Tag: Milwaukee Bucks

Bucks coaching fiasco latest example of crumbling under expectations

Apparently, having one of the best records in the NBA isn’t enough for a head coach’s job security these days

It’s understood the NFL is king when it comes to the talking points, and plenty of time will be spent previewing the Super Bowl in short order. Meanwhile, stuff is happening in the other leagues, and there’s one topic that definitely came and stayed in the radar. It involves the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, and their decision to fire first-year head coach Adrian Griffin after (only) 43 games. The factors as to why the Bucks made this move, at this point in the regular season, will be discussed in a little bit. Just know situations like this point to a larger issue when it comes to the pressures of trying to produce winning results quick, fast and in a hurry. Such expectations can lead to executives in front offices everywhere to misunderstand the personnel they have, and horrible lapses in judgment altogether.

Let’s start with this stat. At the time, Milwaukee sat at 30-13, good enough for second in the Eastern Conference (behind the Boston Celtics). In and of itself, that record should have had the Bucks feeling great about hiring Griffin to replace Mike Budenholzer, who coached Milwaukee to an NBA title in 2021. As stated earlier, expectations are to get back to the top of the mountain again, and frankly, the Bucks should believe they can hang another championship banner. Above everything else, they have a perennial MVP-candidate in Giannis Antetokounmpo, and they traded to bring Damian Lillard, who is one of the league’s most potent scorers, to help assist. When a squad has those assets, it’s easy to see where a head coach could crumble under the weight of the pressure, especially one in his inaugural season. Based off of the record, Griffin was doing a good job, but apparently, not good enough. So why the sudden change to fire him? According to reports, the way Milwaukee was playing defensively was a chief reason, ranking 24th in points allowed per game this season. In back-to-back contests against the Detroit Pistons, the Bucks gave up 135 and 113 points, respectively. The Pistons have the NBA’s worst record at 6-43. Griffin would become the fall guy because of these struggles, but there are reasons to believe other factors contribute to the lack of defense.

The first factor is nobody in the league plays defense anymore, especially in the regular season. For context, the Minnesota Timberwolves, who are in a four-way tie for first in the Western Conference, lead the league in points allowed per game at 107.1. Years ago, that total might have been last in the NBA, but now, it’s a miracle if a team is held under 100 points after three quarters. The second factor is the Bucks’ roster isn’t one that’s built to stop anyone. Besides Antetkounmpo, anyone who had something like a defensive mentality went out the door with the Lillard trade, and all of the scoring punch the guard brings is equaled by his defensive liabilities. In other words, it shouldn’t surprise anyone Milwaukee is bad defensively, regardless of who the head coach is. It’s understood the NBA is a league that’s player-driven, which means they will get the benefit of the doubt in most cases when teams have rifts. With that said, it makes it too easy to blame other factors as to why strife is occurring, and the head coach is the one who becomes the sacrificial lamb.

So who did the Bucks decide to bring in as Griffin’s replacement? None other than Doc Rivers, of course. After all, it would make sense to bring in a guy who was a team consultant while working on the lead commentary team for ESPN (sounds dirty). At any rate, maybe things can be different in Milwaukee, but there’s not many reasons to believe this would be the case. Rivers was just fired by the Philadelphia 76ers at the end of last year, and has been the head coach of teams that have blown numerous series leads in the playoffs, including last season’s 3-2 advantage to the Celtics in the East semifinals. There was a time where Rivers was considered one of the best coaches in the NBA, and some may still have that view. Now, it’s harder by the day to continue living off of the title he won as Boston’s head coach in 2008, especially when every place he’s been to afterwards has been left in dysfunction when the time to part ways came. Frankly, having Rivers replace Griffin says Milwaukee is caving in under the pressure to win now.

Nobody knows the true reason(s) why the Bucks let Griffin go, except the people within the organization. If the team’s lack of defense was a main reason why, then it might be fair to say every coach in the league should be on the hot seat. For Milwaukee, the record since Griffin was fired on Jan. 23 is 3-5, and opponents haven’t scored less than 112 points in any of those games. Unless Rivers has some sort of secret to magically fix the squad’s lack of defense, many of the same problems will persist, and the Bucks will find themselves falling short of those lofty expectations. At that point, maybe the front office will look at the players, and find these are problems (by their own creation) a coach can’t necessarily fix with schemes alone. Time will tell, but at this moment, it appears Griffin got a raw deal.

