This season in the NBA has been an extraordinary herald from the regular season. The Western Thunder and the Timberwolves are two super dark horses rising rapidly, Edwards and Alexander have entered the ranks of supergiants, and these two teams are stable in offense and defense, with no obvious shortcomings, and in the playoffs, the Thunder swept the Pelicans to advance, the Timberwolves swept the Suns to advance, and Edwards has sent his idol Durant home to fish. Although the Lakers took the last train of the playoffs as always, they were afraid of being less strong, and James and thick eyebrows tried their best to avoid being swept by the Nuggets, but they couldn't change the fate of being eliminated. On the Eastern side, the Celtics dominated the regular season, with a win rate of nearly 8 percent, and the net efficiency of the starting five-man group was comparable to that of the Warriors in 17 years and the Bulls in 97 years, but it was really brushed out in the face of weak teams, and the real shooting rate of about 50% in the high-end game was embarrassing. But there's one team that's easy to overlook.
Remember that in the offseason, when the Bucks quietly completed the Lillard trade with the Trail Blazers, the probability of the Bucks winning the championship once reached 25%, and they were the biggest favorites to win the championship without playing a game. In fact, the Bucks, as a small ball club, have a good record in the past few years, and Brother Alphabet also led the team to win the championship in the summer of '21. But Milwaukee simply can't compete with big cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Boston to attract stars to join, and Holiday spent three of their first-round picks. So the bucks are really at any cost in order to find a helper for Brother Alphabet. But the paper combination of Brother Alphabet and Lillard is the strongest offensive duo in the league, both of them have the ability to average 30+ per game, but what if you add an old Rivers? The former Griffin led the team with a winning rate of nearly 7 percent, and was forced to leave class, and the old Rivers took office with a 5 percent winning rate!
In fact, the fate of the Bucks this season can be seen from a series of losses in the closing stages of the regular season, the Wizards, Grizzlies, and Raptors are in a good position, and the Bucks see who loses whom, borrowing ESPN's analysis, Rivers Sr. doesn't want to meet the 76ers or the Heat, thinking that the team can't beat. But when you meet the Pacers in the playoffs, you still can't beat it! The two victories are relatively ugly, one is Lillard's 35 points in the half, leading the team to open a 30-point difference, and the result is 0 points in the second half, the Pacers chase points all the way, and the Bucks finally win by 15 points. The other game was missing Lillard and Brother Alphabet, but Beverley + Middleton + Portis led the team to win, and the upset won by 23 points. First of all, one thing is for sure, Lillard's trade was a complete failure, and even left the Bucks with no room to turn over.
To cite a few statistics, Lillard averaged 24 points and 7 assists per game in the regular season, but his effective shooting rate was 51%, ranking 261st in the league, and the bottom 15%! As a shooter, Lillard is based on the accumulation of shots, and the efficiency is very low, but this can also enter the Eastern All-Star start! In the playoffs, Lillard averaged 32.3 points and 5 assists per game, which looks very good, but the average plus/minus per game in the playoffs is -9.7, the net efficiency value is -13.6, and the effective shooting rate is 53.8% Accustomed to the style of the team boss, after coming to the Bucks, Lillard's defense is often named for military training, which is a problem of defensive habits; the opponent uses the blocking and dislocation, and Lillard basically looks at it and does not chase it, which is a matter of attitude. The most tired are Brother Alphabet and Da Luo, and the inside line is noisy.
Coach Doc Doc Rivers Sr. is also to blame. Just like Durant stepped on the shoulders of giants to achieve his dream of winning the championship, Rivers Sr. led the Celtics to win the championship, which became the highlight of his career. When the Clippers led the team, the playoffs became a backdrop for constant reversals, and when the 76ers turned Embiid into a donkey, they accommodated Embiid in various ways, including after Harden came to the team, and suppressed Harden, many of his practices were very excessive. Without Harden, Rivers Sr. would not have been elected the best coach in the East in a row, and without Harden, the 76ers led by Rivers Sr. may be swept out by the Celtics directly. But I don't quite understand that the Bucks still sent a $40 million contract, won the credit, shirked the responsibility for the loss, and kept every game for the New Year, which was the main reason for the Bucks' decline this season.
Including the previous Brother Alphabet when facing the Celtics, he fell to the ground without confrontation and suffered a soleus muscle strain, like Embiid, Embiid took the "non-mainstream" projection + control style of play as a center, and Brother Alphabet was a rampage type, and his physical burden was too great. In the past five years, Brother Alphabet has only played in the playoffs in 22 years of health, and the rest of the time, either ankle injuries or knee injuries, including calf strain, have never been healthy! And in the words of the famous Max Stein, the Bucks have failed year after year since winning the championship, including the possibility of being out of the first round for two consecutive years, will Brother Alphabet still stay in this "mess"? It is a mess, in fact, the Bucks frame is not bad, but Lillard and Rivers Sr. really can't help Brother Alphabet.
Maybe the Bucks have been too concerned about chasing stars for a long time in the past, but including Middleton, Portis, Big Lo and even Beverley, they can all contribute a lot of energy in the playoffs. The previous Budenholzer, including Griffin, led the team to a very good performance, but when Rivers Sr. took over, a good hand of cards was played poorly, and it was only a matter of time before the first round of the playoffs was out! To put it bluntly, the Bucks should rebuild, if they really want to keep Brother Alphabet, Old Rivers must leave! It is unrealistic to expect Lillard to change his defensive habits at the age of 34, one wrong step and one wrong step, if you are Brother Alphabet, will you still stay on the team?