The Milwaukee Bucks made their way through the 2021 playoffs, winning the championship with a time of 16 wins and seven losses. The national media gave Giannis and the team the honor they deserved.
We heard such words.
The Nets extended the Bucks to seven games in the Eastern Conference semifinals, though James Harden and Kyrie Irving were injured in the series.
The Atlanta Hawks are a mediocre team with no experience in beating the Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Suns were losing ground in the Finals and had to advance to the penultimate round because they faced the Lakers without AD in the first round, the Nuggets without Jamal Murray in the semifinals, and the Clippers without Kavay Leonard in the Western Conference Finals.
In the summer, nearly all basketball experts agree that the Nets, as well as the Lakers, have outpaced Milwaukee this season.
The Bucks beat the high-profile Nets by 23 points in the opener, giving the league notion that they are still the best team in the NBA.
Next, we'll give five reasons why the defending champions are at the top of our strength rankings.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="01" data-track="11" > Giannis Anttocompo is the best player in the world</h1>
Giannis Antetocompo delivered on his promise to be the best player in the world
Here's the resume of 26-year-old Giannis Anttocompo.
- 2021 NBA Champions
- NBA Finals MVP
- 2次NBA MVP
- Defensive Player of the Year
- The most improved players
- 5-time NBA All-Star
- NBA All-Star Game MVP
- 5-time selection for NBA teams
However, almost all major sports sites have put Kevin Durant ahead of Giannis into the season. Many websites also rank Luka Doncic ahead of Giannis, or even LeBron James.
Giannis scored 32 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists, two blocks, and a game-high +25+/- rating against the Brooklyn Nets. Most NBA players will kill for these types of stats in their careers, but somehow they align with "Greek Monsters" last season, where he averaged 28.1 points, 11 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and 1.2 blocks.
Stephen Curry's three-pointer turned the focus of the NBA world to shooting. But why?
When the Bucks won the championship last year, they shot 32.1 percent from the distance.
The Lakers took the chips in 2020, while shooting 35.4 percent from three-point range is below the league average.
In 2019, the Toronto Raptors won everything with a collective three-point shooting percentage of 34.6.
Even though the Golden State Warriors won the championship in 2018, they shot 10th from three-point range in the playoffs, shooting just 35.7 percent.
Obviously, three-pointers are not the key to winning the championship. Championships are won with strong defense, great rebounding and superstars making great points in key moments.
Giannis meets all these conditions.
He has the agility of a defensive perimeter and the power to lock in a low-post big player that only Anthony Davis can match. He rebounds better than any player in the league, and he fearlessly rushes to the basket at the end of the game.
Kevin Durant is a Hall of Famer, while LeBron could be GOAT. Luka Doncic is doing something we've never seen before, and he's only 22 years old. However, they still can't match Giannis's impact on the game.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="02" data-track="71" > the Milwaukee Bucks have the best defense in the league</h1>
During last year's regular season, the Milwaukee Bucks ranked tenth in defensive scoring in the NBA with just 111.4 points. Then, the playoffs began, and the Bucks held their opponents in brick and piece, eventually winning the championship with the first defense in the playoffs.
Take a look at the size of each member in the Bucks' 2021-2022 starting lineup.
- Holliday Jr.: 6 feet 7" arm span
- Grayson-Allen: 6 feet 6 inches of arm span
- Chris-Middleton: 6 feet 11 inches of arm span
- Giannis-Anttocompo: 7 feet 3 inches of arm span
- Brooke-Lopez: 7 feet 6 inches of arm span
We saw the Bucks use their length on opening night to force the Brooklyn Nets, perhaps the best basketball shooting team in the NBA, to shoot just 44 percent of their collective shots. And this is not an anomaly. Last season, Brooke Lopez and Giannis Anttocompo, the Bucks' two big starting men, teamed up to protect rebounds and were almost better than other frontcourt duos in the league. Lopez kept his mission at a level 3.2 percent below his normal average of points per game, while Giannis pushed down the shooting percentage of the players he defended down to 4.6 percent.
Milwaukee's impressive defense is behind their height. They worked as a whole and never missed a task, as we just saw against the Nets, a team that wasn't affected by any type of championship malaise. Throughout the night, the Bucks appeared to play at a higher level than the Brooklyns, which was a bad sign for the rest of the league.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="03" data-track="72" > Kris Middleton is one of the most underrated players today</h1>
If you're an NBA fan, you already know Kris Middleton's shooting ability. In the 2019-2020 season, he shot 2.9 three-pointers per game, shooting 45.2 percent from the field, compared to 43.1 percent last year, almost the same.
