The Second Half

There are several reasons for optimism as they gear up for the post-season, but the biggest one is Holiday, for many of the reasons you outline above. The other thing about him is that he has a history of showing up in the playoffs. Back when he was 20 and 21 years old he played very well for the Sixers in the playoffs. They took the Pierce-Garnett-Ray Allen Celtics to game 7 in the second round. Holiday averaged 14/5/5 on 41%/41%/100% shooting as a 21-year-old. More impressively, Ray Allen went 9 for 34 from the 3 point line in that series. Guess who was guarding him?

The most recent chance Holiday had in a playoff series was in 2018. He completely owned D. Lillard in a 4 game Pelican sweep. Lillard shot 35% from the field and 30% from 3 in that series and had 19 assists vs. 16 turnovers. In other words, he turned Lillard into playoff Eric Bledsoe. Holiday averaged 28/4/7 on 57% shooting from the floor. Holiday slammed the door shut in Game 4 with 41 points and 8 assists.

Holiday is so much better than I thought he was.  He's not going to turn into a whimpering mess in the playoffs like Bledsoe did.

Giannis, Middleton, and Holiday are probably the second-best top 3 in the league behind the Nets guys. And the Bucks top 3 are the best defensive top 3 in the league.

You know what you'll get with Lopez and Portis, too. The Bucks post-season success is likely going to come down to what DDV and their wing players off the bench can give them. Can they hit the open 3s they are going to get and hold up enough on defense? Will Diakite be an option?

I agree on Holiday.  He has come as advertised.  He is much more in control and confident than Bledsoe.  You could see the fear in Bledsoe's eyes when the games counted.  He also had pretty much one speed which was effective during the regular season but not in the playoffs where things slow down.  Holiday is clutch.  I love the way he can slow things down and still get what he wants in the paint.  He is amazing with both hands.  Bledsoe is a terrific defender but Holiday is bigger and better.  Lastly, he works perfectly into the Bucks low key, high character, family culture.  I loved when the players were talking about how he lightens up the team and keeps them loose....how much they missed his leadership when he was out with Covid.  He's the anti-Bledsoe in that regard.  We still may be a 3 and D player away and Lopez is an albatross against some line ups.  I love DDV but we need more consistency out of him on offense.  I am excited to see what shakes out in the second half.  This year as unpredictable as they come.