Tapping The Keg Podcast Episode 79

Tapping The Keg back again for more fun with Charlie and Mitch. The boys begin talking about the new trend in New York City called 'Exerdating' and why it is the worst thing ever. Tinder gets discussed again somehow. We cover all things free agency ranging to some of the big contracts along with Sam Shields and Green Bay not making moves yet which should be expected.  We move on to March Madness with UW-Milwaukee making the tournament along with other things from Championship Week. Bucks get some discussion including why John Henson needs more time. We finish with how Ryan Braun went full heel and why it's great plus some True Detective talk.

Charlie.

DOY: Tony Mitchell and DeMarcus Cousins

Like Leigh Ellis of The Starters, it appears DOY is developing a following here. Granted, these are both my friends, but both Eric and Luke pointed out to me that Tony Mitchell, the newest Milwaukee Buck, dunked all over Gorgui Dieng. Then my buddy Sobes took it to another level giving me a Vine of it which got picked up by the huge Tony Mitchell following on Twitter.  Love it guys, keep sending me DOY stuff as March Madness begins along with all sorts of other things.  Also in DOY news, DeMarcus Cousins threw one down on Andre Drummond which is a big man on big man crime. Boogie has those booms in case you did not know.

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Bucks Buzz: Monday March 10th

Even though it has been a bad year for Milwaukee thus far, Mitch Pratt and Charlie Tritschler will provide you with a bi-weekly update on the Bucks ranging from recaps, links and other neat stuff.  

Hot Recap Takes

Thursday: Pelicans 112 Bucks 104  -  Spirted effort from Milwaukee's professional basketball team. They played the Pellies tough throughout the whole four quarters, but they could not get it done down in the Nola. A trend continued on Friday when Anthony Davis took Bucks' big man to the absolute woodshed with a 29 point, 14 rebound performance along with five assists and a couple blocks. He took full control inside plus they got a great game from Tyreke Evans with 25 points. Milwaukee got another great game from Jeff Adrien whom matched his career-high from the night before by having 20 points and 10 rebounds in a losing effort. Adrien is playing at such a high level right now, which now means he will get overpaid by this franchise. John Henson deserves some love too as he started for Ersan Ilyasova and had 12 points with six rebounds, one of his better performances of late. O.J. Mayo decided he did not need to play this one after shoving former Wisconsin Badger Greg Stiemsma in the throat/face area which got him ejected

Saturday: Wizards 114 Bucks 107 - If Milwaukee would have came to play in the first half, this might have been a different game. They gave up 75 points digging a 22 point hole at the break. Milwaukee came back from half to hold Washington to only 10 points in the third quarter, but could not complete the comeback getting their 50th loss of the season. Trevor Ariza continued his hot stretch of late having 28 points with five threes including seven rebounds. Additionally, Washington got five more threes from Bradley Beal as he dropped 23 points. If John Wall beats you, that's okay, but to have the other players take you down is a little disappointing. As for Milwaukee, their backcourt had a nice game with Brandon Knight filling it up with 25 points on 9/20 shooting with Nasty Nate Wolters adding 10 points of his own along with a positive PER.

Bucks and Fox Sports Wisconsin, how can it be fixed?
As some Bucks fans learned on Saturday night, the game was not on television. This disappointed a lot of people including yours truly as it would have been fun to see Milwaukee take on the Wizards, one of the best young teams in basketball.  I do not understand why they chose home games to get the ax. I could totally get them not wanting to bring their cameras to New Orleans as that matchup does not really drive up the needle, but for whatever reason, they felt Saturday's game was less important than Friday. There needs to be a better plan in place for this sort of things. Look at some of the perceived worst teams, and when Milwaukee visits them, give them the ax. I realize we are not getting 82 games of Bucks basketball because that's how it works with FOX Sports, but let's try to figure out a better balance with these games.  

Links
Journal Sentinel had a nice write up about Henson's struggles in his second year. I met John on Saturday afternoon as we were at the same event. Good dude honesty. Down to earth guy who does not think he is better than anyone else.

Nice look from the people of Bucksetball looking at the Gary Neal trade after about a month later. Ramon Sessions and Adrien have been special.

What to watch
I would look for the Bucks durability. This sort of runs into the schedule, but the Bucks play five games in seven days. Luckily for Milwaukee, everyone is off suspension and healthy.

Upcoming schedule
They play Orlando tonight, a team they have beaten this year and then they travel to Minnesota on Tuesday night. Bucks could get one of two here. Doubt they would take both of them.

Charlie.

Bucks Buzz: March 6 - Tank or No Tank?

Even though it has been a bad year for Milwaukee thus far, Mitch Pratt and Charlie Tritschler will provide you with a bi-weekly update on the Bucks ranging from recaps, links and other neat stuff.  

Quick Recap:

Monday vs. Utah: Bucks 114 Jazz 88 - 

The Bucks looked really good once again on Monday night against the visiting Utah Jazz. I happened to be #blessed enough to be there and it really didn't seem like anything special to me. It was pretty much the opposite of the Bucks' blowout losses: instead of looking up and they were down by 20+, I looked up and they were up by 25. Honestly, I'll attribute that to not really caring about what the score is at all throughout these games. I just watch players and don't care about the score.

Anyway, Homeless Ersan found a shelter for the night as he shot 13-14 from the floor on his way to 31 points and didn't play in the fourth quarter. Zaza Pachulia had another solid game. Giannis made his usual couple of highlight plays but also continues to show youth and inexperience, which is to be expected. The additions of Jeff Adrien and Ramon Sessions have proved to be great as they are role players that PROBABLY weren't promised much in the way of playing time but have earned it. 

Wednesday vs. Sacramento: Kings 116 Bucks 102 -

The tank came back strong Wednesday night against Sacramento. If you listened to our podcast from yesterday (you should), Charlie and I both made it a forgone conclusion that the Bucks were winning two straight for the first time this year. It was up there with death and taxes. But the Bucks' team defense said, "not so fast, my friend."

The Bucks allowed the Kings to get whatever they want, especially in the second and third quarters. If the Kings weren't scoring in the half court, they were at least getting to the line constantly. I mean, Ray McCallum was 7-10 last night. He shoots 36.8 percent from the field on the year. 

The Bucks were led, if you will, by Brandon Knight once again. Knight is up to averaging 17 and 5 (assists) on the year, and 20 and 6 in his last ten games. I think it's helping him to be playing off the ball a little more. 

Speaking of Adrien, he has been getting more minutes than John Henson lately, who has seemingly regressed in the past few weeks. This is pretty concerning as Henson hasn't seemed to develop any other scoring method, other than his lefty hook. The hook is effective but if it's all you can do, teams will cut it off. 

Henson's last five games: 6.0 PPG on 42 percent shooting (yikes), 36 percent from the free throw line and just 22.8 minutes per game. Something to monitor.

The concerns of the Bucks losing the tank rank, can go on hold for the next 48 hours. However, if Philly wins more than two games the rest of the way, I'd be catatonic.

Links

Have to start with a hell of a piece from Amos Barshod of Grantland, who absolutely shut it down. It's yet another feature on Bucks' rookie Giannis Antetokounmpo, but it's not just about Giannis. It's also got some tidbits about the Bucks' organizational ineptitude within. It's very in-depth and well done with several quotes that stick out in my mind. Must read.

