Milwaukee Bucks 2015 - 2016

[CheezWizHed]

So, I caught 3/4 of the game last night. I've forgotten how ugly pre-season games could be...

 

Giannis and Jabari both sat out. They played a LOT of Vasquez and MCW in the backcourt. I can't say I was a fan. Vasquez seemed ok at the PG, but MCW was horrid at SG. He had one 3 pt attempt where the defender got a hand up (but not overly close) and it clunked off the backboard to the left of the rim. Another WIDE open was on target but short and came off the rim. Plus, it didn't really look like MCW knew what to do without the ball in his hands. The pair together on the court looked really clumsy and the offense didn't have much rhythm.

 

Vaughn looked very smooth on offense. His shot looks automatic and natural. But he also seemed to know where to go and was in the right spots. There were a number of times he was found alone under the basket after he lost his defender. Defense will need some work with him.

 

Greg Monroe also looked strong out there. He bailed out the MCW/Vasquez pair a couple times by making something out of a bad entry pass (i.e. someone stopped my dribble penetration, so here is a 2 foot pass into your gut).

 

Johnny O'Bryant looks the part out there. Certainly more built than last year. He won't ever be the offensive player that Monroe is, but looks like he could be a worth while "big" for the bench.

 

And don't let the win fool you. Overall, they were pretty well man-handled by the equally (or more?) short-handed Cav squad (no James, K-Love, Kyrie or anyone else that was name worth). Mo Williams still looks good though. I was pretty surprised how quickly they turned it around in the 4th quarter. Granted, they were still playing Monroe, MCW, Vasques and a little of Middleton when Cavaliers put in the back-ups to their back-ups.

[RobDeer 45]

So the Bucks are the hardest of the WI sports teams for me to follow. Mainly because I don't have NBA league pass (and have the other pro sports packages). Anyone want to take a shot at writing up a season preview???

[CheezWizHed]

brewhoop does a pretty good job of separating the wheat from the chaff: http://www.brewhoop.com/2015/10/16/9539149/milwaukee-bucks-season-preview-giannis-jabari-jason-kidd

[RobDeer 45]

Thanks Cheez! I will check it out.

[CheezWizHed]

Vegas has the Bucks at 45 wins this season. Would you take the over or under?

http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5626933e9dd7cc01308b7f4a/heres-how-many-games-vegas-thinks-your-favorite-nba-team-will-win-this-season.jpg

http://www.businessinsider.com/vegas-win-totals-nba-season-2015-10

[Baldkin]

Wow, already up 2.5 wins from the first line I saw posted.

 

I think I'd take the under at 45... but just barely. I think they struggle quite a bit the first half of the season, then play really well in the second half as they get used to playing together & Jabari comes back fully healthy.

[tmwiese55]

I did the under. Figure some growing pains with the turnover in players.

 

Atmosphere in the Kohl Center last night was amazing. No reason they don't do that every preseason. And really, why not play one or two regular season games there each year until the new arena is done.

[CheezWizHed]

I think it would be great to go to Green Bay, Eau Claire and LaCrosse on occasion too. They did La Crosse a couple years back, but I saw it too late (I'm on the west side of the state). If they want to gain the state following them again, that would be one great way to do it.

[Jirsch]

I think I take the over. If Parker stays healthy and Monroe is the impact that I think he will be, a 5 win improvement over last year is easily attainable. Lets not forget that the Bucks have not had an inside presence like Monroe in a LOONG time. I think that alone gets them to 47-48 wins this year.

[davego]

60-1 to win the title!

[tmwiese55]

I think they've done Green Bay several times. One game in GB, Madison, and western WI each preseason is a good idea.

 

Jabari is going to be very limited to start the year. MCW and Giannis still don't seem like they can shoot so the offense will struggle like it did last year. I'm taking the under based on the turnover in players, Jabari's injury, but probably biggest reason being general improvement in the Eastern conference top to bottom. Remember after the trade last year their record wasn't good.

[FVBrewerFan]

I want to believe in the over. New owners, new uniforms, new court, soon to be new arena. So much excitement. Yet, I look at the moves they made and I'm not sure I like it. They replaced three good defensive players with three bad defensive players. Defense is their identity, and it seems they're getting away from that a little. I have faith Kidd and his staff can make it work, but I need to see it.

 

Plus, they came out of nowhere last season. This year they're not going to sneak up on anyone. Finally, it is really tough to win with defense year after year when you can't shoot, turn the ball over a ton, and foul too much.

