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There are no buts or buts. The Bucks are in trouble. Having lost once again to drop from zero to three in their second-round series against the Heat, they face the inevitability of elimination from the 2020 Playoffs. It is not simply that they require the right combination of skill, focus, determination, and no little luck in being the first in the annals of the National Basketball Association to come back from such a deficit. They just don’t seem to have the right mindset to do it; They are already backtracking even when today’s game has not yet started. Beginning and ending with renowned leader Giannis Antetokounmpo, they seem overwhelmed for the moment. Under intense scrutiny from each and everyone to deliver exactly as expected, they instead feel compelled to justify the very strategies that allowed them to rule the roost in the first place.
It’s true that the Bucks suffered the worst of breaks when they faced the Heat in the quarterfinals. His brave opponents have no marquee name to brag about outside of the seemingly erratic Jimmy Butler, and yet they possess precisely the kind of game to shake them up: anchored in a stubborn and direct defense that has neutralized Antetokounmpo’s dominance of and in the painting and forced anyone but him to produce for them. Yet in what has unfortunately become a familiar postseason refrain, they don’t seem to have the toughness to stay under pressure.
In playoff hoops, adjustments aren’t just part of the field; they are critical to survival and success. And despite all the complexities of head coach Mike Budenholzer’s sets at both ends of the court, he appears unwilling, or unable, to shift gears. If insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while anticipating different results, then you are pushing the boundaries of foolishness. There’s a reason they haven’t won in three games yet, but not because they’re not doing their best. It’s because they insist on executing the predictable. The plays that worked in the regular season against 29 other foes have been effectively exposed and countered by the Heat, and it’s time for them to move on and explore other ways to prevail.
As of this point, the Bucks aren’t just struggling to stay in the bubble. Their goal is to prove, especially to themselves, that they have the right tools to turn Antetokounmpo’s best years into sustained championship races. If not, they will be considering losing him to free agency next year. With all due respect to those around you, you don’t have enough support to ease the burden you carry. As things stand, he’s hard-pressed to prove his MVP against the Heat, whose constant challenge for him to beat them from the outside has paid off. Once again, he’ll be enduring criticism for owning hollow mantels that fail to mask his most glaring weakness: he doesn’t have an outside shot, a huge no-no in today’s NBA, partial to pace and space.
Certainly the unique campus setup under which the 2020 Playoffs have been played doesn’t help the Bucks’ cause. That is why the other so-called favorites have also run into obstacles; the complete absence of any home court advantage has spoiled traditional hierarchy-based evaluations. In this context, they are asked to innovate. They can’t improve their talent base, but they can at least increase their output by being collectively better than the sum of their parts. And, first of all, they have to put Antetokounmpo in a position to deliver what he can. Otherwise, they won’t just lose the series. They will lose it too, and only they will be to blame.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside as Business world introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant in strategic planning, human resources and operations management, corporate communications and business development.
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