NBA FINALS: BUCKS VS. SUNS

July 13, 2021

Mike Budenholzer

Milwaukee Bucks

Practice Day

Q. This series looks a lot like the series against the Nets. After the first three games, the score is exactly the same. How much do you think that this can motivate you so you can eventually get where you want to go in these Finals?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: We talked about it some after Game 2. I do believe there's reference points, there's things that you can learn throughout the season. There are things that you got to draw on. It doesn't guarantee or fix or really do more than just give you that reference point. The players have talked about it. We have talked about it. There's things from series to series, regardless of how they have gone, where you can draw on them. Whether it's offensive concepts, defensive concepts, they're just building habits. You're building reference points that you can draw on that build confidence and give you opportunities to go out and compete.

Q. I don't know if you saw after the game, but Monty took issue with -- I think he said one guy, Giannis, took more free throws than his entire team. So two parts, curious your reaction to that. And now both of you -- I know yours was different after Game 1; you even joked about being baited into it, being asked about the refs. But you guys have both brought up free throw numbers after games. Curious, is there any intent behind doing that in a press conference? Have you seen any benefit to that in your career?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: I mean, it's like the age-old ritual of the playoffs. I guess historically or experience-wise, I don't know that it has any impact and probably could argue I've seen it go both ways. Some organizations, some players, some teams actually feel like they're penalized for doing it.

At the end of the day, I actually think the referees just call the game. They call the game and coaches go and talk about the game, and we'll do the same thing after tomorrow night's game. We have the best referees in the league and we're always still frustrated with them. They're still the best in the world. It seems like it's always the same, and I don't think it has any impact on the game.

Q. When you look back at the film, what are a couple things you felt like stood out underneath the surface as to why you won the game?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: I think just defensively the connectivity with the group was trending in the direction we need it to be. Just really communicating, covering for each other. All those things that you need to do to be good defensively, the connection. Really we used the same word offensively, the connection offensively, the way the guys played together, moved together. Just playing basketball. I think it's a sport that takes everybody participating, and just felt like we had all five guys more connected on both ends of the court. We got to just get better even going forward in that sense.

Q. You've touched on this a little bit maybe in this series and the last series, but it's so difficult for a second-rounder to end up as an All-Star. What did you see from Khris Middleton when you weren't coaching him, when you were coaching Atlanta, and then for him to get to the point where he's an All-Star, what have you seen here?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: I think seeing him as an opponent from a distance, his shooting really stood out. Just a very, very gifted shooter and with great size. The ability to kind of shoot and make shots, tough shots, stood out.

I think the thing that's really, maybe since being around him every day, just his work ethic, his professionalism. But as far as a player, the ability to be a playmaker and grow as a passer, I think that that's been a huge part of our growth. Maybe he did it more before -- just sometimes you don't see it and pick up on it like do you when you're around somebody every day. But the playmaking.

I think he's an underrated defender. His size, again, just what he does at 6-8, he's a really skilled, gifted smart basketball player. His IQ, I talk a lot about his IQ. It's off the charts. He sees and reads and understands things very quickly and at a very, very high level.

Q. I don't know if this is something you consider that essentially your two best players, one is a second-rounder and one is a draft pick at the end of a lottery. That doesn't happen very often. Do you consider the good fortune that that takes?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: I think there's a lot of good fortune there for both Khris and Giannis to end up here. And now being together for seven, eight years that they have been teammates and kind of building this together and trying to get to this point. I think it speaks to being able to build championship-level teams different ways. There's not just one way to make it to the NBA Finals. Jon Horst and our ownership and Giannis and Khris, the stick-to-itiveness, the belief to build around those two guys, along with a lot of good fortune. It's always a little bit of both.

Q. Brook was saying the other day that in terms of watching Giannis or sort of seeing what he's doing and him, Brook, meaning like he's trying to appreciate it and sort of understand. I guess from your chair, is it hard to reflect when you're in the moment? Do you kind of take in the air that he just sort of entered in these Finals and the injury and all that stuff? Have you allowed yourself that at all, or is that an August sitting-at-home thing or 10-years-down-the-line thing?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: I think wrapped in the question, the most interesting part is I think the coaching staff, actually we're pushing. We want more. It's probably wrong to not appreciate what he does -- and we do appreciate it. I don't want to -- it's very, very special. But in the heat of the moment we're constantly just I think pushing Giannis that he can give us even more and pushing the group that they can do even better and give us more.