Save Our Bucks is putting together an event to get a decent amount of Bucks fans to go down to the Arena Task Force meeting that is happening on Tuesday, March 11. Information can be found on the Facebook event page. 

An article from SLAM about Gary Neal being happy to be away from "tanking" Milwaukee. F*** Gary Neal, man. He's the one that signed here in the first place. Granted, the poor guy had no idea what he was getting into but still, be quiet. I'll say this Gary, the tank misses you.

What to watch

I touched on watching John Henson's play over the last six weeks of the season. We need to see what we've got. I hate to use lip service as a reason for Henson to be playing more than Adrien/Pachulia but he should be playing, more no matter what.

I'm conflicted in wanting the Bucks create some momentum heading into next year but I also don't see a point in going on winning streaks right now. After last night's dreadful performance, I don't think we'll be seeing any winning streaks.

What's next?

The Bucks head to the Big Easy for a showdown with Anthony Davis and the Pelicans on Friday night. Then, they return home once again to take on the Washington Wizards. The Wizards are an intriguing, young Eastern Conference team that is on the rise. Should be a loss for Milwaukee.

Tapping The Keg Episode 78

Mitch and Charlie doing their usual podcast thing today where many topics are discussed. It begins withCharlie's review of the Krewella concert at The Rave on Saturday evening. The sports talk begins with Milwaukee Bucks with all of the old players coming back, and why Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is selfishly looking at this team. We also discuss the Bucks strong play of late. Topic stays with NBA where LeBron James v. Kevin Durant, and everything else going on in the NBA. It continues to Major League Baseball about why Spring Training should not be taken that seriously. We finish up with Packers free agency talk along with March Madness and a little bit of NHL trade deadline talk.

Mitch and Charlie.

Bucks Buzz: Monday March 3rd

Even though it has been a bad year for Milwaukee thus far, Mitch Pratt and Charlie Tritschler will provide you with a bi-weekly update on the Bucks ranging from recaps, links and other neat stuff.  

Hot Recap Takes

Thursday: Pacers 101 Bucks 96 -  Remember how in the last game between these two teams I said it was encouraging how Roy Hibbert did not go off for a bevy points? Yeaaah that did not happen with this one as Hibbert had 24 points, 12 rebounds and a couple blocks being the difference for Indiana in this one. Paul George had another good night at the office with 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists with a +17 PER. But what was encouraging is the Bucks fought again in this one playing competitive once again. Brandon Knight had a nice night at the office with 23 points on 10/20 shooting with five assists. Khris Middleton was also strong in this game with 22 points on 9/15 shooting. One of the first real ugly nights from Zaza Pachuila as he got dominated by Hibbert defensively as well missed seven shots. You don't want that from Mr. Zaza.

Saturday: Nets 107 Bucks 98 - Another competitive loss for Milwaukee where they got beat by Brooklyn's bench more so than anything else. Marcus Thornton is a Bucks killer. I swear he always go off when playing the Bucks. Thornton had 25 points making four threes on only 13 shots. The inexcusable stat line of the night is Andray Blatche having a 19 points and 13 rebounds off the bench. I mean I know Dre been good for Brooklyn but I would never expect that from him. Ramon Sessions continues his good start in his Milwaukee revival as he had 16 points with most of them coming from the free throw line. Giannis Antetokounmpo had a nice night with 12 points, three rebounds, assists and steals. Gianni just knows how to fill up the box score. Jeff Adrien deserves some dap for pulling down 10 rebounds, but honestly, someone needs to stop the interior scoring, please someone.

Why exactly did Colin Cowherd delete his Bucks tweet?   
This is not one of the more popular ESPN personalities, and he likes to do things to piss people off. He had this tweet about the Bucks.. "Ever watched a Bucks regular season game for a few minutes and wondered..am I the only person in America currently doing this?" Honestly, I find it kind of funny and in no way disrespectful. But obviously some people were mad, and then Colin deleted the tweet. Then he went full heel towards Bucks fans and sent out this one with a classic Bucks reply.

@ESPN_Colin yeah, that accidental delete button gets us every time.
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) March 3, 2014

Look to be mad about Cowherd's tweet is stupid. We know there are Bucks fans, and there is a loyal base just not a casual base. It was a simple attempt to rile up people and so many simpletons took the bait with complete ease. National media outside of the NBA diehards do not pay attention to the Bucks. Simple as that.

Links


Another week of #ALLGIANNISEVERYTHING where he kicked a soccer ball and won a fan a scooter which is awesome. Like that the city is moving him around to different places. I have to assume he will be at at a Brewers game or two. .

This is about how Giannis will not be the only Antetokounmpo in the league as Kostos is considered to be one of the best for 2016 and Thanasis Antetokounmpo will be drafted likely nice year.

What to watch
Sessions and Adrien are playing great for Milwaukee so far. I would have expected them to mail it in and they have done the complete opposite. I look forward to seeing how they do against two weaker teams in the NBA.

Upcoming schedule
Major week for the tank as Bucks host both Utah and Sacramento this week in two very winnable games. Could this be the chance for the first winning streak of the season?

Charlie.

Tapping The Keg Podcast Episode 77

Tapping The Keg podcast is back for another edition as Charlie and Mitch discuss all sorts of things in a nice 45 minute podcast.  We start off talking about the distinctive music tastes around the United States of America, Milwaukee Bucks talk ranging from Caron Butler's buyout to Jeff Adrien being a part of the long-term plan for the team. We move on to discuss about Johnny Manziel and the criticism around him. Mitch and Charlie do a non-Hank The Dog edition of talking about Milwaukee Brewers ranging from their over/under number, Spring Training get started and Yankees interested Rickie Weeks. Our discussion carries us to James Jones and his future with Green Bay. Mitch rants quickly about U.S. Hockey. We finish up talking Jason Collins and the culture of sports.

Charlie & Mitchell.

Bucks Buzz: February 26 - Butler Bought Out

Even though it has been a bad year for Milwaukee thus far, Mitch Pratt and Charlie Tritschler will provide you with a bi-weekly update on the Bucks ranging from recaps, links and other neat stuff.

Quick Recap:

Monday at Philadelphia: Bucks 130 Sixers 110 --

The Bucks played their "best" game of the season on Monday night, notching their eleventh win against the lowly Philadelphia Sixers. The Bucks were lead by OJ Mayo who scored 25 points on 8-14 shooting. In fact, the Bucks as a team shot 57 percent from the floor (60 percent from beyond the arc) and shattered their season high in points with 130. The previous high was 117. 

It sounds as if many Bucks' fans are legitimately concerned that the team is going to start winning games and jeopardize their draft position. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous that the Bucks will end up with the second worst record in the league when it's all said and done this year. The Sixers are horrid. They have two legitimate NBA talents left of their roster and one of them is a rookie (Michael Carter-Williams) and is hitting the "rookie wall" right now. They gave away two of their three best players in Evan Turner and Spencer Hawes at the deadline for nothing, thus, the tank is really on in Philly. I'm surprised that the league office approved of these trades, if I'm honest. 

