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Malika AndrewsESPN
MILWAUKEE – Eric Bledsoe was furious.
He knew it was not better that Joel Embiid – one of the league's most notorious talkers – was a trap, but the game was physical. That happened so fast: scramble for the rebound, push, Embiid throwing the ball at Bledsoe, who sent it back into Embiid's belly, the whistle. Just like that, Bledsoe was ejected.
The Philadelphia crowd mocked him as he walked down the hallway and headed to the visitors' dressing room at the Wells Fargo Center, flanked by two security guards. Bledsoe understood that the Milwaukee Bucks were proud to be a calm and collected team. But his teammates call him a pit bull for a reason.
A few days later, in a remote corner of Carnevor, a dimly lit steakhouse in downtown Milwaukee, Bledsoe and his trainer Mike Budenholzer took over the play. On medium-sized filet mignon cuts, Budenholzer reminded his goalkeeper of his starting point why he needed to keep his cool. In the first round of the 2018 playoffs, Bledsoe was involved in a long back-and-forth with Celtic guard Terry Rozier, and later admitted that the war of words had entered his head . For the Bucks to reach their goal of winning a title, Budenholzer explained, they could not afford that Bledsoe got angry.
"He was not pissed off," said Bledsoe. "He just said that in the future, especially in the playoffs, you can not pretend that it's personal."
Between bites, Budenholzer recalled the fate of the Golden State Warriors after the suspension of Draymond Green for the fifth game of the 2016 NBA Finals, which the Cleveland Cavaliers won on the road to history by overcoming a deficit of the series 3-1. They discussed the consequences of Amar & Stoudemire's suspension on the Phoenix Suns in the semifinal of the 2007 Western Conference. Budenholzer said that sometimes the teams were just trying to beat you by playing mental games.
"He said that sometimes the teams were not as good as us, but they could try to put themselves in the head," Bledsoe said.
Which brings us to Friday – two days before the Celtics-Bucks rematch.
"Look," Bledsoe said, spinning a basketball between his hands and leaning against the padded wall of the Bucks' training center. He knows that questions about Rozier are coming. He knows that all eyes are on him. He admits that he is nervous and that he expects to be ridiculed when the Bucks play in TD Garden. And he is tired of talking about it.
This series, for Bledsoe, is a mental test. He must keep his cool and manage the nerves that can crawl, especially early in the games. He wants to prove that he is a more focused player than he had shown last season.
"I'm just trying to move on," he says.
In the days After the Bucks lost to the Celtics in Game 7 last season, Bledsoe spent a lot of time watching movies. He did not watch Rozier's movie splashing a 3 pointer on him in the first match, nor Rozier's film scoring 23 points in the second match, nor the interview in which Rozier had accidentally called Bledsoe "Drew." These things, especially that of Rozier 3, are engraved in his memory.
"I can not minimize that," said Bledsoe. "It was a hell of a hit, I could have challenged it again, but I stopped, I did not think it would come out of it, it's about respect, I did not respect it." at the time, but he did a big blow, I have to turn my hat over. "
Instead, Bledsoe dusted off the 2013 film, his first season with the Suns. It was the first time that he was leaving. At the time, he said, he enjoyed himself a lot.
"I went back and looked at myself in the mirror and I remembered that a lot of people were saying that I could not be a starter," said Bledsoe. "I watched a movie of what took me on the bump – I was not worried about what so many people thought of me, I was just focusing on myself at the time. ;time."
This Celtics series revealed weaknesses he knew he had to face, such as his excessive access to self-confidence and his occasional habit of being complacent.
Bledsoe spent the summer of 2018 in Arizona, where he immediately returned to the gym. He went there early in the morning and sometimes again late at night, convinced that his conditioning had played a role in the loss of the Bucks. He traveled to Las Vegas and Milwaukee to train with Charles Lee, assistant coach of the Bucks. He took yoga classes to help him with his nerves, his balance and his flexibility. He worked on breathing techniques. He will later use this deep breathing as a means of soothing the ragged nerves against which he has been fighting for over ten years.
A new season has begun. With a new coach, a new offensive system and Giannis Antetokounmpo playing at the most valuable player level, Milwaukee had a very hot start. The Bucks played against the Celtics for the first time on November 1 and lost. Bledsoe missed a free kick on goal. Instead of returning home when the Bucks plane landed in Milwaukee that night, Bledsoe and Lee went to the practice center to work on the misses by Bledsoe.
Find everything you need to know about the playoffs here.
The recalls of the Boston series have arisen sporadically. At a game in Indiana on Dec. 12, Pacers fans took a page from Boston's public reading book chanting "Who's Bledsoe?" when he shot free throws.
The Bucks beat the Celtics in their next two games. Bledsoe scored 16 points in the first meeting but only five in the second. At the time, Bledsoe was not concerned about the five-point game. He thought he had managed to get rid of rust because it was the first game after the break of the stars.
In March, Bledsoe signed a $ 70 million extension over four years to stay in Milwaukee. The Bucks marched to win the # 1 seed in the NBA with 60 wins, their best league result.
They swept the Detroit Pistons in the first round of playoffs and had six days off before facing the Celtics. They organized three practices and two days of individual training. Free time seemed to be an eternity. Antetokounmpo joked that it was long enough to take a mini-vacation to the Bahamas.
The days have passed. Arrangements have been made for the Bucks to get a private screening of the new Avengers movie. Bledsoe attended with his family.
"I just want to play," said Bledsoe two days before the start of the second round of the playoffs. "I'm ready to go out first."
GAME 1 WAS not the redemption that Bledsoe was looking for.
The Celtics came out strong – Bledsoe was waiting for it. Kyrie Irving, injured in her playoff hunt in 2018, scored the highest point of the game, 26 points. Bledsoe was there too. Bledsoe was nervous, but it is not extraordinary. He's fighting nerves since he was in college.
The nerves come into play when Bledsoe arrives at the arena and he often tries to manage them by playing with his children before the matches. They do not care how he plays; for them, he's just their father. Sometimes Bledsoe brings his son, Ethan, to court to warm up.
The butterflies reappear when he is in the Bucks queue 10 minutes before the start. During the national anthem, Bledsoe meditates. He is usually the first person to separate from his teammates' line – usually several seconds before the final scores of "The Stars and Stripes" are sung.
He takes a deep breath before the general announcer sounds out loud, "A 6 foot guard from Kentucky – Eric Bledsoe."
"I'm nervous throughout the national anthem and the first play," said Bledsoe. "Once I go up and down the field several times, it fades."
But on Sunday, there still seemed to be butterflies on his first 3-point attempt. They began to melt when he made free throws late in the first quarter, but he never found the pace. He finished with 6 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists in 25 minutes. He was more effective in defense as Rozier scored only 4 points in 23 games with Bledsoe as the leading defender, according to statistics from ESPN Stats & Information.
The Celtics have 22 points. Afterwards, Bledsoe dressed quickly and left the arena without speaking to reporters.
On Monday, Bledsoe watched the missed shots and defensive errors with his teammates in the Bucks movie theater. Budenholzer was sitting at the front of the room next to the screen. He shouted. He told his players that they were not participating. Budenholzer made clear the importance of creating space for Antetokounmpo.
And strangely, it helped. At the end of the trials, Bledsoe seemed lighter.
"The film has shown that it's not my lack of talent," Bledsoe said. "It's my effort."
And that's an easier solution.
"At one point, we knew we were going to have a tough game," said Bledsoe. "Unfortunately, the first game has come in. All we can do now is rebound."
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