It’s time for the game show that’s taking over the sports world

These teams face many questions after getting eliminated from the NBA’s conference semifinals.

In sports, every team has stuff they have to address after a season of games. Some have more questions to answer than others, but the goal is to be in the best position to compete for a title in the next campaign. For teams in the NBA, there seems to be a point where those decisions hit a critical stage, and that’s if said team is eliminated from the playoffs after the conference semifinals. With that in mind, it’s time to play “Run It Back or Break It Up?,” the game where we decide whether the squad in question is better off keeping things together for another run, or blowing things up to start over. There are four teams who have major evaluations to conduct after being bounced out. As this game moves on, I’ll decide what I think should happen with the clubs going forward (your feedback is strongly encouraged as well). Without further or do, it’s time to introduce the contestants:

New York Knicks

If we are to listen to Knicks fans and a good amount of the media outlets in the northeast, they would have us believe the sky is falling with their team, and losing to the eighth-seeded Miami Heat in six games could certainly qualify for a disappointing finish. The reality is not many people had New York getting to this point in the first place, and until the team started to make moves in the regular season, they were seen as somewhat of a laughing stock. After signing point guard Jalen Brunson to a long-term contract last summer, large numbers of NBA followers (including myself) questioned why the Knicks would make such a move. Brunson would go on to give a resounding answer why he was brought to NYC, forcing some of those naysayers to call the acquisition the best signing of the year. In other words, there’s more reason to be optimistic than pessimistic in New York.

Having said that, there are hard choices for the Knicks to make if they want to continue the ascension. They found a gem in Brunson, but the rest of the roster has shown significant chunks of inconsistent play, particularly forwards Julius Randle and RJ Barrett. To answer the question, I believe they should run it back with a couple of caveats. Barrett caught a lot of criticism from the masses, and it was much deserved based on his poor shooting against the Heat. From my evaluation, he looked like a player who lost confidence, and the moments got the best of him. If there’s a next time at this stage, Barrett should be better prepared. The other caveat has to do with Randle, because there’s rumblings about trading the league’s Most Improved Player in 2021. That’s an option, but who would be the other trade partner? Of course, Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard has been mentioned as a potential target, but that wouldn’t come cheap. A trade for Lillard would probably gut the team of any depth they had before a potential deal, resulting in more heartache for the Knicks and their fans. All that considered, it’s probably best for New York to stay intact for now.

Decision: Run It Back

Philadelphia 76ers

Unlike the expectations for the Knicks, the 76ers were looked at as a team that could take the next step, with that being an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals. Up until a few days ago, there was reason to believe that would happen. Philly had the newly-crowned MVP in center Joel Embiid, a former MVP in guard James Harden that showed signs of that form, and they had a 3-2 series lead over the defending Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics with a closeout opportunity at home. That’s when disaster struck, as the 76ers collapsed in the fourth quarter of Game 6, and followed that up with a blowout loss in Game 7. The more things change, the more they stay the same, and in this case, it’s Philly who once again came up short at the most critical moment.

So where do the 76ers go from here? The answer to that is anyone’s guess, but here’s what we do know. Under the watch of head coach Doc Rivers, this is the third straight season the team has went out in the conference semifinals, and Embiid should no longer get a pass on the blame (that’s for the people who want to find other places point fingers). He and Harden have a detailed history of disappearing over and over again, and it’s apparent this current batch of players has reached the ceiling. Therefore, it’s probably time to see another shift in strategy for Philly, and judging off of Tuesday’s move to relieve Rivers from his head coaching duties, the 76ers agree with this settlement. Don’t be surprised is Harden is the next to leave. In fact, Embiid and guard Tyrese Maxey are probably the only ones who would probably be considered “untouchable,” and everyone else is for sale. I don’t know if this is still considered part of the “Trust The Process” era, but the time to end the whole thing has arrived, and is probably overdue.