This was also the second game the Bucks played with new acquisitions Ramon Sessions and Jeff Adrien. These guys have come in and looked pretty good and actually might help the Bucks win a few games, which would be a typical move. Sessions, as some of us are aware, is a former Buck. He can get to the tin and is a better PG than you'd think. Adrien is a typical hustle guy/rebounder that is playing for another NBA contract. Kohl might be susceptible to give it to him, unfortunately.

I'm not that worried about the tank, personally. We've come this far and the tank will get back on the rails after they get destroyed in Indiana on Thursday. If they compete with Indiana or, God forbid, beat them, then we have problems but until then, have no fear.

Links

In other news, it sounds like the Bucks and hometown forward Caron Butler are working on a buyout that is supposed to be finalized on Wednesday, this according to an article on ESPN.com. This is a move to do Caron a solid by allowing him to hitch onto a contender. Also, it saves the Bucks some money and a roster spot. The Bucks could use the roster spot on a D-Leaguer but that doesn't usually happen, so I won't hold my breath.

Believe it or not, Drew Gooden is coming back to the NBA. He signed a 10-day contract with the Washington Wizards and will join the team on Thursday.

According to an article by ESPN's Marc Stein, the NBA is looking at expanding the size of the court and possibly adding a four-pointer. I don't get it.

What to watch

I'm going to watch the rotations that coach Larry Drew settles into now that the roster has been tweaked. Sessions, Adrien in and Neal, Ridnour and Butler out. OJ Mayo is healthy now and looks to be back to his early season form.

I'm guessing the rotation will look like this going forward:

Wolters/Sessions

Knight/Mayo

Middleton/Giannis

Ersan/Adrien

Pachulia/Henson

What's next?

The Bucks will play in Indiana Thursday evening and then will return home to face the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night. Like I said, don't expect victories in either contest. The tank will not be disturbed in the next two.

Bucks Buzz: Monday February 24th

Even though it has been a bad year for Milwaukee thus far, Mitch Pratt and Charlie Tritschler will provide you with a bi-weekly update on the Bucks ranging from recaps, links and other neat stuff.  

Hot Recap Takes

Thursday: Nuggets 101 Bucks 90 -   Pretty much from start to finish, Milwaukee received a beatdown again from Denver. They were outscored in the first quarter and the ball kept rolling downwards from there. Kenneth Faried had his way with Milwaukee defenders going 11/15 from the field and had 26 points taking Ersan Ilyasova's lunch money for the whole game. J.J. Hickson had a double-double with 14 points and 10 assists. Randy Foye had one as well with 12 points and 10 assists. Seven of eight Denver players had a positive PER while Milwaukee had only one player reach a zero PER with John Henson, the rest were in the negatives. Giannis Antetokounmpo filled up the box score nicely with eleven points, four rebounds and assists, three blocks and two steals. A nice game from Henson as well with 12 points and seven rebounds. But overall, a pretty putrid performance from Milwaukee.

Saturday: Pacers 110 Bucks 100 - This is one of those 'atta boy' games for the Bucks. They hung with Indiana for the whole game with an admirable comeback in the end of the game. Basically, their best players beat Milwaukee with Paul George and David West both having 30 plus points with Lance Stephenson adding 24 points. Given their struggles against big men, it was interesting to see Roy Hibbert have a marginal game with only four points going 1/9 from the field. Indiana was just too good for Milwaukee on Y2K night. As for Milwaukee, a game where you get really excited about Brandon Knight. He had 30 points and eight assists with no turnovers. He played great throughout the game and make people wonder just how high his ceiling is with Milwaukee and for his career. Jeff Adrien had a strong debut pulling down eleven rebounds off the bench. Good start to what might be his short career with Milwaukee.

Three Bucks land on Bill Simmons' Worst Contracts List 
This is a yearly column from Simmons and it was not very kind to Milwaukee. O.J. Mayo and Ersan Ilyasova definitely deserves to be there. Mayo is proving to just be a guy that wanted to cash a check and thinks it is a good excuse to be fat. Ersan knows he can mail it in and the owner will not take umbrage with his game. Milwaukee will be better place when he is off the team. Larry Sanders' addition to this is a little harsh. This has just been a bad season for Larry, but he is still worth that contract. Almost every team in the NBA would want Sanders if he was healthy because he is not as much of a problem as people like Simmons and others are making him out to be. Sanders had just started to come on with his season before breaking eye bone. He will be just fine next season. Biggest encouraging thing for Sanders which Simmons missed out on, he became a veteran leader for Giannis. If you want an example on why Mayo belongs on this list, see this Vine from K.L. Chouinard.



Links
Here the stuff on Ersan I referred to the previous paragraph. If this is true, it would be yet another red mark against Herb Kohl as an owner.

If David Kahn becomes involved with the Bucks, they should end the Save Our Bucks movement and start pleading with investors to take this team to Seattle.

For the Y2K night, the Bucks found the 'Light Em Up' video. Tim Thomas lit more up than baskets if you know what I am saying. Also where is the one with Mark Pope. We need that version.

What to watch
Milwaukee plays Philadelphia on Monday night and I feel like that could be social media's finest hour. Will people watch this game just to see how bad the effort will be from both teams? Will one team actually get blown out? Will I become legitimately concerned if the Bucks win?

Upcoming schedule
As I said, they play Philadelphia on Monday and then they play Indiana again on Thursday. Thanks NBA schedulers for two Indiana games in the span of a week, appreciate it.

Charlie.

Tapping The Keg Podcast Episode 76

Mitch Pratt and Charlie Tritschler get together for yet another edition of Tapping The Keg podcast. Most of the podcast involves us talking about the trade deadline for the NBA. Even though there were not many big deals, there were enough of them to talk about for 15-20 minutes. Milwaukee Bucks made a move dealing Gary Neal and Luke Ridnour to Charlotte for expiring contracts with Ramon Sessions and Jeff Adrien. Even Turner deal to Indiana is discussed at great length as well as a couple of the minor deals. Also in this podcast, how Tinder is changing the date game, getting you ready for the Olympics and Hank the Brewers mascot dog!

Charlie.

NBA Trade Deadline: A Series of Minor Moves

Another trade deadline comes and goes with a whimper. If you aren't an NBA aficionado, there's a chance you had no idea that the deadline was a 2 PM central time today.

Under the new collective bargaining agreement, because of different provisions and rules, teams are reluctant to move expiring contracts and back contracts left and right.

The move with the biggest names involved happened between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers sent Danny Granger east for Evan Turner and Lavoy Allen. This marks the official end of the Granger era in Indiana. It's kind of sad when you think about it. He's the main guy that got that franchise turned around from the aftermath of the 'Malice at the Palace' featuring the artist formerly known as Ron Artest, and now he's just an expiring contract after injuries derailed the All-Star's career.

Incidentally, the Pacers get a solid wing to bolster their bench and a guy they could perhaps count on in the playoffs if Lance Stephenson isn't playing well or gets banged up. Also, if Turner plays well for the Pacers, they may have a backup plan if Stephenson gets an offer he can't refuse in restricted free agency this offseason.

As far as Philly, it's basically a lateral move. They trade Turner who was going to be a restricted free agent for an expiring in Granger. We'll see if they keep Granger after this season on a reasonable contract. The Sixers are in full on tank/rebuild mode and will give the Bucks a run for worst record this year.

