NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: HAWKS VS. BUCKS

June 24, 2021

Mike Budenholzer

Milwaukee Bucks

Practice Day

Q. We talked with Bobby and Jrue. Jrue mentioned how he liked the way you guys looked defensively when you were switching. Bobby mentioned that he liked the idea of maybe blitzing a little bit more individually in the pick-and-roll. How do you try to weigh things that guys might do well or want to do themselves or think they might be better to do it and kind of your overall holistic game plan?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: Yeah, I'm going to bring them into the coaches' meetings. I'll let them take the board during timeouts. But no, I mean, I think what they said is very kind of accurate and true. We talk about having different looks and giving players, teams different looks, variety. There are probably some things that certain guys are maybe more adept at. So you've just got to piece it all together, do the best you can, come up with something that's the best for all five guys that are out there.

The group has been great that way. We've got really good defenders that can do a lot of different things, and a lot of confidence that they can do multiple things at a high level. That's what you've got to do this time of year.

Q. It was funny, during the Nets series, PJ talked about how you guys kind of collaborated and figured out kind of what you guys wanted to do. How much do you value kind of giving your players the confidence to say, Bud, this is what I think we should do, and to actually have them feel like they can say that confidently and not be like, get the hell out of here, we're going to do what I want to do?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: Yeah, I think it's really important to our team's success, to the players. We say it: They're the ones doing it on the court. I think there's film and there's the pause and rewind, and you can do all that stuff. At the end of the day, the players are the ones that feel it. They do it in real time. They understand the nuances of it.

So to engage and have those conversations -- it's really one of the great things about this job, to work with and talk with people that are really smart and really understand basketball, and it's the players. I've said it from when I was a young coach to -- I don't know if I'm old or what I am now. But I just am constantly learning from the players. They're really the key to it all.

Q. Last night you guys opened with a set where P.J. sets a couple screens and then gets a screen himself and creates a shot for Brook. I understand ATOs and opening-quarter sets are obviously going to be different, but is there a way you feel like you can get P.J. more involved in the offense that way to make Trae Young defend him in those ways, or is that just something that can specifically come when you get a chance to drop a play?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: We need a little bit of both. I think sometimes we may try things out of a timeout and in the flow of the game. I keep saying there's the more static where maybe traditional things and you try and attack a player. I always lean on when we're playing good basketball and it's moving and guys are touching it and we're playing random, you're really attacking any and everybody. All players should have -- the offensive players should have an opportunity, defensive players should have an opportunity to make a mistake, so on and so forth. I really think that's when we're at our best.

So between that being when we're at our best and hopefully you're finding ways in random and organic ways to attack. But we definitely need some of both.

Q. After last night you had said you were going to obviously take a look at some of the offensive rebounds Atlanta got late. When you did that, could you put it on guys just sort of having to chase and box-out kind of effort stuff, or was some of it the bad luck of a carom because it's a 30-footer? How did you see some of those fourth-quarter offensive rebounds?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: Yeah, at the end of the day that's the key to the game. We've got to come up with some or all of those rebounds, and it changes the game. It's a little bit of everything. The work and the effort that Collins and Capela put into the boards, they were rewarded for that work and that effort. We've got to put the same work and the same effort in.

We can't rely on a good bounce or a bad bounce. We've got to make our bounces. We've got to make our good fortune.

It's a big key. I think credit to those two guys. We've got to be better really the whole 48 minutes. I thought there were some stretches where the boards hurt us. We've got to be a lot better there.

Q. When you look at a series in general, is a game or two-game deficit just a deficit, or is there something to the home court part? Obviously last series it was about protecting home court, when you're down 0-2. Here it's the other way where they get one on your court. Is it just down 0-1 and even, it doesn't matter, or is there something to -- maybe it's perspective, maybe it's just when you win at home it's protecting. How do you view that part of this because it's a little different than last series?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: I mean, just been through so many playoff series that you end up seeing some of everything, literally everything. And you've seen it this year. Maybe not with us, but if you watch the league and if you've been in the league -- I think it's important for us just to take each game. And while they are incredibly important, at the end of the day it's a seven-game series. You've got to find a way to win four. Certainly it would be great to win at home, but any good team, any team that advances, usually you have to win on the road, whether you have home-court advantage or not.

You've just got to go play basketball. The home, the visitor -- I get the question. I get why it's important and it's a big talking point, but you literally see everything happen if you're around long enough.

Q. Obviously the Hawks rallied against you last night, but it seems all these close games they've been playing in the Playoffs, they seem to come out on top just about every time. I know it's a small sample size, but from what you've seen not just last night but on tape of the Hawks, what has made them so effective down the stretch of these close games?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: I think that they've got good players. The ball is in Young's hands a lot. He's able to score himself and facilitate for others, make good decisions, takes care of the ball most of the time. I think they work the glass on the offensive end, not just last night, other nights. It's been important to them. They find a way to get enough stops.

They've built a confidence, so you've got to break that. You've got to win some of the close games. But a lot of credit to them, a lot of respect for how they've played in close games in the Playoffs and the regular season. We've got to be prepared and be ready.

Q. "Let it fly" became the mantra two years ago. So far in the Playoffs the team has not shot from three the way you would like them to. You hear all the time shooting is contagious. Can it go the other way, and how do you encourage the team through that let it fly mentality to keep going?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: I think when you're not hesitant or questioning, that gives you your best chance to go on a run and flip the numbers. Usually things are going to return to kind of the average. We're a good shooting team. Just want the guys to continue to be confident. We've got to create -- Giannis, Jrue, Khris usually create good looks for their teammates. Continue to play with the pass, play with each other and let it fly. There's a reason the phrase has lived for a long time. It's what we believe in, and that's your best way to get it going again.