[zcnumerounoParticipant]

 Wow. What a difference a few days make. Ask me last week, and I would have told you pretty confidently that the Bucks were two games away from being swept. Now? ‘Bucks in 6’ chants filled the Bradley Center over the last two wins.

What’s the difference? 

1) Coaching Adjustments: I still don’t think Prunty is a championship-caliber coach, but I have to give him credit for making the necessary adjustments. For far too long, Bucks fans have complained of the untapped potential of its defense. The Bucks utilized a perplexing blitzing/trapping system that was easily exploited by the good offenses of the NBA. Despite great length and athleticism throughout the team, Milwaukee refused to switch. Ever. The last two games, Prunty has utilized a lot of switching to great success.

2) Rotation Mix-Up: I’m not one ever to cheer for an injury (especially for my own team), but the Henson injury has been a blessing in disguise for the Bucks these last two games. Thon, despite struggling mightily over the regular season, has shown up and has looked like Dikembe on the defensive end and has stretched the floor like a Channing Frye on the offensive end. Playoff Thon is real. Delly has been great, also, and has provided nice play and energy off the bench.

3) The Bench: The foursome of Thon/Delly/Parker/Snell has been incredible. They need to keep bringing energy off the bench for the Bucks to have a chance on winning the series.

4) The Bradley Center: Chills. The Bradley Center has been electric. It has been a terrific atmosphere and the players are clearly feeding off of it.

Where now?

– Play Delly more. The offense is so much more crisp with him out there. Bledsoe is head and shoulders more talented than Delly, but Delly is playing better. His energetic play, his headsy passing, his barely-legal screens, his shooting, his championship-winning plays that made him a fan-favorite in Cleveland is HUGE for the Bucks. He and Thon changed the series. Sidenote: I’ve been scrolling through Twitter, and I laugh out loud every time someone calls Delly overrated. First off, he may not be the most talented player, but he’s a great role player. Secondly, no one is comparing him to Westbrook? So how is he overrated?

– Refuse the temptation to play Henson — at least until absolutely necessary. Thon, Giannis, and Zeller at the 5 has worked.

– Keep Parker engaged defensively. He was remarkable defensively (not just for him, but for NBA standards) last game. If he keeps this up, while playing well offensively, only good things will happen.

– Keep the energy and the new-found defensive scheme/focus.

– Keep the rotation mostly the same. This 9-man rotation has done wonders for the Bucks. The less Jason Terry has to play, the better.

Anyone believing in Bucks in 6?

 

[SwatLakeCityParticipant]

At the beginning I believed Bucks would win this series but in 7 games not 6. I still stand by that. Celtics missing Kyrie for the entire playoffs is going to come back to haunt them and cost them the first round. Should be fun to see Giannis go up against Simmons in Round 2. I expect Philly to win game 5 on Tuesday and take the series thus advancing to Round 2.

[ChewyParticipant]

 It really depends on matchups. Boston has run that Baynes/Horford combo at times and it is just unfair to expect that Jabarai can guard Al in the post. Complete mismatch.

But when Jabari had to guard Morris, he looked much better defensively. Not great, but not a liability either.

 

[HobbyOGParticipant]

 Wouldn’t surprise if the Bucks and Wizards pulled off upsets to win thier series. 

[OhCanada-Participant]

 These are good teams that just needed a bit of adversity to get going. The Wizards are stacked if they beat the Raptors I’d be upset but they would have nothing to be embarassed about. The last time Toronto played these guys they got swept. Same core group with Wall, Beal, Gortat, Porter. Also the Wizards advance past the 1st round every year. They are serious East contenders despite thier contraversy. I still think nobody is gonna win a road game and Raps in 7 but at the same time I had Washington winning the East in the preseason.

[Andrew1984Participant]

 I would be surprised if Boston wins this series. You can only survive for so long without your top-tier talent. If they were going to do it, they’d have had to wrap it up quick. The longer the series goes, the harder it is to continue to compensate for the absence of foundational players.

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