Author: Maxwell Cahn
The Bucks season has been full of negatives as many people expected but in this blog post I’m going to try and not look only at the bad, but at the good as well.
Positives: The Bucks traded PG Brandon Jennings this past offseason and in return they got PG Brandon Knight. Knight has been a bright spot for this Bucks team as he leads the team in PPG with just under 17 and leads the team in APG with five. Knight has already had some highlights for the Bucks in his young career including 37 points against the Lakers in December, 36 against the Knicks also in December, and 25 in a game against the Knicks about a week ago which included the game winning three to snap the Bucks six game losing streak.
-Giannis Antetokounmpo has given the Bucks and the Bucks faithful some hope as well. Antetokounmpo was the Bucks first round draft pick in last years draft and hasn’t put up big numbers necessarily but after watching him in some games this year, it looks like he will have a bright future in this league. If you watch him get out on the break, it’s something special as he beats defenders down the floor and finishes on Jordan/Johnson esque shots. I’m not the first to draw the comparison, Walt Frazier made the comparison when the Bucks took on the Knicks recently and it seemed like Frazier couldn’t get over the way Giannis moved in the air and made difficult finishes look easy. Another positive for this Bucks team is at the all star break, they have the worst record in the league and with no signs of improving, they should be set for a top three pick.
Negatives: With plenty of topics to talk about on this list, I’ll try not to make it too long. Like I said above the Bucks have the worst record in the league and I don’t think fans or anyone were expecting a championship team but I certainly thought we could fight for the eight seed just like last year. With Jennings and Ellis gone, the Bucks don’t have a true scorer to rely on. Even with Knight playing well at times, he is nothing close to being a consistent scorer they need.
-I was looking forward to seeing Larry Sanders with another year under his belt but between injuries and off the court issues, we haven’t seen him much besides on the DNP list. After under going surgery on his eye Thursday, it looks like we won’t see Sanders until March but knowing him, in these next six weeks, he’ll find himself in some sort of trouble. I don’t think the Bucks should give up on Sanders, but he certainly hasn’t been a very good example for a lot of the young players the Bucks have.
-O.J. Mayo has been a big disappointment in my eyes but it might be because I was expecting a Monta Ellis like player and Mayo just isn’t that guy. Mayo is averaging 12.2 PPG and it seems like he doesn’t provide much else besides that. If you’re not going to help out in assists and rebounds and on the defensive end, then you better be able to score a lot of points. To be fair to Mayo, he has had some injuries already here in Milwaukee but he is certainly no replacement for Monta and I don’t see him being a Buck for too long.
This list could go on forever but I think the main thing for us Bucks fans to focus on now is the draft lottery. If the Bucks continue to lose, they will end the season with the worst record and we will all be waiting for the Bucks logo to show up last and then we can all start debating about who we will take. I don’t know about anyone else but hopefully there are no seven-foot Australian centers in next years draft, no one wants to go through that again.
The Bucks season has been full of negatives as many people expected but in this blog post I’m going to try and not look only at the bad, but at the good as well.
Positives: The Bucks traded PG Brandon Jennings this past offseason and in return they got PG Brandon Knight. Knight has been a bright spot for this Bucks team as he leads the team in PPG with just under 17 and leads the team in APG with five. Knight has already had some highlights for the Bucks in his young career including 37 points against the Lakers in December, 36 against the Knicks also in December, and 25 in a game against the Knicks about a week ago which included the game winning three to snap the Bucks six game losing streak.
-Giannis Antetokounmpo has given the Bucks and the Bucks faithful some hope as well. Antetokounmpo was the Bucks first round draft pick in last years draft and hasn’t put up big numbers necessarily but after watching him in some games this year, it looks like he will have a bright future in this league. If you watch him get out on the break, it’s something special as he beats defenders down the floor and finishes on Jordan/Johnson esque shots. I’m not the first to draw the comparison, Walt Frazier made the comparison when the Bucks took on the Knicks recently and it seemed like Frazier couldn’t get over the way Giannis moved in the air and made difficult finishes look easy. Another positive for this Bucks team is at the all star break, they have the worst record in the league and with no signs of improving, they should be set for a top three pick.
Negatives: With plenty of topics to talk about on this list, I’ll try not to make it too long. Like I said above the Bucks have the worst record in the league and I don’t think fans or anyone were expecting a championship team but I certainly thought we could fight for the eight seed just like last year. With Jennings and Ellis gone, the Bucks don’t have a true scorer to rely on. Even with Knight playing well at times, he is nothing close to being a consistent scorer they need.
-I was looking forward to seeing Larry Sanders with another year under his belt but between injuries and off the court issues, we haven’t seen him much besides on the DNP list. After under going surgery on his eye Thursday, it looks like we won’t see Sanders until March but knowing him, in these next six weeks, he’ll find himself in some sort of trouble. I don’t think the Bucks should give up on Sanders, but he certainly hasn’t been a very good example for a lot of the young players the Bucks have.
-O.J. Mayo has been a big disappointment in my eyes but it might be because I was expecting a Monta Ellis like player and Mayo just isn’t that guy. Mayo is averaging 12.2 PPG and it seems like he doesn’t provide much else besides that. If you’re not going to help out in assists and rebounds and on the defensive end, then you better be able to score a lot of points. To be fair to Mayo, he has had some injuries already here in Milwaukee but he is certainly no replacement for Monta and I don’t see him being a Buck for too long.
This list could go on forever but I think the main thing for us Bucks fans to focus on now is the draft lottery. If the Bucks continue to lose, they will end the season with the worst record and we will all be waiting for the Bucks logo to show up last and then we can all start debating about who we will take. I don’t know about anyone else but hopefully there are no seven-foot Australian centers in next years draft, no one wants to go through that again.