There was a moment this past August where the world looked like it was collapsing in on itself. Everything was going according to plan, where The NBA Teams expected to make it to the finals had advanced to the next round. As much of a miracle as it is that basketball is back, certain things began to reveal their obviousness in gradual measure. While some teams had gotten better, few actually used the time off in a more disconcerting way than The Milwaukee Bucks.
The first round of the playoffs had a couple of lucky foes. Everyone knew that The Portland Trailblazers weren’t long for The Bubble once they got paired with The Los Angeles Lakers. The same could be said for The Philadelphia 76ers following the exit of an injured Ben Simmons. These were gnarly, but just parts of how the game is played. From here it’s a hierarchy where the best of the best continually get whittled down, eventually determining, as we do every year, which coast has the better team: east vs. west.
If you were to ask me a month or even a year ago, there’s a strong chance that I had two teams in mind: The Los Angeles Clippers and The Bucks. To me, they represented the best of basketball in the 2019-2020 season, with The Clippers having one of the most incredible (and sometimes incredibly underused) benches since The Golden State Warriors. Every single match-up could be a godsend to the basket, and their narrative about being the L.A. underdogs only makes the idea of beating The Lakers all the sweeter.
But why The Bucks?
As many who have been following the games religiously will already know, The Bucks are probably boarding a plane right now, heading back to Milwaukee, WI to enjoy their off-season. What could possibly make this team that couldn’t even make it past the second round of playoffs so special that I point at my TV and nod, saying “How do you beat perfection?”
Well, if you’re The Miami Heat, it’s quite simple. While The Bucks eeked out one win, it only came after three consecutive wins from Jimmy Butler and the boys. It also came after their main player Giannis Antetokuonmpo exited the fourth game with a sprained ankle. Having scored the majority of points in the first quarter, it’s a downright miracle that The Bucks turned things around, even then winning by sheer luck in overtime. This wasn’t like The Toronto Raptors forcing a Game 7 against The Boston Celtics after a Game 3 turnaround. This was the final breaths of a team that was one or two games from exiting.
It’s painful honestly because looking at the charts will tell you that The Bucks were due. Maybe I was just reading the wrong ones, but everything felt like it was in place. Not only did they have one of the strongest season for any team, but they were one of the quickest to clench the first seed once in The Bubble. You almost could forgive their shoddy playing, as if they were saving Antetokuonmpo for the bigger games. They didn’t have to prove anything. All they had to do was keep doing what they always did.
Also, let’s be real for a moment. We’re experiencing The Legend of Giannis in real time. He’s the young new player who may define the league in the next few years. He’s the one who got into a fight with The Houston Rockets’ James Harden when he won MVP. If you look at his stats, he is a beast on the court. He is single-handedly keeping The Bucks in high regard, even though I’d argue supporting players like Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez are doing their part. Add more to the narrative in his recent Defensive Player of the Year win, and you get someone who feels like he maybe came up short.
But there’s still one place where he’s still alive. He’s currently up for MVP. Talk to anyone two weeks ago, and it would be an exciting proposition. After all, The Bucks were still considered a favorite to win. Would Antetoukuonmpo be able to win TWO major awards in the same year and become a legend in his own right? It’s difficult to argue that he doesn’t deserve MVP this year, but then again one thing to consider is that, for at least another game, the other two candidates (The Lakers’ LeBron James, and Harden) are still alive and thus have a far more attractive argument.
To be honest, I’m still a bit shaken that The Bucks not only went down so briskly, but in a way that feels a bit embarrassing. For a team who has Mr. Defensive Player of the Year, it doesn’t make sense that they would lose three in a row to The Heat. Then again, it was baffling to think that The Orlando Magic won their first playoff game against them. Maybe these teams feel more comfortable in Florida, giving them some metaphorical home court advantage. Maybe The Bucks were just warming up and needed that extra game to get into the swing of things.
The only rational thing that does and doesn’t matter in this conversation is what The Bucks will ultimately be known for in The Bubble. Following the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, WI, they canceled their game that day against The Magic, asking for solidarity with Black Lives Matter. It’s a monumental moment, one reflecting The NBA’s ability to be seen as leaders in social justice. It was a terrible week that would later feature a president condoning a racist teenage murderer during a peaceful Kenosha protest in response to Blake. That would be enough to fill anyone with turmoil. Given that The Clippers’ Paul George openly admitted that he was suffering from depression, who knows if Antetokuonmpo was trying to figure what was important in August 2020, and if it was actually basketball. To their credit, NBA stadiums will become voting places this November, so The Bucks have some small redemption in spite of their losses.
