Every single time a good team loses its star and keeps winning, someone suggests that they play better without the said star, which is a huge fallacy more often than not.
And given his ever-controversial nature, it wasn’t a surprise to see that Skip Bayless was doing that with the Milwaukee Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
According to Bayless, the Bucks have a better chance to upset the Phoenix Suns in Game 1 if Giannis Antetokounmpo doesn’t play:
“I suspect the Bucks have a little better chance in Game 1 without their 2-time MVP,” Bayless tweeted.
I suspect the Bucks have a little better chance in Game 1 without their 2-time MVP.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) July 6, 2021
That’s similar to what he said yesterday on his show, as he said that Giannis’ injury allowed the rest of his supporting cast to step up:
“In a vacuum, it’s preposterous to say they’re better off without Giannis,” Bayless said on Fox Sports’ Undisputed. “And I’m the first to tell you no, they’re not, in a vacuum. I’m just eye-testing what I just saw in back-to-back games … What my eye test is telling me is they have three guys who have made All-Star teams, and all of a sudden, they felt empowered, emboldened to star.”
https://twitter.com/undisputed/status/1412050714487103491
Sometimes, a player missing time is a blessing in disguise because it forces other players to embrace a different role, plus the coach gets to watch how they can perform in a different setting.
Also, opposing teams aren’t prepared for whatever adjustment a coach makes without their star player.
But from there to say that they’d be better without their 2-time MVP and Defensive Player of the Year, could be, indeed, preposterous.
