Giannis went from Poodle to Rottweiler after Doc Rivers arrived! – Kendrick Perkins | NBA Countdown

Giannis went from Poodle to Rottweiler after Doc Rivers arrived! – Kendrick Perkins | NBA Countdown

Now time for our big man moment brought to you by ESPN bet the official sports book of ESPN and Kendrick Giannis he always puts up his numbers but there’s something else that’s caught your attention recently well my favorite moment and should be your favorite moment is my moment and seeing me on

This TV screen and hello world look before Doc Rivers Yannis was a poodle after Doc Rivers he turned into a rockt Waller why I say that Malika because he was 81st in the league and Screen defender on the defensive side of thing since Doc Rivers he’s ranked eight

Screen defender in the league now I want you to watch jannis be engaged right there stopping the ball point of contact here comes another instance look he’s engaged he see balls and man look at him down in The Stance and the drop coverage playing it perfect this is what he’s

Supposed to do right Chris midon does a great job of sliding over but he’s containing the paint and went here we go right here now look here we go Giannis on the ball talking switching up here goes another switch in activity great challenge Force the Miss rebound and get

Out here it goes again you can see him communicating the screen it’s coming this is what we love look how he switch out aggressive he’s making them uncomfortable the activity sliding the puppies he didn’t hope that he miss he made them Miss and when you have weak Defenders around the perimeter you have

To be strong in your interior and look at this he has elevated his game again from a poodle to a rock rock oh okay yeah what noise does a buck make I don’t know I don’t know either but I do know that ESPN bet is the official sports

Book of ESPN new users get $100 in bonus bets for making any Sportsbook bet and you can check out perk’s big man parlay exclusively in the ESPN BET app if you want to ride with perk and the other big men but we talked about this extensively early on in the season the Bucks

Defensive issues but in their last three games they’ve held opponents to under 100 points they’re on a four-game winning streak and quietly they’re a half game out of second place as we say hello to our senior Insider Adrien WJ narowski and W I have to men mention I

Have to imagine rather that teams around the league now when they face Milwaukee they no longer have the same confidence that they used to yeah and you know perk just detailed it team say a very different Giannis attenton kopo much more active flying around protecting the paint they see a Doc Rivers defense

That’s been simplified but but as much as anything they see a team now in Milwaukee that is getting back in transition defense you I think a lot of times when you’re upset about what’s going on at the offensive end when there’s um a lot of uncertainty discussion you’re not in agreement about

And you’re asking a lot of questions why are we doing this why are we running that sometimes that gets taken out when you don’t run back on defense and this is a team I think much more locked into how they’re playing why they’re playing a certain way and just getting back in

Transition I think has helped to along with what Giannis has done helped to elevate this defense back to one of the better ones in the league yeah since February 1 they’ve been the number five defense in the NBA thing number one was get back on defense forget offensive

Rebounding forget all this stuff we got to get back on defense we got to Shore that up and look the next big wild card for them is Chris Middleton because if this team is going to push Boston and get to a point where they can push Boston they need Chris Middleton fully

Healthy 30 minutes a game almost Peak Chris Middleton in the playoffs that’s how good Boston is if they get that player people are sleeping on this Bucks team because their defense is better Pat Beverly has helped Doc Rivers has helped Giannis is balling he’s in the MVP conversation and they’re in that two3

Bracket as you mentioned there’s a big gap now between three and four so they’re assured basically of being outside Boston side of the bracket and maybe in the second round getting a Cleveland team if Cleveland even gets there because the dudes in Dade County as perk said are gonna have a say that

Has never won a playoff series this may be actually shaping up right for the bucks yeah the Cavs are going through a bit of a tough stretch here Donovan Mitchell and Caris LeVert are out tonight in Detroit Detroit is playing better than their record right now and

If there is a win by Milwaukee tonight and a loss by Cleveland we’ll see two3 swap the other thing about Milwaukee is they are facing a very daunting schedule they’re coming out west here beginning next week they are really going to need to be playing their best basketball it’s

Going to be a real stress test for them and I could see them and the Cavs really going down the stretch for that number two seed right now they are tied at 2-2 and the head in the tiebreaker comes down to you know Conference record and stuff like that we could be watching

That for the two seed all the way down to the last week of the Season even before Milwaukee started winning games here in the last week 10 days you know John horse their GM said to me that he could start to see the shape of how this

