What to expect from Doc Rivers in his first full season on the Bucks sideline

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It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

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Today's Lockdown Bucks, we take a look at the coaching career of Doc Rivers PERSON. We made a lot of mention of a full off season and training camp with Doc Rivers PERSON. How much an impact has that played in his previous teams? What can we expect to see for this Bucks team coming up next season? And also an under the radar surprising injury update that we were leveled with earlier this afternoon. We'll get to that.Coming up on the latest, Locked on Bucks WORK_OF_ART. You are Lockedon Bucks. You are Locked-on Bucks, your daily Milwaukee Bucks podcast, part of the Locked-on

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Podcast Network, your team every day.

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To Locked-on Bucks, I am Justin Garcia, joined by Camille Davis PERSON, and we thank you for making Locked-on Bucks, your first listen each and every day. It is free and available wherever you get your podcast. You can also view us on YouTube, as some of you are with the live component of today's show. Your team every day, and today's Lockdown Bucks is brought to you by Monopoly Go PRODUCT. We've got to talk about this new game, the fast-paced game that lets you team up with yourfriends for tournaments to unlock awesome prizes like unique stickers for trading, cool playing pieces and hilarious emojis for taunting your friends. Download Monopoly Go PRODUCT now free on Google Play or the App Store. Game on. Camille, we mentioned the injury piece of it. We'll get to that a little bit later, as it was very surprising to see that news come on. I think there's a lot of jokes that people have ready to fire off with that one.

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But I wanted to start this one today, as we kind of tease this a couple of days ago, taking a look at Doc Rivers PERSON and what to expect.

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I say year two, we've all kind of mentioned that, but I mean, it's really year one for Doc Rivers when you think about everything that he's going to have available to him this offseason. So we wanted to take a look back at the coaching career of Doc Rivers PERSON. This was actually the 25th season he was a part of as a head coach, the first one of those being a partial season, but 25 seasons now on the sideline for Doc Rivers PERSON. So took a look back at all of those stops, starting with the Orlando Magic, then the Boston Celtics ORG,the Clippers, the 76ers, and now the Bucks ORG, and anything that stood out from the offense or the defense. And I pulled together a chart with all of Doc's teams, the previous 24, I left off this Bucs team just because it was such a weird year. And here's what stood out to me. So 25 seasons, 24, if we're leaving off that bucks year DATE. In 13 of those, he had a top 10 defense. In 13 of those, he had a top 10 offense. In seven of them, a top five defense, six times he had a top five offense. But really,the first eight years of his coaching career, I'm not going to say you can throw him out. But to me, those were, you know, the ones that kind of his coaching career, I'm not going to say you can throw him out, but to me, those were, you know, the ones that kind of bring down the rest of those numbers. In year nine, that's when his Celtics won the NBA championship, being in the Lakers ORG in six games. In the previous eight seasons, the first day of his career, he made the playoffs three timesand lost in the first round in each of those series. But in fairness, he wasn't expected to win any of those series. So it was really starting with that title year with the Celtics ORG, where these numbers that we talked about the top 10 and the top five ratings, both offensively and defensively, that's when they all occurred. So in the final 16 years that Doc PERSON was a head coach,that's where you saw that 13 times out of those 16 years, top 10 defense, same with the offense. And to me, that's the big thing to point to is the defense,

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because we've heard him talk about this over and over during the season

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and initially in his end of season press conference as well repeatedly hammering home you can't win in this league at least to the levels that we want to get to with a defense that isn't good he cited a top 10 defense that's really the foundation of what we've seen from doc rivers even recently he's had some nice offensive teams but for the most part those clippers teams had pretty good offense when When the defense wasn't there, they weren't a very good team, losing to the Warriors, just as they were becoming the Golden State Warriors ORG, losing in thefirst round to the Jazz, losing in the first round to Damien Lillard's, Portland Trailblazers ORG, as well. And those were all teams that were outside of the top 10. And in the case of one of those years, in the bottom 10 defensively, when he's had a good defense and he had that in Philadelphia GPE, that's when we've seen his team at least reach the semifinals and go further in those years with the Boston Celtics ORG. So I look at all that and say, look, I get where he's coming from because, you know, we've talked about how good is your defense need to be.But Doc Rivers PERSON himself has experienced that. When he's had a good defense, his team's been pretty good.

