Eric Bledsoe can't handle playoff pressure

[adambr2]

And that's a big problem right now.

 

https://sports.yahoo.com/the-milwaukee-bucks-have-an-eric-bledsoe-problem-192522729.html

[homer]

"When the game gets tight, so does he. Bledsoe is 1-for-12 in his career on shot attempts to tie the game or take the lead in the second half of a playoff game"

 

I mean...really? This tiny sample of a near meaningless stat is used as evidence of something?

[OnTheBlack]

"When the game gets tight, so does he. Bledsoe is 1-for-12 in his career on shot attempts to tie the game or take the lead in the second half of a playoff game"

 

I mean...really? This tiny sample of a near meaningless stat is used as evidence of something?

 

The evidence is in just watching the game.

 

That wasn't the only stat used, but either way, it's pretty obvious just from watching the games that he's choking. He has no plan when driving and he's not shooting in rhythm at all. He's looked terrible on offense for us and we need a ball handler who can handle the tight moments.

 

Brogdon or Hill have to be on the court handling the ball. Bledsoe has been killing us.

 

 

Of course there's hope he'll turn it around, but I think it'd take some easy layups. Even when he's going to the basket, he's not putting the ball up as strong as he did during the regular season of the first two rounds.

[sveumrules]

During the regular season Bledsoe had the 44th most clutch points in the league, more than CJ McCollum, Jayson Tatum & Al Horford to name a few.

 

He was 7/17 (.412) on clutch 3PA which was an improvement of .083 over his regular %.

 

He was 25/54 (.463) on clutch FGA which was .021 worse than his regular %.

[adambr2]

During the regular season Bledsoe had the 44th most clutch points in the league, more than CJ McCollum, Jayson Tatum & Al Horford to name a few.

 

He was 7/17 (.412) on clutch 3PA which was an improvement of .083 over his regular %.

 

He was 25/54 (.463) on clutch FGA which was .021 worse than his regular %.

 

Regular season crunch time isn't the same thing as playoff crunch time.

[sveumrules]

During the regular season Bledsoe had the 44th most clutch points in the league, more than CJ McCollum, Jayson Tatum & Al Horford to name a few.

 

He was 7/17 (.412) on clutch 3PA which was an improvement of .083 over his regular %.

 

He was 25/54 (.463) on clutch FGA which was .021 worse than his regular %.

 

Regular season crunch time isn't the same thing as playoff crunch time.

 

The thread title is "Eric Bledsoe can't handle pressure", he handled it fine during the regular season.

 

If your assertion is Eric Bledsoe can't handle the specific pressure created only by playoff crunch time, ok, generally only the very best of the very best can & we've always known Bledsoe isn't in that category.

[adambr2]

Middleton seems to handle it ok, and I wouldn't consider him one of the very best. I think that's a bit of hyperbole. If the problem was just that Bledsoe was below his career norms in the playoffs, that would be one thing. Being one of the worst and a complete liability has allowed the Raptors to play off him and let him shoot away. They have no respect for him right now. And why would they?

 

Anyway, title revised.

[sveumrules]

During the regular season Middleton was only 70th in clutch points.

 

He was 9/24 (.375) on clutch 3PA which was .003 below his normal %.

 

He was 13/37 (.351) on clutch FGA which was .089 below his normal %.

 

If Khris has the playoff clutch gene how come he performed worse than Bledsoe under pressure during the regular season?

[FVBrewerFan]

Revise again. He played well vs Pistons, and had some good games vs the Celtics. This series hes been awful, but who knows if thats pressure or he just has had a bad streak. Either way, not sure we need a whole new thread. Pretty sure anyone who follows the Bucks knows hes been bad this series. But its cool, whatever.

[adambr2]

Revise again. He played well vs Pistons, and had some good games vs the Celtics. This series hes been awful, but who knows if thats pressure or he just has had a bad streak. Either way, not sure we need a whole new thread. Pretty sure anyone who follows the Bucks knows hes been bad this series. But its cool, whatever.

 

If you didn't think a thread on Bledsoe's playoff struggles were necessary, no one forced you to participate in it.

 

I didn't think a discussion about his struggles would be this controversial.

 

Trust me, if he wakes up and leads us to a win with a big clutch performance tomorrow, I'll be the first to bump and acknowledge it.

[GAME05]

Well, one thing which hasn't been brought up much in the main Bucks playoff thread and maybe it applies in this situation, is what if it's just that Toronto's defense is really good?

[BillScottCanRake]

There are three big reasons I tend to downplay the clutch/anti-clutch angle with players.

 

1. There are plenty of examples of players exhibiting what some call clutch and anti-clutch characteristics, sometimes in the same game, and often during the same season. If a player goes 2-14 in the first 47 minutes of game 7 but shot 15 is a 30-footer to win, what are they? Anti-clutch? Clutch? Both, neither?