You know, Chris Middleton is an elite defender. Over the past few seasons, Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer has put Middleton in charge of defending the opponent's best offensive weapon. Last season, he kept his mission under control at 46.7 points, and throughout 2019-2020, he killed his man in a very impressive 40.5 percent of the field.
What you may not know is that in last year's playoffs, Chris Middleton transformed from perhaps the best 3-D flank in the association to a true star. In today's NBA, the standard by which we judge superstars is how they make playoff scores in the face of a half-time stalemate and opposing defense. In the past, Chris Middleton has been terrible in isolated types of games. During the 2019 playoffs, he averaged 0.85 points per game, putting him at the 42 percent level among all playoff participants. Then in the 2020 playoffs, he got worse, averaging just 0.80 points per game, but fortunately at the 24th percentile. Finally, in the 2021 playoffs, Middleton broke through, averaging 1.06 PPP, ranking 15th in the league, better than Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Luka Doncic.
Over the past few seasons, the Milwaukee Bucks' offense has stalled in the playoffs as opposing teams stepped up their defensive intensity as none of their players could get their own layups when Giannis was sandwiched between the twos. Now Milwaukee has players like Chris Middleton, which is one of the main reasons why this Bucks team is the front-runner for the 2022 championship.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="04" data-track="73" > Juhoradi is a top point guard</h1>
Throughout the summer, we've heard about the Brooklyn Nets' Big Three and the Lakers' magical new trio. Fast forward to opening night, and Kyrie Owen is sitting at home as he refuses to be vaccinated. Now Brooklyn is left with only kevin Durant and James Harden. In Los Angeles, Russell Westbrook is still in the team, but he performed poorly in preseason, averaging 9.5 points per game, shooting 35 percent from the field and making more turnovers than assists or rebounds. At the time of the opening battle, the situation got worse. The Lakers lost to the Golden State Warriors, with Westbrook scoring just eight points on 0-of-4 shooting. Of course, it's still early and Westbrook may be in shape, but the Lakers are currently left with only the big two represented by LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Why doesn't anyone talk about the defending champions' Big Three?
Holliday Jr., along with Chris Middleton and Giannis Anttocompo, made up the front wheels of the Bucks' Doom tricycle.
Despite averaging 21.2 points and 7.7 assists in 2019, 19.1 points and 6.7 assists in 2020, and 17.7 points and 6.1 assists last season, Jrue Holiday made the All-Star team only once in 2013. It may seem unfair, but that doesn't stop the two-way force that Jrue Holiday has become.
At 6 feet 3 inches and 205 pounds, Jrue Holiday is one of the best point guards in the league. He's the perfect defender against big players like James Harden, Ben Simmons and Kyle Lowry, who are used to bullying smaller point guards. When they face Holliday's strength, they often struggle to get the shots they're used to.
On the offensive side, Holliday was in a deep slump when he first entered the league, but improved year by year, and last season he was in the top of the shooters, shooting 39% of the last five three-point attempts per night. In fact, Jrue Holiday has turned into a real three-pointer threat. Last season, he shot a staggering 70 percent from the basket and 53 percent from the range of 10 to 16 feet.
Yes, Jrue Holiday hasn't been recognized like Kyrie Irving or Russell Westbrook. But when you weighed his defensive abilities, three-pointers and mid-range games, you still got one of the best point guards in the association.
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="05" data-track="74" > bucks have the best role players in the NBA</h1>
Last season, Dont Di Vincenzo averaged 10.4 points, 38 percent long-range shooting, 5.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists.
Bobby Portis averaged 11.4 points last year, 47 percent of long-range shots and 7.1 rebounds.
Rodney Hood played just five games last season due to a torn Achilles tendon, but his career scoring average was 11.3 points, 37 percent 3P and 2.7 rebounds.
The three make up the Bucks' impressive trinity of role players. Most teams love to have one of them. The problem, though, is. All three players missed their first game against the Nets with injuries, but the Bucks' roster was so deep that they didn't miss a chance in a win over Kevin Durant and the company.
Grayson Allen is a new imported player for the Bucks. The former Duke hero is a tough player who is fearless in the deep sea. He fits perfectly into the Bucks ecosystem.
It looks like George Hill has played for half the team in the league, but he's a dodgy veteran who landed in Milwaukee. He's a guy who has the ability to absorb playing time during The Break at Jrue Holiday.
Brooke Lopez, the Bucks center, is a huge man. He's 7 feet 0" tall and has one of the longest wingspans in the league. He had a decent outside shot, but his real impact was on the other side of the ball, where he used his height to disrupt opponents close to the rebound.
Finally, we must not forget Pat Connaughton. He's no less defensive than anyone in the league, and he's improved his three-point shooting percentage a lot last season, with 37 percent shooting in the deep court.