Milwaukee Bucks 2019 - 20 Season Thread

[adambr2]

15 turnovers in one half? Come on. Don't pull this crap today, Bucks. Nobody is in the mood for it.

[stalton]

15 turnovers in one half? Come on. Don't pull this crap today, Bucks. Nobody is in the mood for it.

Nice Course Correction for the 2nd half.

[adambr2]

For sure. Now off to Paris.

[sveumrules]

Since the Philly loss Bucks are 12-1 with a +13.7 point differential.

 

Opposing teams have shot .339 (league average is .354) on 40.4 3PA per game over that stretch.

 

With Denver/Philly at Fiserv & Indy on the road our only tough games, we should probably be heading into the break with at worst a 46-8 record.

 

Khris Middleton is putting up a career best season.

 

Brogdon has already missed a dozen games.

 

Obviously none of it matters until they make it to or win the Finals, but this has been an extremely entertaining season to watch unfold, both on & off the court. Looking forward to Paris on Friday.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I saw that "Next stop Paris" on Facebook and thought it was some kind of play on words. Somehow missed that that was even a thing, it's cool though.

[wallus]

If the Packers were having a similar season of dominance, the state would be going crazy. I guess this is what happens when one team has been good for most of the last 20 years and the other team has not been.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

They'll never be the Packers, but Bucks mania will pick up. The season is just too damn long. Game 1 of the Finals is on June 4. You could basically fit the entire NFL season into what's left of the NBA season. When the weather warms up and the Deer District is rockin' it will be at a fever pitch especially if they do make the Finals.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

If the Packers were having a similar season of dominance, the state would be going crazy. I guess this is what happens when one team has been good for most of the last 20 years and the other team has not been.

 

The NBA is never going to have the pull of the NFL. Too long of season, and too many teams in the playoffs. It makes the regular season irrelevant to the casual fan.

[MrTPlush]

Most of the state does not care about the Bucks, it is very regional to SE Wisconsin. Farther you leave there the more irrelevant the Bucks get. I think most bars in Central Wisconsin and north would vote to have Seinfeld or House Hunters on the TVs over the Bucks. For whatever reason people just don't get into pro basketball in Wisconsin. I thought the success may change that, but It really hasn't all that much. Maybe the title and continued success can get people into it.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I wouldn't classify myself as a casual fan, I definitely am more involved than most. That said, I don't watch the regular season. Partially because I don't have cable or anything that streams FSNWI, but I'm not going to devote time to game night in November and March when 16 teams make the playoffs.

 

With baseball I feel less obligation, can pop in casually, the stadium is just easier to get to, and the radio can be calming background noise.

 

The most interested I've ever been in an NBA regular season was the year it was lockout shortened to 50 games.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Most of the state does not care about the Bucks, it is very regional to SE Wisconsin. Farther you leave there the more irrelevant the Bucks get. I think most bars in Central Wisconsin and north would vote to have Seinfeld or House Hunters on the TVs over the Bucks. For whatever reason people just don't get into pro basketball in Wisconsin. I thought the success may change that, but It really hasn't all that much. Maybe the title and continued success can get people into it.

 

For the most part the Badgers are playing at the same time and it's the team of choice. Football is different, because college and pro take up one day of the week. With multiple games a week it's asking a lot of people to follow two basketball teams at once. The Bucks don't have any of the tailgate/warm weather magic going for them either. It's very much a city team like you said and the fanbase reflects that.

[SeaBass]

Most of the state does not care about the Bucks, it is very regional to SE Wisconsin. Farther you leave there the more irrelevant the Bucks get. I think most bars in Central Wisconsin and north would vote to have Seinfeld or House Hunters on the TVs over the Bucks. For whatever reason people just don't get into pro basketball in Wisconsin.

I don't think it helps that they've mostly been bad to mediocre since the 80's. With the exception of the 2000-2001 ECF run with the Allen/Robinson/Cassell big 3 last season was the only other season they've made it past the first round of the playoffs since the '88/'89 season. Advancing past the first round twice in 30 years doesn't inspire a fan base to grow very much.

[wallus]

I don't think the "NBA Culture" helps with many casual Wisconsin fans either. Although the team they have now appears to be full of really relatable guys. My buddy and I talk about it all the time as he gets frustrated by the lack of support.

[MrTPlush]

Most of the state does not care about the Bucks, it is very regional to SE Wisconsin. Farther you leave there the more irrelevant the Bucks get. I think most bars in Central Wisconsin and north would vote to have Seinfeld or House Hunters on the TVs over the Bucks. For whatever reason people just don't get into pro basketball in Wisconsin. I thought the success may change that, but It really hasn't all that much. Maybe the title and continued success can get people into it.

 

For the most part the Badgers are playing at the same time and it's the team of choice. Football is different, because college and pro take up one day of the week. With multiple games a week it's asking a lot of people to follow two basketball teams at once. The Bucks don't have any of the tailgate/warm weather magic going for them either. It's very much a city team like you said and the fanbase reflects that.

 

I figure the Badgers are part of it. They were the states basketball team for decades before the Bucks came into town. The Brewers are a young franchise, but the state already loved baseball because of the Braves and there was no other baseball team to really cheer for. Obviously the Brewers are a bigger family/casual draw too.

 

Maybe a few generations down the road the Bucks can be more universal. There aren't that many people that grew up watching the Bucks like people do the Badgers/Packers/Brewers. I also see the lack of "diehard" fans. Maybe the Giannis era will get people devoted to hardcore following.

[owbc]

I was at the Bucks game in Portland the other week and there were at least a thousand people wearing Bucks gear. I did not expect that at all.

