If the Bucks had lost to the Bulls because some rookie whose career totals were 2 fouls and 1 block over four games decided to go absolutely nuts and actually score points for once, I would’ve been pretty upset. You know how I always make fun of fanbases for uttering the phrase “why do scrubs always go off on us”? I would’ve used that phrase UNIRONICALLY, and I would never be able to forgive myself.
Luckily for me, the Bulls’ coaches took Daniel Gafford out of the game in the fourth quarter (preferring the bricktastic Lauri Markkanen) with the score close, never put him back in, and the Bucks eventually pulled away to win easily. The coaches were already looking pretty bad, due to Gafford contributing significantly in his real minutes; I’m sure they didn’t want to look even worse by having Gafford lead them to a win.
Bulls commentator Stacey King was calling them out as diplomatically as he could, but you could tell he was really baffled at what he was seeing on the court. And so was I. Why hadn’t Gafford played major minutes if this is what he was capable of? And why does god hate the Bucks and see it fit to punish them by having scrubs go off on them?
The Bucks, sans Giannis, are not an above-the-rim kind of team, so they had no answer for the very above-the-rim Gafford. What’s Ersan Ilyasova going to do when trying to defend this guy? The answer is try and draw a charge. He’s not going to be able to stop any sort of lob, and neither is anyone else. Gafford slowed down after his hot start, maybe the Bucks adjusted or something, but I thought for a while that he was going to get 40.