Milwaukee Bucks: 3 things to watch for in Game 2 against Miami Heat
By Adam McGee
Milwaukee Bucks: 3 things to watch for in Game 2 against Miami Heat – Making sense of the rotation
Whether it was a very brief cameo for Frank Mason III, or Wesley Matthews finding himself rooted to the bench as Jimmy Butler torched Milwaukee down the stretch, Mike Budenholzer’s rotation choices were stranger than ever in Game 1.
Of course, that is certainly in part attributable to the absence of Eric Bledsoe, and the knock-on effect that losing him has given the Bucks’ relative lack of quality backcourt depth.
The Bucks will be desperate to have their starting point guard back for Game 2, allowing them to slot into something closer to their regular rotation patterns, but in spite of participating in some of the basketball activities in Tuesday’s practice, Bledsoe is officially listed as questionable.
Giannis Antetokounmpo’s minutes will likely come in for greatest scrutiny, although his 37 minutes in Game 1 was far from insignificant given the foul trouble he had to deal with. Barring that, it’s reasonable to project that Giannis would have ended up playing over 40 minutes, as many have long called for.
More pressing as a concern is how some of the other key spots in the rotation will play out. Even with his own foul trouble, Brook Lopez should have played more than his 27 minutes of action. Given how Marvin Williams struggled guarding Bam Adebayo, Robin Lopez likely should have had some backup minutes too.
If Bledsoe remains out, Budenholzer has to settle on a backcourt rotation and stick to it. If he thinks Frank Mason is needed to get a more natural ball-handler on the floor in reserve spells, he should fully commit to that rather than giving him two random first quarter minutes. Likewise, decisions have to be made on how Donte DiVincenzo and Pat Connaughton’s minutes should be made up ahead of time.
As for Matthews, it would be unthinkable for him not to be glued to Butler throughout crunch time for the rest of this series, although that should have been apparent to begin with.