A lot of things change from the regular season to the playoffs, referees will whistle a lot less than in the regular season, games will move from focusing on fast offense and switching offense to more half-court offense, teams will work harder to develop offensive and defensive strategies for playoff opponents, and for the Milwaukee Bucks, another problem will face is shortening the rotation.
The Bucks should reduce the role of other players in the team's offensive system in favor of their star players, especially when they make it to the playoffs, and determine rotation order based on their opponents in the playoffs. The Bucks did a great job of that when they won the championship last year, with Brin Forbes playing a big role in the first round against the Miami Heat, but didn't get much of a playoff in the next few rounds. There's also center Bobby Portis who played an important role in their final two series, but he was placed on the bench at the end of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Brooklyn Nets. And the Bucks' role players, while making some huge contributions in the regular season, who can really make it into the rotational lineup in the playoffs?
In short, it's likely to depend on the opponent, as they did in the playoffs last year, and we've seen this season what the Bucks' rotation looks like when all of them are healthy, but the playoffs are another matter. Of course, no matter what happens and who the opponent is, except for the seven players who can get a stable rotation of playing time, except for the seven players who can get a stable rotation of playing time, chris Middleton, Juju Holliday, Grayson Allen, Bobby Portis, Brooke Lopez and Pat Connaughton, the other players will be strictly limited in time even if they play. In addition to some free time being given to other players, the seven are likely to be the Bucks' final rotation. That has caused George Hill, Wesley Matthews, Jeffon Carter and Serge Ibaka to slip out of the Bucks' rotation, and they can't play in every playoff game, after all, few teams dare to play in a 11-man long rotation on a stage like the playoffs.
Hill is a reliable veteran point guard, Matthews is a flank defender above the league average, Carter has also proved to be a good defensive player, and Ibaka, although he has long passed his peak and has just joined the Bucks, his defensive value can not be ignored.
But at the end of the day, despite Carter's consistent performance, if the situation is critical, he seems most likely to be the one who drops out of the rotation. Then there's Hill, a more mature player who can still contribute on the defensive end even though he no longer has the physical strength to run around the city like Carter. After that, it may be Ibaka's turn, if Lopez recovers, Xiaobian feels that Ibaka may not be able to play any meaningful role in the Bucks, but if Lopez is not in the state, then Ibaka will get some playing time, he has performed well recently, and Xiaobian also wants to see him play in the playoffs, but it seems that it is difficult for him to enter the Bucks' playoff rotation lineup.
Finally, there's Matthews, who is the most likely player of the four to get playing time, especially after DeAndre Bemburi was injured, he became the only flanking defender on the team to be able to play on the bench, but his shooting feel has recently fallen into a period of the lowest fan of his career, and he doesn't know how coach Mike Budenholzer should arrange his playing time when the defenders completely ignore his presence. But Matthews is definitely an important X-factor for the Bucks, and if he can regain some shooting feel, then he will get some playing time in the playoffs.
If you have to guess, the Bucks can only have a maximum of eight players in the playoff rotation, and who can get the extra playing time is entirely up to the opponent. Having so many great role players is a good thing and a bad thing, and when the Bucks decide who can't play, it's definitely a bad thing.