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The Milwaukee Bucks capped off a resilient season by winning the NBA championship. Mike Budenholzer and the Milwaukee Bucks won in their first NBA Finals appearance since 1974 and won their second NBA championship. The other championship occurred in 1971 when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was still Lew Alcindor. The Eastern Conference is loading up, and so are the relevant teams in the Western Conference. Giannis Antetokounmpo, the reigning NBA Finals MVP, looks like the fire to win still burns, and as the season is almost here, he will be the catalyst in the Milwaukee Bucks' quest to repeat as NBA champion. Here's why that could be the case.
The Milwaukee Bucks won their first NBA title in 50 years
Giannis Antetokounmpo had one of the best postseasons in NBA history, and willed the Milwaukee Bucks to the 2020-21 NBA championship. Averaging 35 points per game, 13 boards, five dimes, almost two blocks and a great defense otherwise offset his 65% free throw shooting. Khris Middleton was superb as a second option, Jrue Holiday competed with Chris Paul on both ends, the bench provided the spark, and Mike Budenholzer made the right adjustments - especially moving Brook Lopez out further from the basket on defense. It should be noted that the Milwaukee Bucks winning as a small market team benefits NBA fans and the NBA itself.
How did the Central Division fare this offseason?
The Central Division has gotten decidedly better since the summer. Chicago, in particular, and Cleveland were active during free agency. The Bulls revamped their roster and added veteran stars DeMar DeRozan and Lonzo Ball. Cleveland drafted future star Evan Mobley with the third pick in the NBA Draft, signing Lauri Markkanen, and as the pairing of Collin Sexton and Darius Garland continues to develop, optimism in Cleveland is high. The Indiana Pacers, while making minimally impactful moves, did bring in Rick Carlisle as head coach and drafted Chris Duarte in the 13th out of Oregon, who should develop nicely in the backcourt on both ends. The Detroit Pistons were active as well in free agency, and drafted Cade Cunningham with the first overall pick in the NBA Draft. Isaiah Livers was picked up in the 2nd round in what could be a steal given his motor and competitiveness. The Milwaukee Bucks have their work cut out for them, yet can they repeat themselves as NBA champs? If so, what has to happen? Let's take a look at three things they need to do.
#3 Stay away from complacency
The Golden State Warriors were the last team to repeat as NBA champions and appeared in the NBA Finals each year from 2015-19. With Giannis Antetokoumpo playing every game with fire in his eyes, it will be difficult for the Milwaukee Bucks to not continue to have a sense of urgency to repeat themselves. Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton are not the players to allow the opposition to run over the Bucks, and if they falter in their leadership, Bobby Portis will keep the locker room hyped up and engaged.
Milwaukee went 16-12 vs. the Western Conference and 11-1 vs. the Central Division. The latter is excellent, and the former - while not bad - will probably improve this year as NBA championship confidence gets Milwaukee up for most games.
#2 Mike Budenholzer continues to change the narrative
The knock on Mike Budenholzer was that he was not proficient in making the necessary adjustments when they needed to be made. That changed in the NBA Finals. An example would be moving Brooke Lopez out further on defense instead of having the stretch 5 sag in the front court change defense for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Phoenix Suns weren't able to be as effective in the mid-range game. This effectively allowed Jrue Holiday to pick up Chris Paul early and offset his Game 1 excellence. With Donte DiVincenzo returning from injury, Budenholzer's rotation should be a lot more steady, yet for the Milwaukee Bucks to repeat, Mike Budenholzer must also be consistently steady in his adjustments.
#1 Continue to play excellent defense
Holding the opposition to 45% shooting from the field and 38% from the arc must be the trend that continues and perhaps even enhance those numbers as the Eastern Conference loads up. It will be difficult to finish as the Eastern Conference's number one seed. The Miami Heat, New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Hawks and yes, the Indiana Pacers are better, so the Milwaukee Bucks will be challenged. That's not considering the Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers -- who both are having in-house issues, yet are still talented enough to knock the Milwaukee Bucks off. Having a defensive team in a three-point heavy era is a major advantage that will pay off late in shot clocks, quarter clocks and in the closing seconds. The anchor will be the interior, yet with Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton defending the perimeter, Milwaukee's defense will win them games when the offense is sputtering.
As I write this, Giannis Antetokounmpo's scowl flashed in my head. I can't imagine how he and his mates will inspire themselves to finish as the Eastern Conference's top seed, yet, what is evident is that the Milwaukee Bucks will not go away easily in 2021-22
