First things first: Nobody, and The Rock means, NOBODY, does playoff heartbreak like Wisconsin sports. It’s incredible. 6 months ago I was sitting at Am Fam Field and the Brewers were up 2-0 in the 9th inning with two outs to get, 5 minutes later Pete Alonso rips our hearts out and the Brewers are going home. 6 months later I’m watching the Bucks sit on a 118-111 lead with 35 seconds left in overtime, Pacer fans are actively LEAVING THE BUILDING, and 5 minutes later the Pacers win 119-118 and the season is over. Each time I’m sitting there mumbling to myself, “how did that happen?” It’s UNREAL. Can’t wait for my next improbable defeat in October!
Second things second: If you have 15 free minutes, you should watch Giannis’ entire postgame from last night. The way he handles a loss like that, the way he handled the postgame argument with Tyrese Haliburton’s dad, his poise and perspective, I can’t imagine ever wanting him traded. Even if that’s what makes the most sense for the franchise! He is class personified. I don’t care how many picks you could get for him, how many players you could get for him, if Giannis wants to stay (and based on that postgame I don’t think he’s going anywhere), you hang on to him forever. Even if it means some lean years on the horizon. No player is ever, EVER, going to leave it all on the floor the way he does, and represent the team and community off the floor the way he does, ever again. I’d rather win 35 games a year for the next 10 years with Giannis than trade him for three draft picks and a role player this offseason. He is irreplaceable.
Third things third: I still can’t wrap my mind around the last 40 seconds of overtime. That game was won. Gary Trent went NUCLEAR in overtime, knocking down 4 three’s, only to fumble the ball away twice and hand the game to the Pacers. It is such a shame that the guy who carried you down the stretch is also the guy who made two critical errors that cost you the game.
Fourth things fourth: Doc. A few things on Doc in no particular order:
- People are going to want him fired for the way the game ended, but I think that’s more on the players. The players were in a position to win the game. They didn’t execute. They puckered. If you want to say the buck stops with the head coach, fine. But he’s not on the floor making bad decisions in those moments.
- My biggest criticism of Doc isn’t the way the game ended, it’s that he didn’t make the OBVIOUS starting lineup change until the team was down 3-1 in the series. Anyone with eyes could tell you after Game 1 that Brook, Kuzma, and Prince had no business playing in that series. Yet he started them in Game 2, and was still starting Brook and Kuzma in Game 3 and Game 4. Last night he finally started Porter/Green/Trent/Giannis/Portis and it was clear from the first minute of the game that THAT was the lineup that should have been out there the whole time. They were more athletic, they could switch across the board, EVERYTHING looked more crisp. Too little, too late.
- My gut feeling is that Doc is back next year, especially with the way Giannis was talking about him in his postgame. Look, I think Doc is a great mentor, I enjoy listening to him talk before and after games, I think it’s unlikely he ever wins a title again, but I also don’t think he fumbled a championship caliber team this season. This roster was flawed from the start, and even if everything went perfectly (including having Middleton healthy and still on the team), their ceiling was an Eastern Conference Finals run. This team went 48-34 in the regular season, got the 5 seed and were out in the first round. Given the roster construction and injuries, that sounds about right. If they fire him, I’m fine with it. I think I would prefer that. But let’s not act like Doc botched a team that was a prime title contender. They weren’t.
Fifth things fifth: I don’t know if he needs a lifetime ban, but the Pacers should ban Haliburton’s dad from their arena for the remainder of the playoffs. In no world should a parent of a player be ON THE COURT talking trash to opposing players. Giannis showed incredible restraint in that moment.
Sixth things sixth: The Pacers aren’t making it beyond this upcoming round against the Cavs. They’re about to get humbled REAL quick.
PS: Players that I want to see stay from the current roster in addition to Giannis: AJ Green, Kevin Porter, Gary Trent, Bobby Portis, Jericho Sims. Maybe Ryan Rollins. Fire the rest of it into the sun. My guess is that Porter is going to opt out of his player option for next year, so you’d need to pay him more than the $2.5 million he was going to make. And Gary Trent was on the minimum for a 1-year deal, he’s certainly going to get paid more than that. I don’t know how you make it work, but that’s for Jon Horst to figure out.
Double PS: If Horst can unload Kuzma then he is a miracle worker.
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