 

If a player goes off for 45 in an elimination game 6 and carries his team to victory but scores 12 with 8 turnovers in a game 7 loss, was he clutch in game six and not in game seven?

 

2. Often times clutch and anti-clutch performances mirror other performances by that player in less stressful situations. Could we find a 4 game stretch in the regular season similar to the one Bledsoe has put up against the Raptors? If so, is he anti-clutch or just having an off series?

 

3. The sample sizes are almost always so small that unless someone does something wildly uncharacteristic it is hard to make any statistical conclusions. The 13 games they have played this far is a just more than 15% of the number of games they played during the regular season. Most people wouldn't consider that a significant anough sample to go by.

 

Could Bledsoe's performance in this series be the result of the pressure getting to him? It is entirely possible it is, but I also think it is entirely possible it is just one of those stretches where a good player is playing poorly because the game is hard. I am not comfortable there is enough evidence for me to say with any degree of certainty these games have been too big for him. I guess I understand why people may believe that is the case, and they may even be right. I am not convinced.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Bet he has a big game tomorrow.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

There are three big reasons I tend to downplay the clutch/anti-clutch angle with players.

 

1. There are plenty of examples of players exhibiting what some call clutch and anti-clutch characteristics, sometimes in the same game, and often during the same season. If a player goes 2-14 in the first 47 minutes of game 7 but shot 15 is a 30-footer to win, what are they? Anti-clutch? Clutch? Both, neither?

 

If a player goes off for 45 in an elimination game 6 and carries his team to victory but scores 12 with 8 turnovers in a game 7 loss, was he clutch in game six and not in game seven?

 

2. Often times clutch and anti-clutch performances mirror other performances by that player in less stressful situations. Could we find a 4 game stretch in the regular season similar to the one Bledsoe has put up against the Raptors? If so, is he anti-clutch or just having an off series?

 

3. The sample sizes are almost always so small that unless someone does something wildly uncharacteristic it is hard to make any statistical conclusions. The 13 games they have played this far is a just more than 15% of the number of games they played during the regular season. Most people wouldn't consider that a significant anough sample to go by.

 

Could Bledsoe's performance in this series be the result of the pressure getting to him? It is entirely possible it is, but I also think it is entirely possible it is just one of those stretches where a good player is playing poorly because the game is hard. I am not comfortable there is enough evidence for me to say with any degree of certainty these games have been too big for him. I guess I understand why people may believe that is the case, and they may even be right. I am not convinced.

 

 

Well said. My issue with it has always been that it's just too much of a fan-centric view. All of these guys, all of them, had to perform with scouts watching them in AAU, high school, college ... they don't get here by cracking under pressure.

 

It's easy to say that isn't as much pressure, but that's relative. If you buckled under that it would and does manifest itself way before you get to the NBA. And that's a reason plenty of guys don't make it.

[OnTheBlack]

During the regular season Middleton was only 70th in clutch points.

 

He was 9/24 (.375) on clutch 3PA which was .003 below his normal %.

 

He was 13/37 (.351) on clutch FGA which was .089 below his normal %.

 

If Khris has the playoff clutch gene how come he performed worse than Bledsoe under pressure during the regular season?

 

 

It's as if you're weighing regular season pressure the same as the post-season. In the one real competitive series we've played, Bledsoe has been absolutely awful. His shots have been way off. It's not like his shots just aren't falling, he's missing badly, he's playing out of control.

 

Middleton looks the same as he did in the regular season.

 

 

You can throw whatever stats you want up there, this goes deeper than just shooting also. He's playing poorly. He's pressing and he's playing out of control. Giannis is as well to a degree, but nothing like Bledsoe.

[OnTheBlack]

Well, one thing which hasn't been brought up much in the main Bucks playoff thread and maybe it applies in this situation, is what if it's just that Toronto's defense is really good?

 

 

They're daring him to shoot. He isn't Steph, but he knocks down wide open 3's in the regular season and he's also fantastic at finishing at the rim. For whatever reason he's even started struggling finishing at the rim by trying to make some ridiculously wild shots instead of forcing contact and just going up strong.

[OnTheBlack]

Bet he has a big game tomorrow.

 

 

That'd be great. If he does, the Bucks almost certainly win. I don't know that this will be dispelled though until we have to win a close playoff game with him looking like a competent starting PG.

 

I think the Bucks win by 10+ tomorrow.

 

There's no doubt that him helping out a lot more offensively would be a game changer for us given how important he is defensively. Not sure how we could hope to handle GSW without him playing D on Steph and also giving us something on offense.

