A slow uphill climb
Welcome back to the Weekly Wednesday Wrap-Up, a—hopefully—weekly series where we recap the week, wonder at trends we noticed, which plays were the best, and the usual vibe check.
Okay, so the Milwaukee Bucks have played 11 games this season, and it’s still a pretty poor start at 3-8. But the latest slate of results contain better showings than what preceded it. Make no mistake: the Grizzlies and Knicks games were very discouraging. Still, Milwaukee’s beaten the Jazz and Raptors while obtaining moral victories—yes, we’re already logging those this early in the season—against the Cavaliers and Celtics. Maybe this is a sign of the team turning the corner; who knows? Let’s wrap up the last few weeks.
The Week(s) That Were
- Bucks 99, Grizzlies 122 (Walking (All over us) in Memphis)
- Bucks 113, Cavaliers 114 (Spida rips out Milwaukee’s heart)
- Bucks 114, Cavaliers 116 (When it rains, it pours)
- Bucks 123, Jazz 100 (Goodbye to the Losing streak)
- Bucks 94, Knicks 116 (Big Apple Abomination)
- Bucks 107, Celtics 113 (The Slide Continues)
- Bucks 99, Raptors 85 (Back in the Win Column)
Weekly Wonderings
I was initially going to have this whole section be about Pat Connaughton and Bobby Portis and how they actively harm the team. In the most recent episode of Deer Diaries: A Milwaukee Bucks Podcast, I ranted about how I don’t want Bobby and Pat on the court anymore. Realistically, that is a pipe dream unless Jon Horst can trade them somewhere. What can Doc Rivers do in the meantime? Well, the other option to help limit playing time for certain guys is to give other players an opportunity. Pat Connaughton will be easier to phase out than Bobby due to the options currently at the Bucks’ disposal. Doc Rivers has bucked his trend of playing veterans and keeping younger players rotting on the bench in the last few games. Is Doc a dedicated Deer Diaries listener? Because…
A Needed Change
If there proves to be a silver lining to Milwaukee’s poor start, it may be the forced shuffling of the rotation to staunch the bleeding. The first change came when Doc inserted Andre Jackson Jr. iton the starting lineup, replacing Gary Trent Jr. GTJ excelled in the opener against Philly but seemed to struggle in the following games. Not all of that is his own doing, but this was likely the most straightforward change possible in the starting lineup. We also saw Doc give AJ Green rotation minutes all season—unsurprisingly, Green has excelled at the primary skill set that gives him floor time. Green has only shot three-pointers (that’s right, a sterling 1.000 3PAr) making 51.2% of them so far. Had this been the Tuesday Weekly Wrap-Up that number would have been even higher. However, last night’s 4/14 showing against the Raptors dropped his percentage. Green can do almost everything we have asked Pat Connaughton to handle in the past, and he has been better than him this season in terms of scoring from an area of the floor that neither Pat, nor anybody not named Damian Lillard or Taurean Prince, have reliably contributed. Maybe Doc is seeing something in practice, but we can’t deny the statistical disparity between AJax/AJG vs. Pat/Bobby/GTJ.
A New Rotation Option?
There was a third young player who got rotation minutes and a surprise start last night. When doing the Ranking the Roster series, Ryan Rollins was only ranked higher than his two other 2-way players, one of who got cut and replaced shortly after the exercise began, placing Rollins at 16th. During Summer League play Rollins was solid with 12.8 PPG, 2.6 APG, and 3 RPG on 18.7 MPG in the five appearances. His shooting splits were .478/.333/.765 and he attempted 4.2 threes per contest. His elevation to emergency starter felt like throwing something against the wall (it was) and seeing if it stuck (he did prior to exiting the Raptors game with a shoulder injury). Maybe that shouldn’t surprise us. In an admittedly limited sample, Rollins held his own.
Rollins has been part of the lineups that have sparked the Bucks’ runs against Cleveland, showed solid defense late against the Celtics, and last night logged five steals against the Raptors. I am curious how much playing time he will get moving forward. Will these opportunities ultimately be merely a reflection of Lillard’s absence? Or are we looking at a new option who could give the likes of Delon Wright a run for his money during a long regular season? Let’s hope his injury isn’t too serious and we get to find out.
Week’s Top Plays
Giannis being locked in is beautiful
How about this pass from Giannis?! https://t.co/fOf3IX1DXY pic.twitter.com/Ko0cOsuXf3
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) November 13, 2024
Somehow this was the only three Dame made the whole game.
Teamwork make the dreamwork
What’s The Vibe?
What is needed to turn this Buck’s season around??