NBA FINALS: BUCKS VS. SUNS

July 11, 2021

Mike Budenholzer

Milwaukee Bucks

Game 3: Pregame

Q. Same starters for you tonight?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: Yes.

Q. For you guys in Game 1, you were doing more switching. In Game 2, you did a little bit more help, ended up giving up 17 corner three attempts. Do you feel like it got out of balance with the help and giving too much of it?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: Yeah, I think there are some times when we can be better and there were some that were random and so on and so forth. I certainly -- yeah, we can get better. Be a little bit smarter or a little bit just more disciplined. You know, and credit to them; the ball movement, the pass, the making shots.

We've got to be better, and looking forward to that tonight.

Q. Going back to the Brooklyn series, you said it's about winning the game in front of you and whatever that means. Are you prepared for guys have to go 40-plus minutes where you have to lean, with knowing what's at stake with winning the game tonight?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: Yeah, we've got to find a way to win the game. And I think our guys are, you know, ready to go and they never like it when they come out. So, I'm sure they would like to play 48.

I think there's also an understanding, I think all of the things that go into winning, and you know, they will give us whatever -- whatever's needed tonight and we'll lean on them hard.

Q. Khris Middleton’s numbers have been better at home in the playoffs than on the road. Is that something you try to lean into and get him going early tonight?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: I mean, I don't think we've done it in any of the past home games. Our preparation, the things we want to try and get done offensively, you know, while there may be a few things we talk about in general, I would say a lot of it is going to look and feel the same. We've built our habits. The guys have been good all year. I think you need to lean on those habits, lean on what you've been doing and hopefully the trend continues if that's the case.

Q. The cliché, of course, is that this is a make-or-miss league, but there is some sort of randomness, even at this level, the shot goes in or doesn't go in. I just wonder how difficult it is when you're literally playing for a championship, to live with randomness at this stage of the season?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: Yeah, I'm sure it's part of why people tune in and why there's going to be 17,000 people going, you just don't know how it's going to happen and the randomness makes sport beautiful.

As the coach, yeah, it's kind of miserable. But I'm ready to go. I can't wait. I hope the random is on our side tonight. And I think there's things that you can do to help the random be on your side both defensively and offensively and I think that's what gets your competitive juices going, and you believe there's things that you can do to reduce the random and make it more in your favor and make winning plays and all that. But if you've been around long enough, there's a lot of truth in your question, and I don't know, you just -- yeah, you live with it and you get excited about it in a weird way.

Q. How important is it to get off to a good start and get on top of the Suns and get the crowd involved?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: Certainly, I don't think you ever ask to start out down or not start out well. So, I think, you know, the group is ready. They have seen kind of a little bit of everything. You know, we've played with a lead. We've played behind. We've kind of played in every situation in a series.

I think there's a lot of character in the group. When you start well, then the challenge is to continue that, and I think the guys will be ready for that. They will be ready for anything tonight.

Q. After two games and watching film, was there one thing they’re doing that you really need to address?

MIKE BUDENHOLZER: No, I mean, lots of times I get that "one thing" question. There's lot of little things that go into winning, whether it's us needing to do things better and do a few things better defensively. I think there was improvement from the first game to the second game and now we have to improve even more.

Offensively, I think we need to get better. I can never say it's one thing. We've just got to play a little bit better, impact the game, impact the ball on both sides in a good way, get ready to go play.