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Yeah, I'm so glad that you went and dug through those numbers and framed it in that way because it's really interesting to look at with that lens, right? Because most people, first of all, I don't think they normally think of him as the coach of the magic. They just normally jump to those Celtics years, which I get. I get it. And even with those Celtics teams, to your point of how the first nine or so years DATE of his career kind of bring down the average, like you look at when he got to the Celtics in 2004, right?The first three seasons he had with them were really up and down. I remember people saying like he should be fired back in, like, 06 from that particular job. And you look at it, and they were, like, a bottom third defense throughout that time. And they also weren't a good offense. Like, those early Celtics ORG teams just weren't that good.And then you see that championship year where they had their first in net rating. Like, they had a top 10 offense and a top five defense, best defense in the league that year. Like the last was seven seasons there in Boston while he was there, they were a top seven defense accorded and cleaning the glass there. So while you mentioned defense has been a driving force behind some of his better teams. And then you look at like those Clippers teams and there were two years in there where the defense was not top 10, but they were sustained a bit by having a top 10 offenseduring those years as well. And then you look at Philly ORG, which those numbers surprise me, I guess, because, you know, when you're focusing on the Bucks and how we feel about Philly ORG sometimes, you're always like, you know, it's fools gold in Philly ORG, this so on and so forth. But what they were doing during the regular season in those with three years with Doc PERSON, like they were putting up some really good numbers, top 10 defensively for the most part.I think in 2021, 22, he was 11th in defense. So they just missed that top 10 mark, but they were top in the leading offense as well. Last year in particular, where they had a top 10 defense and a top five offense. Like, defense is something that Doc PERSON has talked about with this particularBugs ORG team and looking at the track record of some of his better teams and seeing how good they were defensively is really interesting. And it also makes you kind of wonder and think about, like, okay, what components of those teams made a good defense? Like the defenses all did not play the same way across these three different franchises.So it'll be really interesting to see what he can do with full planning in this offseason for this Bucks team, especially if you're bringing back Brooke Lopez PERSON with Janice PERSON as well. What does that defense look like for this team? How do you anchor it? What do you do to try to get the bucks to be a consistent top 10 defense goingforward next year? Because as we've seen in this playoffs as well, like when defense is really good, like it's game changing. Like we talked a bit about the Minnesota ORG game, I think might have been off air when we discussed it. But just watching how they swarm. And again, in a different way than what we've seen other teams do before as well with their three bigs.But the defense is going to be a big piece of the puzzle for the Bucks next season.

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And actually, there was one of those years. I think I said three. It was actually four years in those first eight years that they made the playoffs, but there was one year where they would have been expected to win as the three seed. And that's when they lost in the Indiana Pacers ORG. That was a very interesting series. And that was one of the years that prompted a lot of change that we've seen in just trades and everything else in the league.Because if you remember, actually, I don't know how much of it you remember, Camille. I'm older than you are. But that year, the Celtics traded Gary Payton to the Hawks ORG. And that's how they got, what I can't think of his name now. That was the trade that netted them. Boy, I'm really blanking great radio segment here.But nonetheless, the trade sent Gary Payton out of town. The Hawks waived Gary Payton immediately. Antoine Walker PERSON was the name I couldn't think of. That's how the Celtics got Antoine Walker PERSON. Hawks waived Gary Payton, and then Gary Payton promptly resigned with the Celtics, which you're no longer able to do. But that was one of the Celtics got Antoine Walker. Hawks waived Gary Payton, and then Gary Payton promptlyresigned with the Celtics, which you're no longer able to do. But that was one of the series where the Celtics worthy, higher seed and expected to win. They lost in seven games. And I think any Celtics fan still has that in their craw. And we'll tell you, man, it was not a great game six and seven from Paul Pierce PERSON. And that's really the reason why we lost that series. But yeah, it was it was minimized expectations for Doc Rivers PERSON early on in his career. And that, you know, we remember well as Bucks ORG fans.His second year, I believe it was in Orlando leading the magic into the playoffs and taking a game off the bucks in that first round series behind Tracy McGrady PERSON. Really, that was when he won coach of the year and prompted a big turnaround for the Orlando Magic. But they were a seventh seed that year. They were, I think, an eight seed the year after that, a six seed, I believe, and then the three seed as the Celtics ORG.So it was very, very low expectations through those first eight years. And, you know, I think the other part that people will tend to point to is something we'll get into quite a bit here on the other half of the break is the whole yeah, but that's attached to it. Well, yeah, the first eight years, you know, they're kind of the plucky underdog teams that Doc Rivers PERSON was coaching.And what changed in that 2008 year when they won the championship? A big trade.

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They became, yeah, the big trades that they made.

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And those were the kind of teams that Doc PERSON really attached himself to later on,

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which we've had that conversation with Phil Jackson PERSON and other coaches.