Luckily, I think Giannis likes being pushed. He likes being coached. And so that's more the mindset. But I think every day we come to the facility, Giannis is appreciative of what's there. Coaches, we're appreciative to have such a good team. So there's an awakening every day where you're appreciative, and then you kind of get in the gym and you push and you want more.

So I don't reflect on how great he is probably enough or really very often.

Q. I wanted to ask you from your years with Coach Popovich, I remember him talking many, many times about that team having corporate knowledge. The guys were together and just kind of knew how to do things. Now he's got the Olympic team and doesn't have that. Is that something that's a difficult adjustment for any coach, or do you expect kind of two years or two minutes, whatever, you'll figure it all out?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: No, I mean, it takes a lot of time to figure things out. There's no replacement for reps and experiences and being defended different ways and having to navigate different things defensively. It's a little bit like Khris and Giannis. They have been together for so long that you can just see and feel some of the things they do that are very just instinctual, very just kind of without thinking about it.

I think as a team we're a long ways away from that, but there's parts of our group that has that corporate knowledge. I think we're fortunate to have as many, particularly Khris and Giannis and Brook being together for the last three years, and now Jrue mixing in and Tuck mixing in. And Pat is somebody off the bench who has a lot of corporate knowledge, which is very helpful. So, no, you can't get that in two minutes or two games or a couple practices. It's real and it takes real time.

Q. In Game 2, Phoenix had 17 attempts on corner threes; Game 3, I think they only had three. What did you guys tweak there and how sustainable do you think that is to keep them limited there going forward?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: I think it's something that if we can try to make everybody uncomfortable, try to make all the shots contested and difficult. But certainly the three-point line hurt us, particularly Game 2, Bridges and Crowder and Cam Johnson. So it's a great challenge guarding Paul and Booker. They tend to attract extra attention, draw an extra body, and they're willing passers. So the better we can do on Paul and Booker, hopefully the better we can do reducing particularly corner threes. I think that's a hot spot for any offense, and defensively if you can limit them, it's real helpful.

Q. You mentioned the better job you could do on Paul and Booker. Booker had his worst game of the series offensively after a pretty strong games in Games 1 and 2. Anything that you guys implemented specifically that you felt like worked and helped stop him from scoring like did he early on in the series?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: I think we felt like we got a little bit better from Game 1 to Game 2, and hopefully we did the same thing going from Game 2 to Game 3. He's a great player, but he's human also. But I think we're expecting we're going to have to be even better on him. Being able to throw different people on him -- Tuck is an individual defender and then Jrue's abilities and sometimes Khris and Giannis and Brook has his own way of impacting things. I wouldn't say there was one specific thing or anything we did different. Obviously, there's subtle little things that we're trying to do. But we just got to be prepared for a really good Devin Booker going into Game 4.

Q. The legend of Bobby Portis Junior has grown. Did you, when he first got here, have any conversations with him about what level of being amped up is good and how much maybe how far to go without going too far?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: Not when he first got here. I didn't know what the legend of Bobby Portis Junior would be. But certainly throughout the season there's been some moments where trying to find that balance of whether it being keeping your focus, going to the next play, being prepared for a defensive possession or just keeping your mind in a good kind of mental space and focused, but at the same time having that great energy. He brings great energy to our team, to our arena, and he's let me know that he does that. (Laughs.)

So it's been kind of a fun journey with him to have those conversations. Sometimes it's in the heat of the moment and sometimes it's on an off-day or between games. But his passion is so real. I think the way his teammates respond to him and appreciate him and love him, it's all real. So I probably should just step aside.

Q. Given that emotional connection he has particularly with fans in this building, have you or would you go to him ever just for that sort of energy burst even if it's not a basketball X-and-O type of situation that needed him?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: I think at the end of the day we need to play good basketball, and Bobby plays good basketball. I think the crowd responds to him playing good basketball. I think it always starts with that. He's a really good player. He does a lot of things defensively, offensively. And certainly they love his personality, love his passion. But at this time, in this moment, you got to play. You got to deliver and he does that. So luckily, it's a win-win.