Monday Morning Media Roundup: May 2nd, 2022

These fools. How many times do they have to watch the Bucks throw opposing offenses into the ditch before they learn their lesson?

Coming off yesterday’s decisive game one victory, my prevailing emotion was one, understandably, of simple joy. The team looked shaky to start the game as they are wont to do, but they stuck to their gameplay and principles before turning things in their favor. Once they captured the lead, it was simply a matter of keeping at the formula and stringing together two to three possessions of excellence on both ends to push the lead back out to double digits. That all this happened in the course of the first game of a series where we’ve been notoriously poor is a bewildering cherry on top.

As I sat on it, though, I went from a state of contentment to one of frustration, if not outright anger. How long are all these people who are paid to watch the wider league going to overlook this team? Heading into the series the first words on everybody’s lips were “Jayson Tatum”; fine, he had a statistically great first round against the bum-tastic Brooklyn Nets, but the second set of words out of everyone’s mouths should have been “the Bucks are the defending champs”. Instead, the only real analysis I heard from anyone I’m supposed to trust as a source of expertise on this sport was something along the lines of “wow, Tatum sure is special”. OK.

Did literally nobody make the connection from A to C when it comes to just how deadly the Bucks have been for years at throwing Hero Ball types into the dustbin of history? I mean my God, it’s like nobody has a clue that the whole point of how we play is to make Hero Ball-heavy teams redundant. Starting in Game Three of last round, the Bucks made the Chicago Bulls look like the freshman JV squad at your local area high school, blitzing them into oblivion; were we supposed to believe that was a fluke? Do tastemakers take everyone for idiots? Boston was going to be a different beast altogether because... they overcame a plainly ridiculous basketball team throwing Seth Curry of all people on Tatum as a defender? Please. Even I’m not stupid enough to fall for that line, but apparently I’m part of the select few who didn’t.

Maybe this is as good as it gets for Milwaukee this series. I highly doubt that, but the Celtics didn’t win all those games for nothing; we should fully expect some adjustments and they certainly won’t be going away quietly into the night. Regardless, when I hop around all these countless platforms dedicated to the league — podcasts, websites, blogs, whatever — I better see a genuine sense of humility at having gotten got by the shiny new thing yet again. One day they’ll learn that era-defining dominance walks in their midst, no matter how many times we have to go out there and teach that lesson.

Let’s roundup!

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Series preview: Surging Celtics take on Giannis, defending champion Bucks & Celtics prepared for challenge against Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks in East semifinals (NBA.com)

Now after watching Game One a lot of this might feel a little... off. Namely, we’ve all noted just how bad a job many previews for this series did in trying to really understand how much of a step up in defensive prowess you get going from the godawful Nets to the Bucks. Its easy to look at the season DRTG for Milwaukee and think we’ve stumbled since last year, but Brook Lopez pairing up with Bobby Portis has been the kind of revelation that turns everything on its head.

Lakers receive permission to interview Bucks assistant Darvin Ham (Los Angeles Times)

Want to talk about walking into a viper pit to start your coaching career? Obviously any coach worth their salt has the confidence that they can master any situation, but diving headfirst into LA would be quite the challenge. We wish Darvin all the luck in the world during the interview process as he’s constantly been just on the outside looking in, even if we do end up losing him to that weirdo franchise.

NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks are seeking $4 million annually for the Deer District property’s naming rights (CNBC)

Folks, the C-suite has finally put a number on how much money we’re going to have to raise as a basketblogging community to make this happen. I have full confidence that between all of us, we can raise enough funds to name it the “BrewHoop.com Deer District”. So don’t be shy when your neighbor passes the community donation basket your way. It all counts.

The Ringer’s 2022 NBA Mock Draft 3.0 (The Ringer)

Previous editions of the mock draft didn’t have the finalized draft positions for all teams in each round, so this latest is instructive in having a better perspective on how team priority and draft orders may affect selections. Kevin O’Connor has us nabbing this big dude out of Auburn named Walker Kessler as our future Brook Lopez replacement. Cool by me.

Roster Construction Doomed The Brooklyn Nets (FiveThirtyEight)

I wonder what the height/weight/length differentials would be between the Celtics and Bucks in the way Jared Dubin compared it between the Celtics and Nets. If the Celtics were that much larger than the Nets, how much bigger is our starting big man trio by comparison? And also, if you read some of this analysis about how Boston knocked Brooklyn off its game, you can see some similarities between how they ignored everyone not named Durant and how we’ve selective chosen to ignore the Horfords/Smarts/Williamses of the world.

Fan Post of the Week

13-14bucks and KhashIsKing... get down here you unbelievably correct individuals:

Yo_G and site overlord Mitchell Maurer, I expect to see you in my office later this morning for some much-needed quarterly performance reviews.

Besides all that, we’re actually giving out a THIRD (and true) FPOTW award this morning to G may for bringing up the question that has confounded humanity’s finest philosophers since the beginning of time: “How much does size matter?”. I’m writing this little blurb prior to G1, so you reading this on Monday morning will have at least a small sample against which to evaluate this question. The undercurrent to this question isn’t merely about physical size, but moreso how mobile they are to bring physical dominance to bear. We’re relatively set when it comes to that between Giannis, Bobby, and Brook, respectively.

Know Your Enemy

Boston Celtics - Celtics Blog

A lot of stuff over at our compatriots’ site. Going to list a few of them that stand out, but I also encourage you to head over to Celtics Blog a few times over the course of the series. They always have a ton of new pieces up any given day. Also, don’t go over there to be a menace in their comments section. Thanks.

• Preview Guide Bucks vs. Celtics: three-pointers will determine second round series
• Jrue Holiday is the semifinals’ ultimate x-factor
• How the Celtics have transformed into the NBA’s best defense
• Different defensive schemes to throw at Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks
• Milwaukee vs. Boston is a role player’s paradise
• CelticsBlog roundtable: Celtics-Bucks series predictions
• Second Round Playoff Series Preview

The Social Media Section

Outfit is fine and get that bag, but why the bucket hat?

Bobby’s team has one of the fastest product idea-to-reality turnaround times I’ve seen in awhile. Good for him.

Thanks for reading, DickCage69!

Happy Monday, Vernon

Chase, go on the Brew Hoop Pod. I know a subtweet when I see one.

You just know they’re going to somehow come back next season even older and slower

I’d probably have fumbled this like an idiot on national television while wearing a knock-off Giannis jersey

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As you are almost already aware, we’ve got what will feel like a three week break between games two and three in this series. The second tilt will happen in Boston on Tuesday starting at 6 PM (Central) while game three will start at 2:30 PM in Milwaukee on Saturday. I’ve been informed by some of our commenters that G3 got pushed because Godsmack will be lighting the Forum up on Friday night. Priorities, people.

Happy Monday!