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It's kind of the chicken and the egg theory. But I think there are some big takeaways from Doc Rivers PERSON. And what we've seen especially defensively throughout his coaching career and some things we can look at for the bucks coming into this offseason here. So we'll take a look at some more of those numbers defensively. Camille mentioned some of those names too. And look, it's great to point out here's what they did.How can the bucks apply this going forward and what changes would you need to see maybe in the front quarter back court defensively with personnel for the bucks to carry over some of those. So we'll get into that conversation coming up here after the break on Locked on Bucks WORK_OF_ART. Well, this next segment of Locked on Bucks is brought to you by Yahoo Finance ORG when it comes to your financial future. You think you've done it all, you've saved, you've researched, you've invested all that you can. Now you need to take those investments to the next level by using what every financial great uses. Yahoo Finance ORG. For more than 25 years, Yahoo Finance has been the brand behind every great investor. Whether you're a seasoned investor or you're looking for that extra guidance, Yahoo Finance ORG gives you all the tools and data you need in one place. They are the number one finance destination,producing a holistic look at the financial news cycle, including breaking news, original editorial perspectives, analyst ratings, independent research, customizable charts, and so much more.Securely link your brokerage accounts for a unified view of your wealth, including 401k and other investments. A comprehensive perspective is what sets apart great investors, and it is how Yahoo finance ensures you have the insight to look at your wealth in its entirety. With a community of over 90 million users each month, their real strength is helping you on your way to financial success. For comprehensive financial news and analysis,visit the brand behind every great investor, Yahoofinance.com, the number one financial destination. Yahoofinance.com. That's Yahoofinance.com.

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This is Jake from Lockdown. Lockdown has teamed up with State Farm to spotlight some of the greatest supporting players in NBA ORG history. You know Michael Jordan won six NBA titles and Kobe won five titles with Phil PERSON Jackson running the triangle offense, but did you know that Phil didn't invent that offense? There's one man behind the scenes that helped Michael Kobe and Phil win 11 championships in a supporting role. His name was Tex PERSON Winter. As a Navy veteran serving in the Second World War, Tex returned to college at USC, where his coach Sam Barry PERSON taught him the triangle offense. As a coach, he worked his way through the ranks in college starting at Kansas State ORG and his assistant to Hall of Famer Jack Gardner. Tex would later become the head coach at Kansas State and wrote a bookabout the triangle offense. In 1985, Tex joined the Chicago Bulls ORG as an assistant and helped teach second year guard Michael Jordan how to run his triangle offense. Three years later, Phil Jackson became the head coach and the rest is history. Even legendary coach Phil Jackson PERSON needed someone like Tex Winter to support his team success. Sometimes you and I need that kind of support too. Think of State Farm ORG like a pivotal team player. When you need help protecting the things that matter most, remember the jingle and just say, like a good neighbor, State Farm ORG is there. And if you find yourself

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constantly reaching for the remote to turn down the volume due to all that screaming, you're hearing on Fox Sports or ESPN ORG, we have a solution for you. It is Yahoo Sports Today, a free 24-7 locked-on sports today, a free 24-7 sports streaming channel program for you every day to cover the biggest stories without all the screaming. Locked-on sports today brings you can't miss analysis, opinions and news streaming 24-7 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV PRODUCT channels app, part of the locked on podcast network, your team every day.So I think, look, it's not breaking news to any of us to suggest, hey, if the bucks want to turn things around, their defense is going to have to be good. We've kind of talked about this, and I think we can have more detailed conversations on this in the coming weeks once we start to get a better idea of how this roster is going to look, Camille. But, you know, especially as we record this moments after the New York Knicks just took down the Indiana Pacers, when you watch that game and you watch the way the Knicks play, I think if we're not there already, we're moving towards a spot where the reality is, Yonis probably has to be your five for maybe not your starter and the duration of the game, but at least for the most important stretches. We've seen that in closing time, but I think we're moving closer and closer to, well,this is just the way that you're going to have to play. So that's certainly going to be one thing that the books are juggling with. And look, the other big piece of it is, I think we heard Doc Rivers PERSON talk about this. We heard Chris Middleton PERSON talk about it. And we've heard Janice through the years talk about it when asked him, can you keep playing the style that you play with Brooke Lopez as your five?It's not meant as an attack on Brooke Lopez PERSON. We both love him. But just where the game is headed. Can you keep playing this way? And it was shot down by everybody, by Doc Rivers, by Chris Middleton after game six. But, you know, the big piece of it, if we want to remove any editorializing that any fans in the chats are going to do when you bring up the name, Brooke Lopez PERSON, is the age and the contract that, you know, you're going to have to start to prepare for life after Brooke Lopez.You can look at, well, who do you bring it to replace him? And I think we've gone through that exercise for years of what about this center? I just saw on the Buck subreddit, people suggesting, you know, Isaiah Hartenstein PERSON is a restricted free agent. I'd love to have him. Look, I would too.There is no chance. You're prying him away from the Knicks ORG, and you're especially not getting him in a trade. But I think the answer has kind of been in front of us all along, and that is not you're going out to secure another center out there to replace Brooke Lopez PERSON. The answer is in all likelihood you are replacing him with Janus and then who plays the four. That's what you're examining of replacements.

