I'm finding more writers are seeing what I have with Rivers and his poor lineup structuring. He seems unwilling to use the productive lineup the Bucks do have available on the floor, favoring more of a forced matchup philosophy which his detracting from the defense, and putting players in poor situations on rotations because of demands created by the decisions. When you start hearing about it from people like Shaq, Barkley, and Perkins, you realize that what you saw wasn't just in your own mind but able to be seen by others who know the intricacies of the game at a higher level. Doc is the majority of the problem on the Bucks sideline because of his stubborn approach to using his theoretical best matchup lineup versus the opposition instead of his most productive and best defensive lineup.
The best starting lineup the Bucks can use, and substitute around it, is as follows. Giannis, Portis, Trent, Porter, Rollins. Then use the sub rotations of Lopez for both Giannis & Portis, Kuzma at the #3, and mix it up with Connaughton, Prince, and Jackson to rotate singularly into one of the #1 through #3 spots on the floor, at the 3rd level, to maintain fresh legs on the top 8. When you play a team like the Pacers, your legs make the difference, and the reality is the Bucks don't have that kind of leg strength to compete for 4 quarters without using their most productive lineup to insure they can have solid runs in the paint that can build lead, or hack into and destroy leads by the other team. Incidentally, I believe that would be our best defensive lineups as well, and Kuzma's utilization would be more effective, and his shooting numbers would go up.
In the NBA, it's no longer productive for a team to rely on matchups, because when you do, you're essentially telling the other team that you are willing to play their game, not your own. You have to establish at the start of the game that you intend to dominate them with your starting lineup, then allow those starters to refresh their legs, one at a time, not with wholesale changes. This means that you don't wait until there's 3 minutes left to go in the first quarter before you start making changes. You need to start when you're 4 or 5 minutes in, to shake up the opposition's decisions on how they can best matchup against you, not the opposite.
Doc fails miserably at this. He's so into his own personal beliefs on what works and seems to think he's so much brighter than the minds on the other team, or even his own assistants. To me, he's always been a failure because of his lack of understanding that his evaluations are not the criteria as to how well a team plays together, but the chemistry that binds the players together out there when they are on the floor together.
But that's just my opinion, and I never have, nor will be, an NBA coach. The Bucks need to steal one tonight in Indiana. They need to show everyone they're still a better team than the Pacers. Lose this one and you may as well pack your tent and head home.
