Monday Morning Media Roundup: June 14th, 2021

Depending on your euphemism of choice, either the Bucks have all the momentum in the world, or the series hasn’t even started yet since no home team has won. Practically speaking, the Bucks do look to be seriously in the driver’s seat after evening their series against the Nets at 2-2. What a rollercoaster of a week that was, hey?

We’re still a very very long way away from sealing this one up. Even with Kyrie Irving’s ankle busted and James Harden’s hamstring troubles, Kevin Durant is a force unto himself, and the guys around him haven’t played like total slouches either. What is on the line are two outcomes: One, we win the series and get labeled as undeserving having beaten a hobbled team or, Two, we lose and the whole world takes that “kick me” sign we duct taped onto the Heat and superglue it to our own backs. A trip to the Finals is so far down the road that it isn’t even really something worth worry about right now. It’s all about taking two out of the next three games.

As soon as Irving went down in a heap, you could feel the sentiment surrounding the series shift almost immediately. The Bucks are favorites for no other reason than because fate intervened in their favor, the “haters” will say. And they’ll be right! And we won’t care. That’s the thing that will matter most to me: not that there will be an asterisk, but that any attempt to qualify our success with an asterisk will only make us more powerful and more obnoxious.

So beware, rest of the league. We don’t have asterisks around here, and we’re not interested in any you’d give us.

Let’s roundup!

Milwaukee cannot afford to waste opportunity created by injuries to James Harden, Kyrie Irving (CBS Sports)

I can’t really fathom the alternative if they do waste this opportunity, so yeah, don’t do that Bucks. Please, anything but that.

Giannis Antetokounmpo needs to stop shooting threes (SB Nation)

An extremely good piece that not only beseeches our Greek wrecking ball to quit the three point attempts in lieu or literally anything else, but also illuminates ways in which the Bucks (mostly stagnant) offense could be brought back to life in the near future. Things improved massively in a relative sense in game four. There’s still plenty of room to grow, though, for one of the league’s top regular season offenses.

The Bucks have a chance to save a franchise from itself (Yahoo)

Again, everything is in the players’ and coaching staff’s hands. They’ve been given a golden opportunity to go out and, for once in goodness knows how long, take direct control of their fate. Mockery is the only other option, and that path is a dark one.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion Finalist: Jrue Holiday (NBA.com)

As has been chronicled here and elsewhere plenty of times since Jrue Holiday arrived in Milwaukee, he’s a good guy who has the wellbeing of the communities he’s called home at heart.

Fanpost of the Week

Always a really exciting MMMR when we have a first-time winner, and unless my mind is broken, iokouvo94‘s “Bud intentions” is their first time in this exalted slot. While we may never fully understand Budenholzer’s intentions, we can know iokouvo94’s intentions: To not clutter game threads with massive comments that better serve as Fanposts!

Know Your Enemy

• Brooklyn Nets - Nets Daily - Kyrie Irving suffers right ankle sprain as Bucks knot up series at 2-2, 107-96

We know the score and so do Nets fans. Things are on a knife’s edge right now for both sides.

The Social Media Section

God forbid athletes be allowed to used their physicality in competition

What if passing, but we just didn’t do it anymore

I’ll never let BodyguardGate die

You can never out mock us. We are our own worst enemies.

It was a tough week over on the site Twitter, especially after game two

This was our Finals

Three games left, two in Brooklyn, one in Milwaukee (with that fateful chance to close things in six games at home in play). Game five takes place tomorrow in Brooklyn, the series will come back to Milwaukee on Thursday, and then, if necessary, game seven will be on Saturday. With luck, we won’t have any more early afternoon tip times in our future, and with extra luck, we’ll be happy campers on this column next week.

Happy Monday!