I’ve implied it before, but I’ve done some hard calculations using the arcane branch of learning called “math” and I’ve finally put a real number to it. If Brook Lopez can return to his form from last year, the chances of the Bucks winning the championship rise from 97 percent to 99 percent. I’ve double and triple-checked these figures, and they’re correct. No need to try and verify them.
I also figured out that if the Bucks had simply kept Dragan Bender instead of signing noted draft bust Marvin Williams, their championship chances would be at 100 percent no matter what Lopez was doing on the court.
Lopez being one of the premiere three-point-shooting bigmen last year was a luxury that was fun, but apparently, not strictly necessary. Last year, he was equal parts beast on defense and offense. This year, his defense has gone to another level (whenever he, Giannis, and Donte DeVincenzo share the court, I am surprised when the other teams scores at all), so his overall impact is still really good. But man, just one extra three a game would make those offensive stats look a lot better.
It was nice to see, with Giannis out, the Bucks go to Lopez in the post a lot more. That’s an aspect of his game that I’ve always enjoyed, even way back in his earlier Nets days, and it’s been discarded in favor of chucking threes from 500 feet away. His post ups always seem to result in something good; he’s just too beefy for a lot of the willow centers in this league to deal with.