Milwaukee Bucks links for your perusal on August 26th, 2024
Do you feel that chill beginning to creep in? Yeah? Me too. It feels like the Milwaukee Bucks are being phased out a bit, right?
That sense probably began when it was revealed that the Milwaukee Bucks will not be taking part in this year’s slate of Christmas Day games. Whether the 17 nationally televised games (no, NBATV does not count) which tie them at 10th in the league fed into that perception is up to the individual beholder. (If anyone should be pissed, it is OKC Thunder fans who will get just 15 national games this year)
But don’t even take the number of appearances as the only unit of measure. Wider discussion around the lead-up to the season has been largely devoid of the Bucks besides a toss in comment on how maybe they’ll figure out how to make 2+2=4. That’s if they even make the cut for serious discussion. More often than not that just don’t register at all. That’s perhaps expected in a summer with the Olympics dominated by American stars (none of whom are Bucks) and Giannis Antetokounmpo/Greece managing a quarterfinal came. Still, it is a shift from even a summer ago where there was speculation about what the team may do filled at least a modicum of articles before the Damian Lillard trade set it into overdrive.
And you can’t even really blame the commentelligentsia — what have the Bucks done to make them worthy of consideration? The roster looks fine on paper, but it has always looked fine on paper. That’s not a particularly interesting angle given everything going to hell last season. You can lodge a complaint with the organization as much as with the media for the ebbing attention. Saying, “if it weren’t for the injuries…” is valid, but it is also boring. A stepping back in the national consciousness was almost inevitable, really.
There are two main ways to react to this drop in visibility:
- Adopt a devil-may-care, “us against the world” siege mentality that is properly backed up by some level of fire and serious winning on the court
- Fret that all these data points aren’t isolated, but rather a larger macro trend reflecting the ceiling the Bucks have firmly come up against for three years now
What will likely happen is that the team settles on option three: Muddle through the 82 games like you’d expect a veteran-heavy rotation led by Doc Rivers to do, have a controversy here or there (probably courtesy of Doc himself), and see if anyone is still alive and able to play come next summer. Not exactly inspiring stuff, but I guess everything I just wrote is moot if they manage to win a title at the end of it all, right?
Let’s roundup!
Milwaukee Bucks Links
Damian Lillard on BATTLING Russell Westbrook, Giannis & Bucks, Steph Curry, NBA Top 75 | Club 520 (Jeff Teague’s Podcast)
Teague has taken off in the athlete-turned-podcaster space the past year or so, so it was perhaps inevitable that he’d get Damian Lillard on at some point. I haven’t watched the full thing yet and your mileage may vary with the format, but Teague doesn’t really care much about ruffling feathers of anyone still in the league (see: him admitting that playing with Giannis wasn’t fun for him (as a near-retired third PG)). The bit I did watch only confirmed to me how crucial it is that Lillard and Antetokounmpo figure out their rhythm together. Basketball’s history is littered with great big-guard combos and this should be one of them.
OU basketball hires former Milwaukee Bucks assistant Josh Oppenheimer (The Oklahoman)
At the risk of putting way too much weight into the supposed developmental chops of a guy we have literally zero concrete evidence of, consider this a reminder of yet another fold to keep an eye on. Oppenheimer would often go along with Giannis on international trips during the offseason so they could continue to work together on whatever it is they worked on. Has Giannis found a new whisperer in the meantime? Does he even need to?
Bally Sports RSNs reach new agreements with NHL, NBA for 2024-2025 seasons (Awful Announcing)
They left if closer to the deadline than anyone may have liked, but it seems as though we’ll get to watch Bucks games locally on Bally Sports for at least one more season. The team had experimented with local TV partners at the end of last season although one assumes that the rights fees in the contract — even if dialed back substantially — represent a better short-term cash grab versus a hastily-cobbled-together streaming packaged directly through the team. BucksTV must wait at least one more year.
Offseason Eastern Conference Power Rankings: Celtics continue to lead the way (NBA)
Can’t quite tell whether the Bucks dropping to fifth in the East’s power ranking pecking order (i.e. an imaginary exercise that means little) is going too far or not far enough. I think Delon Wright will be an upgrade over rental Pat Bev, while Gary Trent Jr. is TBD as a Malik Beasley replacement. Also, the defense could continue to hemorrhage points making the exercise moot anyways. In the 36 games under Doc Rivers the Bucks got their DRtg down to 114.8 over that span. Just a shade better than the 115.0 they averaged during the entire year. Personnel or planning will have some heavy lifting to do this season.
Theoretical Bucks Lineup of the Week
Run, Gun, Run Some More
Damian Lillard / AJ Johnson / Khris Middleton / Bobby Portis / Giannis Antetokounmpo
- Use Case: The Bucks bother to do something in transition for a few minutes at a go
- Strengths: Getting out on the go (with Khris or Dame initiating), three-point shooting (AJ Johnson???), extending opponent defenses before snapping back to let shot-creators take advantage of space opened up on the move
- Weaknesses: Defense, defense, defense, defense, Bobby taking every shot
During the course of this exercise I’ve been pondering ways to get AJ Johnson into the mix without his solely being a vehicle to soak up three minutes in decided games. I was also thinking of ways the team could roll lineups out whose purpose is to run other teams into the ground for a few minutes in a sort of smash-and-grab tactic. Why not throw him in the with sharks on the deep end to see if he can hold his own?
The background should start with the four vets: In the 45 cumulative minutes (over 17 games) Lillard, Middleton, Portis, and Antetokounmpo shared the court together they posted a 138.3 ORtg and a 111.2 DRtg (+27.1 net). Not a huge sample size by any means, but that’s a start. In the abstract it makes sense that that group would be able to put up massive scoring numbers, although the decent defense is less clear — I’d have to dig a bit more to find the fifth guy(s) who helped make that work.
For argument’s sake, let’s throw AJ the Younger into the mix, shall we? On offense, the fit should be relatively seamless IF AJ can actually shoot and IF he doesn’t try to do too much (huge ifs, I know). His Summer League minutes gave an idea of his feel for the game and sharing nature with the ball, both things he’ll need to fit in in the NBA at all and especially with vets who know their roles. Even if the three isn’t superb from the start he will get shot opportunities and can, at worst, be an off-ball moving threat. Most importantly for the title of this lineup, he, Bobby, and Giannis should run the floor relentlessly with Khris and Dame trailing behind to pay off any pressure at the rim that hadn’t paid off just yet. This is simple basketball Xs and Os, folks.
Defense? Well, you know what they say. The best defense is a historically great offense. There is no defense in this lineup not named Giannis (until AJ proves otherwise). Hopefully you get the other team to say uncle before they start bombing away from three to neutralize the threat you’re trying to build.
The Social Media Section
Looks like the next episode of the Holy Child documentary series is in progress. Stay tuned
Mykonos: This is your moment (Crete better)
Kids are simple: Get one of them to make a single basket and they’ll all go nuts and literally fall on top of each other
I’m vaguely aware of this guy and have seen him absolutely pummeling people with his workouts. Great.
Congrats on making it out
We’ve got some great offseason content on the way this week, so I encourage you to keep your eyes peeled, and we’re also putting together a season preview podcast series over on Deer Diaries (A Milwaukee Bucks Podcast!) that I think you’ll all really enjoy. Stay tuned!
Happy Monday!