Decision: Break It Up

Phoenix Suns

Before diving into the state of the Suns, lets give full disclosures. Phoenix was already on the way to a steep decline. Back in 2021, they had a 2-0 lead on the Milwaukee Bucks before losing four straight in the NBA Finals. When that occurred, the feeling that ran through my thought process was this group of Suns players would never have as good of a title opportunity as they had at that moment. Yes, Phoenix had the best regular season record in the league the next season, but imploded in a lifeless Game 7 loss at home to the Dallas Mavericks in the semifinals. With the team feeling desperate for a championship, the Suns decided to go all-in, trading with the Brooklyn Nets to acquire forward Kevin Durant. The result was a big four that added Durant to the trio of Devin Booker, Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton, but not much else behind that. The lack of depth and defense was exposed in their loss to the Denver Nuggets in this year’s conference semifinals. Yes, I know Paul was injured (which is the case most playoff runs), and Ayton missed Game 6, but there’s not much reason to believe that would have made a difference in the result.

The other disclosure is there’s an understanding Phoenix doesn’t have much choice but to Run It Back, because they’re pretty much stuck with what they have. There are no assets to trade, and not much money to bring free agents in. That doesn’t mean the Suns aren’t trying to change things, and the release of head coach Monty Williams verifies that. Whoever takes Williams’ place won’t have much to work with. Durant and Paul will be a year older, and they have already shown signs of gassing out during the playoffs. Maybe Ayton can start to show more signs of dominance, but it’s questionable where the hope of that happening is. This is my way of saying it’s probably better for Phoenix to tear down, but because of the top-end talent they do possess, they’ll believe they have a chance to bring a title to the desert.

Decision: Break It Up (but I know they’ll Run It Back)

Golden State Warriors

Out of the four teams being discussed, the Warriors are probably the hardest to dissect. Golden State has won four titles since Steve Kerr became the head coach before the 2014-15 season, with a core that includes Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. After getting eliminated by the Los Angeles Lakers in six games, questions about the end of the dynasty are circulating around the NBA and sports media airwaves. While Curry, Thompson and Green have met the challenges and doubts more often than not, the signs of age and years worth of battles taking their toll stuck out like a sore thumb. All season, even through the Warriors’ struggles on the road, they got the benefit of the doubt because of their championship pedigree. The combination of the Lakers’ depth, and their own shots not falling, solidified Golden State’s first series loss against a Western Conference opponent in Kerr’s tenure.

It’s widely understood Curry is going nowhere, but the same can’t be said with as much certainty for Thompson and Green. The other splash brother has an expiring contract, and Green can opt out from his current deal this summer. Even the general manager, Bob Myers, might be on the way out. If Myers is gone, the person who takes over will have a monumental task to retool around Curry. A good place to start is the inside positions, because L.A.’s forward/center, Anthony Davis, destroyed Golden State in the paint. Many times before, the Warriors were able to overcome the lack of height with their pinpoint shooting from distance, but not this time. Even with all of the doubts and questions, I can’t help but believe Golden State will tune things up for one more run at a championship, with a lot of the same cast of characters.

Decision: Run It Back

Even with NBA Finals heartbreak, Tatum has arrived

Life for someone in the public spectrum has never been harsher than it is right now, particularly for someone playing sports at the highest levels. With the evolution of social media, action on the playing field never goes without instant praise or criticism. If a star player on the verge of reaching superstar status has a performance that ranks with some of the best ever seen, people are quick to say this is the “coming out party,” or the moment he or she can be mentioned with the best in the world. Once the performance is below the expectations set on the “superstar,” those same people who were so quick to elevate the player are just as quick to say they haven’t arrived yet. This is the reality Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum faces, as he and his team attempts to heal from losing in the NBA Finals to the Golden State Warriors.

When the Celtics can get past the disappointment stage, they can look at the season as a success, especially considering the team was meddling around .500 in January. A lot of growth occurred in Boston, and the same can be said for Tatum, who constantly heard he and fellow teammate Jaylen Brown couldn’t make it work as a duo. During the playoff run to the finals, Tatum had many moments of brilliance, showing why some people would say he’s the best in a crop of young players knocking on the door of ultimate success. When the Celtics got there, it’s no secret Tatum struggled to duplicate those classic performances. Therefore, the hot take artists and members of the social media toilets were ready to tear him down, as if those positive thoughts were never said. Stephen Curry, who won the NBA Finals MVP, went through periods of slander. So did Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo (among other greats). The point is every player who makes meteoric rises to the top has to endure good and bad, and Tatum is no different.

