Does Giannis Need More Help for a Deeper Playoff Run?
“Does Giannis need more help for a deeper playoff run?”
The constant question that has been surrounding the Milwaukee Bucks organization since they lost to the Miami Heat in the second round of the playoffs last season was whether or not they had enough talent to surround two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo with.
Well, over the offseason, the Bucks decided to go all in and acquire Jrue Holiday, as it cost them four first-round picks and Eric Bledsoe.
The Bucks haven’t stopped upgrading their roster from there, as they went out and acquired defensive specialist P.J. Tucker at the trade deadline, signed Bobby Portis and Bryn Forbes over the offseason, and have gotten tremendous contributions out of Donte DiVincenzo, who is still only 24 years old.
Put all of that together, and the Bucks in the present day are currently leading the Heat 2-0 in this year’s playoffs, including a 132-98 blowout victory on Monday night.
The focus has been on the Brooklyn Nets and their new “Big Three,” but the Bucks have very quietly added a ton of depth to cover for Antetokounmpo’s few but glaring weaknesses, with three-point shooting being the main one.
The other big Bucks
Khris Middleton is going to continue to be a maestro in the mid-range. Any time he gets a smaller defender switched onto him, it’s a foregone conclusion that he’s going to post them up and beat them with his fadeaway jumper.
Middleton can also beat you from three, as he averages over 40 percent shooting on those looks.
Having Brook Lopez as their center as someone who can stretch the floor with his shooting does wonders to open up the Bucks’ offense, as that opens up the paint for Antetokounmpo to drive downhill and throw down some nasty slams.
Having said all of this, Giannis has more than enough to make a deep playoff run with Milwaukee this season. However, a matchup with the Nets will almost certainly take place in the next round, which will pose some problems.
The Bucks are probably going to throw Tucker, Middleton, and Antetokounmpo out there to try and stop Kevin Durant, but Durant is always so calm and collected with the ball in his hands, so there’s no stopping him.
Holiday matches up well with Kyrie Irving, however, as he’ll be all up in his grill all series long and take away what would be easy driving lanes, shot attempts, or post-up opportunities for the multi-faceted scorer.
James Harden will be tasked with trying to dictate the flow of the Nets’ offense, so the Bucks will just have to get shooters off the line and protect the rim from denying any easy opportunities.
All of this said, the Bucks, in their own right, have more than enough to make a deep playoff run this season, but they likely don’t have enough to beat the Nets this year shall they get past Miami.
The Milwaukee Bucks organization should send him more reinforcements in the off-season. Because if not, they might see their franchise player move on to a bigger city with the clear intention of winning an NBA championship as soon as possible.
Milwaukee is currently favored with a -1 spread against Miami in Game 3 of this series, but being home might rejuvenate the Heat. You never know. The over/under is 227.5.
