Damian Lillard’s deep vein thrombosis: what is next for Bucks after diagnosis
Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo were the highest duo of the NBA for most of the season. It does not matter what he was going wrong around the Milwaukee Bucks, coach Doc Rivers and the entire organization would indicate how well their two stars perform well how much he would mean bringing them to healthy health.
That’s why the news on Tuesday evening that Lillard will be Outside indefinitely with a deep vein thrombosis (Blood Clot) In the right calf is particularly devastating for the team’s prospects. This season was built around the idea of getting the most possible from the nine-time partnership all-star point guard and antetokounmpo. With only three and a half weeks at the beginning of the playoffs, the dollars will have to change things on the fly.
In the 13 games that Lillard has lost this season, Milwaukee is only 8-5. Digging more in the data in the data, to clean the glass, formations that do not present Lillard were more 3.9 points per 100 possessions in 2,453 possessions. While those formations fought offensively (114.9 points per 100 possessions, 54th percentile), compensated with a strong defensive effort (111.0 points per 100 possessions, 81th percentile).
Laying their defense will almost certainly have to be the path of the dollars without their guard of superstar points. From the All-Star break, they struggled strongly in the offensive end, publishing the 18th best offensive evaluation of the NBA in the last 18 games. During the same stretch, however, they published the third best defensive score of the League.
“Really, I don’t care about the offense,” said Antetokounmpo after the loss of 108-106 of the Bucks to the Phoenix Suns on Monday. “I don’t care about the offense because we can score the ball and win the game again. We have to play defense. This group, we have time. We have 11 games. We have time to continue playing together, continue to understand how we want to play with each other, mutual points.
“I think, as a team, we just have to focus on our competition mentality for 48 minutes, because it is the only way we have a possibility. We are a great team. We are a very long team. We play quickly. We have people who can score the ball, but we have to put everything together.
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After raising the idea of bad wins, Antetokounmpo crossed a mental Rolodex of scores of the previous playoff efforts, in particular convening the 86-83 victory over Brooklyn’s nets In match 3 of the second round of the Bucks during the 2021 championship race.
“We have a team that can deceive the game,” said Antetokounmpo. “We can be more physical. We can push the guys out of their points. … As long as we find a way to win the game, it’s all that matters.”
Without Lillard, the Bucks will have to lean on that identity and have already started doing it in the last three games. While Kevin Porter Jr. has been spectacular since he joined the team, Rivers showed little interest to move him to the initial training, opting instead for Ryan Rollins.
“He only starts with a defensive presence,” said Rivers before Monday’s match at Phoenix. “Putting the greatest number of shots around Giannis (possible) is always important and Ryan is an excellent shooter. Defensive, Ryan is exceptional.”
If the Bucks plan to lean on a stronger defensive identity without Lillard, as suggested by Antetokounmpo, Rollins will play a significant role. Throughout the season, the Bucks have been better defensively when they had a strong defender at the attack point willing to collect the opponents in full courtyard. Rollins has shown why this makes the difference in the last three games.
“Obviously, nobody will be Dame but Dame,” said the Bucks Brook Lopez center when Rollins asked him. “He did an excellent job coming, being himself and finding a niche, which as a ladder, only he can do. It is specifically Ryan. He comes out there and makes the difference on his way. He puts himself in guys, defends them fully, collects 94 feet.”
Rollins has transformed its pressure into thefts and blocks that can help dollars come out.
“Play in the right way, he observes a lot of films, talks a lot with (Bucks Rajon coaching consultant) Rondo,” said Antetokounmpo. “He listens to us. He plays in the right way. He plays with a lot of energy. He collects the guys across the board, he turns them two, three times before they arrive in the middle of the field. They are attacking at 17 or 14 (seconds). This is his job. He includes his job.
“He helped us all this season, and every time he is called his number, he is always ready to leave. And now he will be able to play multiple games, more minutes, and I think he is mentally preparing for that. So, yes, I love playing with him.”
Rollins played only 578 minutes this season, but has one of the best clear assessments of the team. With Rollins on the ground this season, the Bucks exceeded the opponents of 5.7 points per 100 possessions with an offensive evaluation of 117.2 (72nd percentile) and a defensive evaluation of 111.5 (78th percentile). These numbers can decrease if Rollins continues to play against the appetizers of the other team, but if Rivers are trying to build a more coherent defensive identity, it would make sense to continue starting Rollins.
But Rollins will not only be in an attempt to replace Lillard’s production. Rivers will also rely on Porter, who has put on strong individual offensive numbers since he joined the Bucks on the commercial deadline, contributing to strong defensive units. The Milwaukee formations with Porter exceeded the opponents 3.2 points per 100 possessions with an offensive evaluation of 113.8 (49th percentile) and a defensive evaluation of 110.6 (84th percentile).
Ryans’ defensive ability and Porter makes the desire for Antetokounmpo to “confuse” games without Lillard as a practicable strategy.
Porter tends to be more a risk than Rollins defensively. While Rollins works to transform a leading guard two or three times into the backcourt, Porter will look for opportunities to skip the passage lanes or create a turnover as a defender of help in half -field situations.
Now, the Bucks will have to see if they can both have an impact by playing against a higher level of competition, since they will probably play against beginners more often than they have done with Lillard on the floor.
If Porter cannot be prosperively thrive in a broader role, the Bucks will have to find a way to transform its impressive 48.2 percent tires of 48.2 percent, 52.3 percent from medium-sized, 43.9 percent from 3-a a more useful driver of the team’s offensive success. With his ability to create dribbling, Porter could be a sort of offensive engine, but he will ask him to do a little more and regain a little of what he did when he was with the Houston Rockets.
“Individually, this is what I do,” said Porter when he was asked to take on a larger load without Lillard after Bucks’s 114-108 victory over the King Sacramento. “I had the luxury of being option n. 1 in a team before, so the pressure and everything else, I nose. My guys trust me to play games and be me, and I trust them to do their shots and do the same, so there is a lot of confidence in this team.”
In order for the dollars to remain competitive for the near future, trust will be a necessity. Rollins and Porter are not Lillard, but so far they have put together strong seasons in small size of champions and Milwaukee must understand how to maximize their talents. The way Bucks will play to change radically, but if their players and strategies are distributed correctly, they can still find a way.
(Photo: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