To understand how quickly things can turn around on the praise or dump meter, it wasn’t too long ago when Tatum led the Celtics to a shocking (to some) sweep of the Brooklyn Nets in the first round. Fast forward to the conference semifinals, and Boston was down 3-2 to Antetokounmpo and the then-defending champion Milwaukee Bucks with Game 6 in Milwaukee. It was Tatum who scored 46 points to keep the Celtics’ season alive. Boston would go on to knock the Bucks out in Game 7 at home, and in another seventh game against the Miami Heat in the conference finals (also on the road) Tatum led the squad with 26 points and was named MVP of the series. There were many in the media who thought the Celtics would win the championship, and Tatum was on his way to being a bona fide, top-5 basketball player in the world. As we all know, Boston came up short, and guess who’s in the crosshairs for why they did.

Even with the subpar performance in the finals, what other player who is younger than 25-years-old would people rather have than Tatum? Luka Doncic? Ja Morant? Devin Booker? Trae Young? All of the players mentioned can score in spades, and scoring is the glamour stat in all sports. What puts Tatum over the top is his completeness as a player. Not only can he score with anyone in the league, he can affect the game in ways the others can not. Tatum is better on defense than any of the young players mentioned, and besides Booker (with the Phoenix Suns last season), the others haven’t been to the NBA Finals as of yet. It’s understood basketball is a team sport, but at the same time, there is more put on individual accolades than ever. So if we’re going to play that game, Tatum has the others beat in this regard.

While this is a society that judges people on the latest happenings, it’s important to consider the entire body of work. Could Tatum have played better in the finals? Of course. Could he have been more aggressive looking for his own offense at times? Absolutely, but to say Tatum is a disappointment is a bit harsh. All of the credit should go to Golden State’s defense for the struggles, but the willingness to take on double-teams and be a willing passer should not be overlooked when it comes overall growth. It can be easy to forget, but Tatum is only 24 years of age, and the Celtics have a young team around him that points to being competitive for years to come. Based off of the apparent rise during this year’s playoff run, Tatum has arrived, because only stars get the treatment in the public where they can shine, then fall flat before sustainability kicks in.

Cutting through the created clutter of the NBA’s MVP discussion

In the wide world of sports, there hasn’t been too many topics generating more buzz than who this season’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the NBA should be. The discussion is everywhere, and it’s the type of conversation all of the fake-debate shows dream about. As usual, there is a lot of disagreement in terms of who should win the award, but there is agreement on the three contenders, who are all bigs. The three players (in no particular order) are Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid and Milwaukee Bucks swingman Giannis Antetokounmpo. On the surface, deciding a winner should seem more cut-and-dry, but it never is, and it’s because the voters make up their own criteria in picking first place. Opinions are what make us unique, but they can also create unnecessary complications, which leads me to this conclusion. No one (including myself) knows what the MVP, in any sport, represents, but I believe I can tell you what the award isn’t.

It’s not a lifetime-achievement award. From reading articles and hearing viewpoints on television and radio shows, it appears some of the voters want to give the award to the best player in the league. That sounds good, but what if said best player is on a team that struggled to make the playoffs? There’s no denying what a person has done in his or her career, but that shouldn’t have any bearing on what happened for a particular year. If lifetime accomplishments is what the MVP is measured on, then there wouldn’t be a need to have this award given annually. For an example, let’s look at the 2017 season. At that time, most people would have said LeBron James, then a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers, was the best player in the world, but Russell Westbrook, who was with the Oklahoma City Thunder, won the MVP. There aren’t many who think Westbrook is a better player than James overall, but that didn’t stop voters from giving the award to him (it’s funny these two are teammates on a dysfunctional Los Angeles Lakers squad that’s at home with us). In other words, best player is different from most valuable.

The MVP is also not a who has the best stats award. Since the glamour stat is scoring in the eyes of many, that would mean Embiid is the winner, since he won that title during the regular season. Even with that feather in the cap, the 76ers finished fourth in a rugged Eastern Conference, which is a spot behind Antetokounmpo and the Bucks in the standings. It’s one thing to see stats, and it’s another to see how it happened in game action. This is important because Jokic and the Nuggets, a team that plays in the Western Conference (and finished sixth and those standings), might not get as many eyes on him simply because of where he resides. There are a lot of players who put up empty stats that don’t lead to team success. I’m not trying to call the stats these three great players empty at all. I’m just saying while numbers never lie, they don’t always tell the whole truth.

