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Milwaukee Bucks Player of the Week (Dec 25. - Dec. 31.)
Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports
Week 10 was a fairly straightforward week for the Milwaukee Bucks. They split their four games, winning two. Amidst the normalcy emerged five player of the week candidates but only three can make the cut.
The Milwaukee Bucks are the epitome of a good but not quite good enough team. Week 10 was a great example of this. They beat two average teams (Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls), lost to one above average team (Washington Wizards), and lost to one poor team (Minnesota Timberwolves). Weeks like this are what keeps a team at .500 throughout the season.
While the Bucks as a whole are competitive when they can be, it seems like some of the individual players are a little more consistent. If you have followed along the Player of the Week rankings this season you’ll have noticed Giannis Antetokounmpo has a stranglehold on the top spot and Jabari Parker is holding down the fort at number two.
These two guys have been consistently good from the beginning of the season, with Giannis likely headed to an All-Star game. The rest of the team contributes where they can. Through 2016, Giannis and Jabari both have averaged over 20 points per game while no other Buck averages at even 10 per game.
This isn’t because guys cannot score. It’s because they take their turns with the scoring. The ancillary players are being extremely unselfish and pitching in what they can when they can. This makes for a team where it sometimes feels like the individual pieces are actually better than the whole.
Good players like Greg Monroe, Mirza Teletovic, Tony Snell, Matthew Dellavedova, Malcolm Brogdon, and Michael Beasley are all looking for the open man as often as they are looking for their own shot. These guys are confident, poised, and know what they are doing. Their contributions are making the Bucks a difficult team to beat.
As you can probably imagine, Giannis and Jabari are back to their dominant ways in week 10. So the last Buck in the rankings will be the most interesting. Let’s get to it to see who it is.
Mandatory Credit: Leon Halip-USA TODAY Sports
Milwaukee Bucks Player of the Week Rankings
The President played in all four games this week and averaged 30.8 minutes, 10.0 points (on 60 percent shooting from the field), 4.3 rebounds, and 6.3 assists. He was second on the team in assists. Additionally, he led the Bucks in plus/minus at +8.5.
The second round of the NBA draft is rarely classified as a gold mine but the Milwaukee Bucks have pieces on their roster that would make a less-knowledgable basketball fan think there is a lot of value in second round picks. Malcolm Brogdon is a big reason why.
One of the biggest reasons why Brogdon makes the list this week is because he recorded a triple-double in a win over the Chicago Bulls. In doing so, Brogdon became the only rookie to earn a triple-double so far this season.
But it isn’t just one game that makes Humble Moses special. The fact that he led the team in plus/minus for the entire week is a big deal. The Bucks play better with him on the floor. In fact, if Joel Embiid weren’t a thing Brogdon would have the best odds to win Rookie of the Year.
Malcolm is an efficient scorer who doesn’t take bad shots. This week he shot 60 percent from the field and 40 percent from three. He might not take as many shots as the Bucks studs but he tends to make the defense pay when he decides to pull up.
Interestingly, Brogdon can score from anywhere on the court. He doesn’t look like a guy who would get a lot of points in the paint but he finds ways. He drives the lane constantly and even though he doesn’t have blazing speed or outstanding hops he scores near the rim frequently. Yet with all that being said his jump shot is easily his best option for getting buckets.
Over his past four games Malcolm has made a real impact. Over that span, he is sixth among rookies in both points and rebounds, while he is first in assists. Week long performances like that make us all realize he should have been a first round pick.
2016 was a pretty good year for The President, next week will set the stage for what might be an even better 2017.
Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Milwaukee Bucks Player of the Week Rankings
Major Cat played in all four games this week and averaged 38.1 minutes, 23.0 points (on 58.5 percent shooting from the field), 6.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.0 steal. He was second on the Bucks in both points and rebounds and tied for third in steals. Additionally, he was second on the team in plus/minus at +7.0.
Jabari Parker had it going on once again. In week 10 he had the 10th most points per game in the NBA of all players who shot a minimum of 50 percent from the field. These efficient and high scoring outputs are becoming a calling card of Jabari’s game.
