Bobby Portis played an inspiring brand of basketball during the Bucks post-season run to the NBA championship. It seemed as if he was always at the right place at the right time. Either he was getting a blocked shot or taking a charge on defense, or hitting a timely 3-pointer on offense. He was the definition of a sparkplug. While productivity off the bench is important to any team with title aspirations, it is time to move Portis from the second unit to the starting lineup.
Brook Lopez is still a solid NBA center. His time as a productive player is far from over. However, there were times in the NBA Finals when his decreased mobility was exposed by the Phoenix Suns. While Lopez has improved tremendously as a defender over the years, youth is on the side of Bobby Portis and his ability to fight over ball screens quickly and rotate to the open man. If Lopez were to move to the second unit, he would be one of the best backup centers in the league while still being an important part of Milwaukee’s rotation.
Milwaukee wouldn’t be the first NBA champion to make a change in the starting lineup immediately after winning the title. In 1992, Chicago Bulls head coach Phil Jackson decided it was time to insert BJ Armstrong into the starting lineup and move John Paxson to the second unit. In the 1993 NBA Finals, Paxson hit the series-winning 3-pointer with Armstrong on the court as part of Coach Jackson’s small-ball lineup. All’s well that end’s well. The Milwaukee Bucks are hoping for a similar outcome this upcoming season.
repeat as NBA champions</a> in 2022.</p>
<p>There are some pundits who quietly discredit Milwaukee’s run to the city’s first NBA championship since 1971. There are whispers that things may have been different if Kyrie Irving was able to suit up for the Brooklyn Nets. There have even been suggestions that the Los Angeles Lakers’ bevy of injuries are to blame for them not making it out of the Western Conference. Instead of giving the Bucks the credit they deserve, some observers have tried to explain away their triumph. That is completely unfair.</p>
<p>The Milwaukee Bucks are not the first NBA champions to experience this. In 1989, the Detroit Pistons reached the NBA Finals for the second consecutive season. The previous year, they lost a classic seven-game series to the Los Angeles Lakers. The second time around they would again face the Lakers, the major difference being that Detroit had homecourt advantage for the rematch. Superstar point guard Magic Johnson pulled his hamstring in the second half of Game 2 and did not play another minute of the series. Detroit would go on to win in a sweep, and the doubters would point to Johnson’s injury as the determining factor. After the Pistons repeated as champions in 1990, their detractors were finally silenced; it turns out the first time wasn’t a fluke after all.</p>
<h2>The Milwaukee Bucks are bringing back a roster that is good enough to make another run at the NBA championship. They must be strategic for that to happen.</h2>
<p>Next season, the eyes of the basketball world will be fixated on Cream City. Casual fans will overreact to every loss, especially when the team has an off night and loses to a team that is not playoff-bound. However, the Bucks are a team of veterans who have been through adversity together and are not easily rattled. Let’s take a closer look at the steps Milwaukee must take to repeat as NBA champions.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/09/23/milwaukee-bucks-steps-nba-champions/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Insert Bobby Portis into the staring lineup </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-434170" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/09/23/milwaukee-bucks-steps-nba-champions/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1067,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1319880019.jpeg" alt="" width="1600" height="1067" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1319880019.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1319880019-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Milwaukee Bucks (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>Steps for the Milwaukee Bucks to repeat as champs: 3. Insert Bobby Portis into the starting lineup</h2>
<p>Bobby Portis played an inspiring brand of basketball during the Bucks post-season run to the NBA championship. It seemed as if he was always at the right place at the right time. Either he was getting a blocked shot or taking a charge on defense, or hitting a timely 3-pointer on offense. He was the definition of a sparkplug. While productivity off the bench is important to any team with title aspirations, it is time to move Portis from the second unit to the starting lineup.</p>
<p>Brook Lopez is still a solid NBA center. His time as a productive player is far from over. However, there were times in the NBA Finals when his decreased mobility was exposed by the Phoenix Suns. While Lopez has improved tremendously as a defender over the years, youth is on the side of Bobby Portis and his ability to fight over ball screens quickly and rotate to the open man. If Lopez were to move to the second unit, he would be one of the best backup centers in the league while still being an important part of Milwaukee’s rotation.</p>
<p>Milwaukee wouldn’t be the first NBA champion to make a change in the starting lineup immediately after winning the title. In 1992, Chicago Bulls head coach Phil Jackson decided it was time to insert BJ Armstrong into the starting lineup and move John Paxson to the second unit. In the 1993 NBA Finals, Paxson hit the series-winning 3-pointer with Armstrong on the court as part of Coach Jackson’s small-ball lineup. All’s well that end’s well. The Milwaukee Bucks are hoping for a similar outcome this upcoming season.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/09/23/milwaukee-bucks-steps-nba-champions/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Use elite outside shooting to space the floor </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-431503" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/09/23/milwaukee-bucks-steps-nba-champions/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1067,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1324326891.jpeg" alt="Milwaukee Bucks" width="1600" height="1067" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1324326891.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1324326891-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Milwaukee Bucks (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>Steps for the Milwaukee Bucks to repeat as champs: 2. Use elite outside shooting to space the floor</h2>
<p>In Grayson Allen, Donte DiVincenzo, and Khris Middleton, the Milwaukee Bucks have three wing players who are capable of getting hot from 3-point land. In today’s NBA, where scoring is at an all-time high and the ability to knock down open shots is more important than ever, the team must maximize these players’ abilities.</p>
<p>Khris Middleton is more than just an outside shooter. He is an All-Star caliber player who is capable of creating his own shot. However, with a point guard in Jrue Holiday who is known to drive into the paint and cause the defense to collapse, it will be important for Middleton to stay ready to catch and shoot at all times. If Middleton, Allen and DiVincenzo knock down open looks, it will keep the defense honest. If they don’t, defenders will sag into the paint and make life more difficult for Giannis Antetokounmpo and anyone else looking to score inside the paint.</p>
<p>This past off-season, the team decided to bring back veteran guard George Hill. Hill will come off the bench as part of the second unit but his mindset is similar to that of Holiday. He is a drive-first guard who would rather get fouled and go to the free-throw line than settle for an open jump shot. This means that players in the second unit will have to be ready to shoot when Hill kicks out of a double team. If they knock down those open looks, Milwaukee will be very tough to guard next season.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/09/23/milwaukee-bucks-steps-nba-champions/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Force defenses to guard Giannis </a>
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<span class="call_to_action">Next:</span> Bucks: Grading all their moves in NBA free agency </a> </div>
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