Milwaukee Bucks links for your perusal on October 14th, 2024
I’m loathe to give any NBA player credit when they start complaining about having to face the Milwaukee Bucks in Milwaukee (LeBron James: please know this is the best time of the basketball year to visit town!). In this instance, though, if LeBron had adjusted his complaint about flying three hours to Milwaukee for one preseason game to something like, “Why do we play preseason games at all,” he’d be receiving my approval this morning.
Why do we play these games?
Well, like with other sports they’re low-hanging opportunities to sell some tickets, sell some merch, and fulfill TV contract obligations. For deep bench players they can be one of the few times where you’re encouraged to showcase your skills against opposing deep bench players desperately holding onto that sweet sweet NBA cash. Preseason also helps instills routines; on game day each member of the org should expected to do XYZ prior to tip to be in the right place mentally and physically.
But of all the sports preseasons, I’m not sure if there is one where we learn less than in basketball. The sport itself is already prone to easy exhibitionism when everyone involved knows they’re not supposed to take it seriously. It would take a miracle breakthrough (or injury) for any young guy’s promising preseason to make an impact on minutes distribution decisions for a veteran-laden team. Vets themselves know to avoid showing too much lest “film” be handed out freely to another team down the line. Outside of knowing Giannis Antetokounmpo is up to speed and Damian Lillard looks in shape, there are few lessons learned thus far that are worth considering for the regular season.
What’s the solution, then? The league loves gamifying everything it touches, so why not make the whole exercise yet another opportunity for hardware? Think of it as pumped up Summer League — we’ll all know mostly young guys will get minutes, but they’ll be boosted by the fleeting presence of their starter compatriots. You needn’t even put in restrictions on having to play starters X minutes; leave it up to teams and coaching staffs how they want to approach it. Drive interest in your loser markets (“wow, did you see that the Pistons knocked off the Celtics in the Saudi Oil Money Preseason Cup???”), present organizations a chance for a professionalized competitive environment, and best of all, rake in even more of that Las Vegas dough every sporting organization is in love with right now.
Maybe then we won’t have to hear LeBron complaining about having to spend a few days in the Miami of the Midwest. Could it all be worth it just for that?
Let’s roundup!
Milwaukee Bucks Links
Milwaukee Bucks to Host Open Scrimmage on October 20 (Bucks.com)
To be honest, I’m a little short on “Bucks links” this week, so my heading above is something of a red herring. That’s what we get when a team is inadvertently flying under the radar because national media either doesn’t care, doesn’t believe, or both.
But we’ve got the annual scrimmage! Always a fun free event that is best used as your opportunity to stop by the Bucks Pro Shop and clean out their clearance bins from the past few seasons. If you’re lucky you might even get to visually confirm that Khris Middleton is alive.
NBA team win totals: over/under picks for every team (CBS Sports)
And if you wanted more evidence of the lack of interest/belief in the Bucks you need look no further than this over/under piece. Hitting the under at 50.5 wins feels outlandish (from my homer POV), but… Sam Quinn is right that the team is old? Three of the big four starters for this team have some history, brief or otherwise, of missing chunks of seasons due to injury. What is to say the percentages add up in their favor and none of them are absent much this year? Luck and hope, I guess.
2024-25 NBA GM Survey: 50 questions ahead of new season (NBA.com)
The drop off of Milwaukee’s prominence in these surveys began a year ago and nothing in the intervening 365 days has halted the decline. Giannis still nabs a few nods for his versatility (especially on defense), but he no longer even receives votes as the best international player in the league. Not that that is an outlandish thing given the presence of Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama. Worth noting either way.
Basketball Hall of Fame: Who is eligible in 2025, 2026 and 2027 (ESPN)
Had this sent my way by Van (thank you!) because Marques Johnson is in the mix having been a finalist for the HoF a number of years now without crossing the final threshold. Since there will be no new finalists in 2025 (i.e. players who retired recently who now qualify for the HoF due to cool downs built into the system) Marques has a solid shot at finally being inducted. Good luck to him!
The Social Media Section
Idk which level of Hell we’re on, but it’s pretty deep
Dereck Lively’s archetype really is the same as Giannis Antetokounmpo.
If I recall correctly Giannis wasn’t really Giannis until his 3rd season?
Lively is already a better 3-point shooter (I think)
Lively is on a similar pace defensively
Lively’s development is with post… pic.twitter.com/mni0JTHNIQ
— Jerico (@kyriemavs) October 8, 2024
Imagine trying to get this gigantic God Emperor Goof to follow your picture taking orders. Actual hell.
Exceedingly rare Art miss on this sweatshirt, newspaper kid, button up shirt combo from Mafuzzy
Pat Connaughton’s foundation goes global
Frankly still struggling to get over the design of these shoes
Milwaukee’s Podcast King (after the staff of Deer Diaries (A Milwaukee Bucks Podcast!))
I recognize the condos down by the Milwaukee River when I see them
Your Milwaukee Bucks take to the court twice this week as they wrap up the preseason I just got done slandering!
- v. Chicago Bulls, tonight — 7:00 PM (Central)
- @ Dallas Mavericks, Thursday — 6:30 PM (Central)
They’ll then have the scrimmage next Sunday before beginning final preparation for their season opener on October 23rd. The long offseason is nearly over.
Happy Monday!