Finally, the MVP is not a playoff-projection award. Ideally, it would be better if the postseason was included in the voting, but with the system we currently have, the playoffs have nothing to do with anything. Therefore, how people and voters think a player’s team is going to do during money time is completely irrelevant. With Denver facing the Golden State Warriors in the first round, not too many people like the Nuggets’ chances of advancing. Philly has a scrappy Toronto Raptors squad to deal with, and while Milwaukee should be able to get by the Chicago Bulls, nothing is a guarantee. The overall point is there’s a possibility the Nuggets, 76ers and Bucks can go home early. Are we going to say Jokic, Embiid or Antetokounmpo are all of the sudden not worthy of MVP consideration if their respective teams fall short of supposed expectations? Of course, there are some voters who will say that, and ultimately regret choosing the way they did. If and when they have this viewpoint, one can wonder where the meter of understanding lies with these individuals.

Ultimately, the MVP is a regular season award. What standards are used to choose the winner is up to the person with a vote, but there’s no denying that fact. Nothing else matters, and if people want to include the playoffs in the voting, then change the rule, so voting doesn’t start until the NBA Finals conclude. Until that happens, all of the clutter created by voters, and the stats, should cease. Pick the winner for this particular season (not an accumulation of seasons), the person who is most valuable to their team winning games, given the situations they’re in. This includes availability for the team, and the potential lack of availability with other key players on their squads. The three players on the ballot are all deserving, considering this is (again) a regular season award. Let’s keep it there, and I’m confident most of the complications will go away.

The NBA title asterisk argument, and why it doesn’t make any sense

Here we are, in the middle of the 2021 NBA Finals, coming close to crowning a new champion. As it stands right now, the Milwaukee Bucks have a 3-2 series lead over the Phoenix Suns, with Game 6 scheduled for Tuesday night in Milwaukee. Both of these teams have been through a lot in their journey to the championship series, and whoever wins deserve the time to be celebrated. It’s been said nobody can ever take a title away from a team who wins it. Unfortunately, there are many who will try to take it away, or at the very least, attempt to lessen the legitimacy of the triumph. Regardless of who wins, either the Bucks or Suns will have to hear how (among other things) teams they faced along the way were not at full strength, which is basically saying their paths were made significantly easier. The 72-game regular season is also something that will be thrown in to dump dirt on the potential victory. All of this equals the mastery of the halfway acknowledgement, where you have people admitting the championship run happened, but with an asterisk. Words like phony and cheap are constantly thrown around to explain a team’s quest when it’s perceived they did not exactly “earn” it. Come with me as we look at other title runs that commonly have an asterisk by it, and then talk about why these cases against the winners equate to glorified excuse making.

1999 San Antonio Spurs – Going into this particular season, there was serious doubt a season would even take place. The NBA and the Players Association were in the middle of a lockout, and a deal wasn’t reached until January of that year. As a result, the season was shortened to 50 games, and the All-Star Game was cancelled. With the campaign compacted, it was the Spurs, lead by future hall-of-famers Tim Duncan and David Robinson, who would emerge as the team to unseat the Chicago Bulls as the new heirs to the throne. Of course, the Bulls looked totally different from previous years, as Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman all left the team, and the Los Angeles Lakers, with young superstars Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, weren’t quite ready to ascend to the throne just yet. To top it off, the Spurs defeated an eighth-seeded New York Knicks team to win the franchise’s first trophy. Bottom line is whoever won the title in this campaign was going to get grief simply because it wasn’t the normal 82-game format. It just happened to be the Spurs. Being a teenager who was growing up in San Antonio at that time, I can say first hand the fans down there didn’t care about the way victory was claimed by their team.

2012 Miami Heat – Like the ’99 season, the 2011-12 was also shortened by a work stoppage. The difference is the powers that be were able to salvage a 66-game season instead of 50, with the games starting Christmas Day. The Heat, with the “Big 3” of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, were coming off of a crushing loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 Finals. With everything on the line, they were able to come through and get the elusive title James sought after in coming down to Florida from the Cleveland Cavaliers in the summer of 2010. Having said that, the championship didn’t come without its doubts. Besides the season being 66 games, people wonder to this day whether or not the Heat even get to the Finals if the Bulls, who had the best record in the Eastern Conference that year, didn’t lose point guard Derrick Rose to a injured knee in the first round of the playoffs. In the conference finals, Miami needed all seven teams to get by a Boston Celtics team that had Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen all on the downsides of their respective careers. With the team the Heat had, it was not a huge surprise seeing them win, but for the haters out there, these are the excuses they put in front to justify the asterisk.