Part of that tank for the Sixers was trading C Spencer Hawes to Cleveland for Earl Clark and a few second round picks. Hawes is a C that can step out a knock down a three or two...or two. He'll spread the floor nicely for Tristan Thompson to work in the paint.

For the Bucks, the deadline went about as well as we expected to. Gary Neal and Luke Ridnour both went to the Charlotte Bobcats for Ramon Sessions and Jeff Adrien. We knew that those two were going to get dealt, it was just a matter of where they were going.

You can put me in the fan club of this deal. They moved a few of the redundant veterans on this team for a few expiring contracts in Sessions and Adrien. I'm mainly a fan of this move because it rids us of Neal's $3.25 million that the Bucks were on the hook for next year. Also, because Gary Neal just wasn't really all that fun to watch. I'm sure we'll be having an official Sportandfashion-news Gary Neal Trade Potluck at some point in the near future. That's definitely going to be BYOB.

All jokes aside, Neal wasn't really happy here (even though he signed on the dotted line) and wanted to go to a contender...so Hammond sent him to the Bobcats. I do respect Neal for being a professional while falling out of the rotation for most of the year.

Bon voyage, Gary, I hear the grass is typically greener in Charlotte this time of year.

Here's a list of the other minor moves in the NBA this week:

• Marcus Thornton to Brooklyn for Jason Terry and Reggie Evans.
• Steve Blake to Golden State for MarShon Brooks and Kent Bazemore.
• Andre Miller to Washington, Jan Vesely to Denver, Eric Maynor and picks to Philadelphia.
• Aaron Brooks to Denver for Jordan Hamilton.
• Antawn Jamison to the Hawks for the rights to Cenk Aykol who was drafted by Atlanta in 2005.
• Clippers send Byron Mullens and second round pick to Philadelphia for a second round pick.
• Austin Daye from Toronto to San Antonio for Nando De Colo
• The Heat basically gave Roger Mason to the Kings for nothing.

That's it. You're up to date on the deadline that was in the NBA.

Tapping The Keg Podcast Episode 75

The first ever Tapping The Keg Podcast with a guest.... The guest is not someone famous, but he thinks he is as Nolan Murphy joins us from Cleveland. We talk about the recent news regarding Green Bay Packers then Murph takes us through what a mess it is in Cleveland with the Browns along with whom they might be drafting in May. Our podcast gets going with the usual topics between Charlie and Mitch as they discuss the enjoyment of Sunday Fundays, Michael Sam and what could transpire in the coming months, Milwaukee Bucks possibly getting new owners, Marcus Smart situation along with a couple other college basketball notes. We finish out with the Olympics and the most American ending.

Charlie.

Bucks Buzz: February 13 - Potential Buyer(s)?

Even though it has been a bad year for Milwaukee thus far, Mitch Pratt and Charlie Tritschler will provide you with a bi-weekly update on the Bucks ranging from recaps, links and other neat stuff.  

Quick Recap:

Monday vs. Boston: (L) Celtics 102 Bucks 86 - 

The Bucks did a fine job of hanging around and keeping it close, as they were down 70-68 heading into the fourth quarter. However, the Bucks did their usual thing and started to turn the ball over at an alarming rate, Jeff Green got hot and next thing you know they're down by 12 points in the span of about a minute.

The Bucks were led by John Henson and Brandon Knight in that one. Henson had 16 points on 8-12 shooting but seemed to roll his ankle pretty badly in the second half. Hopefully, he'll be back soon. Knight continues to put up points for this team but his assist totals have been rising to a respectable level of late (6.4 assists per game over his last ten games).

Personal anecdote: this was my first game as a fan this year, so I was looking forward to cheering/saying things I shouldn't (we crushed some pints beforehand). Naturally, a pair of eight year olds (with their dad) sat down right next to me so I had to keep it as PG as possible. I ended not saying much of anything.

Wednesday vs. New Orleans: (L) Pelicans 102 Bucks 98 - 

They, again, hung around in this one and actually a rare 49-46 halftime lead. The third quarter, again, was the demise of the Bucks. This time, they actually came out with some energy (the word of the season) but eventually gave up 37 points in the quarter. Alex Ajinca and Luke Babbitt did the majority of the damage for the Pelicans in the third. Not exactly household names.

Brandon Knight had another good game scoring, as he lead the short-handed Bucks with 22. He's averaging 22 and 7 over his last five games. I continue to go back and forth about this guy. I don't think I'll ever see him as a starting NBA point guard but the guy is a high character gym rat that wants to be good. Don't even underestimate that quality. I feel that guys like Knight are few and far between in the Association. I really would like to see him stay long enough to fit in his proper role but I wouldn't hesitate to trade him if the right deal came along.

Potential buyers

The Racine Journal Times' and WSSP's Bucks insider Gery Woelfel was on the post game show last night and announced that Herb Kohl had a few different suitors ready to stake their share in the Bucks, one of which could take over at "anytime and clean house." He mentions that the group ready to take over at anytime is led by a former NBA GM. 

After some research, there are a few different possibilities here. 

First the ideal one: it's a group led by Donnie Walsh. 

Walsh is a former GM with the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks. As GM of the Pacers, he drafted Reggie Miller with his first draft pick at the helm. That turned out pretty well and the Pacers made the playoffs in 16 of his 17 seasons.

With the Knicks, Walsh cleaned up the mess that Isiah Thomas left and landed Amar'e Stoudamire in free agency and pulled the trade that got Carmelo Anthony to the Knicks. These don't look like great moves at the moment but the Knicks enjoyed a great year last season with the team that Walsh assembled.

Walsh is back with Indiana as a consultant to President of Basketball Operations, Larry Bird. They are currently the best team in the NBA.

The interesting cog that ties this idea together is current Bucks' assistant GM David Morway. Morway was with Indiana during Walsh's first tenure in Indiana and is in touch with today's NBA. Ideally, if Walsh was the buyer, he'd have Morway take over as GM and move John Hammond into a head scout role. By all accounts, Hammond is probably best in that role but one would probably have to convince him to take a demotion.

Now, the less than ideal one: it's a group lead by Mike Dunleavy, Sr. 

Dunleavy, Sr., for the most part, has been a trainwreck in any position of power, save for a few years with Portland. He was the GM/head coach of the Bucks in the early-mid 1990s and they were not good, ever.

He seems to be fine with tanking, which is about the only difference we'd be looking at with Dunleavy, Sr.

Woelfel mentions Dunleavy, Sr. in the interview but it doesn't seem as if it's actually him. It's plausible, however, because Dunleavy had interest in buying the New Orleans franchise when they were for sale a few years ago.

Dark horse: Mark Attanasio

Maybe there's a former GM out there that's been talking with Milwaukee Brewers' owner Mark Attanasio about going in on the Bucks. I doubt it but Attanasio hasn't ever flat-out said no when asked about the Bucks.

Links

Here is the link to Gery Woelfel on the Bucks' post game show last night. Hear it for yourself. Interesting stuff indeed.

This is an article from ProBasketballTalk about Mike Dunleavy, Sr. being interested in the New Orleans franchise from two years ago. The team ultimately went to Tom Benson, who also owns the New Orleans Saints football franchise.

