Miami may be favored in Round 2 by Vegas.
This team will not advance if Middleton does not step up his game
2 points. 2 goddamn points! How is that even possible?
And Orlando getting 15 more FT attempts is complete bullshit as well
Middleton was playing some fantastic basketball this year before the shutdown. He really was an excellent complement to Giannis, but the version of Middleton we're seeing right now is just not the same guy.
Let's just hope in the next 3 games he can get the ship righted, otherwise it's pretty obvious this team doesn't have enough other great scorers to overcome Middleton consistently playing as poorly as he's played lately.
Some of the things that led to the Bucks playing at a historically high level this year were the fantastic play by Middleton and Hill, plus Divincenzo providing a nice scoring punch off the bench. Since moving to the bubble, of those 3 guys only Hill has even come close to matching what he had been earlier this year and even he has taken a half step down from what he had been doing pre-bubble. Divincenzo sort of took a step in the right direction tonight, but he still looks a little shaky and not as reliable as he was before the bubble.
Somehow, someway, they have to get Middleton back to what he had been or at best they win this series vs. the Magic and go down meekly in round 2. And if Middleton keeps playing this bad, even this 1st round series won't be as easy as we all thought. Thank God Connaughton hit a hot streak tonight to make up for Middleton's awfulness.
It was also good to see Lopez bounce back. When he’s hitting 3s consistently this team is really tough to beat.
Still, for them to reach the highest level this year (Finals) you cannot have a borderline All Star in Middleton playing the way he has been since coming back from the lay-off. They need him to score 20PPG and hit his outside shots. If not, teams are just going to continue to pack the paint and rough up Giannis.
While it's a concern that Middleton isn't hitting shots, you'd expect him to eventually start knocking them down at a decent clip again. He's not going to shoot 25% for an extended time. He may not shoot 50/40/90 in the playoffs, but you have to think he'll eventually be a 45/35/80 guy against even good defense. He's been too good a shooter for too long.
As for this narrative that's always shrunk in the playoffs, that's just wrong. In the two series against the Celtics the in 2018 and 2019 he shot 42 for 77 from the 3 point line. He kept the Bucks in that series in 2018 and helped push it to 7 games as much as Giannis did (maybe more). They needed more from him against the Raptors but he was 4 for 8 from 3 in Game 6 last year. He wasn't Harrison Barnes for the Warriors against the Cavs level bad at all.
The real issue is the turnovers and looking like he's playing scared. He's never been a great ballhandler and is more a guy you should run off screens and allow to catch and shoot. However, the turnovers yesterday looked like he was just not mentally ready for things. There were a couple of times yesterday where his turnovers looked like the type you see when a JV player comes up to play varsity for the first time and is just overcome with the jitters. It's one thing to get picked clean on a dribble. It's not good, but it happens. The best example yesterday was in the fourth quarter where he and Giannis did a pick and roll and Middleton drove the FT line while Giannis rolled to the rim. Middleton tried to throw a lob to Giannis and the defender fronting Giannis didn't even have to jump to make the steal. The pass should have been at least 3-4 higher and it just looked like he was Chuck Knoblauch or Jon Lester getting the yips when throwing to first base. That's a much bigger concern.
@fightphoe93 posted:
Divincenzo sort of took a step in the right direction tonight, but he still looks a little shaky and not as reliable as he was before the bubble.
Was going to point this out too- early was still awful, but he started playing better in the second half. Crossing my fingers he’s broke through, and Middleton is right behind.
@Music City posted:Was going to point this out too- early was still awful, but he started playing better in the second half. Crossing my fingers he’s broke through, and Middleton is right behind.
It seems like DDV and Middleotn are playing more like they are trying not to lose than playing to win.