2015 Golden State Warriors – Unlike the first two case studies, the Warriors actually played a full 82-game season. They also had the league’s best record at 67-15 and the Most Valuable Player in guard Stephen Curry. On the surface, this is the team that should have won it all with all things considered, but the argument comes against them because of their opponent in the NBA Finals, the Cavaliers. It was the first year in James’ return to Cleveland after being in Miami for the last four seasons, and he had another version of the Big 3 in the form of himself, guard Kyrie Irving and forward Kevin Love. On the way through the East, Love suffered an injured shoulder and was lost for the rest of the season, and Irving hurt his knee in Game 1 of the Finals. Now here come the questions. What would the result have been if Cleveland was healthy (One can ask the same question in reverse when it comes to the Cavs’ title win the year after)? It’s always tough because injuries are part of sports, and we never know when, where or who they can happen to. It’s probably fair to say it’s often not the best team who rises to the top, but the healthiest. For LeBron (and the few remaining Cavs) fans everywhere, health will always be a question, but isn’t that the case for many teams in the history of sports?

2019 Toronto Raptors – In a time where we are always looking a story to captivate us, this version of the Raptors was one a person can get behind with ease. Forward Kawhi Leonard was traded to Toronto from the Spurs before the year started, and with that move, the whole country of Canada was being carried on Leonard’s back. The end saw the Raptors winning the title, defeating the Warriors, who were trying to become the first team since the Lakers in the early 2000s to win three straight league championships, 4-2. With this run, there are two glaring points some fans and media will point out to take away from Toronto’s accomplishment. One, James left the Eastern Conference to sign with the Lakers, and teams that had him playing for them had made the Finals eight straight times. Two, the Warriors saw Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson go down to catastrophic injuries. Yes, Golden State was favored to win it all going into the season, but to say they would have won just off of projections ignore the original reason why games are played. It just goes to show why there is an element of luck, good or bad, that goes with the skill, and for the people in the city of Toronto, I struggle to see any evidence of care about how the Raptors brought a title back to not just that metropolitan area, but the country as a whole.

2020 Lakers – I probably don’t have to explain why this case is questioned, but for research purposes, here it goes. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the season, and sports in general, stopped as we know it, and there were questions about the season being canceled altogether. From March 11 to July 30, the season was in limbo, but it did return to resume playing in Orlando, where teams met to play in the NBA bubble. Needless to say, the circumstances the players were facing were unlike any they have faced before. So with that being said, mental and emotional toughness was going to be key for the team that could rise to the top. It ended up being the Lakers, but people would be quick to point out how the “break” really helped James and newly-acquired forward Anthony Davis by helping their bodies recover from the grind of the regular season. Davis has a detailed injury history, and James, as great as he is, was showing signs of the wear and tear of a long career that has seen countless runs to the Finals in previous years. In other words, critics say L.A. would not have won the title if it wasn’t for the pause in action.

So there are five cases detailing why some fans and media want to put an asterisk on these title runs, but to be honest, the people who have these opinions sound dumb and jealous. If their favorite team, or in the case of the media, their pick to win, came through for them, they are not complaining or talking about the perceived pitfalls they want to throw on the winners. They would put a more positive spin on it, saying how their team was tenacious and showed the heart and grit necessary to complete such a task. Also, it’s quickly forgotten all of the other squads had the same circumstances to deal with. It’s not like there was a different set of rules put together for the team that hoisted the Larry O’Brien trophy. To sum it up, the asterisk argument holds no water with these scenarios, and it won’t when the Bucks or Suns get their moment to shine sometime this week. That does not mean people won’t try to fill the broken cup with BS. We’re just left to decide if we want to take the cup, and that decision should be easy if things are looked at by principle instead of who is involved.

