After being labelled a heavy favourite to make it to the NBA finals this season, the Bucks got outplayed in the first 3 games of the series. In the aftermath of a disappointing early playoff exit, the big question of WHAT IS NEXT for the Bucks will definitely take the front end in the days and weeks to come.
So what went wrong for the Pacers? Other than the fact that the Heat are playing one of their best basketball in recent years, I think Oladipo is still not 100% and young big man Myles Turner didn’t really step up when Sabonis went down. Granted that injuries were beyond McMillan’s control, the rest of the roster underachieved and pretty much-made things easy for the Heat and this may have caused management to make the painful decision to let the Pacers head coach walk.
Keeping players confined in hotels inside the bubble packaged with stringent measures of testing, practice schedule blocks and team service routines allowed the 22 teams to get back in shape, complete the scrimmages and eventually restart the 2019-2020 season without a hitch.
The contenders look solid. The Los Angeles Clippers, Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks look very sharp. The Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers tune up also gave us a good glimpse of their playoff hopes.
There are a few notable absentees in the Orlando Wide World of Sports campuses such as Avery Bradley of the Los Angeles Lakers (declined to return to the bubble), Russell Westbrook (temporary out due to COVID-19), Trevor Ariza of the Portland Trailblazers (who, like Bradley, declined to return to the bubble), and almost half of the Brooklyn Nets roster due to injuries and infections.
I believe the PBA has a right to know what they need to do to improve the quality of games in the league and coach Tab should have aired his concerns in the proper channels and not through media. I do, however, believe that his comments have merit and were delivered with the intent of improving our craft as a basketball hotspot in Asia.
Too many modified quarantine rules on the national and LGU level, too many protocols in business, schools, and sports. Please don’t get me wrong but I know that all these measures are put in place to make sure the country doesn’t blow up with new COVID cases.
Discussions about simply jumping outright to the playoff rounds with the current top 16 teams or to bring back the top 20 or so clubs that have a chance to still make the knockout stages. It doesn’t look like all 30 teams will be asked to come back. It’s a possible end of the season for, at most, 10 NBA teams as league and team representatives go around the plans to revive the season.