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Yeah, and the thing with that that's so, I want to say maybe tricky, is thinking about that because I remember the year when Brooke was hurt and Janice was forced to play a lot at the five. And he kind of bemoaned the fact of playing the five consistently, how much banging that is on your body to be the consistent center. And he's like, I miss Brooke PERSON being out there to kind of help shorter that load a little bit more. And thinking about that context of it and what comes at playing the five and thinking about his postseason comments here and I can be like maybe I have to change the way I play a littlebit. I don't know how true that's going to be for Janus PERSON and what he attempts to do in the offseason to tweak his game to try to help with the health of his body. But the idea of him playing the five seems like it might be counterintuitive to that, at least playing five for extended periods of time at the very least. I agree with you. Like I thought about that in the Pacer ORG series where I was like this would be a perfect series to go, Yonis at the five, go small, and you switch everything.You use that speed around that. And with Brooke Lopez PERSON, we've talked about it before as well. But if you don't have a good point of attack defenders when you're playing in drop coverage, it's going to make everything look a lot worse than what it really is because now you're putting your big in a situation where they have to try to be in two places at once consistently. Like every so often you might get a play where it's like, okay, I got to be in two places at once I need to respond.Let me do it. But when that's the situation, the entire game, you're just at an inherent disadvantage as it is. And on top of that, a lot of teams are getting better at shooting those floaters, those mid-range. You're seeing a lot more guys being effective on pull-up jumpers in the league nowthan what it was even five years ago. So the amount of people who can exploit drop coverage is starting to increase. So that's another piece of it as well where it's like, okay, if you're seeing more offensive players being more gifted and having more talent at scoring in the in-between range, which is in a drop coverage, generally your weak spot, what can you do about that?Which goes back again to your point of attack defenders, because if you're strong there, it helps out the rest of the defense. To the very least, you're funneling the guy to the right place on the floor where you don't have to force your big to be in two places at once. So next season, I definitely would love to see more Janus at five, but I just don't know if him at thefive for a long-term role is going to be in the cars for him. Like, I know Janus PERSON talks about doing whatever it is for the team, and I don't doubt that at all. And you might expect as he's age as a natural progression for him to kind of just move into that slot. But I do wonder what that would mean for like the health of his body as well of just keeping up for a whole season.

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That's always been the challenge is the wear and tear it's going to put on you. And I've kind of long said, I'm not a proponent of Janus playing the five for 82 games. But we may just be moving there. Again, with the roster constraints that the bucks have or what they're up against, I should say. And, you know, we've seen a few of the comments in this show during the playoffs to, I think a lot of times Brooke Lopez gets unfairly maligned by Bucks ORG fans and by basketball fans in general. Because of that point you just made, that it's point of attack defense.Is he a mobile switchable five? No, he never has been. And no one is suggesting he is or that's his strength. I understand that's where most of the league has moved to in playing defensively. It worked with Brooke Lopez when you had Drew Holiday PERSON. And it's not just Drew either, Camille, as we talked about, you know, somebody was just talking to me the other dayabout, man, how did the Bucks ORG defense drop off so much? And, you know, was it just Drew Holiday PERSON? And the answer is no, you know, it's not just Drew. I mean, you think back to Wesley Matthews. Well, it was a sub-zero that he was given you offensively, basically. That was not the case defensively.And we think about that was your back court. You were going to be limited offensively, especially in the half-court, as we saw in the postseason, but that was not going to be the case defensively. So you had very strong individual and team defenders on the perimeter that were assignment sure that weren't getting beat at the point of attackand that knew how to funnel into Brooke Lopez PERSON to clean all of that up.

