The Milwaukee Bucks have had their fair share of close games throughout the season. Sunday’s massive win over the Sacramento Kings was one of them as Damian Lillard’s clutch heroics saved the day for the Bucks.
It was a much different story on Wednesday, though, as Milwaukee got themselves totally dominated by the Cleveland Cavaliers, en route to their biggest loss of the season.
Milwaukee Bucks’ Brook Lopez Speaks Out on Clutch Moments
For veteran big man Brook Lopez, the former All-Star knows that it’s crucial that the Bucks go through these close games in order to build character. Notwithstanding that Wednesday’s blowout was a complete outlier for Milwaukee, Lopez is confident that the Bucks have what it takes to emerge victorious in such close encounters:
“We have a number of players who are just so great at what they do, we absolutely turn to them for those things (late in games), but it’s still been good for us just to see things we need to work on as a group and to have little hiccups here and there just to kind remind us that you need to keep working and building,” Lopez told Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “There’s nothing else like game experience and playing those close games and crunch-time situations just to figure things out. You can talk through so much stuff, say so many things, nothing’s going to replace that.”
I couldn’t agree with Lopez more. It also helps that the Bucks have Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, and Khris Middleton to turn to in these crunch moments.
The Two-Way Bucks
Lopez also harped on the importance of the Bucks finding their identity on both ends of the floor. Offensively, Milwaukee is one of the most dangerous teams in the entire NBA. They have, however, fallen off significantly in terms of being one of the most feared defensive units in past years.
“That general (defensive) belief is still there, especially down the stretch and stuff like that,” he said. “Obviously it’s tough to be great at one thing in this league. To be great at two things, specifically those two things that encompass the whole game, it’s almost, virtually unheard of. You can count the number of teams like that on one hand.
“But I think that’s absolutely something we’re still capable of. Offensively all the pieces are there. Defensively the pieces are there to a degree as well and we’ve shown flashes at times. There’s definitely that capability.
“That identity is there, in crunch time when you really need it – offensively or defensively.”
The Bucks will surely face a lot more adversity in the coming months, particularly when it comes to games that are decided in the final minutes/seconds. Brook Lopez is confident that his team is ready for these moments when they come.
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