But onto the game itself. One has to wonder just what went wrong. They had a phenomenal season and, had the season ended as originally intended, I’d still argue that they would in the first seed still. I don’t guarantee that they’d win, but they would be higher up than where they are now. Maybe it’s just that the downtime allowed every team to get better training, able to focus and hone their craft. Maybe the time off was hurtful to The Bucks because new strategies were never formed that would make everyone better. Just look at The Rockets and how they’ve turned things around. They’re dangerous now. The Bucks, meanwhile, feel a bit like they never figured out a playoff strategy.
To The Heat’s credit, the match-up was a bit insane. If you watch those games, you’ll find a team that was perfectly locked in. They exceeded every expectation. Every minute that the ball flew into the air, Bam Adebayo was jumping up for it. They were hungry. They knew that every play mattered, and it’s how they beat The Indiana Pacers despite having T.J. Warren amid a hot streak. The more that you look at The Heat, the more that you understand how they were hiding their attacks with strategy, not unveiling the full plan until it was too late.
I also want to take this chance to make a personal apology. Five months ago, I made fun of Andre Iguodala for wasting his talent this season. Following a trade from The Memphis Grizzlies where he did (checks notes) squat, I saw his early games with The Heat and found him to be a bit behind schedule, like he just woke up in the middle of a test. I love the guy, but it felt like he was just killing time. If anyone benefited from the time off, it’s Iggy. He suddenly seems as vital as I know he could be, and I don’t deny that The Heat’s track record is owed in a significant way to his sixth man duties. I’m sorry for doubting you. Clearly you saw something that I didn’t, and it took down THE FREAKING BUCKS in the process.
To be honest, I see finger pointing everywhere and I definitely think it’s a fair point. I heard on The Ringer NBA Show this week that Giannis is “a Kobe without a Shaq.” Suddenly it clicks. For as much as you can count on Middleton and Lopez to back him up, he doesn’t have a secondary figure that is just as dominant, making Antetokunmpo’s job easier. He’s always busting through the paint, eager to make that basket. By the time of his fourth game with The Heat, he was clearly tired, yelling as much in frustration as pain when he’d make a slam dunk. He clearly wanted to win, but everything around him just not clicking. Ironically, it only did after he left.
It’s a simple rule of thumb. If you have one good player, you’re good. If you have two, three, four good players, you’re set. When one gets exhausted, you can trade another in and mix things up. Just look at The Rockets, who were struggling when Harden was their only star. One of the best parts of this season is how they have given significant supporting roles to players like Russell Westbrook, P.J. Tucker, and Robert Covington. Suddenly it becomes more diverse, and The Bucks don’t have that. The Heat won because they have enough flavor in their variety to trip up any team.
It could also be that Mike Budenholzer is a coach that didn’t quite deliver. Did they play Antetokuonmpo enough? Did they do the best plays? For a guy coming off of a Coach of the Year win in 2019, it’s quite something that he never made sense of his team’s many, many positives.
Whatever it is, I’m a bit downtrodden that this is where the road ends for the first seed, the team that was considered to win it all. They were ranked the first in the east, and that should’ve been enough to propel them forward. On the one hand, it makes the game exciting and unpredictable. It’s something that continues to make this sport vital. It’s just that one now has to express some doubt going forward. What other team is going to let their guard down at the wrong time? There’s so much that you can’t help but return to the drawing board, plan our your predictions and argue if The Heat can make it all the way, and which Los Angeles team is really going to come out on top.
I don’t know, but it’s quite a harrowing time. That is why I’m pouring one out for The Bucks, who remain a great team that had an off year. Considering that Antetokunmpo claims that he’ll be around next season, one can hope that he is able to turn things around, finding ways to tighten his team and get them to the finish line in a much more successful way. As much as they’ll be missed, it will be fun to see where things go from here.
Though, if we’re being honest, the real MVP of The Bucks lately has been Robin Lopez, who did this great commercial for NBA App TV with a whole bunch of lovable mascots.
Anyway, I felt it was important to remember the brilliance of The Bucks in light of their recent demise. I am extending my arm for a pat on a back, telling them that I’m proud of them. They did their best, and sometimes that’s not enough. I wish they could’ve taken things further, but that only gives you more fuel to work with next year. Here’s to an exciting rest of the season and I hope that the break allows you to recharge your batteries and do what’s important. Basketball has always been a great form of escapism and I’m glad to have had you around, if just for a little bit.
To everyone else, I must say watch out. Now that my eastern predictions are bunk, I’m throwing my full energy on The Clippers. They’re coming for you, and I can only hope that I don’t have to write about their downfall to The Lakers. More than losing to The Heat, THAT would be truly embarrassing.
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