Milwaukee Bucks Deep Dive

By: Melo Williams 

The first month of the NBA season is in the books and for the Milwaukee Bucks, there have been many positives to build upon and some negatives that can be corrected.

Milwaukee (12-4) opened the season winning their first nine games and having the second-best record in the NBA behind the Boston Celtics (13-4). In the last 10 games, the Bucks are 6-4.

I wanted to take a deep dive look at notable things we learned about the Milwaukee Bucks in the first month of the season.

INJURIES

Milwaukee started off the 2022-23 season dealing with multiple players injured. Khris Middleton injured his knee during the playoffs and then had surgery on his wrist over the summer which has not allowed him to play so far this season. Though recently he was assigned to the Bucks G League affiliate, Wisconsin Herd. That means Middleton is one step closer to making his season debut for Milwaukee.

“He’s been making progress, probably steady and slow,” coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters about Middleton. “Today was another good day. We’ll just continue to see how he feels tomorrow. Hopefully, he can be doing a little bit more each day.”

Last year, Middleton averaged 20.1 points, 5.4 boards, 5.4 assists in 66 games played. With the Bucks having the second-best record in the East at 12-4, Middleton’s return can only bolster the Bucks claim as one of the league’s best teams with championship aspirations.

Milwaukee has weathered the storm so far with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday, Wes Matthews, and Grayson Allen also spending time on the injury report this season. The Bucks have needed to go deep into their bench and have relied on Bobby Portis coming off the bench as a walking double-double and Jevon Carter who is becoming the player the Bucks had hoped for, mainly on the defensive end.

Joe Ingles continues to rehab his knee after ACL surgery and is expected back sometime in January.

PAT CONNAUGHTON RETURNS

Pat Connaughton saw his first action of the season for Milwaukee, playing 15 minutes and scoring 7 points off the bench since injuring his right calf in the preseason. Pat was hoping to have been back a week ago but he openly admitted Monday that was perhaps too ambitious.

“It might have been a little of like hopeful and excitement and wanting to be out there,” he said. “I think the medical staff has done a great job of protecting me from myself, let’s say. I think at the end of the day if there is a question and if I’m like I’m oh yeah, I’m ready to go or I’m mentally wanting to go, but you gotta see how it feels? If there’s a question, that’s probably your answer, unfortunately.”

“For me, the frustrating part was the amount of time it takes, but I’m trying to get back to the explosive athlete that I was and I don’t think that happens overnight when you’re dealing with a calf injury.”

“It’s harder to describe and it’s a lot of little things, winning things, but his versatility to me is one of the things that stands out (that we’ve missed),” Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer said.

“Allows us to go a lot of different directions with our combinations out there. Knows every position. But particularly when we kind of shift and downsize. We’ve played almost exclusively big and really big for big chunks, particularly the last 10 days or so, but really a lot of the season.”

“It’s been good for us but it’s nice to go the other direction. He’s not the only one, but he’s certainly a big part of us being able to shift down and go a different direction with our combinations. The shooting. His ability to get to the paint and play off of (dribble handoffs) and second side actions, offensive rebounding, defense.”

“He’s just a good basketball player. It’s ‘cause he’s more of a role player it’s hard for everybody to articulate it, to see it, but all those little things add up.”

DEFENSE HAS BEEN KEY

Brook Lopez has been solid defensively this season. He’s been the rim protector we know he is, but Brook has also taken his defensive game to another level. Brook has been top ten in the NBA for defensive rating among players who average more than 20 minutes per game, third in blocks per game, and in the 95th percentile of blocking percentage playing over two hundred minutes more than those ahead of him. While Giannis has been the frontrunner in the http://NBA.com DPOY ranking, they also mentioned Brook’s impact as well.

MARJON BEAUCHAMP GROWTH

Milwaukee drafted MarJon Beauchamp with the 24th pick. Some eyebrows were raised while some people were intrigued with the pick. Expectations were split in the middle. Some had the bar low while others had the bar set respectfully competitively high.

Since being drafted MarJon has taken full advantage of the opportunities presented to him.

Defense is MarJon’s biggest strength. He has lateral quickness which allows him to stay in front of his man. He has height and some strength. With time, MarJon defense will improve greatly and he has the potential to become an elite perimeter defender in the league.

The biggest question that was surrounding MarJon was his offense. During his G-League career, there weren’t many signs indicating offense was a plus. MarJon still needs to work on his shooting but his vision in the open court stands out and he runs and fills the lanes great in transition on fast breaks which has led to some impressive slam dunk highlights by Beauchamp.

MarJon’s decision-making must be highlighted as well. For most rookies the ball sticks in their hands, for MarJon he’s been doing well moving the ball and moving without the ball. It’s early but Beauchamp has shown that he can be trusted with the minutes he’s earned.

PROTECT GIANNIS FROM HIMSELF

This is the most important goal for Bucks’ coach Mike Budenholzer. Giannis hasn’t had much rest in three years. We know with a lack of rest, injuries are more prone to happen. The Greek Freak has spent time already resting his body mainly his knees. It’s important to monitor the minutes of the whole team but if the Bucks want to be playing in June, it’s best to have a healthy Giannis Antetokounmpo.

SHOOTING

Heading into the game against the Trail Blazers, the Bucks were one of the worst shooting teams in the league overall (27th at 44.2%) and from behind the three-point line (22nd at 34.2%). With the return of Connaughton and Khris Middleton return is coming soon, the Bucks should improve in this area in no time.

OVERALL GRADE: B