Milwaukee Bucks Playoffs Deep Dive

By: Melo Williams 

The 2023 NBA Playoffs are underway and the Milwaukee Bucks are trailing the Miami Heat 1-0.

Not only did the Bucks lose to the Heat 130-117 but they also lost superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo late in the first quarter after driving to the basket and taking a hard fall on his lower back.

All attention is on the health and specifically the back of Antetokounmpo.

Xrays came back negative and there’s optimism that Giannis will play in Game 2. Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said, “We’ll monitor him and see how he does, see how he wakes up, how he feels the rest of tonight and tomorrow.”

“We have to wait and see what the doctor says, most importantly what Giannis says. Certainly, we’ve been blessed with him being resilient and quick to heal, but you’ve just got to take it day by day, see how he’s doing, and see how he feels.”

We are going to take a deep dive into the Bucks‘ offense and defense for adjustments to be made before Game 2.

DEEP DIVE

DEFENSE:
The Bucks have to get more aggressive on defense. Milwaukee allowed Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo to get to their spots easily without working for their position. Jimmy Butler impacted the game on both ends and scored 35 points with 11 assists.

Usually, Milwaukee’s answer would be to have Giannis guard Jimmy Butler but Giannis isn’t healthy. Fortunately for Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer, Milwaukee has five players they can rotate on Butler. All-Star forward Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday, Jae Crowder who the Bucks traded for at the trade deadline, Wesley Matthews, and Joe Ingles are in spurts if need be.

Milwaukee must keep fresh legs and a body on Jimmy Butler at all times. Bucks defenders must make Butler fight for position, work to get passes, and keep him from finding a rhythm in general.

Bam Adebayo scored 22 points 9 rebounds and 7 assists, 10-18 from the field. Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis must do a better job of making Bam work to get to his spots, challenge his shots, and make him put the ball on the floor.

I know it’s easier to defend as a team when you have a player of Gianni’s caliber on your side who plays great on-ball defense but even better weak-side help defense but if the Bucks want to make a run at another title they must tighten up their defensive weaknesses.

OFFENSE:
The Bucks shot well from the field. Every shot inside the three-point line was almost money for Milwaukee. It was the lack of being able to knock down a three-point shot that kept the Bucks from winning Game 1 along with not being able to stop Jimmy Butler.

Milwaukee shot 45/91 (49.5%) from the field but shot a despicable 11/45 (24.4%) from the 3PT line. Settling for threes helped Miami defend Milwaukee easier.

My advice for Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer is to get Grayson Allen some touches early on to get him going in a rhythm so that it opens up the floor for Khris Middleton to have better spacing and more opportunities to have one on one flexibility.

If Allen and Middleton can get into a groove with pick-and-roll/pop action that would put a lot of pressure on Miami’s defense to defend the three-point line but open up the paint for Giannis if he plays, Brook Lopez, and Bobby Portis.

CONCLUSION:
Milwaukee has to get back to the basics of defensive basketball. The Bucks have to play better fundamentally defensively against the Heat. Trapping the ball, forcing players into their weaknesses, and communicating better. Rotations were slow. A lot could’ve been from the weeklong rest while the Heat were competing in the Play-In tournament.

Taking care of the basketball, getting rebounds, winning the 50/50 balls, and giving effort on the defensive end will be required from everyone on Buck’s playoff roster if they want to advance to the second round of the playoffs.

Miami isn’t your ordinary 8th-seed. That Heat team is deep with battle-tested veterans that are well-coached by Erik Spoelstra. Mike Budenholzer will have to meet Spoelstra’s coaching energy when it comes to the x’s and o’s with situational basketball.

Milwaukee Bucks win Game 2

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