5 Post-Practice Comments from Milwaukee Bucks

As we’ve been diving into a bunch of post-practice comments from the Miami Heat as of late, here’s a glimpse at some comments from the Milwaukee Buck’s Khris Middleton, Kyle Korver, and Mike Budenholzer. They all pretty much shared a mutual feeling about yesterday’s game, which all began with Miami’s star Jimmy Butler. Here’s what was said…

Post-Practice Comment #1:

Kyle Korver on the Heat, "A healthy respect and a healthy fear of our opponent. Nothing more than that."

— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) September 1, 2020

Kyle Korver gave Miami major props for yesterday’s win, saying “A healthy respect and a healthy fear of our opponent.” Kyle got his shooting going in the second half a bit, but the respect mechanism had to have come on the defensive side. Since Miami runs lineups late in games with a bunch of two-way guys, Kyle would have to face some tough match-ups. Also, it’s been pretty obvious that Milwaukee has had a bit of a “fear” against Miami, since they were the only team to slow down their star, Giannis Antetokounmpo, in the regular season. And well, that carried over into game one, which Miami held Giannis to 18 points. In my opinion, the “fear” was displayed throughout the night on Giannis’ free throws, which it showed that Miami was truly in his head.

Post-Practice Comment #2:

Khris Middleton, on how Heat are playing him and Antetokounmpo in the pick and roll, "Me and Giannis have seen this before. . . . They know what we like to do."

— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) September 1, 2020

The Khris Middleton and Giannis Antetokounmpo pick and role combo has worked pretty well this season, but Miami made sure to pounce on that early. Khris said, “Me and Giannis have seen this before…They know what we like to do.” That was led by Miami’s Jimmy Butler, since his defensive IQ kicked in throughout, which led to Miami shutting Khris Middleton down in the second half. You could also tell they got away from their pick and roll stuff early, when Khris began to get his one-on-one stuff going. As mentioned before, not only does Miami’s defensive success come from their physicality, it’s also the fact that they are slowly wearing down Milwaukee mentally.

Post-Practice Comment #3:

Khris Middleton, on stopping Jimmy Butler, "He's a great one-on-one player, and we allowed him to play one-on-one." Said team defense has to be better.

— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) September 1, 2020

Khris Middleton talked a little about trying to stop Jimmy Butler. He said, “He’s a great one-on-one player, and we allowed him to play one-on-one.” This was especially displayed down the stretch of the fourth quarter, when Jimmy told his teammates “I’m not passing.” He also mentioned that their team defense must be better to try and stop Jimmy. But, this is not Jimmy’s priority in these games. His first option will be to get his shooters going early, as he’s continually said all season, and if they aren’t hitting their shots then he will take over. If Milwaukee prioritizes stopping Jimmy Butler, he will have a field day by using his strength all game, which is his elite play-making abilities.

Post-Practice Comments #4:

Mike Budenholzer said said Eric Bledsoe (hamstring) did some work in practice today after sitting out Game 1.

— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) September 1, 2020

Mike Budenholzer quickly mentioned after practice today that Eric Bledsoe practiced a bit today. And since Milwaukee’s supporting cast struggled in game one, they will need Eric Bledose to add some scoring to their team upon his return. He will have a winnable match-up on the offensive side of the ball, since he will be able to take Goran Dragic off the dribble a lot. But, if Eric sits out game 2 as well, they will need yet another huge game for Khris Middleton, which seems like a lot to hope for.

Post-Practice Comment #5:

Mike Budenholzer, "Certainly I think we can be better on Jimmy Butler." Adds, "I think being better on both Butler and Dragic is probably where it starts."

— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) September 1, 2020

Mike Budenholzer also mentioned their defensive assignment of Jimmy Butler. He said, “I think being better on both Butler and Dragic is probably where it starts.” If you were looking at the stat sheet from game one, you would definitely agree. But if you watched the Heat all season, you may disagree. Although Duncan Robinson didn’t have a great game yesterday, that won’t last long. He has not had bad back-to-back games all season. And if Milwaukee keys on both Jimmy and Goran tomorrow, Duncan will likely explode like he usually does after a tough shooting game.