Lots of questions await the Heat after abrupt end to season

In the world of sports, there is one thing we can be sure of, no matter what the situation is. We know only one team (or individual, depending on the sport) is going to end their season or competition with a victory, and that’s the champion. Everyone else is going to end with a loss, and with that comes questions regarding what direction to go in for the future. As of this past Saturday, the Miami Heat get an early start to address these questions after getting swept out of the NBA playoffs by a cold front known as the Milwaukee Bucks. We all know the last year and a half has been unlike anything most of us have ever dealt with, but it’s still jarring to see a team who was in the NBA Finals a few months ago get eliminated in the first round without much of a fight. Let’s dive into a few of these circumstances as to why we are at this point with the Heat, and explore where they might go from this point forward.

As I mentioned in the first paragraph, Miami was in the finals literally a few months ago. The Heat, along with the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers, ended the season on October 11. Normally, and NBA season would end around mid-June, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the season was halted March 11, 2020, and didn’t restart until late-July. It’s an understatement to say the pandemic presented daunting and unique challenges for everyone, and the NBA was no different. Through it all, a bubble in Orlando was created to resume the season and keep the players safe, and some teams handled it better than others (to put it bluntly). The Heat were obviously one of the teams who handled it well, to the point where some (myself included), wondered if they would make this run if it was a normal season. Miami was the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference going into last season’s playoffs, and while they had a good team, I would be hard-pressed to find many who felt they would be the team to represent the East in the finals. Be as it may, the Heat became the conference champs, and had to be back on the court in short order, as this current season began before Christmas. Simply put, the offseason really wasn’t much of one for the squad, but how much of a factor that was in seeing Miami fall far short of last season’s results is anyone’s guess.

One of the biggest reasons why the Heat ascended to the NBA Finals last season was the play and leadership of forward Jimmy Butler. In my estimation, I always thought of Butler as a very good player overall, but just short of elite because I never looked at him as a man who could elevate a team to championship-level status. In the bubble, one could make an argument Butler was the best player in the league during that period of time, averaging 21.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game. He, along with head coach Erik Spoelstra, was a calming influence for a team with a lot of young players, such as Bam Adebayo, Duncan Robinson and Tyler Herro. With this core primarily intact coming into this season, there were some who thought the Heat could duplicate what happened in the bubble, while others were wondering if it was just the team being the equivalent of an overnight success story. I was in the camp of those thinking it was a flash in a pan, but I have been wrong before, so I had to wait and see along with everyone else.

In the midst of a shortened 72-game season (a normal NBA season is 82 games), the campaign was going a lot like it was for Miami last season before the stoppage of play. The talent was in place, and it was taking a while to mold it together, but it was starting to take shape. By the time the playoffs started, the vision was the Heat would be ready to roll. Add the addition of Victor Oladipo, who was acquired in a trade with the Houston Rockets before the deadline, and Miami was sure to have a team no one would want to see come playoff time. We would come to find out none of the hopes and dreams of the team would play out to a positive outcome. Oladipo would miss the rest of the season with a quadriceps injury, which also sidelined him in 2019 as a member of the Indiana Pacers, and the rest of the Heat ran into a motivated Bucks team they knocked out of the conference semifinals last season. The magic and energy they were able to capture in the bubble wasn’t there to be found, but it wasn’t as much about the lack of magic as it was about Milwaukee being much better than Miami was. With the exception of Game 1, won by the Bucks by two in overtime, the series was every bit the sweep the scoreboard shows, with Milwaukee winning games 2, 3 and 4 by a combined 80 points. To say the least, this was an embarrassing and humbling way for the Heat to go out after such promise, but I don’t know if even the best teams would have had much of a chance if the Bucks are going to play like that.

So here we are, with Miami left to answer a lot of questions about their present and future. While I’m not in the Heat front office (or anyone significant…haha). I can give my input for answers as much as I can looking from the outside. Was Miami just a bubble sensation? It looks that way, but that doesn’t mean credit should be taken away from their run to the Finals last season, especially since the rest of the teams were dealing with the same environment. Is Butler an elite player? I would say he has moments where he can achieve that status, but not consistently enough to where I put him in that class. If the answer to the last question is indeed no, then who can the Heat get to pair up with Butler? Most of the teams who are championship contenders have two star players, if not three, on their roster. It remains to be seen if Adebayo is that second star. After getting a max extension in November, it’s hard to say much progress has been made. Can Oladipo recover from his injury troubles? That’s a wait and see answer also. I say all of this to point out Miami has to mainly work with what they have, because there isn’t much they can do with their current situation. In other words, the bubble could be the ceiling for the Heat, and I don’t think that’s a hot take considering how much the East is improving around them.

