The Milwaukee Bucks stood little to no chance against the Miami Heat to begin with heading into the first round of the playoffs, but they might as well pack their bags now. Miami took a commanding 3-0 series lead with a 104-91 win in Milwaukee on Thursday night. If it wasn’t already over, it is now.
One of the lone bright spots on the night for the Bucks was JJ Redick, who scored 11 points in the first half alone and finished the night 3-for-6 from three-point range. After scoring only six points on 1-for-6 shooting in Game 1, Redick was given only eight minutes of playing time in Game 2.
For whatever reason, Milwaukee coach Jim Boylan has shied away from Redick. Before Game 3, Boylan said he told Redick to keep shooting with confidence and his shots will fall. Redick doesn’t remember it that way.
“Jim never talked to me,” Redick told reporters, via the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel. “He didn’t say anything to me. I haven’t spoken to him during the playoffs. I did not get that message.
“I don’t need anybody telling me to be confident. I would have appreciated it. It wasn’t a matter of Jim or my dad or my wife or God saying be confident. Be on the court, take your shots. They’ll be there.”
That sounds like trouble. After averaging 28.7 minutes and 12.3 points per game with the Bucks during the regular season, Redick has been limited to just 13.7 minutes per game in the postseason. Milwaukee has lost each game by 12 or more points, so whatever Boylan has been trying to do against LeBron James and company has not worked.
While there is probably nothing Boylan would be able to do to put his team in a position to knock off the defending champs, you can understand Redick’s frustration. He can’t keep shooting if he’s not on the floor. Between Redick’s comments and that brief tweet Brandon Jennings sent at the beginning of the month, it’s easy to get the impression that there is a lot of disconnect between Boylan and his players.