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I mean, even you mentioned West Matthews, but also thinking about like George Hill,

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backup point guard thinking about Javon Carter PERSON. Like you had some defensive minded guys who were coming in. Like the office might have been a question, but the defense wasn't. Everybody's favorite, too, who we saw tonight, Dante DiVincenzo PERSON. I mean, you had much stronger defenders out there.So that was a big piece of it. I just think it was a team that, you know, we've had this conversation thousands of times. But after those first four games, there was a lot of confusion, and I think there was probably a lot of mistrust. And I keep going back to one of those comments that Bud shared with a handful of usa year or two ago in that, you know, the moment that these guys pointing to the players don't think you know what you're talking about or think they know more than you do,

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it's over, that there's no coming back from that. And it's hard not to think that's what we saw after those first four games

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where the team had to say, hey, we should play Brooke PERSON back here. We should do some of these things. And when that happens, you know, when the inmates are running the asylum, for lack of a better phrase, it doesn't tend to work out well. So the bucks are always kind of behind the eight ball. And I think that's a big piece of what we saw just kind of transfer into the season or through the rest of the season here.So, you know, look, we started kind of talking about Doc Rivers PERSON and his career. And I think the one other interesting thing to point out about Doc PERSON's career is I haven't done a deep dive into the wise. But by the numbers, Doc Rivers teams have been very good, especially defensively, his first year there. The second year, we see some pretty big regression. You go back to Boston, they were in the top 15, top half of the league.In defense, they were a top 10 offense. His second year, they dropped to nearly 20th offensively. They were 20th defensively. Then you go to the clippers. They were in the top 10 defense. They were the best offense in the league.The offense stayed number one in year two. Defense dropped down to the lower half of the league. And with Philly, 13th in offense, second in defense, they stayed about the same offensively, dropped out of 12th defensively. It was his final year in Philly ORG where everything seemingly clickedand they're in the top 10 in both of those areas. So that's been the interesting caveat. I would counter with, well, I think next year is technically going to be year number one for Doc

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River. So I think that's where you will see the immediate jump for this team. Yeah, this half of season is kind of like, I think we said like the audit year DATE where it's like, okay, like I kind of came in, got a little head jump on what the next season is going to look like. But again, coming into a team where you don't have a training camp, where you don't have time to really implement your system where everything's on the fly, you don't have your coaching staff. Like, it was a suboptimal situation to walk into and really try to put your imprint on what thisteam is going to be under yourself. Like, we saw the makings of what the dock rivers, Milwaukee Bucks will look like, but we never really got to see the full, clear picture of it throughout throughout the season in addition to those logistic challenges they had. They also had the injury misfortunes happened while he was at the rounds as the head coach here for the buck. So I agree.I think this next season coming up is going to be the one where you're looking like this is the first, like, true, true year of Doc Rivers PERSON. And we saw some things throughout the, you know, 35 games or whatever it was that he had in a regular season here with the team that you're like, I can see the direction that you're looking to go into. But is that going to be the same direction when you have a full off season?Or is this something that you just kind of had to do in the meantime, in between time, kind of, as we mentioned, the low-hanging fruit, clean this up, and then just focus on cleaning up and not even really implementing what you want to do. So I agree with you when you're talking about what this season looked like and how next year I really do see as, like, the true first year with Doc Rivers PERSON as the head coach. A lot of that's going to have to do with the roster.

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And again, these are conversations we will get into in much more detail as we get further along into the offseason and have a better idea of what to expect and what this team is going to look like. We're also going to get into some individual shows for some of those guys, especially the young players that you would figure the bucks are going to have to lean on or at least see some pretty linear progression fromnext season. And A.J. Green, Andre Jackson, Marjan, and my guy, Chris Livingston PERSON, we'll take some individual looks at them as well. And, of course, get into everything you need to know for free agency in the draft as we move closer to those. I mentioned there was some injury news, though, nothing to laugh at, but I think it caught all of us off guard. So we'll get you up to speed on that. And in Philly ORG went on what happened earlier tonight in those NBA ORG playoffs. We will do that in the final segment of the show comingup after this, Unlocked on the box WORK_OF_ART. All right, game off is we have to pause here to talk some more about Monopoly Go PRODUCT. I know what you're saying. Flag on the play. You guys already talked about that, but there's justso many good things in this game to discuss. In Monopoly Go PRODUCT, you can team up with friends for timed tournaments where you work together to build up each other's boards. The more you win together, the more awesome prizes you unlock. And there's so much more to get.You have unique stickers. You can trade those with friends to complete albums for big prizes. There are cool new playing pieces that you can travel the boards with and hilarious emojis you can use for taunting your friends when you smash their buildings or heist their vaults. Plus, Monopoly Go feels new and exciting every day because there are constantly changing tournaments and challenges. A ton include their own unique mini games like digging for treasure or a robot Pachinko machine. And there's always new timed events that help you win big likemassive multipliers for everything you win or rent frenzies. There is always something fun to discover in Monopoly Go PRODUCT. So get off the bench and go download it now. Free on Google Play or the app store. Game on. Hi, I'm Jake from Locked on. There's a

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lot to say when buying a new home or car, but really the first words you want to say are, like a good neighbor, State Farm ORG is there. And trust me, as someone named Jake PERSON, that is a fact. That's the phrase that will help you feel good knowing that you have people who could help you find the right coverage for the things you want to protect. Insurance doesn't need to be complicated with a State Farm agent. With so many coverage options, it feels good knowing you can find what fits you because your situation is unique. And State Farm ORG is there to help you feel supported with the coverage you need for your car, your home, and even boats, motorcycles, RVs, and otherthings that matter to you. And when you need ways to get help, don't yell or be angry because State Farm gives you options there too. In person or on the phone with your local agent or on StateFarm.com or their award-winning app StateFarm ORG lets you do things your way. So when you need help protecting the things that matter most, remember to say, like a good neighbor, State Farm ORG is there.

