Additional antlers from an Aussie
And following part one of Questions and Antlers, here is part two!
Nlemin asks: Welcome, Jack! Thanks for taking the time. What’s it like being isolated from the fan base of what I assume is a mostly unknown team in Australia? I’ve met NBA die-hards around the world, but they’re somewhat like American fans of European soccer teams—tuning in at odd hours, chattering about players many folks haven’t heard of or don’t care about. Curious what an average Aussie knows about the Milwaukee Bucks.
It is certainly a weird thing being isolated from a team I so strongly support. I have never even been to a game of a team I obsess over, which is so weird now that I think about it, LOL. I would say there is a strong contingent of Aussies who know a fair bit about the NBA and follow certain teams. There is another group that just follows the Aussies (Dyson Daniels, Josh Giddey, etc.) in the NBA but doesn’t necessarily support a team. But for me, I have become way too much of a nerd about this team to care anymore. I’m in the minutia whether it’s considered odd or not. And that’s the great thing about sports: you become attached to a team, a city, players, and then you’re hooked!
Similarly: does an average Australian basketball fan follow the NBL more consistently than the NBA?
Yes. It is fair to say that the average fan follows whoever their home NBL team is more than the NBA. At the same time, there would be a large contingent of fans who follow Aussie rules football religiously (like Americans do with the NFL) and who couldn’t give a stuff about the NBL… but at the same time would tune in to watch, say, LeBron James or Steph Curry play as a “casual fan.”
I posed a version of this question to Lisa Byington late last season and really loved her antler, if you will: it’s so easy to get down on a team for this and that, pick and prod at what’s going wrong and what’s not good enough; what about this current Bucks team gives you hope for the future? (Because we’re so early in the season, it can be hope for the NBA Cup, regular season, playoff picture, individual players, future seasons, anything!)
Easy. The biggest thing that gives me hope for the future is Giannis. I admit that I am fairly critical of Giannis and the flaws in his game, but that’s only because I see another level he can reach that surpasses physical dominance and enters something akin to LeBron-level mental control of the game. With that said, if you asked me how Milwaukee beats any of the “top teams” should they get in a series with them, my answer is simple: the Bucks have Giannis, and the other teams don’t. Add onto that him and Dame working well together, Khris doing Khris things, better-suited role players, young guy development (AJax, AJ Green), and I can still envision this team winning a championship. That’s what gives me hope.
stoneAge asks: Hi Jack! Having almost played 20 games of the season. What’s your take for the remaining 63 games of the season? Are your current expectations the same as they were at the beginning of the season? What has changed?
I am an optimist at heart, so my preseason prediction was that the team would make it to the NBA Finals. This wasn’t without reasoning, though. I genuinely believed in that prediction. For example, I thought several things would change since last season:
Firstly, Giannis—with a full offseason under Doc—was going to mould his game 20% more playmaker and less crash-and-bang attacker. This was then going to juice the offence and take the team to a new level on that end. That prediction looked stupid over the first five games or so (hence, I wrote about it). But credit where credit is due, Giannis has been making his teammates better at a much higher level since that point. The screening, passing, and game smarts have been much improved.
I also assumed the defence would be much better early, possibly overestimating how much of a difference Trent, Prince, and Wright would truly make. The defence was decidedly not impressive early. But funnily enough, it’s been Andre Jackson Jr. who has been the biggest catalyst on the defensive turnaround since his insertion into the starting five, in my opinion. Now those aforementioned free-agent signings have almost been pushed down a peg in terms of defensive responsibility and seem to be doing much better.
I could probably think of a few others, but the point is that these preseason predictions looked bad early but are now starting to come to fruition a little bit, at least before the injuries and illnesses that ran through the team following the NBA Cup. So, I don’t think my outlook on the team has changed much to answer the question. And with Khris Middleton back now, the trajectory of this team is only on the upswing.
Deadbird asks: Given the progress this team has shown after the initial losses, followed by the recent spate of wins, what have you not seen from this team yet, if anything, to think they can get out of the first round of the playoffs this season?
I’ve seen enough to think this team can get out of the first round. I think they will probably finish in either third or fourth. The main thing I want to see is connectedness on both ends—and that is developing. Defensively, there is a comfort from the top down on what everyone’s role is. Andre is the head of the snake on the perimeter. Giannis and Brook are back to making plays defensively, largely because of the work Andre is doing. Dame is doing his best, LOL. On offence, if this team executes, they will get a good shot every time down. But every screen hitting matters; drawing two and hitting the open shooter matters; making the extra pass matters. The parts of games where I get frustrated is when players are trying to do things themselves, and the defence can just stand around.
What is also a real trouble that still seems to be creeping into their game, if there is any, that needs to be addressed before we can hope for a playoff run?
One of my low-key concerns that I have always had with this team is this: if they desperately need a bucket, can they execute a set and get the shot they want? It sounds simple but I worry about that. Sometimes it feels as if they are just winging it out there and relying on talent rather than elite execution.
My other major concerns are personnel-based, honestly. I am scared of how teams might be able to expose Bobby in a playoff series. Against good teams, his place on the floor is often questioned because he’s too small to defend the five and too slow to defend the four. My issue with BP has always been that he has such a low floor. Portis must score at what is generally an unsustainable rate to offset what he gives up on defence.
My other personnel-based concern is Andre Jackson Jr. As much as I hate to admit it, he’s a massive candidate for the “fastest guy played off the floor in a playoff series” award. I imagine the front office will be looking for a more offensively reliable three-and-D guy at the deadline. But if they don’t find that, I still feel like the coaching staff will need to work out how to keep Jackson on the court—the defence is that good. Can they use him in the Draymond Green role? If teams put their centre on AJax and don’t guard him, he can be used essentially as a free screen. The theory of the case is that he screens for, say, Dame and the centre guarding Andre will have to come up, allowing Andre to play out of the short roll and use his passing. They’ve dabbled with him in that role, but can it become a staple of his role on offence? Other than that, I think they are much better prepared for a deep playoff run than they were last season, health permitting.
How concerned should we be that this team is simply not young enough to have its most-needed players be able to last a whole season, plus the playoffs?
Finally, it’s a great query. I don’t know if they are too old. I guess the hope is that Dame’s offseason will help him stave off the nagging injury absences he had last season. So far, so good. For Khris, he’s just been really unlucky with guys coming up under him (and wet spots on the floor)—let’s pray for safe closeouts. And with Giannis, I have said on a few Playback streams (get in there, by the way) that I was getting worried about him playing too many minutes in the early season. But now with Khris back, along with more playable rotation players, hopefully Giannis can sit out a few more fourth quarters. Additionally, if the team wins the games it should win—which did not happen last year, especially late—there should be opportunities for guys to rest at the end of the season because playoff positioning will be sewn up by that point.
Thanks to Jack for antlering answering your questions! We’ll be back with this series again soon.