(Translator's note: The Athletic writer Eric Nehm, the views in this article do not represent the views of the translator and the platform, and the time in this article is Beijing time)
In the chicago bulls' playoff first round G2 against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday, Chris Middleton fell during a breakthrough in the fourth quarter when no one on the court thought he would suffer a serious injury as a result. Middleton passed the ball to Brooke Lopez before falling, and he wanted to get up and bend his left knee after the round, but as the game went on, it became clear he couldn't hold on any longer and went back to the dressing room.
After the game, the Bucks officially announced Middleton's sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee, but did not give a specific return schedule. On Friday, Shams reported, Middleton is expected to miss at least the first round of G3 and G4, with the possibility of indefinite absences for subsequent games. After that, bucks officials announced that Middleton would receive daily treatment and assessment, and would undergo a review in about two weeks, at which time the specific recovery status would be announced.
Middleton's injury was a heavy blow to the Bucks, as he was the Bucks' second-largest scorer and top-notch organizer throughout the season. The series is now tied 1-1, and they still have to play G3 and G4 away to Chicago, but fortunately they still have a number of talented players to try to ensure that they can pass the first round smoothly, giving Middleton a chance to return to the Eastern Conference semifinals.
"It's obviously a challenge." Bucks star Alphabet Brother said after the G2 game, "We all know what the situation is now. We had to keep playing and try to win on the road. It's hard. Nobody thinks it's going to be easy, but we all have numbers in mind. ”
"Chris is frustrated but we are a great team, a talented team, a tenacious team. Hopefully we can perform at our best. Now, we may be able to play a higher level in adversity. We will wait and see. We can't predict the future, but hopefully we can be ready for the next game. ”
Last season, in the process of the Bucks winning the team's first championship in 50 seasons, one of their starters, Divinzenzo, was also absent due to injury, and Alphabet Brother also missed the last few games of the Eastern Conference Finals due to a serious knee injury, but fortunately the Bucks overcame these difficulties. So, although they have suffered similar difficulties as they are now, can they now successfully survive the difficulties caused by Middleton's injury?
Let's take a closer look.
What did Middleton bring to the Bucks?
This season, Middleton has averaged 20.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game, and only 16 players in the league have achieved this statistic (Alphabet Brother is also one of them, and he and Middleton are the only pair of teammates on this list). According to Cleaning the Glass, although this season has been the lowest scoring efficiency season of Middleton's career, there are few players in the league who need to score high points every night like him while creating opportunities for teammates multiple times.
Middleton is not only one of the Bucks' three major organizers, but also a player on the team who is often taken care of in addition to the alphabet brother and the focus of defense. Although opponents also know that Jud Holliday has more assists (6.8 per game) than Middleton and ranks third in the team, they will not defend Holliday as much as They did against Middleton. Because Middleton's three-point shooting rate has been high for a long time, opponents rarely let him go.
Simply put, Middleton played a big role on the offensive end, and he was able to attract a lot of defensive attention from opponents.
On the defensive end, Middleton isn't the kind of one-on-one defender like Holliday or Wesley Matthews. But his stature is enough on the defensive end. Middleton, who is 6'7 and has an arm span of 6'11, has an excellent talent for assisting defense. In the following round, after Bobby Portis was elbowed to the ground by Tristan Thompson, a 4-5 situation was formed for the Bucks, and Middleton used his height and ball dealer to successfully steal and destroy the Bulls' attack.
In addition to his contributions on both offensive and defensive ends, Middleton is the only tall wing in Coach Budenholzer's playoff rotation.
With the exception of Middleton, the Bucks' current playoff rotation lineup consists mainly of three groups of players:
Point Guard: Holliday, Jervan Carter, George Hill (injured)
Quarterback (under 6'5): Matthews, Pat Connaughton, Grayson Allen
Big Men: Alphabet Brother, Brooke Lopez, Portis
Under Budenholzer's tutelage, the Bucks became a team that relied on big men. As one of the two big men in the starting lineup, Alphabet Brother's strong athleticism and all-roundness form the basis of the Bucks' rather dominant lineup. But many teams have big forwards with heights of 6'10 or 6'11. Middleton happens to play a number of important roles on both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, which gives the team's large lineup an advantage over most teams in the league.