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And shouts to all of our everydayers that are continuing to stick there with us here in the offseason and out there in the live show as well in the comments. It's always a bummer to be watching playoff basketball and not seeing the Bucs ORG a part of that, especially when earlier tonight, Camille, we were watching the team that beat the Bucs in the second round.And I know it's locked on Bucks ORG. I don't want to divert too much. But what have been your takeaways from this series, albeit just two games? But two games into this series with the Knicks ORG, these have been very good games.I don't want to sound like a poor sportier. But I had some serious questions about this Pacers ORG team, even after beating the bucks and wondered, I don't know how good they are and how much of it was injuries. They outplayed the bucks, but how much of that was injuries?When I watched this series, I don't know, maybe the Pacers ORG are better than we gave them credit for.

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Oh, I thought that you were going to tell me you've been at home, scream at your TV, like expose these frauds to the Knicks ORG or something like that. But no, I mean, that's something. I think the Pacers ORG are a bit better than some have given them credit for, like even going into that series. It was very widely just expected for the Knicks ORG to win the series.And I was seeing that. And I was like, are we sleeping on the Pacers ORG a little bit too much in the series? Not giving them the proper respect. And I think part of it was Tyrese Halliburton PERSON and not knowing his injury status as well. We saw tonight game two had a much better game, at least in the first half, second half, wasn't able to get as much offense off. But what stood out to me is we've had the conversations about resting guys and so on and so forth.And we always make jokes about Tom Tippett PERSON, though, coach teams, like, they're just going to play. They're going to get big minutes. Josh Hart PERSON doesn't even know what a bench looks like anymore at this point.

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And that's what's still up to me because when I saw Jalen Brunson PERSON get hurt, I was like, okay.

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If the Knicks don't have Brunson PERSON, like, that changes the equation big time for them. So, like, you got if the Knicks don't have Brunson PERSON, like, that changes the equation big time for them. So, like, you got to hope that he's okay. And then you see OG PERSON pull, like, his hamstring towards end of the game as well. And you're like, these injuries are starting to pile up. They're already without Mitchell Robinson PERSON.So my mind went to, are there Pacers ORG going to be in a position again where you can only play who's in front of you? So that is what it is. But you just so happen to run into a team not at full strength, missing some key guys, and how will that help? But the Knicks ORG being able to maintain home court advantage and win both of those games were huge for them coming out, especially with the injuries that they're facing right now.

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I'm also old enough to remember growing up with the Knicks Pacers ORG playoff series. And obviously the one memorable one, the Reggie Miller PERSON barrage that he had in the close of that game. So in some sense, it's all right. I get to see Nick's Pacers ORG again. Also, the Pacers ORG have worn the, I think it's their icon jerseys, the yellow, everysingle game, this playoffs, all eight games. So I don't know what that is. As we saw the Pacers and Bucks ORG wear the same jerseys for every game in their series and on the Pacers have worn those yellow ones in each of these two games. But yeah, that's, I mean, that's going to be the interesting thing in the easy spot to pile on the Pacers is what's the status for Ogen, Nogh, and O'GNobie, and for Jalen Brunson in game three as it shifts back to Indiana ORG.But yeah, I, again, they beat you. So you can't lean on the coulda, what, or shoulda. You have to give credit to the Indiana Pacers ORG. I had very low expectations for them in this series. And it's forced me and I'm sure many others to kind of reevaluate. Maybe this Pacers ORG team is actually better than we gave them credit for.Not so much defensively. We've seen some more of those flaws tonight, but especially on the offensive end of things. Speaking of offense and defense and energy, the pace that the Pacers ORG play at, you think of that energy with the Nasus PERSON. And that was the injury news that came out earlier today, the Nasus PERSON with an Achilles injury.I think it was a ruptured Achilles, right? I don't know how or when this happened. I'm sure there are a lot of jokes to be made out there of did he donate the Achilles to Janus? Was that injury more severe than we thought? But the Nasus PERSON with a very, very rare this early into the offseason injury. And I mean, look, we touched on this towards the end of a show earlier this week. It's tough for Thanasis PERSON because he's a free agent.And there's always going to be the pushback of, you're going to move on from Thanasis PERSON. Why is he taking up a roster spot? We went over that with it. It's the 15th spot. You can't overlook Thanassas PERSON as a teammate,all of those things. But it's unfortunate because he is a pending free agent, especially not pending he is, but where the bucks are with their roster filling it out, cap situation. I don't know if you're going to give him the veterans minimum to stick around to rehab. Maybe they do.You know, maybe that's part of the Yannis package, but that complicates things. And, you know, also, then Assis PERSON is older. And there were rumblings, too, of maybe, you know, he's carved out his own niche in the podcasting sphere, and he's starting to move on to media.Maybe he's ready to move on from the game and do that. So injuries like this, they're very tough to come back from. We've seen a number of athletes deal with the Achilles late in their career. It is never given that you're going to come back and certainly be the same, but come back at all. So best wishes to Thanassus on a speedy recovery, but very, very unfortunate news to hear earlier today.

