Monday Morning Media Roundup: April 17th, 2023

Of all the injuries Giannis Antetokounmpo could have sustained over his decade in the NBA, I did not have a busted booty high on the list. Somehow, he found a way to plow through the Miami Heat defense before having Kevin Love slip under him mid-air, resulting in a high-speed collision between booty and bark.

The early news is that Giannis should be okay as his x-rays came back clear; his busted butt is not a broken one. Meanwhile, the Miami Heat will be without starting guard Tyler Herro who unfortunately had his x-ray confirm a broken hand. In the early battle of attrition, Milwaukee is on top even as they cede ground in the actual results on the court.

Assuming Giannis is a go to start game two, there are a few adjustments that we should see right from the get go. First, Giannis needs to dial back the aggression in a big way offensively — he is now nearly 30 years old and knows better than to battering ram his way through a defense possession after possession. Yes, his fearless aggression is what makes him him, but his skills have developed enough where he can pick opponents apart by passing out of coverages rather than ramming through them.

Second, we may well see Giannis cover Jimmy Butler from the jump. We saw in the third quarter that aggressively denying Butler the ball can gum up Miami’s offensive rhythm quickly. This pushes Bam Adebayo to scan much further out for a teammate who is no longer merely posted up waiting for a catch & shoot opportunity, or for Bam to try and make a move directly into Brook Lopez. Having Giannis on Butler also reduces the need for Brook to recover a beat or three too late to cutters.

Third, improvements in entry passing or entry movements would be welcome. The Bucks shot extremely well inside with Brook a perfect 4/4 inside the three-point line and Bobby Portis 9/10 in that area. It is not flashy, but the Heat do not have a bevy of interior defenders on the roster past Bam. Kevin Love might be a charge merchant; he is not a lockdown paint defender at this point.

These are all relatively simple fixes which is helping stabilize my confidence. Annoying to lose your first playoff game? Of course. Certainly not the end of the world, though. Especially if the busted butt can bounce back.

Let’s roundup!

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Feeling the stress, Giannis once almost quit the NBA. Now he wants to help as many people as possible with foundation (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

No surprise that Lori Nickel was the one behind this really well done piece. Highly recommend everyone reading it if you haven’t already seen it by now.

Joe Ingles’ long journey back to the NBA playoffs with the Bucks (ESPN)

A long road indeed. I was initially openly skeptical and/or underwhelmed by the Joe Ingles signing, but he’s been a positive force in helping keep the offense moving while doing just enough on defense to remain on the floor. He was good for a couple of threes in game one, and here’s hoping he’s got more in him for the long post-season haul.

Haslam Family Set to Complete Purchase of NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks From Marc Lasry (Bloomberg)

$3.5 billion is a hilarious amount of money to be attached to a team that was as irrelevant as irrelevant gets about a decade ago. Mmm, I love frothy capital valuations that certainly won’t run dry at some point. Note: Per the league, Wes Edens will immediately take over as team governor for the next five years, so those worried about that point can rest a little easier for the near-term.

Bobby Portis portrays NBA pioneer Earl Lloyd in biopic ‘Sweetwater’ (NBA.com)

Very cool that Bobby got to be in a movie, cool that he was asked to portray Earl Lloyd, the first African American player in NBA history (just preceding Sweetwater Clifton and Chuck Cooper), and the movie itself looks like a really interesting biopic on top of it. Totally unsurprising that Bobby was a natural and nailed his lines on the first take.

The Biggest Question for Every NBA First-Round Series (The Ringer)

Milwaukee Bucks v. Miami Heat: Can Suki Hobson glue a player’s rear back together with Elmer’s?

The actual question reviewed was whether Khris Middleton can “look like his best self”. He was by far the most effective offensive player for Milwaukee in game one as both he and Bobby Portis worked to keep the team afloat. His fluidity on the ball and passing were noteworthy and hopefully bode well for continued success as we move along.

No Play-In Team Has Won An NBA Playoff Series. Will That Change This Season? (FiveThirtyEight)

Fan Post of the Week

We love to see dreams come true on this site, and so I’m happy to handing another FPOTW award to JSOnline Castaway 2.0 for “Rank the Stank: Who I’d like to see Round 1” and sending my congrats for getting the very same Heat team who JSO wished to face. Also...

Aside from Lowry precariously flopping underneath a Giannis poster dunk, no risk of needless injury to worry about.

Whoops!

Know Your Enemy (Until SBNation Ceases to Exist)

Miami Heat - Hot Hot Hoops - Game Recap: Heat steal Game 1 from Bucks 130-117

• If you were curious about the vibe over at Hot Hot Hoops, it is generally positive with a mild level of concern now that Tyler Herro will miss the rest of the playoffs. Curious to see who gets the start in his stead. Miami’s offense was already a little limited with Herro out there. It’ll only get moreso now.

The Social Media Section

Our long local nightmare is over. Now we just have to make it to a game five...

Good luck to the Lasrys and wherever life’s journey takes them

S/O Lindell

I’m glad the guy has a sense of humor

Dreamy shake and bakes

Superfriends lookin’ ass photo

Isn’t this the dude who “fixed” Bobby’s shot before he promptly went 0/5 from three in G1? Also, what Thanasis is doing in this clip is known as “Riley facts” in my household — just confidently saying things to convince others of my words’ veracity

Serge, the bit is a little overdone at this point

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Games two and three are on deck this week with plenty of rest between each — good news for the Bucks and Giannis in particular. G2 is on Wednesday and then the team heads off to Miami for G3 on Saturday.

I will not hazard a guess for now, but I hope we’ll have more positive than negative to report on when we meet again here next week.

Happy Monday!