Somehow his shooting percentages have stayed strong this season with an influx of three-point attempts. Jabari averaged more than four threes per game this week and connected on 41.2 percent of them. Parker is slowly becoming one of the better shooting big men in the NBA. Only 17 other forwards and centers averaged at least four threes per game shooting 40 percent or better.
Parker didn’t just score this week. He contributed in a few other ways too. He was one of 18 NBA players who averaged at least six rebounds and four assists per game. The rebounds were nice but the assists were totally unexpected.
Over the course of his career, Jabari has averaged just under two assists per game. To double that for a four game stretch is huge. If he could maintain this solid assist rate for a longer period of time it would make him that much more versatile on offense. The Bucks don’t need Parker to be an effective passer to succeed but it wouldn’t hurt him or the team if he could manage it.
This was a really nice all around week from a guy that is a legitimate number one scoring option in the NBA. For Parker, it is going to be easy for him to score at will in any game. The more he takes it upon himself to be more than just a scorer this season might just determine what kind of ceiling he has as an overall player down the road.
Mandatory Credit: Leon Halip-USA TODAY Sports
Milwaukee Bucks Player of the Week Rankings
The Greek Freak played in all four games this week and averaged 36.4 minutes, 26.3 points (on 61.9 percent shooting from the field), 8.3 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 1.3 steals, and 2.3 blocks. He paced the Bucks in all five major statistical categories.
Since 2016 was the year of the Greek Freak it was only fitting that his last week of the year would be one of his best. Giannis led the Bucks in points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, shooting percentage, and free throw attempts. He was everything the Bucks could have asked for and so much more.
Here are some quick notes about his statistical achievements this week compared to his peers around the association:
It is hard to determine if what Giannis is doing is spectacular or boring these days. He is so much better than his teammates, and a large majority of the NBA, that the numbers he is putting up in the box score are becoming a bit stale unless they are historically great. That is the curse of having a season that will potentially be one of the better ones in NBA history.
As you’ve probably heard by now only four players in NBA history have led their team in all five major stats for an entire season. If Giannis keeps up what he is doing he will become the fifth, joining Dave Cowens, LeBron James, Scottie Pippen, and Kevin Garnett.
Regardless of whether he enters that company or not, leading your team in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks for 32 straight games is an impressive feat on its own. Antetokounmpo’s versatility is on full display in his fourth season.
Some games he looks like a very tall point guard, others he looks like a freakish wing player, and others yet he looks like a high flying center. This week he looked like all of these. He had five offensive rebounds in the first game, eight assists in the next, 25 points in the third game, and seven blocks in the final one.
2016 was Giannis’ coming out party. 2017 is going to be amazing for him as well, especially because no one knows what the heck he is going to do next!
Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports
Week 10 Wrap Up
The Milwaukee Bucks lost and won and then lost and won. They worked hard to maintain their .500 record this week.
Next week will likely be tougher. The Bucks play the New York Knicks twice and the Oklahoma City Thunder once. Both teams are looking better than expected this season and will give the Bucks a good test. If the Bucks come out ahead in the win column after this week it will really help their playoff chances, especially because they could be jostling with the Knicks for playoff positioning/the eighth seed come April.
Based on what we have seen so far this season, we can assume Giannis will continue to do everything at an elite level and Jabari will continue to score at an elite level. We can also assume Malcolm Brogdon will play like a grizzled veteran, Jason Terry will play more minutes than anyone expects, and Thon Maker will be a human victory cigar/white flag of surrender. These assumptions will likely be true until the Bucks are out of the playoff hunt.
The fact that the Bucks are in the Playoff conversation currently is a major boon for the franchise. After last season’s disappointment and the Khris Middleton injury, this season has been a real positive. The growth from Giannis and Jabari make this team dangerous right now. Just imagine what they’ll do in the future.
To get a glimpse of the future tune in next week.
Player of the Week Rankings over the course of the season
More from Behind the Buck Pass
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