5 Reasons Why The Bucks Could Take The Season
You are an online casinos live dealer. You are shuffling your pack, dealing your cards and for one player you offer up the best combination of pips and colors to win the hand. This image of the poker table and the dealer is the perfect metaphor for who will win the NBA Championship. Which of the teams will be dealt the right conditions, player fitness, and talent, and luck to end the season on a high? Here, we explore the five reasons why this will be the Bucks’ season. You might think that the answer would be Giannis, Giannis, Giannis, Giannis, and Giannis – but we will try to be more considered than assuming a franchise can take the NBA title with just one star player – even if they are an MVP candidate.
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A formidable defensive force
So, you are right. The Milwaukee Bucks will not win the NBA title because they happen to have signed a back-to-back season MVP. Giannis Antetkounmpo is part of a formidable team roster that makes this franchise the one with the greatest strength and depth. Indeed, it is the defensive ability of this team specifically that will make them the leading contenders. Antetokounmpo leads this force thanks to his versatility, but he is ably supported by Brook Lopez, Rudy Gobert, and Joel Embiid. It is Lopez that defends the rim so furiously and forces the offensive talent of the opposition to go over, around him, or through him.
The Bucks have tightened this area up further with the addition of Robin Lopez, the brother of Brook. He offers a stout defense from the bench. Then, Marvin Williams and Ilyasova would make the opening team for most outfits.
2. Improved record of three-pointers
If you were ever going to doubt the Bucks it is because of their ups and downs in the offensive third. No team is going to take the title without a solid taker of three-point shots. No one really believed that a solid and unbreakable defense was going to be enough. Step up B. Lopez once more, who has been transitioning to become a solid three-point threat with no less than a 34.5 average per game. That is until this year when he has dropped below 30% for the first time. We suspect that the enforced break and the chance to reignite his season will push Lopez back to a high with his scoring. His brother has also taken on the role, taking 94 3-point shots so far this season. This has to continue into the postseason when the adrenaline really starts to flow.
3. Quality from the bench
So, the opening line-up has star quality. However, without depth and strength for all positions coming from the bench, you are not going anywhere. Budenholzer has so many quality options from the bench that he could easily opt for a five-man big rotation. However, it is more likely that his rotation will focus on who is making the shots and turning over the points on the scoreboard.
Whoever the coach calls from the bench is going to be dripping in quality and experience. Budenholzer has evolved a team of talented veterans who know how to perform under pressure. If teams go big against them, the Bucks can match-up. If the likes of Boston go small, then they could match this too and beat them at their own game.
4. Confidence in the identity of the team
When you enter a scenario such as Orlando, no amount of talent and strategy can account for the strangeness of conditions. A 22-team, neutral-site bubble in the midst of a global pandemic can be something of an equalizer. However, what might help in this scenario is a sense of team identity. This is clear in the Bucks’ set up. They know and trust the approach that has led them to such success recently. While this is undoubtedly built around the talent of Giannis, the team continues to trust that this will work out in the final score.
While Boston is a much more tactically sound team, the Bucks have a connectedness between the offense and defense that makes them a challenge to play. It is easier to maintain this sense of connection than it is to rely on tactical intelligence.
5. They have a trick or two
But, you say, this sense of identity makes the Bucks completely predictable. Teams have proven that you can completely destroy the Bucks system with some intelligent counter-play. Rather than get into an argument about the Bucks dictating the way the game is played, let’s instead consider their ability to unveil some tricks that can scupper the best-laid plans of those clever analysts behind the scenes.
Sure, the Bucks are a systems team and it is true that if this is all they were then they shouldn’t win the title. Rigidity and weak imagination do not make for a Championship favorite. However, with the ability to pull off a surprise every now and again will lead the opponents to consider if they shouldn’t just play their game rather than countering the system of the Bucks. Also, in a setting like Orlando, the system might end up being a strength anyway, as muscle memory will allow the star players to counter the strange conditions.
