The 2021-22 season will be tough for the defending champion Bucks. Last season, the sequelae of all the way through the thorns until the O'Brien Cup was lifted and the sequelae of excessive wear and tear were unmistakable in the first half of the season, and the first fivesome was once only able to debut. Of course, the worst thing is that the team's interior barrier Brook Lopez has not returned after injuring his back in the opener, which also lays a great hidden danger for the Bucks' subsequent schedule.
In fact, the Bucks are not completely free of highlights - at the end of December they once played a six-game winning streak, and the limelight is in the limelight, pointing to the first place in the East. And that brief rise was closely related to a name that is now unrelated to the Bucks: Demarcus Cousins.
Cousins was once the league's no. 1 center, and a spate of injuries, especially a torn cruciate ligament, was enough to ruin a player's career. At what should have been the pinnacle of his days, Cousins lost not only big contracts, but also the pride of his former star players. For him now, it is a miracle to stay in the league, and to be able to play with the ball is to win.
This persistence and persistence impressed the Bucks management, and in early December, the defending champion extended an olive branch to Cousins, recruiting him under a non-guaranteed contract. The former Kentucky Light did not disappoint, playing for the Bucks in 17 games, he handed over a record of 9.1 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, and even had the inspiration to face the Lone Ranger's 22 points and 8 rebounds. The Bucks' record in those 17 games is 11-6, and Cousins' value can't be reflected in the numbers alone.
His arrival filled the inside gap caused by the Bucks' injury to Lopez Jr., and just when everyone was convinced that the former All-Star center had conquered Milwaukee with his performance, cream city turned him into a contract that was a sure thing, and something unexpected happened. After the Jan. 6 game against the Raptors, the Bucks announced the layoff of Cousins, a time that was also very ambiguous — if such a decision was not made, Kaoshen's contract would be converted to a full guarantee contract. The Bucks' move is called "strategic decision" and "maintaining salary flexibility", to put it bluntly, it is a wave of cousins.
After sending Kaoshen away, the Bucks once again exposed the problem of tight depth of the inner rotation. The record doesn't lie, the Bucks only delivered 6-5 in the next 11 games, and they are only 0.5 wins ahead of the young Cleveland Cavaliers in fourth place in the East. Looking back at the Bucks' operation of cutting Cousins, the typical "picked up sesame seeds and lost watermelon", for small profits and bad big picture.
The reason why the Bucks have the courage to give up the test is that Giannis Antetokounmpo has a good performance in the top five position, and the Bucks, who played a small lineup, seem to have recreated the momentum of last season's Finals and Phoenix Suns. In theory, both The Alphabet Brother and the Thick Brow Brother are the most ideal fifth-place candidates to play small ball in the league today. There's a reason the Bucks are so confident.
But the Milwaukee people are a little less calculated, and the Lakers don't plan to keep the baby AD on the fifth position and fight with the opposing center. Alphabet Brother has become stronger at a speed that is visible to the naked eye over the years, but his real talent advantage lies in his long arms and legs. It is true that his static talent allows him to face most of the league's internal line, but it is a violent thing to let him stand and fight with the traditional inside liners in a low position, and it belongs to the short attack of the other.
Alphabet brother is best at the offensive end is still holding the ball frame, giving him a little space to directly attack the basket in three steps, so that the less talented team can not be defended; the defensive end is far less efficient than letting him as the last barrier basket, it is far less efficient to let him become a scavenger who swims in the inside and outside lines ready to fill the cover, and that Greek monster is the real nightmare of other teams. Unfortunately, such a simple truth is still no match for the Bucks management's desire to take advantage of the small advantage.
Not to mention that at present, the bucks are only two inside lines, Janis and Portis, once the big-eyed Portis is not in good shape, the bucks will often appear the helplessness of the Tiangang Dwarf Formation being ravaged by the other side. Instead of hoping that Lopez the Great will return as soon as possible and find his form as soon as he returns, why cut Cousins in the first place for a little profit? General Manager Horst should be very responsible. If you are tired of the alphabet brother, this season the Bucks want to defend the title is nothing more than a fool's dream.
The trade deadline is getting closer and closer, and there is not much time left for the Bucks to adjust. With so many defenders who are not accurate in three points, it is better to consider how to change the whole and idle replacement. How should the Bucks strengthen the interior?