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Yeah, you never want to hear about somebody rupturing their Achilles. You don't want to hear about Achilles injuries because in your mind you automatically think like that's almost like a year out. Like you're like that's a season missed for the most part. And for Thanassas PERSON, he happens to have an Achilles injury at a very interesting time because he's entering free agency. And I think back to last year, when before he signed back with Milwaukee on the one-year deal, where he mentioned he was thinking about leaving to go somewhere to have an opportunity to play.And there were jokes about that at that time as well. But like we mentioned about what NASS brings to a team, he is a great, like, end-of-the-bench rotational guy in that sense because he's going to bring the energy. He's going to be consistent. He's going to be a good teammate. So now you're in a position where you have a very severe injury right before you're looking to sign with another team.So I don't know what the summer looks like for the NASS and what that means for the Bucks ORG as well. But we'll have to see. But like you said, more than anything, just wishing him well, wishing a speedy recovery, wishing a full recovery on Thanassas PERSON as well as he tries to come back from this injury.

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Cue the jokes of the Knicks or the Lakers or the Heat about to sign Finassus PERSON to get

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the inside leg and eventually bringing Janus PERSON into town.

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I'm sure we'll start to hear that. But yeah, very surprising news and unfortunate news for TA because, as you mentioned, you suffer an Achilles injury

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at this point on the calendar. It is all but a given. You are not playing at all next season. So now he's right back in the same spot in a year older next offseason. There are questions about offseason in general and free agency, discourse,trades, all of that. We are going to get into that to answer some of those questions. Now is not necessarily the time for it. We also need a lot more clarity on what happens across the league to have a better gauge on who is going to be available. Granted, what the bucks have to give is very, very limited. But there's still a lot of interesting things out there, Camille. I mean, you think about this postseason is so fascinating because it seems like this has the potential to be the playoffs that was the full on changing of the guard.It has been a lot of youth served in this postseason. What the Oklahoma City Thunder did throughout the season is the one seat. And now winning game one against the Dallas Mavericks ORG. Look at Donchitz PERSON doesn't look healthy. And that doesn't bode well for the Mavericks ORG. So we could be looking at an Oklahoma City Thunder, Minnesota Timberwolves ORG,conference finals in the West. I think it's safe to say we can pen in the Boston Celtics ORG on one

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half of the bracket in the Eastern Conference. But I mean, look, to your point, maybe the Pacers ORG,

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especially if those injuries are there, the Pacers could very well be the 2021 Atlanta Hawks ORG.

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And that's the team that you look up and think,

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man, that team reached the conference finals. So we've seen a lot of new faces and a lot of youth out there in this postseason. And I make that point when I say we have to wait for the playoffs to end. If for no other reason, then what it means for some of these teams. You know, like we thought, let's go back 12 months ago. I think everybody was talking themselves into, well, Denver ORG's here to stay. Denver is going to start to build a dynasty with the way that their roster is situated.What if the Denver Nuggets get swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves? And then all of a sudden, that becomes more of a, are we sure about this? So that's how much things can change year to year and series to series. So that's why we say, we got to wait for the playoffs to end just to get a better sense on who might be available and what teams are going to have to say, look, this didn't work. We got to do something differently. So those are some of the questions that need to be answered before you can really get into projecting what the offseason is going to bring.

