Big Bucks
Milwaukee has been known for a few things through the years.
It was the place made famous in those great Miller Lite commercials in the 1970s. The Brew Crew – called Harvey’s Wallbangers by some – with Yount and Cecil Cooper and a slew of characters were in the 1980s. So were the very good Bucks, who like the Hawks were never good enough to topple the Celtics or 76ers before the Pistons became Bad and MJ became the GOAT. Heck, there was the great “Wayne’s World” scene when Alice Cooper breaks down the Native American definition of the name Milly-Walk-KAY, which as we all know now is Algonquin for “The Good Land.”
This morning, it’s known as the home of the NBA champs.
And the home of Giannis Antetokounmpo. Known as the Greek Freak because of his unicornian combination of traits and skills, Giannis was the best player on the planet in the six games the Bucks needed to best the Suns.
There’s a lot to get to with him, because what he just completed was incredible, in terms of numbers and nature, even if an incredibly low number of folks saw it. (Side note: While it will be a day or so before the clinching Game 6 numbers are in, the TV ratings for the critical Game 5 were dreadful. Saturday night’s 4.8 rating with 9.62 million viewers was down 55% from 2019’s Game 5 between the Warriors and Raptors. It’s the least-watched, non-bubbled Game 5 since Spurs-Nets in 2003.)
And while we’re here, much will eventually be made about Chris Paul losing his last best chance to win a ring. The Suns were up 2-0 and a lot of us were thinking Sweep. (Congrats JTC who had a) Giannis playing and b) Bucks winning before the series.)
And the career shortcomings in terms of titles will haunt CP3, but Tuesday he balled, finishing 11-of-19 for a team-high 26. Sidekicks Devin Booker (8-of-22 and bagel of 7 from distance with six turnovers) and Deandre Ayton (4-of-12, only six boards in 36 minutes) were really bad.