Here's a video from Bucks.com of Giannis driving with a Bucks employee. Giannis passed his driver's test on February 11.

The Bucks hosted a basketball clinic for 100 Special Olympics athletes this week. Always nice to see the team doing good things in the community.

What to watch

Giannis at All-Star Weekend in New Orleans, obviously. The Greek Freak will be a participant in both the Rising Stars game on Friday and in the skills challenge on Saturday night. This is the first time the Bucks have had anyone participating in anything at All-Star Weekend in a few years. Good for you, Giannis.

What's next?

With the All-Star break finally here, the Bucks won't be in action again until Tuesday when they'll host Tobias Harris and the Orlando Magic.

Bucks at the Break

It is finally the All-Star break, or “Black Super Bowl Weekend” if you choose, and Bucks have stumbled right up to it as expected. For the year, they are 9-41, a truly astonishing number. Our current record has Milwaukee dead last in the league. And Bucks are the worst at a number of things too, for instance:

•  Bucks are the worst rated offensive team with a rating of 99.68, no one is below them.
• Bucks garner the worst attendance rating but Aaron Rodgers attended a Bucks game with my uncle, so that was cool.
• Bucks have six less wins then a Philadelphia 76ers team that was just outscored 66-33 and 69-30 in the first half of consecutive NBA games against Los Angles Clippers and Golden State Warriors. Milwaukee are technically worse then this team somehow, someway.
• Bucks have 24.9% chance of receiving the 1^stpick in the lottery. The highest of all teams. This situation is kind of like having an argument with your girlfriend. You are fighting, she is winning, you finally think of something awesome and totally true to stick her with it, you stick her with it, she flies off the handle, possibly slaps you because your right and women are confusing. But the fact is that what she was bitching about to you could be justified in the first place, and so for awhile it is just weird as you both lick your wounds and don’t want to be around each other, and hate each other (The following has been a metaphor for having to watch the Bucks in case you are wondering), but then after a long tumultuous week of no sex and hating, the make-up sex happens and everyone breaths a fresh of new air (the eventual Draft Lottery). It’s been a sexually frustrating season in Milwaukee.
• Bucks have the worst Adjusted Net Rating. (Net Rating takes into consideration estimated point differential per 100 possessions and then it is adjusted in terms of strength of opponent. I like this stat because there are only two teams in the West that rank lower then 18^th, and only five teams outside of the top fifteen, and it is very apparent the West is far superior to the East. The Bucks hold an adjusted net rating of -10.75. To compare, Oklahoma City Thunder are the best at +8.48, and Atlanta Hawks are middle of the road at +0.68. In other words, Milwaukee loses games and generally, they lose pretty big.

So as you can see, some things have not worked out at all. The belief was to begin the year Milwaukee would not tank the season. Before the year, they brought in NBA veterans like Carlos Delfino, Brandon Knight, Gary Neal, OJ Mayo and Zaza Pachulia, it looked inevitable that paired with a decent frontcourt of John Henson, Ersan Ilyasova and Larry Sanders, this would be a team competing in the Eastern Conference. A team that seemed destined for the eighth seed. True Bucks fans sighed winds of depression thinking about how they were about miss out on the highly touted upcoming draft class.

Instead of competing though, Bucks got injured, losing Delfino, Sanders, Knight, Pachulia, Neal, Butler and Mayo, all at different and overlapping times over the first month and a half of the season, and the next thing you know, it's the end of December and Milwaukee is 7-24 becoming the front-runners in Tanksville.The injuries have been peculiar. Sanders broke his hand in a bar fight and just recently broke the orbital bone in his face. Pachulia broke his foot. Henson sprained his ankle terribly, and Knight popped a hammy two minutes into the season.

None however, make as little sense as OJ Mayo. In late January, Mayo missed some games due to the flu. He returned to play in back to back games on January 24th and 25th and has sense been day-to-day on the injury report with “the flu”.It is now, February 11^th and he still has the same flu. Like Mayo, I too reside in Wisconsin, but I haven’t heard of anyone else getting the three week flu like Mayo. Which leads me to question a few things.I hit up my uncle recently asking him if he had heard anything more about Mayo. He laughed and replied Mayo is fine. So take that, as you will. I’m just waiting to see how fat OJ Mayo gets by April.

Bright Spots

As Milwaukee tumble on through the season, a couple of positives have come to light. One is Brandon Knight. I was pretty skeptic on Knight. In Detroit, he did nothing that was memorable, aside from getting baptized by DeAndre Jordan but that is not exactly a positive thing. For the season, he has led the team in scoring, at 16.5 ppg. He has been a decent distributor (numbers-wise) averaging 4.8 assists per game but has also shown that he is much more of a two guard, that is just a hair small to only play the two.

I hope he can develop a sense to really command a team as a point guard, and not just as a scorer. As Coach Larry Drew has more time with him, I’m hoping this becomes a reality. Especially if they are surrounding him with blossoming players like Henson, and Giannis Antetokounmpo and a future number one or two overall draft pick. The development of Knight could prove crucial to this team in there or four years. 

Another bright spot has been John Henson. Henson is arguably skinnier than Giannis, but he is just as long. He gets pushed around on defense when guarding the stronger players in the league (Guys like Dwight Howard, Joahkim Noah, and Roy Hibbert), but his length is a constant problem for defenses. For the season he has averaged 2.2 blocks per game.On offense, Henson has been Milwaukee's second option, scoring 11.8 points a game on 52% shooting. He legitimately uses a lefty skyhook that makes Kareem smile. When it is on, it’s beautiful.  He has also been a sturdy rebounder at 8.1 per game and leads the team with a 19.5 PER.

I’m really high on Henson. I think he will be a playmaker in this league for a while. My only real complaint is he seems very laid back, and nothing seems to bother him. Not even losses. I don’t want to question his drive, but I don’t want him to become like Corey Maggette and become so used to losing that it doesn’t phase him. But that is me really knit-picking. Realistically I have nothing but love for Henson.

The Rookie Class

I may be biased when I say this, but I think it’s safe to crown Milwaukee kings of the 2013 Draft. Milwaukee nailed three players. Bucks obviously drafted Giannis Antetokounmpo, whom is an Internet sensation, and a player on the rise. While he is still raw and learning at the tender age of 19, he managed to score 7.1 ppg and 4.6 rpg. Those numbers are modest, but I can assure they are the most exciting seven and four in the league. Every time Antetokounmpo grabs a rebound and starts to run up court on a one-man-fast break, the city of Milwaukee wins. He alone has made a 9-41 season delightful. There is not another rookie that can say that.

While most NBA heads have heard of Giannis by now, another solid move was drafting Nate Wolters in the second round. Milwaukee threw Wolters into the fire forcing to play a lot early on due to injuries and proved that he does in fact belong in the NBA. He does not turn the ball over often and has shown a knack for filling up the stat sheet. While his minutes haven’t been consistent, in games he has played for longer stretches, it pretty common to see a stat line consisting of seven points, nine assists and seven rebounds or 7/10/4, or 11/3/4, just a little bit of everything. A 6’ 4” and 190 pounds he is a big powerful point guard that defends and makes plays. Before the season, I compared him to Goran Dragic. Dragic has since exploded this season averaging over 20 points and six assists per game, and while I don’t know if Wolters will ever average that, I think he will be a very, very reliable point guard in this league for years. I mean, could not you see Wolters being the pivotal bench player as a member of a contending San Antonio Spurs team? I sure can.

