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What impresses you most about Milwaukee’s 8-1 postseason record?
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Steve Aschburner: The Bucks’ depth. Everyone knows who Giannis Antetokounmpo is. But not everyone notices how frequently this team adds to its leads when Antetokounmpo is on the bench, at least in these playoffs. During the regular season, Milwaukee was 9.7 points better, per 100 possessions, when “The Greek Freak” was on the floor. During this postseason? The Bucks are 10.3 points better when Antetokounmpo sits down. Now, those playoff on/off numbers are 11.4 vs. 21.7, so it’s hard to go wrong either way. Small sample size, but it indicates how well the reserves are playing, how much coach Mike Budenholzer and GM Jon Horst have cultivated this bench and how effectively these guys play in whatever combination they need.
John Schuhmann: Giannis Antetokounmpo can’t not be the most impressive thing about the Bucks, but the most noteworthy aspect of Milwaukee’s postseason thus far is the play of their bench. While other teams have been forced to shorten their rotations because some reserves have been disappointing (or downright unplayable) in the playoffs, the Bucks have had some reserves play better than they did in the regular season. George Hill’s regular season’s contributions were rather minimal, but he was huge in the conference semis, averaging 15.5 points on 62 percent shooting over the Bucks’ four wins. Pat Connaughton, meanwhile, has given them some important rebounding and floor spacing. And the Bucks have outscored their opponents by more than 21 points per 100 possessions with Hill and Connaughton on the floor together. Now, they’ve added more depth with the return of Malcolm Brogdon,.
Sekou Smith: The most impressive thing about the Bucks’ 8-1 postseason run is that, save for Game 1 against the Boston Celtics, they treated each and every other game the same way. They didn’t show the Celtics any more respect than they did the Detroit Pistons in that first round sweep. That’s the mark of a champion, a team willing to disregard the opposition completely in its quest to win 16 games and bring home a Larry O’Brien Trophy. Like most everyone else, I needed to see if what the Bucks did during the regular season would translate to the postseason. And the overmatched Pistons couldn’t provide the evidence needed in the first round. Punishing the Celtics the way they did, though, speaks to me in a completely different manner.
