Khris Middleton to the haters and losers (of which there are many!) last night:
What. A. Game. I’m not saying Khris Middleton is Michael Jordan, but if you watched prime Jordan playoff years, and you watched last night’s 4th quarter, that was Jordan-esque. Clear out and get that guy the ball. He was hitting elbow three’s, he was hitting deep corner two’s, mid-range jumpers, driving in the lane, he did it all. 38 points on the night, 20 in the 4th quarter. The Bucks were down 95-88 with 7 minutes left in the 4th quarter when he literally took over. Giannis had some big buckets in that stretch as well, but this was the Middleton show.
Which of course led to a LOT of Middleton takes on Twitter last night. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a player who averages 20 ppg on (nearly) 50/40/90 shooting be this polarizing. I do get it though. Middleton has been in Milwaukee for 8 years now. And this is what he is. He has games like last night where he looks like a legit #1, and he has games like Game 1 where he looks like Carlton Banks:
Combine that with the fact that he’s making max money and you get a lot of different takes about him every other game. Last night the Middleton supporters were taking a victory lap. The Middleton haters were saying, ‘WHY CAN’T HE DO THIS EVERY GAME.’ It’s been that back and forth for years and will continue to go on like that for the duration of his contract.
I will say this: Middleton is WAY more on than off. When he has a bad game, like he had in Game 1, the people who don’t trust Middleton prop it up and act like that’s who he is most of the time. Very unfair! 75% of the time Middleton is good-to-really-good, 10% of the time he goes nuclear and looks like an MVP, and 15% of the time he is off. But when he’s off, he’s OFF. So that 15% feels like it happens a lot more than it does, if that makes sense.
But between last night’s game, his Game 6 against Brooklyn (where he also scored 38), and his 4th quarter/OT of Game 7 against Brooklyn, he’s been money more often than not.
Now Trae Young’s ankle injury is going to be a big storyline coming out of last night and going forward. It is what it is. Giannis looks like he’s not at 100% either with that calf injury. Every team is banged up. The Bucks got homecourt back with last night’s win, but have a chance to put a strange hold on the series on Tuesday. Win that game, close it in Game 5 at home, and then get a week off until the Finals.
And how about those Brewers over the weekend! Clean sweep of the Rockies has the team at a season best 12 games over .500, and maintaining a 3 game lead in the Central. The best news coming out of the series though was Keston Hiura. He’s got a LONG way to go, but he finally is starting to look like himself at the plate since his second stint at AAA. He had the walkoff sac fly on Friday, a couple of homers over the weekend, and a multi-hit game yesterday. If he can start to look like anything CLOSE to 2019 Keston, that’s going to be a huge boost. Big series at home against the Cubs tonight where the Brewers can put even more space between themselves and the Cubbies as we get closer to the All Star Break. Things you love to see: That.
PS: Friday was a beaut. Brewers Re-Opening Day, they rally to tie it and send it to extras, and get a walkoff win at PRESCISELY 7:30pm. Flip over to the Bucks game for opening tip and watch them win Game 2 by a thousand points. As a Wisconsin sports fan, the last decade has taught me to always steel myself against future heartbreak, and we may well be headed for more. But when things are rolling like they were for the Brewers and Bucks over the weekend, man is it fun.
