Bucks Buzz: Monday January 6th

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: Jazz 96 Bucks 87 - BATTLE OF THE TANK. I had no idea how bad Milwaukee has been in Utah in the last 24 years as the Bucks have only won three of their last 24 games in Salt Lake City. It did not get any better last Thursday as Bucks fall rather easily to Utah. Once again, Milwaukee gave up a big stat line to a big man with Derrick Favors having a double-double with 22 points and eleven rebounds. Gordan Hayward had a big day as well going for 22 and on an efficient 8/16 shooting. He has really turned into a good player for the Jazz. On Milwaukee's side of things, the good was Larry Sanders having his first big game since coming back from injury with 16 points, eight rebounds and going seven for seven from the field. The bad was Brandon Knight going 3 for 12 with only eight points. These games are evidence when people call Knight a 'shoot-first' point guard.

Saturday: Suns 116 Bucks 100 - Phoenix was without Eric Bledsoe, but that did not matter in this one as they rolled Milwaukee on Saturday night. Milwaukee had a season-high 26 turnovers, and to think with how bad the season has been, I am surprised they have not hit 30 this season. Gerald Green of all people had a great day against the Bucks going for 24 points and five steals. I know I bang on this point consistently, but another big man enjoyed a nice day with Channing Frye with 22 points and seven rebounds. Milwaukee did have some good performances out there with Knight having 25 points on 8/12 shooting and O.J. Mayo had his first good night from the bench going for 20 points with 7/11 shooting. Negative side of things we saw a rookie game from Giannis Anetokounmpo. An with him being shutout in a game for the first time since his DNP against Washington in late November. Hopefully this does not deter Larry Drew from starting him.

BEEF WATCH: Sanders vs. Neal
What's been surprising is Milwaukee really has yet to have any team issues with their bad record. Usually by this time, someone would be in trouble for punching a teammate. After a bad outing by Sanders, Gary Neal made a comment about 'earning his money.' This is an absurd thing to Neal to say to Sanders. He earns bench contract sure, but it is not like he is scorching the earth right now. I mean this is not like Neal is the team leader here. There is really no basis to call out Sanders. Personally, I think Larry knows he needs to step up and be a leader of this team. I really do not believe he needs any reminders. To me, it sounds like jealousy from Neal.

Links

Great post from K.L. Chounaird about Giannis and his nicknames. I agree about 'Greek Freak' being an offensive nickname, same goes with The Alphabet. K.L. includes a cool story about his Nigerian name. (Bucksetball) 

What to Watch
I would watch Knight's shooting selection. There are rumblings among Bucks faithful that he is shooting too much with the basketball as a point guard. I am not sure if I am in that camp yet. As it has been noted here before, he is only 22 years young. Still lots of time to figure it out.  

What's Next for Milwaukee

Welp they play Golden State at home on Tuesday which will probably be billed as the return of Andrew Bogut. Milwaukee might give up 140 points in regulation.

Charlie.

Bucks Buzz: January 2nd - Young Core Emerging

Every week Mitch Pratt and Charlie Tritschler talk about the Milwaukee Bucks. Charlie handles the weekend games while Mitch handles the games during the week.  We are both members of the tank.

Quick Recap: Tuesday at Los Angeles Lakers (W 94-79)

Let me preface this by saying that while I watched as much as I could, I don't necessarily remember any of it. Let's just say that I had consumed a few sodas by the time tip-off (9:30 PM Central) rolled around and it only got worse by the time the game ended. Shout out to Horny Goat Hideaway for NYE festivities.

As much as I want to give credit to the Bucks for playing arguably their best game of the season, we have to consider how bad the Lakers are. Granted, I'm not afraid to say that the Lakers may be better without the legendary Kobe Bryant in the lineup. At the very least, they have better chemistry without him in the lineup at this moment. The Lakers have done a good job of building a tank roster while Kobe is out but these guys are playing above their heads. Nick "Swaggy P" Young is scoring at a nice rate for his hometown team and guys like Xavier Henry and Kendall Marshall are getting pretty heavy minutes for Mike D'antoni. Those are the kinds of players you add if you're not looking to win. You take a flyer on young(er) guys who haven't panned out for their first team or two and see what they have. It's really a win-win situation.

Now, over to the Bucks. Brandon Knight had a great game scoring but continues to show that he's not a starting caliber point guard in the NBA. I'm not saying that's necessarily a bad thing and I don't want him off the team or anything, it's just that he's possibly the biggest tank driver right now not named Caron Butler, Gary Neal or OJ Mayo. He's simply playing the wrong role if you plan on winning with him on your team. He's probably best suited in a Jamal Crawford/Jason Terry role. That is, he'd be best off to come in off the bench as a sixth or seventh man as a combo guard and put up some points for you. He has a little too much tunnel vision to be an effective NBA point guard.

Easily the most puzzling/concerning thing about this game is that Khris Middleton was removed from the starting lineup and only played 17 minutes. Sure, the Bucks won the game but that's not the main purpose for the Bucks this season. Middleton is a guy that's emerging as a key part of this young core that continues to show flashes. His playing time is pretty crucial. He's not a flashy player but fans really like how he lets the game come to him. Going forward, I'd love to see him as the sixth man/3 and D guy that holds the team together. Here's to hoping Middleton plays more tonight in Utah.

Appropriate YouTube video: Giannis with the putback

I couldn't not mention Giannis Antetokounmpo. He continues to impact games (at least a little) every night. He had 11 rebounds Tuesday night. Here's one of them. And it's actually not offensive interference, sir.

Links

Here's a link to an article on Bleacher Report on why the Bucks should take Jabari Parker if they land the #1 pick. Knock on wood but I totally agree.

This is a piece from HoopsRumors.com that cites Fox Sports Ohio's Sam Amico as a source saying the Bucks are open to trading defensive anchor Larry Sanders.While there might be some truth to this (I don't think he's untouchable for the right offer), Amico is not exactly Adrian Wojnarowski when it comes to credibility and mutual respect among his peers. Take what he "reports" with a grain of salt. I really don't want to see Sanders get traded but if the right offer came along, I'd at least listen if I were John Hammond.

What to watch

Luke Ridnour was inserted into the starting lineup against the Lakers and we'll see what happens with him going forward. I'm hoping his sudden increase in playing time is to showcase him for a potential trade. Again, playing the youth needs to be a priority at this point. Middleton needs to play more than 17 minutes.

Here's the young core I'd like to keep going foward:

Knight, Antetokounmpo, Middleton, Henson, and Sanders. Everyone else is expendable at this point.

What's next?

The Bucks are in Salt Lake City tonight to take on the Jazz as two of the largest tanks in the NBA will square off. The Bucks will be without John Henson yet again as he's expected to miss two weeks with a high ankle sprain. They then will be in the Valley of the Sun to take on Phoenix on Saturday night. The Suns are the surprise story of the year with their 19-11 record and are set up well for the future to boot.

Marvin Williams is Utah Jazz's Kobe Bryant

If you remember correctly, Los Angeles Lakers may have went a bit too far when they were discussing the return of Kobe Bryant. They made it seem like the King Slayer had returned or something to the affect. Utah Jazz, the league-worst team did something similar for.... Marvin Williams?  Yes, a Jazz fan decided to needle Los Angeles just a bit with this over-dramatic video of Williams returning for last night's game against Sacramento Kings. I laughed my ass through the whole thing because there was probably a time when people might have thought Williams would be a star but now he is just a contributor on a team in Tanksville. For the record, Williams had eight points in a Jazz blowout win. (H/T @SportsGrid, @AndyGlockner) 

Charlie.