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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: RAPTORS VS. BUCKS

May 23, 2019

Mike Budenholzer

Milwaukee, Wisconsin - Pregame 5

Q. Just with Eric and Giannis making the All-Defensive Team and Giannis on the First Team, just how deserving are those two of those honors?
MIKE BUDENHOLZER: Couldn't be happier for both Eric and Giannis to be First Team All Defense. Just talk about that for a quick second first. We've wanted that to be our identity. We've talked about it. The players are probably so tired of talking about defense. But to have -- I think it reflects on our team, and I think the defensive efficiency, which is something we look at, we've been the top team to finish the season. So what Eric does at the point of attack to disrupt and bother and take on the best players in the league is just so unique and special.

And then Giannis kind of on the back end of it, again, another guy that can guard lots of different positions and players and just get rebounds, block shots. I could talk about defense all night. We don't have to take another question. And Giannis as a First Team All-NBA, just an incredible season. He's more focused on tonight and getting ready to go, but I think it's good just to take a quick second and congratulate them and just recognize a special year from those guys.

Q. Just coming off the past two games, do you plan to change the starting lineup in any way for tonight?
MIKE BUDENHOLZER: We're still evaluating and thinking about it. We'll probably know before tip-off.

Q. You've seen Giannis get doubled a lot in the post. I'm curious how you felt about how he's handled it, and is there any thought that you guys can do it better? It seemed like, as that game went on in Game 4, you guys kind of shied away from trying to get him post entry.
MIKE BUDENHOLZER: I thought we did better in Game 4. I thought we got good looks, good opportunities, our spacing, just relations to each other and relations to the double-team. It's interesting because we really -- I guess it kind of comes and goes. We don't post up that much. We don't post him up that much. As special and unique as he is, we put him in a lot of other spots more, but certainly we do it occasionally, and they pretty much, I think from Game 1, just kind of outright double-teamed him.

I think we're getting better, and Giannis is getting better. So we'll sprinkle it in, and I feel like we're creating some good opportunities out of it, but, again, it's not something we do a lot, so probably see about the same amount of it going forward.

Q. Can you tell me what role you think experience plays, the fact that some of your guys have never been in this spot before? You've dropped two in a row for only -- you know, you don't do that very often. What role does that play in maybe not having been there before?
MIKE BUDENHOLZER: I think this team has -- you know, I think thrown the experience card out the window to some degree. That was a question in the first round, a question in the second round, the regular season. So I think this group has a great belief in itself. I think they're looking forward to tonight. You know, experience is always a good thing, but the only way you get it is by being here and playing and thriving and embracing it. So I think we're -- our group's excited to play tonight.

Q. Eric Bledsoe has been such an important part of what you've done all season, sort of a rough start to this series. A lot of the guys were talking about just supporting him and talking him through that. How's the last couple of days been, I guess, and what are you expecting from him tonight?
MIKE BUDENHOLZER: Yeah, it's great to see the players rally around Eric or just everybody. I think it's a very together group, and I think we're all expecting Eric to play well. It's kind of a law of averages. It's going to change, and it's going to flip. I think he's going to play well, make shots, impact the game on both sides of the ball. I think his teammates are looking forward to that, as all of us are.

Q. Just kind of building off that question, why do you feel like Bled has trouble offensively throughout this series and really the entire postseason?
MIKE BUDENHOLZER: I think the shooting is the thing that just -- he's got to make some shots. He knows that. We all know it. And I think he's probably got to get to the basket and see a few go in. He's gotten to the free throw line some. You can't underestimate what he's done defensively in the playoffs. It's just -- you know, I think to focus on just what he -- you know, maybe where he could be better as opposed to also giving a lot of credit for what he's done to date defensively and what he'll do again tonight. I think he gets a couple to fall, drop, he's going to be good.

Q. With Bled, he's avoided those mid-range jumpers for a lot of the year. He's focused on attacking the paint, shooting threes. Do you feel like, when he kind of settles for those long twos, that that's kind of evidence of him maybe trying to do too much or kind of falling out of rhythm?
MIKE BUDENHOLZER: No, for as much as we've emphasized what you've described, getting to the paint and finishing or threes, he and a few others still throughout the season would shoot some pull-up twos and things like that. I think in the playoffs you're going to have to make some of those as defenses get better and better, and you need players that can maybe make some twos.

So I haven't noticed, at least in this series or the playoffs, like him settling or shooting more than he would kind of fall into in the regular season.

Q. Just talking about the defensive rebounding last game, what did you think the hole was or why it occurred where it went down? Because you guys have been so good on the glass this entire season.
MIKE BUDENHOLZER: I think there was just enough possessions where -- credit to Ibaka, credit to Lowry -- their urgency, a little bit their physicality. We have to be better matching those guys. Those are the two that stand out to me. I think maybe there's a few other guys. I think collectively we've got to get -- we talk about it all the time. All five guys got to participate. All five guys got to be a part of it. We can't stand around and assume Giannis is going to get every rebound. We need other guys to get back in there and kind of scrap and kind of match or exceed their physicality, match or exceed their urgency for boards.

Q. Bud, is this a time where those regular season wins, winning 60 games, getting that home-court advantage when it's tied at 2-2, is this when it pays off? Is this the moment that you realize that this is an advantage?
MIKE BUDENHOLZER: Certainly, it's great to have Game 5 on your home court to be here and sleep in our beds and practice facility and all those things, bench players and just the crowd and all the things that come with the home game at 2-2, a Game 5. We've played well all year. We've kind of earned this Game 5 at home, and you want to take advantage of it.

But we've said all along, you've got to win on the road to be good in the playoffs. You've got to win games at home. You've got to win them on the road. So I think being at home isn't kind of the cure-all, but it certainly is -- we like having it here.

Q. In the same way, just thinking about what you kind of piled up, put in the bank over the year, is this a night where we're going to see Giannis extend up over 40 minutes? Is that something you think about going in, or is that more feel during the game?
MIKE BUDENHOLZER: I would say we need Giannis kind of at peak Giannis, and I think sometimes, certainly, keep him on the court more is something to think about, but if he can't do all the things at the high level that we need and everybody's kind of come to expect, I'd rather have him peak Giannis at 36 or 38 than four or five more minutes where he's just kind of can't do all the things we expect from him. So sometimes we just see that and feel it. He and I communicate during the game. I think he has a good feel for how important he is and how we need to manage his minutes.

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