKRAINEFAN said:
Sounds like he was bad, although Rivers kind of tries to make excuses for him.
Click to expand...
Well yeah you don't want to speak bad of a co-worker, even if they are kind of garbage, because what goes around comes around. Besides, aren't they all union? Labor solidarity and all that.
 
Cugel said:
Stotts will have the last laugh. He will get another HC job on the league since he was clearly right all along. Griff on the other hand…
Click to expand...
Griff will get a second chance as a convenient fool working under a hatchet man GM.
 
Wow, Lillard made the Daily Mail. @Rastapopoulos tell your people to step off!

Damian Lillard SLAMS referees after Iowa beats West Virginia in March Madness... fueling conspiracy theories as fans accuse NCAA of rigging game to ensure star Caitlin Clark stays in
  • The Milwaukee Bucks star was one of many to question the officials in the game
  • Iowa shot 25 more foul shots than West Virginia leading to conspiracy theories
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/c...-game-ensure-star-Caitlin-Clark-stays-in.html
 
SlyPokerDog said:
Wow, Lillard made the Daily Mail. @Rastapopoulos tell your people to step off!

Damian Lillard SLAMS referees after Iowa beats West Virginia in March Madness... fueling conspiracy theories as fans accuse NCAA of rigging game to ensure star Caitlin Clark stays in
  • The Milwaukee Bucks star was one of many to question the officials in the game
  • Iowa shot 25 more foul shots than West Virginia leading to conspiracy theories
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/c...-game-ensure-star-Caitlin-Clark-stays-in.html
Click to expand...
I hate how this reflects on Iowa basketball because they usually never get much ink in the press until Caitlin broke out. It's a problem with sports marketing and sports betting. Next thing you know they'll be paying these kids to take a dive and intentionally lose. We really need to change the way games are called and stop superstar favoritism by refs in all of basketball.
 
riverman said:
I hate how this reflects on Iowa basketball because they usually never get much ink in the press until Caitlin broke out. It's a problem with sports marketing and sports betting. Next thing you know they'll be paying these kids to take a dive and intentionally lose. We really need to change the way games are called and stop superstar favoritism by refs in all of basketball.
Click to expand...

Wasn't there a documentary about point shaving and all that happening before sports betting became mainstream?

But favoritism will always be a thing as long as monopolies have a stranglehold on the sports landscape.
 
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