[sveumrules]

Budenholzer's first 60 win/1 seed got swept out of the ECF.

 

If the Bucks lose this series it will be his second 60 win/1 seed not to advance to the Finals.

 

Almost every time they show him on the sidelines he looks exasperated.

 

Maybe Bud can't handle the pressure either?

[DuWayne Steurer]

Budenholzer's first 60 win/1 seed got swept out of the ECF.

 

If the Bucks lose this series it will be his second 60 win/1 seed not to advance to the Finals.

 

Almost every time they show him on the sidelines he looks exasperated.

 

Maybe Bud can't handle the pressure either?

 

The popular narrative is that Bud's teams have underachieved/played poorly in the playoffs.

 

In 2014 as the 8 seed, they lost the first round series in 7 games (honestly, that's overachieving, IMO)

 

In 2015 as the 1 seed, they made it to the conference finals, and lost to the Lebron Cavs. Disappointing? Yup. Everyone not named the Warriors was losing to Lebron at this point though.

 

In 2016 as the 4 seed, they won the first round series, then got swept by the Cavs. Not really underachieving.

 

Then in 2017, they were the 5 seed, and lost in 6 games to the four seed. Only one time did they lose to a lower seeded team, and that team was the Lebron-led Cavaliers.

 

One could argue that their performace against the Cavs was underachieving and disapppointing, for sure, but they went out and won some series.

[sveumrules]

So what you're saying is in 2014, when there was no pressure as an 8 seed, Bud's team did fine.

 

Then they come out of nowhere the next season to win 60, playing with house money & exceeding expectations all year, but when the pressure finally showed up to perform for real in the ECF against LeBron, they wilted.

 

Next you've got the top 4 & 7 of the top 8 guys from your 60 win team back the following season, pressure is on to prove the 60 wins weren't a fluke & getting swept by the Cavs was, but you only manage 48 wins.

 

Now Bud is really feeling the pressure, at least he must have been feeling something since he acquired Dwight Howard on purpose. Predictably the Hawks win even less games.

 

Finally with the pressure really piling up after two seasons of diminishing returns & getting stripped of his POBO title, he appears to quits on his team & they win an Eastern Conference worst 24 games.

 

So maybe he can't handle pressure & is a quitter to boot?

[coolhandluke121]

I'm researching the topic now. So far, my research suggests that only one team can go all the way, and every member of every other team is a choker, under-achiever, mental midget, point shaver, wannabe, and/or flash-in-the-pan. The only question is who's a bigger one - the coach, the best player, the PG, the fans, the mascot, the GM, the owner, or the Drake?

 

http://

 

If your best player is either Paul Millsap or Al Horford on any given night and you're playing against Lebron, I think it makes the most sense to blame the coach. Don't you agree?

[sveumrules]

It isn't just that they lost to LeBron, that would have been fine, they got swept as a 1 seed, guessing that's pretty rare. So rare it may indicate an inability to handle pressure, which infected the entire team from the coach on down.

 

Scary if true.

[tmwiese55]

Two playoffs ago Middleton was a choker, but now he's not. The biggest thing with Bledsoe isn't some made up choke stuff. It's that he's a mediocre shooter. In a small sample of games a mediocre at best shooter might shoot poorly. I grant their strategy of leaving him super wide open might be messing with him a touch, but that would happen regular season too. Guy just has to attack and drive, play to his strengths. But with the way they're defending us, more Hill/Brog is needed especially at crunch time due to them being better shooters

[coolhandluke121]

It isn't just that they lost to LeBron, that would have been fine, they got swept as a 1 seed, guessing that's pretty rare. So rare it may indicate an inability to handle pressure, which infected the entire team from the coach on down.

 

Scary if true.

 

They weren't a typical 1 seed though. The East was extremely weak, they had extraordinary luck with respect to injuries, and they still only won by about 5 ppg. Someone had to be the 1 seed because Lebron had stopped caring about regular season results years earlier.

 

Really no reason to expect them to be competitive in that series considering the personnel they had. They didn't underachieve or choke in the playoffs; they overachieved in the regular season.

[HiAndTight]

Budenholzer's first 60 win/1 seed got swept out of the ECF.

 

If the Bucks lose this series it will be his second 60 win/1 seed not to advance to the Finals.

 

Almost every time they show him on the sidelines he looks exasperated.

 

Maybe Bud can't handle the pressure either?

 

Bud's always got that face. After the game 2 playoff win when he was giving his press conference he had the same look on his face. It's a look like he just stepped onto an elevator with a foul smell type of look. It's just his default look.

 

That he got that Atlanta team to 60 wins was a marvel. I don't know how you can put any of this on Bud. Toronto was a 58 win team and could have probably won 60 if they'd have pushed some of their guys a bit more.