 

I know that makes it sound like I expect them to win only 15 games again, but that's not what I'm saying. I think the ceiling is the #2 seed, and the floor is not making the playoffs with 38-40 wins. If I had to guess, I would say 42 wins.

[fondybrewfan]

Giannis looked like a shot the 3 pretty good in the preseason. That doesn't mean much but I am hoping he'll be better. They don't need him to be Ray Allen or anything. If he can show even a decent jump shot teams will need to respect him out there and he'll blow by most defenders.

 

They seem to be babying Parker a little bit which is fine I guess. He has been practicing this whole time so I am not quite sure why they can't give him some game time too.

 

I'll put my win total at 47 and they will make the 2nd round of the playoffs for the first time in I don't know how long. I actually plan on watching the games this year which is a vast improvement over years past. Lots of young exciting players to watch. I think Vaughn might even end up contributing

[CheezWizHed]

They can control more (speed of play, contact, etc..) for Parker in practice. I would guess that his lack of playing is an indication that he isn't doing much in practice. Is this the 10 month point of his recovery? I'd prefer he was 100% than risk him reinjuring his knee for some preseason games (or even the first couple months this year).

 

Vaughn still looks smooth in his shooting (second preseason game I've watched). Reminds me of Ray Allen in his form and release (not saying he will reach Ray's level, just that he has that smooth, easy release).

 

I guess I've missed most of Giannis' long shots, but he does look really aggressive on the court. I was playing guitar while the TV was on and he suddenly had 11 points. But the defense looks to have suffered greatly this year. Hopefully its just a pre-season type (vanilla) defense.

[Baldkin]

Giannis looked like a shot the 3 pretty good in the preseason. That doesn't mean much but I am hoping he'll be better. They don't need him to be Ray Allen or anything. If he can show even a decent jump shot teams will need to respect him out there and he'll blow by most defenders.

 

They seem to be babying Parker a little bit which is fine I guess. He has been practicing this whole time so I am not quite sure why they can't give him some game time too.

 

I'll put my win total at 47 and they will make the 2nd round of the playoffs for the first time in I don't know how long. I actually plan on watching the games this year which is a vast improvement over years past. Lots of young exciting players to watch. I think Vaughn might even end up contributing

 

2001. The only time in the lay 25 years they advanced past the first round.

[nate82]

 

They seem to be babying Parker a little bit which is fine I guess. He has been practicing this whole time so I am not quite sure why they can't give him some game time too.

 

 

A quote from Hammond: http://www.basketballinsiders.com/nba-pm-jabari-parkers-health-is-key-to-bucks-season/

 

“We’re going to be very conservative with him,” said Hammond. “If we think he’s capable of playing 20, we’ll maybe play him 10 minutes. If we think he can play a back-to-back, we’ll wait on the back-to-back. Whatever it is, we’re going to be very cautious as he moves forward because of the magnitude of who he can be and who we hope he can be for our organization going forward.”

 

A quote from Kidd: http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/13882794/jabari-parker-milwaukee-bucks-rookie-team-coach-jason-kidd-says

 

"He looks great. If you were able to watch practice, I'm sure you guys would probably question why he's not playing," Kidd said. "Because he's done everything. He looks great. But again, he hasn't been cleared by the doctors. But when you watch him out there in his warm-ups, you can see his body has changed and you can see in practice his voice has changed. He's talking a lot more."

 

So the Bucks are babying him and it doesn't look like he has been cleared by the doctors to go 100% at this time so the Bucks are doing the right thing in bringing him back slowly. The ESPN article was on Oct 13th so I don't think Parker will be ready by opening night it might be a full 2-3 weeks after and then you will see him put into the lineup but he will have limited minutes. The Bucks are going about this like bringing a young pitcher back from TJ surgery the year before.

[molitor fan]

Flip Saunders passed away today and I am very sad about this as he was the coach of the LaCrosse Catbirds in the CBA when I went to school there, winning championships while he was there - huge part of LaCrosse sports history...good guy

[Jenkins5]

MCW turning ball over and shooting way to much....not a trend that can continue. I have stood up for him since the trade. I have said he was forced to shot in Philly cause no one was around him and when he came here he tried to fill the shoes of our leading scorer (Knight)....He really needs to stop shooting and be pass first. He over dribbles, tries to do to much, and forces bad shots. Jason Kidd, didn't turn the ball over, he didn't take poor shots, and he fueled the offense by getting his teammates the ball in scoring positions. He took what the defense gave him but never tried to be the hero. MCW is just trying to do so much and he doesn't need to. When we went out and got him we talked about it was cause he was a young lengthy Kidd. Well it is time he starts to play that way; we don't need another Jennings.....We got ride of Knight for that reason. He was a score first guy, made too many turnovers, and forced to much.

