Before the Milwaukee Greenbacks took the court against the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday, coach Document Rivers said he was dissatisfied with his offense in the game that preceded it, a 133-122 loss in Chicago. “Even though we got a lot of points the other night, I don’t think we played a very good offensive game,” Rivers said at Barclays Heart. “Sometimes that can fool you.”
Rivers thought the Greenbacks had helped the Bulls with their variety of shots and releases. I wanted to participate in the highest decision-making in Brooklyn. However, what he ended up seeing was even worse. Milwaukee turned the ball over seven times in the first quarter and 18 times in the game, allowing the Nets to dominate the ownership game. The team scored a dismal 103 points per 100 possessions. He was out-rebounded by a much smaller workforce and out-executed by a much younger one.
“Tonight it was clear that it was our offense,” Rivers said after the 115-102 loss. “We have to do something to free up guys better offensively. We’re forcing. Taking a lot of tough shots. The ball isn’t moving. And we don’t have enough space. So, our execution was poor. That’s all on me. I’ve got to figure it out. ”
Many times, Rivers claimed that the Greenbacks “hadn’t been playing well.” He called this “very disappointing” as he thought they had had an excellent training camp. Giannis Antetokounmpo, their franchise player, went further: he stated, “We need to find ourselves” and added that “they don’t have an identity.” Milwaukee is just 3 games into the season and Khris Middleton hasn’t played in any of them, but there is some urgency here.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s Game 1, Game 3, Game 50,” Antetokounmpo said. “We have to keep coming together as a team, keep taking care of the ball, keep being aggressive, find ways to play faster. I think we’re too stagnant. We’re playing too slow.”
Against this, the big name of the dollar, Damian Lillard, stated that they have to be “more patient” instead of allowing groups to “speed us up.” Any of them, however, attributed their offensive problems to poor execution against the momentum of the ball. Both Brooklyn and Chicago picked up their ball handlers early and defended them aggressively, in an attempt to make them uncomfortable.
Three of Milwaukee’s most frustrating offensive possessions came with less than five minutes left in the game. At this point, the Nets had firmly taken control of the game with a 15-1 run, but it wasn’t completely out of reach yet.
First, Lillard denied a display by Antetokounmpo and was handed over to the paint, but Cam Johnson deflected his kick center.
That handoff resulted in a layup for Johnson, after which the Greenbacks essentially turned it back into an inbounds pass. They got the ball back, but the resulting ownership turned out in extremely ugly fashion: with forward Taurean Prince trapped in the corner, confused by Johnson, blocking a three to avoid a shot clock violation.
Lillard then opted for a step back three against Johnson in isolation. The zero pass property would be forgivable in this case (Milwaukee wanted trouble as temporarily as possible), but the throw was approach off.
The bad thing, as Lillard said, is that the Greenbacks “aren’t making teams work on our offensive end the same way they make us work when we’re on defense.” In other words, they are letting their warring parties have their way at one end, and hanging themselves at a disadvantage at the other.
“It’s like a perpetual motion machine on both sides,” said heartthrob Brook Lopez. “Right? Both sides are feeding off each other right now, and it’s not great.”
Four years ago, Milwaukee also started the season 1-2, and its third regular-season game was also a boring loss in New York City. That team went straight to winning the championship. This beginning, the next one, is far from damning. The Greenbacks obviously skip Middleton, the intact guys are still adjusting – more of a pass supposed to go to Prince and Gary Trent. Jr on the corner went out of bounds in Brooklyn and the bank’s devices are not working. It’s not encouraging that a team built around Antetokounmpo and Lillard is struggling to find an offensive rhythm, but this can and will have to change.
On Monday, Milwaukee will seek advice from the defending champion Boston Celtics, who have been sizzling to start the season. The Celtics will monitor the Greenbacks’ ball handlers, transfer monitors and try to coax them into taking tough jumpers. Depending on your point of view, the timing of this confrontation is either good or awful. On the one hand, it’s a chance to dance again in the most powerful way imaginable and turn this story from earlier in the season on its head. Conversely, if Milwaukee doesn’t blank things out offensively, it will most likely find itself scrambling all over the park and giving up obvious threes in the future, which is exactly what you won’t be able to do against Boston.
“We have to be precise about that,” Lillard said. “Or, you know, they’ll kill you with it.”