[tmwiese55]

Of course it will likely never match the Packers level. But if Giannis stays in MKE and things go as well as they could (he doesn't get hurt, multiple titles) a whole generation of kids in WI will grow up their home team being a top level team and having the best player in the world on their team. That could make things much different 20 years from now. And if anyone spends much time around people say 30ish or younger, the NBA is much bigger for them.

 

In a way, you could go back and think about how things could be different here if KAJ didn't leave and they won like 5-6 titles. Would WI have become a big basketball state and the Bucks kind of the Spurs of the NBA or one of the more storied franchises as they'd have been a top team for 20 years at the time of the NBA boom.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I think a lot of people turned their backs on the Bucks when they traded Ray Allen. It took Giannis and 60 wins to get a lot of those people to come back.

[homer]

Giannis is about as likeable a person as you are going to find in pro sports.

[sveumrules]

So far this season, the Bucks are shooting 625/1733 (.361) on threes while their opponents are shooting 631/1753 (.360). It has essentially been about as close to a wash as you can get.

 

On two points attempts the Bucks are shooting 1345/2356 (.571, 1st in NBA. 2nd is .554!!) while their opponents are shooting 1097/2466 (.445, 30th in NBA. 29th is .489!!!!).

 

So, even on threes plus elite at converting twos plus even more elite at defending twos plus an extra 90 made free throws = an historic point differential.

[RollieTime]

On the Bucks being more of a SE Wisconsin sport, that is definitely true. Up here in the far northern part of Wisconsin, we didn’t even have the Bucks available on TV until I believe the start of the 2016 season. There are a lot of people that don’t even realize that Wisconsin has their own NBA team and are shocked when that is mentioned in conversation.

 

I have literally NEVER seen a person wearing Bucks apparel up here that I can recall. There is, however, a massive following for Brewers baseball and Packers football, and a strong pull for Badgers basketball and football.

[Outlander]

I don't think it is very shocking that a place like Portland had hundreds of people in Bucks gear because the Bucks have Giannis. Fans will wear the gear of a team with a superstar and Giannis is an international superstar. It is unfortunate some of the smaller Wisconsin cities don't care about the Bucks because the Bucks will need fans like this in the non Giannis era but right now the Bucks are much bigger than that. I know the NFL was mentioned and in many ways the NBA is more popular on a global level and still growing but regionally the Packers will be more popular.

[FVBrewerFan]

I don't think the "NBA Culture" helps with many casual Wisconsin fans either. Although the team they have now appears to be full of really relatable guys. My buddy and I talk about it all the time as he gets frustrated by the lack of support.

 

What do you perceive as the "NBA Culture?"

 

Also, I think most of us may be a little older so don't notice, but millennials all over the state love the Bucks more than the Brewers in general.

[owbc]

I don't think it is very shocking that a place like Portland had hundreds of people in Bucks gear because the Bucks have Giannis. Fans will wear the gear of a team with a superstar and Giannis is an international superstar. It is unfortunate some of the smaller Wisconsin cities don't care about the Bucks because the Bucks will need fans like this in the non Giannis era but right now the Bucks are much bigger than that. I know the NFL was mentioned and in many ways the NBA is more popular on a global level and still growing but regionally the Packers will be more popular.

 

I wondered this but everyone I talked to had Wisconsin connections. I think the team being good just brought us out of the woodwork. I have been in the PNW for a while but never considered going down to Portland for a game until the Bucks got good.

 

There's no doubt that the NBA product appeals to a wider demographic than any of the other major sports and the NBA is best positioned to be successful going forward. Milwaukee is incredibly fortunate to have an NBA team.

[adambr2]

I don't think the "NBA Culture" helps with many casual Wisconsin fans either. Although the team they have now appears to be full of really relatable guys. My buddy and I talk about it all the time as he gets frustrated by the lack of support.

 

What do you perceive as the "NBA Culture?"

 

Also, I think most of us may be a little older so don't notice, but millennials all over the state love the Bucks more than the Brewers in general.

 

I think the negative NBA culture he's referring to is, superstars rule the game and dictate the game, terrible officiating (the 2007 scandal in particular), and a WWF/WWE like sports entertainment culture. If Hollywood has a sports league, it's the NBA. I think that's the negative culture as much as I can define.

 

Maybe I'm wrong and maybe you have numbers to back up that second statement but if not I can't imagine it is true. My social group is mainly millenials and many of them follow the Brewers and very few are deeply invested in the Bucks. I think the Brewers have become more deeply engrained into Wisconsin sports culture in the last 10-15 years despite the unpopularity of baseball in general among millennials.

[owbc]

At least from my (millennial) perspective the NFL culture is far more toxic than the NBA. The top NBA stars (e.g. LeBron, Steph Curry) are ideal role models and yet followed the corporate script when the China scandal threatened to cause problems. Meanwhile the NFL has been through scandal after scandal. The CTE and Colin Kaepernick issues in particular have damaged the league's reputation and will certainly limit growth moving forward. Obviously the NFL is strong in rural areas but that isn't going to drive growth. Although overall the NFL is huge and fully capable of withstanding some bumps. Right now I bet a global poll would find that the Bucks are now more popular and well known than the Packers. Even 10 years ago my Chinese friends were aware of Milwaukee because of the Bucks.

 

MLB is mostly challenged by its abysmal commissioner and lack of leadership/vision, which is resulting in a growing gap between successful and failing franchises. The only question is at what point declining revenue growth will catch up to the trends that are obvious to anyone paying attention.