Our draft doesn’t stop at two players however; Milwaukee also drafted a brute named Miroslav Radjulica. The man is a mountain. He is like Nikola Pekovic but a little swifter. He sports a tremendous arm sleeve tattoo and can drink over a gallon of vodka in 2 hours[1]. While he does not average many minutes, he has been ultra efficient, with a PER of 16.7. Radjulica honestly has great ball skills and soft hands. He is pretty good pluus he just looks so strong that I cannot say anything bad about him in fear that if he were to meet me and know I said bad things about him, he might strangle me. And quite frankly, I don’t want to go out being strangled by a guy named Miroslav. I have always envisioned my death way different then that.

A Mid-Season Outlook

We know this season is done. It would be beneficial to lose every single game from here on out, but we as Bucks fans will probably settle on winning like four or five more games; a modest and fair amount.

Hopefully this season can be the turning point to more glory days in Milwaukee Bucks basketball. Although it is often forgotten, even by Milwaukee's own fans, Bucks were an original NBA franchise and have a very rich history in the league, despite only winning one championship.

If they are lucky Bucks will land the coveted first pick that becomes a franchise cornerstone. If Milwaukee is really lucky, the draft pick, Giannis and Henson will stay in town for awhile. And if the Bucks are really really, really lucky, they will an NBA championship in the next five years.

But for now, let’s just cheer for Giannis as he represents for Milwaukee during All-Star weekend.

~Andrew

---

[1]Okay, I made up the vodka part.

Bucks Buzz: Monday February 10th

Even though it has been a bad year for Milwaukee thus far, Mitch Pratt and Charlie Tritschler will provide you with a bi-weekly update on the Bucks ranging from recaps, links and other neat stuff.  

Hot Recap Takes

Saturday: Rockets 101 Bucks 95 -  A rather competitive effort from Milwaukee's professional basketball team. A bad second quarter plagued Milwaukee, and that's a microcosm of the season where Milwaukee has one bad quarter screwing up everything else. Houston received a big game from Dwight Howard with 27 points and 13 rebounds continuing the trend of big men having huge games against Milwaukee. Jeremy Lin had a great game with 18 points on 8/15 shooting with a +9 PER. As for Milwaukee, they had double-doubles from John Henson in his second game back from an injury, and Zaza Pachulia had 12 and 10 off the bench. Quite possibly the most encouraging performance came from Nate Wolters. He started again with a career high 19 points with 9/15 shooting with seven rebounds and only two turnovers. Granted, Houston's perimeter defense cannot guard a gargoyle, but still maybe this will jumpstart Wolters' confidence to be more of a shooter. Even though the Bucks lost, I am happy they put up a decent effort at home for the fans on Saturday night.

Cool thing Bucks did on Saturday was put their MVP season ticket holders on the center line. I like that move a ton.

As part of @BucksMVP Appreciation Night, MVP season ticket holder names were placed on center line at tonight's game pic.twitter.com/zIyFyKtuOb
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) February 9, 2014

Revisiting the Bucks trade block 
We are about a week and half away from the trading deadline. Gary Neal did nothing for his trade prospects, but I have to believe he gets move at some point. Ersan Ilyasova bothered by a bad back, but still there is a chance he might get moved with two years and 15 million dollars left on his contract. Caron Butler is beloved by some people in Milwaukee, but he is another piece that could be on the move. I doubt Milwaukee moves Larry Sanders or Zaza. Additionally, I think no one wants the albatross contract of O.J. Mayo although I am sure no Bucks fans would be sad to see him go elsewhere. Ilyasova would probably gain back the most stuff for Milwaukee, but I doubt any of their pieces will gain them an extra first-round draft pick.

Links
There were multiple Giannis Antetokounmpo articles out there this week. Scoop Jackson wrote one for ESPN about how much he truly enjoys the game of basketball.

The other Giannis article I speak of is a Q and A with a Greek reporter. The biggest thing discovered in here is Milwaukee needs a Souvlaki spot.

What to watch
Milwaukee started a lineup of Wolters, Brandon Knight, Khris Middleton, Henson and Sanders. That seems like a dream lineup for Milwaukee fans, and if Sanders is fully recovered from his blurred vision as he got an elbow to the eye early in the game. It would be interesting to see it play out for a full game versus the first four minutes of the game.

Upcoming schedule
Before the All-Star Break, Milwaukee has two home games this week against Boston tonight and New Orleans on Wednesday night. Maybe they could grab one to get to double-digits before the break.

Charlie. 

NBA's Attempt to Grow Giannis Antetokounmpo's Brand.

When Giannis Antetokounmpo entered the league, the expectations were not very high for him. Everyone
saw him as raw talent needing time to develop in the league. Many Milwaukee Bucks fans were pleased with Anteokounmpo being an eighth or ninth man off the bench getting valued minutes and learning how to play the game while contributing a little bit as well. No one saw this coming from the rookie out of Greece. Anetokounmpo will now be involved with two All-Star events as he will be in the Rising Stars Game on Friday night along with the Skills competition Saturday night. The National Basketball Association knows they want to push Giannis and build the Milwaukee team brand harder than ever before in the Internet era.

Honestly, none of this would have happened if the Bucks were a competent basketball team. If Milwaukee with their veterans like O.J. Mayo, Caron Butler and others played .500 basketball, I have a hard time seeing Anetokounmpo making this much of an impact. When Milwaukee had injuries to begin the season, head coach Larry Drew's hand was forced to play Giannis with extended minutes. He responded to the trial by fire with great passion for the game including some big performances. Drew continued to play Antetokounmpo and it has been history since then.

For the season, Anetokounmpo is averaging seven points a game with four and half rebounds a game. The numbers do not jump off the page yet he always seems to fill up the stat sheet with points, steals, rebounds, blocks and assists. But more important than his scoring or anything in the stat sheet is he is beloved by the fanbase. Milwaukee has its first fan favorite in a long time. Just like Milwaukee Brewers when Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder were starting to develop in true talents, kids had to have their jerseys and shirt jerseys. The same thing is happening right now with Giannis. This summer, over 50 percent of kids will have something on their body saying 'Antetokounmpo', hell half adults will have something on their body too.

Best thing for the city of Milwaukee is this is not a localized love. Giannis is loved all over the Internet. He is the golden child of NBA Twitter where everyone fawns over cool stuff Anetokounmpo says on Twitter or what he might do on the court. For example, he had over 2,000 retweets for proclaiming his love for smoothies earlier this season. Speaking of which, if a Milwaukee smoothie place has not come up with 'The Giannis', they are doing it wrong. NBA more so than any other professional sport pays the closest attention to what goes on with the Internet. Having Giannis for two nights of NBA All-Star Weekend will be beneficial to them as people want whom already love the guy and he will gain fans in the process whom have not watched a Milwaukee game all season long (Do not blame those who have not seen the Bucks all year).