Who can replace Middleton as the starter? (This morning's G3 starts with Portis replacing Middleton)
While the Bucks can't expect any player to fill middleton's absence on their own, the Bucks have many players who have played more in the regular season than they do now, and they can play a more important role and withstand playoff-level physical confrontation.
Lopez has played only 13 regular-season games this season, and for most of his absence, Portis took his place, starting 59 regular-season games and averaging 14.6 points and 9.1 rebounds in 28.8 minutes per game, all three of which set career highs. In terms of positioning, Budenholzer did not let Matthews start until the end of the regular season, before all of which were Allen's starts, playing 61 regular season games and averaging 27.3 minutes per game, also setting a career high. Even the Bucks' long-standing "bench bandit" Connaughton has started in 19 regular season games, averaging a career-high 26 minutes per game. In any case, the player who replaced Middleton as the starting player in G3 and later must be a player who has started in the regular season, unless Budenholzer wants to go off the beaten path.
If Budenholzer chooses to start with Portis in place of Middleton, the Bucks could use a super-large starting lineup of three big men, which is effectively putting The Alphabet brother in the position of small forward. But for a 48-minute game, the team's rotation pattern would be a bit strange. If Connaughton starts, their height advantage on the defensive end will be more obvious, because Connaughton does a better job than Allen's change of defense, and when the Bucks set up a small lineup in the playoffs last season, Connaughton has become a good at this aspect, but he is not so good at dribbling offense. If Allen starts, the Bucks will be more creative on the offensive end, but the height advantage on the defensive end is less obvious.
In short, while all three players have started at various times in the regular season and have performed well, they rely more on their teammates' assists on the offensive end. Most of the shots hit by the three players this season have been assisted by teammates, while Middleton's assisted shots account for only 44% of the total.
Aaron, Connaughton and Portis have had an assist ratio of 82%, 90% and 70% respectively this season.
In Middleton's absence, the Bucks' biggest problem is how to solve the problem of creating shooting opportunities on their own.
In Budenholzer's day, this was clearly not something that needed to be done by the Bucks' role players. Rather than having a "microwave" scorer on the bench who can also have excellent offensive performance outside of the team's offensive system, the Bucks prefer to use their offensive system to create open shooting opportunities for role players, typical examples of which is to stagger the playing time of the three major stars in their squad and ensure that at least one star is on the court, thus creating shooting opportunities for bench players.
Last season, in the first round of the playoffs against the Heat, one of the Bucks' big starts, Divinzenzo, left the game due to injury. At the time I thought they would struggle to fill the small gaps that Divenzo's injury had brought to both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, but it turned out I was wrong. Because they put Tucker in a more important role, and he did those tasks well. But it's even harder to fill Middleton's gap, because this time it's not the small ones that need to be filled, but the things that are fundamental to success in the playoffs: creating shooting opportunities and defending the flanks.
Middleton is injured, who needs to stand up the most?
Although Judah Holliday's usage rate is already third on the team, in the case of Middleton's injury, the team will expect Holliday to make a greater contribution on the offensive end, which he himself spoke about after the G2 game.
"Honestly, I'm just going to play in my own style." Holliday said, "I will fight back as the opponent defends. Cut down on mistakes, I'll do my best to hit the inside line and I'll give the ball to my teammates in the empty positions. I'll play my own game. Enjoy the game and hit the shot. ”
Some fans may be more than happy to see Holliday holding the ball in the regular season, but in the first two games with the Bulls in the playoffs, these fans may not think so anymore. Holliday scored just 15 points in each of the two games on 12-of-32 shooting, and while delivering 12 assists, he made 10 turnovers (in this morning's G3, Holliday had 16 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists on 7-of-14 shooting). This was clearly not Holler's normal performance, and these mistakes were not at all like something he could do.
For example, the scene of a shot throwing close at hand below should obviously not be seen on him.
"I don't think they've done too much to protect the basket (hence the throws). No doubt offending them, but I'm not worried about being blocked by Vucevic. Holliday said of losing two close-hand shots in G2, "I just lost it. It's none of the other people's business, I just lost it. Or maybe the timing of the shot is not quite right. ”
If the Bucks are able to beat the Bulls in middleton's absence and compete against other opponents in the series that follow, Holliday will have to step up and perform better, which will be an important factor in determining the fate of the Bucks this season. He has the ability to make a huge impact on the team, and the Bucks need him to play better.
By Eric Nehm
Compilation: Can't hold the basket at all