Criticism of Greek Freak shows what’s wrong in today’s sports media

One thing I can’t stand about society these days is whenever something goes wrong, the instinct is to find something, or someone, to blame for the reason why it happened. The world of sports isn’t any different. As a matter of fact, players get their feet put to the fire, especially if the team they play for went through a monumental collapse at the moment of truth. We know the drill by now. If a team loses, blame automatically (in most cases) goes to the star player, and this is the reality that faces Milwaukee Bucks power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo in the wake of what happened in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Even though the majority of the time is spent piling on the negative, I prefer to look at the positive and give credit to where it’s deserved. The Toronto Raptors were great in coming back from a 2-0 series deficit to win four straight and earn a trip to the NBA Finals, where they have a chance to dethrone the Golden State Warriors. The Raptors’ defense, particularly forward Kawhi Leonard, did a great job of forcing Antetokounmpo into jump shots, and making other players, such as guards Khris Middleton and Eric Bledsoe, into doing things they’re not as comfortable doing. Toronto’s bench, which was a strength during the regular season, had disappeared at times during the playoffs. In the conference finals against the Bucks, those contributions came back to life. If you ask me, this series was more about what the Raptors did right than what Milwaukee did wrong.

Having said all of that, I would be cheating if I didn’t look at both sides of the equation. Toronto was great, but there were times where it looked like the moment was too big for the Bucks. Antetokounmpo actually airballed free throws, and the crowd at Scotiabank Arena wasn’t afraid to let him hear about it. Yes, the Greek Freak wasn’t nearly as dominant against the Raptors as he has been all season and in the first two rounds against the Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics. That much may be true, but to say he was practically a no-show in the latter part of the series is, for the lack of a better word, a lie. Looking at his numbers in the games, they were still decent. In Game 3 (for example), Antetokounmpo had 12 points on 5-16 shooting, but he also had 23 rebounds and seven assists. I bring this game up because the shooting percentage could have definitely been enough for most players to let the rest of their performance slip, but that wasn’t the case with the Greek Freak.

If anyone watched the coverage following Milwaukee’s dismissal, they would have thought Antetokounmpo didn’t do anything in the series at all. I even heard people (mostly from Houston) try to compare these performances to past playoff failures seen from Houston Rockets guard James Harden. I’m here to say those games aren’t even close to being the same. Antetokounmpo didn’t go 2-of-11 shooting with six turnovers in an elimination game, like Harden did in Game 6 of the 2017 Western Conference semifinals against the San Antonio Spurs (a game the Rockets lost 114-75). The Greek Freak also didn’t have a game like Harden did in Game 5, another elimination game, of the 2015 West finals against the Warriors, where almost had as many turnovers (12) as points (14). All I’m saying is if we’re going to make comparsions, let’s at least be in the same ballpark, and putting Antetokounmpo’s performances side-by-side with Harden’s is nowhere near the same.

I think we can all agree the Greek Freak is an awesome player who can still get better. He’s only 24 years old, and the potential he can reach is downright scary. What the Raptors did was exploit one of the few weaknesses in his game but taking away the easy paint baskets, and that’s the lack of a consistent jump shot. It’s not that Antetokounmpo can’t hit from the outside, it’s just not to the point where teams are going to say they need to get out there before he releases. Just imagine if the Greek Freak does get a consistent mid-range jumper (doesn’t even have to be a three-pointer). If that happens, he becomes almost unguardable, and that might be something the rest of the league is not ready for.

For now, Antetokounmpo is more than pretty good. Keep in mind this is his first time getting this far in the playoffs, Before this season, he hasn’t made it out of the first round. While I don’t think anyone is above criticism, to crush him on his performance is over the top in my eyes. The Greek Freak wasn’t destroying things on the court, but I don’t think he vanished either, and for all of the hot take artists out there, it’s time to be realistic instead of trying to cause click bait. By the way, he’s probably going to win the NBA’s Most Valuable Players award later this month, so I think he’s doing okay.