Remember, this is only the second time a forward is competing in the skills competition and the other one is ... LeBron James. Let that soak in. Also with the NBA's savvy international presence, they know Antetokounmpo can be the first Mediterranean star capitalizing on another part of Europe, they have not been able to get in with original talent. Greece has a huge basketball following yet there is not been a star out of Greece or Italy yet. The closest thing to it is the wealth of talent out of Turkey yet Greece and Turkey mix about as well as tuna fish and peanut butter. Greece needs its own star and this is what Giannis brings the NBA. I would be stunned if Milwaukee does not play an exhibition game next season in Greece or somewhere near it. I can almost guarantee that will happen because it is clear to me the NBA wants to build Giannis's hallmark.

Will the growth of the admiration for Anetokounmpo bring a new arena to Milwaukee?  Honestly, there should be belief this will only help things. Investors might be more interested in the Bucks at a low price knowing there is a potential star with a huge following from Milwaukee and around the world. It is Giannis' world and we are just living in it.

Charlie.

Bucks Buzz: February 6 - A Family Reunion

Even though it has been a bad year for Milwaukee thus far, Mitch Pratt and Charlie Tritschler will provide you with a bi-weekly update on the Bucks ranging from recaps, links and other neat stuff. 

Quick Recap:

Monday vs. New York (W): Bucks 101 Knicks 98 

I say this about every team the Bucks actually beat but how bad are the Knicks? Carmelo Anthony and JR Smith were chucking threes on their way to 36 and 30 points, respectively. The rest of their squad could only muster 32 points? Tim Hardaway was only 2-10 from the field and Raymond Felton was just 1-7. This really doesn't surprise me, it's just that I need to make fun of another team other than the Bucks. 

Speaking of those Bucks, this was easily the best game of the season for them. It was the first game Bucks' rookie Giannis Antetokounmpo got to play in front of his family. The Antetokounmpo's had some visa issues to work out but are now finally Stateside for good and now it seems as though Giannis will finally be able to relax and play ball (or, as Brandon Jennings would say: "just hoop"). Yanni played well in front of Mr. and Mrs. A (highlights below, the last up and under layup is unreal), scoring 15 points on 5-9 shooting and was 5-8 from the line. Further, I feel like he's going to forever be a Knicks killer, which we all should love.

Appropriate YouTube video: Giannis Highlights versus the Knicks. Chills for days.

His little brother Kosta is on the left. He's 16 and is 6'7". What do they feed these kids?

Welcome to Milwaukee, Antetokoumpo's!

Wednesday at Denver (L): Nuggets 110 Bucks 100

The energy was pretty good in this game, once again. They played a solid Nuggets team all the way through and didn't roll over after a bad third quarter. Small victories like this are nice to see when your team is 9-40. Larry Sanders had his best game of the season scoring 25 points (a new career high) and grabbing 15 rebounds in the losing effort. 

LARRY SANDERS! might have earned that stylization back after his recent stretch of games. He's averaging 13.4 points per game (57.7 percent from the floor) and 10.4 rebounds per game over his last five games. He fouled out of the game on Monday but, in typicaly Larry fashion, he got the crowd on their feet before he exited, nearly getting a technical in the process.

If you want him to be traded, you're doing it wrong. Many people will hopefully come back around on the 25 year old big man after this recent stretch.

Links

An article by Charles Gardner of the Journal-Sentinel about Giannis and his family being here for good. You can tell he's so happy now and it sounds like his family will be at every home game. Let's get those roots firmly planted in the 414. And for the love of God, draft his brother, Thanasis, in the 2014 draft to get them all in Milwaukee. (Ed. note: Can we get Kostas to Marquette please? Thanks. - CT) 

Here's a post from Fansided about the Bucks potentially having interest in the Cavaliers' Dion Waiters, who has fallen out of favor in Cleveland. I'm not sure how I feel about him. He doesn't have eye-popping numbers in his short career and is a bit of a head case. However, as long as they don't make a stupid trade to get him, I might be alright with it. He's the kind of guy the Bucks' might want to target. He's only 22 himself and could possibly turn it around in a new situation.

What to watch

One thing I'm going to keep my eye(s) on is the continuing play of LARRY SANDERS! and Khris Middleton. Those guys have been on-fire over the last handful of games. Middleton is shooting 58.3 percent from beyond the arc over his last five and is scoring 16.6 points per game over that stretch.

Sanders just needs to play within himself and keep everything else in check to have a large impact.

What's next?

The Bucks have just one game over the weekend as they'll host the Houston Rockets on Saturday night. This is a somewhat controversial night for Bucks' fans as it's "beard night" and the team is conveniently playing against NBA superstar James Harden, who's known for his beard. Additionally, it's going to be a "red out" night as the Bucks are giving away a red shirt with a beard on it to all fans. 

Think of it what you will.

Bucks Buzz: Monday February 3rd

Even though it has been a bad year for Milwaukee thus far, Mitch Pratt and Charlie Tritschler will provide you with a bi-weekly update on the Bucks ranging from recaps, links and other neat stuff.  

Hot Recap Takes
Friday: Magic 113 Bucks 102 - Nice fight from Milwaukee as they were down by 21 at half and started to march back in the second with a great effort from the bench from some of the unhappiest Bucks. Gary Neal whose somehow still on this basketball team had a productive night with 13 points going 50 percent from the field.  Caron Butler had 20 points with 7 of 12 shooting. It is nice to see like a white whale that Neal and Butler can come up with big performances every now and again. Also off the bench, Giannis Antetokounmpo had a big night with 15 points with seven rebounds shooting efficiently from the field. He also had a massive dunk in the fourth quarter during the Bucks comeback. Negatives, they missed 10 free throws and allowed Orlando to shoot over 50 percent from the field including a nice game from Arron Afflalo whose developing into a Bucks killer with a 21 points with five rebounds and a PER of +18.

Giannis' unreal slam. Gotta think he is in the dunk contest in under five years. (Full highlights of his night, dunk comes .57 secs in).



Saturday: Grizzlies 99 Bucks 90 - Man, the Bucks had a lead for most of the game until a bad late third quarter into an early fourth quarter. Nick Calathes fills in for an injured Mike Conley and goes for a career-high 22 points which seems ridiculous Milwaukee let happen but we will get to that in a second. Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph combined for 42 points and 16 rebounds inside which does not surprise me in the slightest with how bad they have been defending good big men. Good night from Ersan Ilyasova with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Brandon Knight had a nice night at the two guard position with 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists on 8/19 shooting. Bucks struggled with Memphis defense shooting way too many threes, shot 23 of them and they only shot 39 percent from the field. They could only compete with Memphis for about three and half quarters, and that feels just about right.

Best part of the night... Larry threw up the thumbs up again! (H/T @AnaheimAmigos) 



Nasty Nate's re-emergence as Bucks point guard
Calling a guy that looks like 'I like turtles' kid, 'Nasty' is absolutely perfect. Nate Wolters played a great deal early on in the season, and then Larry Drew sort of placed him on the bench forgetting about him as he only averaged about 13 minutes a game in January. He played well against Atlanta in a blowout, played solid against Phoenix then nearly filled up a triple-double against Orlando with eight points, nine assists and seven rebounds. It almost feels like Milwaukee needs to keep exploring the idea of having Wolters at the one and Knight at the two because that's their natural positions. Knight is not a point guard at this point of his career, and he needs to admit that to himself.  Additionally in Wolters two starts this weekend, he had one total turnover. My only worry with him is the lack of defense because Wolters is putrid at defending almost all point guards in the league.