Team had to play to win in the postseason that was certainly being much better on the defensive end and even though their offensive efficiency had gone down a little bit he still thought they were getting good shots and that when Chris Middleton is back when this group is all playing together you know

Those will be shots they make and this has was why he made the coaching change that he did they had to get better on the defensive end and it’s happening where the Doc Rivers in the Milwaukee Bucks critics right they’re so quiet you can hear a cockroach pass gas right now

And when I think about it I think about him demanding that locker room you see the ball Movement we talking about the defense the last three games holding their opponents under 100 points last game six players in double figures that means the ball is movement Dame and uh

Giannis are spreading the wealth making guys around them better and look they’re going to continue to keep getting better Luca and Kyrie Irving they are finding a Groove here over the last month the tandem has combined for 61 points per game on 53% from the field to record

Eight and three that’s the record here and in fact they are the only duo in the league to average 25 points five boards and five dimes a season not really bad for two guys that have yet to play 50 games together overall there were questions about how long this

Partnership could last what it would look like w what’s made this tandem so successful here when when you talk to people in Dallas they point to right in the preseason when the Mavericks went to Spain and Luca donic had some events and parties there and Kyrie Irving showed up

And he was a part of it and that started I think this season with those two on the right foot Jason kid taking time with both players sitting spending a lot of time communicating with them Luca donic respects Kyrie Irving his work ethic he sees him at the arena hours

Before the game putting in the work and that Kyrie Irving has had no problem you know taking something of a back seat picking his spots when he would dominate you know so far these two have really found a rhythm together and a chemistry that really wasn’t there last year

Because one or the other was always out of the lineup they really had a chance to play together and having a preseason together too was so important that bonding time to your point when I was down in Dallas earlier this year and I was talking to Luke about that he said

Hey you know what we even got in the DJ booth together when we were out and that’s what you and I do of course to to bond as well W but what’s been different in your mind Zach about this tandem this year I didn’t get invited to the DJ

Booth you got the one twos this this no this offense is scary right now I mean scary there is no answer for these you guys and Kyrie to W’s Point has willingly played number two and he’s so dangerous in that role anyway cuz he can

Spot up for three can catch and go he can run pick and rolls with Luca and tonight what a test for both teams a team loaded with the best perimeter defenders in the league against the two guards that we’re talking about who’s going to guard who how is that going to

Work where’s Kristoff porzingis going to be it’s fascinating fascinating X’s match up well we know Luca is going to be Luca but the word respect comes to mind and when was the last time Kyrie Irving actually respected his head coach and their staff it’s when he got to

Dallas and that’s because Jas Jason kid is arguably a top 10 point guard to ever touch the dam basketball won the NBA Championship with the Dallas Mavericks and Kyrie Irving has that respect for him so he’s going to buy in I love how Kyrie Irving is engaged right now he’s

Been quiet but his game been loud on the floor and his availability his commitment has to be applauded the big challenge for Dallas is as awesome as they have been offensively and if you look at their numbers over this 10 game stretch they are as potent as any team

In the league can they defend at a high enough level in the Western Conference playoffs to give themselves a chance I do believe that they are a very dangerous team I don’t know if they have the defense but I will say this the trade deadline Acquisitions of Gafford

And Washington Plus getting Maxi kba back he can play small ball Center gives them options in the Western Conference where you’re going to need size to get through it absolutely we’ve seen teams before win titles with the model of super duper offense just good enough defense and Dallas’s defense has been

About just good enough for most of the season but you have them as a team that even if they were in the the the playin mix which they very well could be that’s where they sit right now they could make some noise in the postseason you kidding

Me with these two dudes nobody wants to see Luka in the playoff series they absolutely could make some by Mak Some Noise to be clear win a round and be in a dog fight in the second round he he is the most dangerous player in the Western

Conference and I say that with respect to joic because we know about jic but when it comes to the top dogs that are in the west nobody wants to see Luca in the seven game series because he can send you home right I mean he he may be

The best offensive player in the NBA right now I mean he is leading the league and scoring exactly [Applause] [Applause] p

On NBA Countdown, Kendrick Perkins, Adrian Wojnarowski, Zach Lowe and Brian Windhorst discuss Doc Rivers’ impact with the Milwaukee Bucks and the tandem of Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic.

0:00 Giannis film
2:00 How much credit does Doc Rivers deserve?
5:43 Why are Kyrie & Luka so hard to stop

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