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Yeah, and really quick before we get out of here, just thinking about you bringing that up with the Nuggets ORG. Like if the Nuggets do so happen to lose this series against the Timberwolves ORG, I talked about this on TechFile ORG earlier, but if anybody wins besides Denver ORG, we're going to have our six different NBA champion in six seasons,and that's something that hasn't happened in the NBA since the 70s. Like the level of parity, like just how many teams are in a position right now where they're like, we're here for the championship and you're seeing how it's switching year after year after year here. So like if Denver ORG doesn't win it, another new champion here, like it's interesting what that sets up as well because there are so many teams that think they're really closeto being a championship contending team so to your point about waiting until the playoffs are over. People need to see how these teams flamed out and then they're going to have to do a re-evaluation of who's on their teamand what actually works around the pieces that they want to build around. So it's going to be a lot to take a look at once the playoffs end here, especially if the different nuggets do not find a way to come back in this series, which feels kind of unlike losing two at home off bat. I don't know. The way they did too, losing two at home

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and losing two at home, especially game too, the way that they did, I'm not ready to speak in absolutes yet, but it's starting to feel like the Minnesota Timberwolves have that look. And sometimes you arrive on the scene earlier than anticipated. We see it's just there, right? And it is starting to get that stanch around the Minnesota Timberwolves. So, yeah, so those are the things we need to see shake out herebefore we can really start to dig into the offseason. And you mentioned the potential for six different champions in six years. You know, I heard a very prominent podcaster earlier today on his recent show, basically saying, you know, none of the previous five champions, it wasn't really legitimate titles except for the Warriors ORG juggernaut. And ironically enough, the Boston Celtics in 2008. So we may be headed there once more.We've got a lot that we've planned and are still starting to finalize for this upcoming off season, which again is unfortunately long that we have five months to start to preview the next season for the Bucks ORG. But I think we're going to have some guests on. And as I mentioned, we're going to take a look at players on an individual basis, especially of those young guys and what we can expect in terms of their development,what role they could potentially fill for this Bucks ORG team, especially once we get past the draft process and free agency and start to get a better hold of what this Bucks ORG roster is going to look like. And we're still sorting through one of the ideas that you had, Camille, to try to mix things up a little bit here in the off season and take a look back at some previous events in teams and et cetera. So a lot coming up here, not just Camille and I bantering about the games that were played in the playoffs that didn't include the bucks and plowing over the same piece of grass, what, for five months here. So we do have a lot in store for this upcoming off season. And I think, I hesitate,look, I'm not going to say it's going to happen, but I think we all kind of felt pretty good that if the bucks were in the conference finals, we were definitely going to revisit the event that we did a year ago over the summer at a broken bat brewery. I do know at least one of our compadres is itching to do that once more. So no promises, but we are trying to work out some logistics to see if we can get all parties back into Wisconsin and do another one of those events this summer.Considering we got nothing but time to put it on. So all of that, as we mentioned a lot that we're finalizing and getting to, but a lot to look forward to this offseason here on Locked on Bucks WORK_OF_ART. We'll be back once again with another show tomorrow. And speaking of those Minnesota Timberwolves ORG, that is going to be the game when we're previewing that next show, tomorrow's show.They will be playing that night, game three, to see if they'll go up three games to none. And again, if that happens, then the postseason becomes very, very interesting for all teams. If we do start to see maybe this is the youth movement and changing of the guard. And what does that mean for all teams?Because the last point I'll make here, Camille, and we kind of joked about, man, I don't know how long we're going to be able to go. And yet here we are approaching 45 minutes again. Look, we're a long way from getting there. If the Timberwolves or the Oklahoma City Thunder ORG win the championship or at least get to the finals,I think you're going to see a lot of teams. We've had these conversations about the bucks, but I think you are going to see a lot of teams start to say what we have set for the last three years. Got to reshape this.We got to get younger. We got to get more athletic. So that's going to be even more of a challenge. It's not just going to be the bucks saying, hey, how do we trade up from this to this? I think that is going to be a league-wide referendum. And it may already be there, but especially if one of those two teams breaks through.

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Absolutely. Because everybody's watching the same thing. Like, everybody's seeing what's happening, so everybody's probably getting the same ideas. Like, it's a copycat league. We saw that when the Warriors ORG had their dominance and everybody thought the answer was going, everybody needed to have a small ball lineup. Like, that was what everybody was trying to do.So if you're seeing whatever the trend is in the league and you're like, okay, we need to lean more on some young guys. Like, I also do wonder what that will do to the free agency market as well. Like if people are all trying to get younger and more athletic, what do some of the contracts for some of those older bets start to look like? Like, do we see more bet minimums? Do we see more young guys get an opportunity?Like, it's going to be really interesting to take a look at. All right.

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We will be back once again tomorrow to lead you into the weekend. For Camille, I'm Justin PERSON. Thanks. Stay everybody for tuning in to Lockdown Bucks.

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A Prime members, you can listen to this Lockdown podcast ad free on Amazon Music ORG. Download the Amazon Music app today.