Links
I do not have any links this week. I am sure there is good stuff out there, but nothing worth talking about it.

What to watch
Let's see if the Wolters-Knight experiment continues and what's up with John Henson's wrist as well as the return of Zaza Pachuila.

Upcoming schedule
Weird schedule for Milwaukee in the next two weeks before heading into All-Star Break. Milwaukee takes on New York at home tonight before heading to Denver for a one-game road trip on Wednesday.

Bucks Buzz: January 30 - We Have a 'Rising Star' on Our Hands

Even though it has been a bad year for Milwaukee thus far, Mitch Pratt and Charlie Tritschler will provide you with a bi-weekly update on the Bucks ranging from recaps, links and other neat stuff. 

Quick Recap:

Monday vs. Los Angeles Clippers: Clippers 114 Bucks 86 -

The Bucks looked completely listless once again, for all intents and purposes. This was mainly due to Blake Griffin getting angry after Giannis poked the ball away from him after a whistle and then got angry. Griffin scored 11 points in the last few minutes of the second quarter and essentially took the wind out of the Bucks' proverbial sails.

It's unfortunate that this keeps happening even after coach Larry Drew seems to be harping about "energy" after every game. I'd rather not harp on coach Drew, given his situation, but it's becoming more and more apparent every night that he's PROBABLY not the best coach for the Bucks going forward.

Anyway, Khris Middleton got in the starting lineup again and had a solid game with 14 points on 7-15 shooting. Ersan, however, did not. Turkish Thunder had 16 points to lead the team (!!!) but he shot just 6 of 22 from the field. He needs to get it going.

Wednesday vs. Phoenix: L Suns 126 Bucks 117 -

For what it's worth, the Bucks played with much more life on Wednesday against Phoenix than they did on Monday night against the Clippers. They continued to fight and claw against a very well coached team that is on a roll. Suns' coach Jeff Hornacek was trying to limit some of his starters' minutes being that they were in the midst of a four games in five nights stretch but when he needed to put the Bucks away, he went back to Dragic and he was tremendous in the final minutes of the game.

Ersan Ilyasova had arguably his best game this year last night, scoring 27 points on 7-15 shooting. On Monday, he had just 16 points on 6-22 shooting. It seems like Ersan is just going to shoot his way back into stride this year. For some reason, I don't mind a chucking Ilyasova. He might be missing shots but, for the most part, he takes open shots which is something a few of the Bucks can't always say.

Appropriate YouTube video: Giannis with a break away slam. You can never have too many Giannis highlights.

Links

Bucks' rookie standout, Giannis Antetokounmpo, has been named to the Rising Stars. Here is a link to an article about it on JSonline. The sky's the limit for this kid. I hope he goes down to New Orleans and scores 25 points.

This is a link to a story on Yahoo! about Doc Rivers being nice to Larry Drew because they're friends. He offers some words of encouragement for the first year coach.

Another post on SaveOurBucks.com. This time it asks who the Bucks' "Bob McGinn" is. Bob McGinn is seen almost as an "investigative" reporter when it comes to his Packer coverage. The Bucks really don't have a similar kind of reporter. My question in response is: what comes first, the chicken or the egg? No one cares about the Bucks but is that because they don't have a dogged reporter? I doubt it.

What to watch

The team's energy. It seems that this is going to be the difference between a competitive loss and a blowout loss every night. The team isn't good enough to accidentally beat anyone (as I've noted in the past) so they have to play their hardest every night to keep it close. You never want to accept losing.

What's next?

The Bucks will head to Orlando to face Tobias Harris and the Magic on Friday night. Then, they'll head up the Bible Belt to Memphis, TN and face off with the Grizzlies. The Magic game is huge for the tank as the Magic aren't that far behind in the Tank-a-thon this year. They haven't really taken the next step as many of us thought they would.

-Big Money

Bucks Buzz: Monday January 27th

Even though it has been a bad year for Milwaukee thus far, Mitch Pratt and Charlie Tritschler will provide you with a bi-weekly update on the Bucks ranging from recaps, links and other neat stuff.  

Hot Recap Takes
Friday: Cavaliers 93 Bucks 78 - The hope was going into this one Milwaukee could win a second straight game for the first time all season.  That dream died in the second and third quarter when the Bucks put up a collective 32 points in both quarters while Cleveland pulled away from them. Five different Cavs players were in double figures including double-doubles by Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson. All five Cleveland starters were in positive double-digit PER numbers as well.  As for Milwaukee, they hurt themselves with getting outrebounded 52-34 and allowing Cleveland to get a stunning 21 offensive rebounds.  Probably the only encouraging thing was how well Giannis Anetokounmpo played filling up the stat sheet before re-injuring his back in the final quarter.

Saturday: Hawks 112 Bucks 87 - Even though Milwaukee fell the night before, it appeared they may be catching Atlanta at a good time with the Hawks not having Jeff Teague who sprained his ankle on Friday night against San Antonio. That did not happen as Milwaukee delivered one of its worst performances of the season. Bucks looked completely out of it and without a care in the world. Milwaukee had 19 turnovers and missed seven free-throws in the game as well as having a piss-poor effort on the defensive end.  Six Hawks were in double-digits including a big night from Paul Millsap as he had 20 points and eight rebounds. Lou Williams delivered a big game off the bench with 18 points and five assists. This is now three Saturday night games where I can remember the Bucks getting completely outclassed at home with Minnesota and Charlotte also coming to mind. Want to drive away fans? This is exactly how to do it by laying complete eggs on Saturday night.

Officially I feel bad for Larry Drew
I truly believe Larry Drew is the right coach for Milwaukee and anyone questioning that should have a long chat with themselves. Success does not come overnight, but this is a terrible way to start your coaching tenure with a team. It does not help things when your team does not get up to play against your old squad for the first time all season. LD is taking some massive lumps this year as a coach, and I really do not think he deserves any sort of vitriol.

Links
I am going to link this article, but at the same time, I have an issue with it. Bob McGinn is one of the best because Green Bay is one of the best teams to work/write for while the Bucks... is not at this point. But to criticize Charles F. Gardner's technique and rewriting his questions feels awkward to me as someone who has done interviews with higher ups (More so in Education, but still). Here's the thing I feel like this article lacks... 1.) You don't know how many questions Gardner got ask of John Hammond. 2.) Hammond could have controlled the interview saying 'I will not talk about x, y and z.'  For whatever it's worth, Ted Thompson rarely talks to McGinn nor anyone else in the Green Bay media so there should be a little more gratefulness towards the fact Gardner even landed an interview with Hammond. (Save Our Bucks) 

What to watch
Bucks play four games in six days. I am curious as to the stamina of the team. Larry Sanders is coming back from being sick. Giannis has a bad back. Drew will definitely has his hands full this week.

Upcoming schedule
They bring Los Angeles Clippers and Phoenix Suns to Bradley Center this week. Hopefully, the cold outside will translate to two of the better Western Conference teams going cold from the field. Also let's not have this happen to Brandon Knight again... Thanks.