An NBA Championship after 50 long years is fantastic for the Milwaukee Bucks as the young lanky boy from Greece who they trusted in have won them the coveted title a few years later. Giannis Antetokounmpo is genuinely a ‘Bucks’ star through and through. The star forward has been one of the primary reasons for the title win and therefore his title of ‘Greek Freak’ suits him perfectly.
At the start of the season, a lot of people thought that it would be between the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets. The votes were mostly due to the fact that both these teams have a stronger bunch of players and can impose themselves on any given day just because of the variety of players. While the Lakers were out in the first round of the playoffs, Kevin Durant’s Nets also followed soon. There were teams like the Phoenix Suns who have brought in Chris Paul and has changed the whole system of the whole side qualifying for the finals with a very fluid attacking system.
Now it feels like it is not always about SUperteams, even a normal team playing with the highest consistency can defeat any team even the ones with more than two prominent All-Stars. The Bucks’ journey to the finale also has been the same. Giannis and the company started looking around and failed to keep some of their health. But it was their physicality that changed the course for Mike Budenholzer’s team.
The same aspect was highlighted by former Bucks player Bob Dandridge. The former 4-time NBA All-Star came on the basketball News, hosted by Etan Thomas. He highlighted the same which made the Bucks’ the NBA Champions, “I think in the playoffs, whether it’s the 70s, 80s or 90s, the game always gets physical in the playoffs. If we look back, it’s been the physical teams that have won in the playoffs.”
“So, I think Milwaukee with this physicality, that’s where they began to take over. It started in the games when Giannis missed games against Atlanta. It gave Lopez an opportunity to work down low and then going down the stretch in the last two games when they moved Giannis to the three-position to the four or five positions. He just began to dominate. So, no matter who the champion is, we’ll always look back and see the team that’s the most physical going into the playoffs and winning. And that’s what I think pulled Milwaukee through.”
It is pretty clear that the team that becomes more physical has a more survival chance in the playoffs. For the Bucks, the team remains intact as they will be looking to stack up more beside Khris Middleton and Jrue Holidays. They will come again next season with the same fire to win the NBA Championship.