 

Still high on him but he needs to stop trying to do so much on offense. His job is to attack and create for his teammates....score when high percentage shots are given to you.

 

Greg Monroe was something we haven't had in a long time last knight. He was outstanding!

 

Giannis suspended and Henson only getting 10 minutes.... those are 2 of your top defensive players not on the court. I will not be happy if Henson never gets to be on the court with Monroe. Bucks need his rim protecting and energy of the bench.

[GAME05]

yeah, I still like MCW because he has every ability to be exactly what we need in a PG. But last season he really looked like he wanted to be the shooter on the team and that's the opposite of what he needs to be. He really has to drop that mentality and become pass-first. But it's not all him. My opinion, anyway, was a lot of the other guys, Giannis especially, hung out and took their opportunities when they fell to them. I really want to see Giannis and Jabari demand the ball and be aggressive on offense, to the point of being a little selfish. Everything about this team revolves around them and their desire to be the center of this offense. Even Middleton, as good as he is, is made to be that kick-out shooter when Giannis and Jabari don't have a closer shot. Last year Giannis made Player of the Week. I'd looked at his numbers and he took twice as many shots that week as he usually does. We've got exactly the players we need and a great system, but everyone needs to fill the role they were brought in to play and not try to be something else.

[tmwiese55]

Rough first game but there's no reason to overreact since they were missing 3 of their top 6 players. Give some time to learn how to play together.

 

I agree on MCW needs to be more of a facilitator on O while maintaining his high level of D. Hopefully you'll see more of that going forward once Giannis, Jabari, and Mayo are back. Game 1 he was kind of forced to try and score. I think a lot of the turnover issues start from him not being able to shoot or is hesitant to, so he forces drives into traffic which inevitably lead to turnovers. If he gained confidence in his shot just to knock down the wide open 3 or midrange in the flow without hesitating it could really help. First thing, he just has to take the shots or no one will respect it. Same really goes for Giannis, if he's wide open because they sag off him by 10 ft he just has to catch and shoot in rhythm.

[FVBrewerFan]

Getting Giannis back will definitely help the defense, but Parker won't. I still see this defense taking a step back, which was their identity last year and the main reason they took such a big jump. And they continue to have way too many unforced turnovers, and it's not just MCW.

[tmwiese55]

Vasquez was sleeping on Wednesday. I agree though, big step back on D with Monroe replacing Zaza and Parker replacing Dudley. The D was the only reason the were good last year so they need to minimize that fall off and make up for by better offense. Which should happen with Parker, Monroe, and improvement from Giannis. Theoretically it should balance but I really haven't seen anything to think MCW and Giannis will be reliable shooters so the lack of spacing will still greatly hinder the O. Monroe will be there to clean up though which should help.

[FVBrewerFan]

Right, and not to mention Copeland and Vasquez who will get a lot of minutes apparently. Both are bad defensive players. That's why this off-season was puzzling to me. I wanted to build on their strengths, while instead they have tried to plug their weakness- shooting, and really didn't address that very well anyhow.

 

Monroe is fine, I will take his offense and rebounding for what he gives up defensively. But my master plan would have been to keep adding length, and players who can play defense. At some point a year or two from now if you still need a shooter or two, then go out and get them.

[tmwiese55]

Can't believe they gave up a 1st rounder for one year of Vasquez. He's a proven player (hasn't shown it here yet though) and kind of insurance for MCW but we're not focused on this season, it's about #ownthefuture so would have preferred to keep that asset. Can use Mayo/Giannis as backup PGs in a pinch and sign guys like Nate Wolters for depth if injuries happen.

 

From what I understand the moving of Milk Dud and Zaza for nothing was kind of done as favors to them. MKE wanted to play young guys in their place (henson/Jabari) regardless this year, so their minutes were going to be limited. With them being in contract years they did them favors by putting them in better situations to earn a new contract, which is even more important with the cap spike. It's a classy thing for the organization to do and does get good vibes out there with the players by doing things like that. Also, it saved MKE a lot of money.

[Jenkins5]

Defensively Monroe & Parker is not a down grade from Zaza and Dudley. Neither of those guys were really great defenders or great athletes at all. I say there is about the same. Have to see how Jabari and his new built up body helps.