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Bucks keep their foot on the gas, beat Pacers

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Another big night for all-star Giannis Antetokounmpo on Wednesday night.  Giannis tallied his 5th triple-double of the season with 33 points, 19 rebounds and 11 assists to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 106-97 win over the Indiana Pacers.

The  Bucks trailed by 10 points in the fourth quarter, then went on a 11-0 run on the way to the 9-point win.  The Bucks won for the 14th time in the last 16 games and improved to a league best 43-14.

The Bucks head into the all-star break one win short of their entire win total from last season and still have 25 games left to play.

Malcolm Brogdon added 17 points and Khris Middleton 15 to help the Bucks.

The Bucks went big down the stretch and went to a switch everything defense and it worked.  They had been stuck in an offensive rut and coach Mike Budenholzer was simply looking for anything that might work.

The Pacers saw their six game winning streak come to an end.

Middleton to take part in three-point contest

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Khris Middleton – File Photo / Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Kent Smith/NBAE via Getty Images)

Milwaukee Bucks guard Khris Middleton will take part in NBA All-Star Saturday Night (Feb. 16), squaring off in the three-point shooting contest.

Middleton will become the third Bucks player to participate, joining Ray Allen (2000-02) and Craig Hodges (1986-88) who each appeared in the contest three times.  Middleton will seek to become the second-ever winner from the Bucks after Allen won it in 2001.

Devin Booker (Phoenix), Seth Curry (Portland), Stephen Curry (Golden State), Danny Green (Toronto), Joe Harris (Brooklyn), Buddy Hield (Sacramento), Damian Lillard (Portland), Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas) and Kemba Walker (Charlotte) will go up against Middleton in this year’s competition.  Booker is the defending champion.

In his seventh season, Middleton is averaging a career-high 2.3 three-pointers made per game and is connecting on 38-percent of his three-point attempts.  He’s also second on the Bucks with 116 threes made while averaging 17.3 points a game.  For his career, Middleton is shooting 38.9-percent from beyond the arc and is currently third on the Bucks’ all-time list for three-point field goals made (679) and attempted (1,735).

In addition to the three-point contest, Middleton will make his first-career appearance in the All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 17, joining teammate Giannis Antetokounmpo who was selected as a captain and starter for the game.  With the Bucks having the best record in the Eastern Conference through Feb. 3, Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer and his staff will coach Team Giannis in the All-Star Game.

Bucks keep it rolling at Washington

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Mike Budenholzer File Photo – Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images)

After falling to Washington three weeks ago, the Milwaukee Bucks got some revenge by rolling to a 131-115 win over the Wizards at the Capital One Arena.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 37 points and 10 rebounds while making all 17 of his free throws for the Bucks.  Brook Lopez added 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting, Khris Middleton added 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists and Malcolm Brogdon added 15 points.

Eric Bledsoe was held out of the lineup with a sore left achilles.  Tony Snell started in his place and finished with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting.

The Bucks (38-13) improved to 3-1 on their five-game road trip, winning their third straight game.  They’ll wrap up the road trip Monday night in Brooklyn against the Nets.

Washington dropped to 22-30 with the loss.

Budenholzer honored  by Eastern Conference [Read more…]

Bucks win season series with Toronto

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Khris Middleton (File Photo) Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Milwaukee Bucks proved to be the best team in the East through the first half of the season after knocking off the rival Toronto Raptors 105-92 at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday night.

The win gave the Bucks the season series (3-1) and a perfect 2-0 mark in Toronto.

The Bucks led by as many as 24 points in the second half, but the Raptors drew close in the final minutes and got the game to within six points before the Bucks clamped down defensively and pulled away for the 13-point victory.

Giannis Antetokounmpo spent much of the game in foul trouble and picked up his fifth foul in the opening minute of the fourth quarter and had to head to the bench.  But Khris Middleton and the Bucks played with great composure and made sure Toronto didn’t steal one with Giannis on the bench.

Middleton, who was named an all-star reserve earlier, finished with 18 points and D.J. Wilson came off the bench to score a career  high 16 points.

By securing the top record in the East in the first half, Mike Budenholzer and the rest of his coaching staff will coach Team Giannis at the NBA All-Star Game on Feb. 17 in Charlotte.  That honor goes to the coaching staff of the team with the best record by Feb. 3, and the Bucks clinched that with the win.

The Bucks travel to Washington to face the Wizards on Saturday night.

 

Bucks rebound to beat Atlanta

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Mike Budenholzer File Photo – Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Milwaukee Bucks remain unbeaten in games after a defeat, rebounding from Friday’s loss at Washington to beat the Atlanta Hawks 133-114 on Sunday.  The Bucks improved to 12-0 in games after a loss.

Giannis Antetokounmpo missed Friday’s game with right quadriceps soreness and a left hip contusion.  He returned to the lineup against the Hawks and poured in 33 points while adding six rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Eric Bledsoe finished with 24 points on 9 of 13 shooting with a team high 10 assists.  Khris Middleton added 17 points and led the Bucks with 11 rebounds.

Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer wasn’t thrilled with his teams rebounding effort overall.  Atlanta collected 11 offensive rebounds in the first half and 18 for the game, which is a new high for a Bucks opponent this season.

The win marked Budenholzer’s first in Atlanta as a visiting coach.  He spent five years as the head coach of the Hawks previously.

The Bucks improved to 30-12 with the win.  They’ll host the Miami Heat on Tuesday night at Fiserv Forum.

 

Bucks Name Assistant Coaching Staff

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The Milwaukee Bucks have named Darvin Ham, Taylor Jenkins, Charles Lee, Ben Sullivan and Patrick St. Andrews as assistant coaches on the staff of Head Coach Mike Budenholzer.  In addition, Sean Sweeney has been retained by the Bucks as an assistant coach.

Ham spent the last five seasons as an assistant coach with Atlanta, including the last two as the lead assistant under Budenholzer.  Ham played eight NBA seasons for six teams, including three years with the Bucks, from 1999-2002.He won an NBA championship with the Detroit Pistons in 2004.

In 2014-15, Ham, Jenkins, Lee and Sullivan were all part of Budenholzer’s Eastern Conference All-Star coaching staff, as the Hawks recorded a team-record 60 wins, including a team-best 19-game win streak, en route to the club’s first-ever appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Sweeney returns to the Bucks bench for his fifth season and first under Budenholzer.  Before joining the Bucks, he was an assistant coach in Brooklyn for one season and prior to that spent two seasons as the Nets assistant video coordinator.

 

Former Bucks coaches find new coaching homes

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Joe Prunty

Former Milwaukee Bucks assistants Joe Prunty and Greg Foster have found new homes.

According to ESPN, Prunty, who finished the season as interim head coach and led the Bucks to a 21-16 record to close out the regular season, will become the lead assistant of the Phoenix Suns.  He joins the staff of new Suns head coach Igor Kokoskov.

Foster is reportedly joining the staff of first year head coach Lloyd Pierce in Atlanta.

Prunty interviewed for the Bucks head coaching job, but they went with former Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer instead.

Bucks make Budenholzer’s hiring official

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Mike Budenholzer: Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Milwaukee Bucks made it official on Thursday, announcing the hiring of Mike Budenholzer as the teams 16th head coach in franchise history.

Budenholzer spent the last five seasons as the head coach in Atlanta, reaching the playoffs four times.  He helped the Hawks win 60-games and was named the NBA’s Coach-of-the-Year in 2014-’15.

Budenholzer’s hiring is the first step in a big off-season for the Bucks, who now dive in head first into NBA Draft preparation with the NBA Combine underway in Chicago.  The Bucks must also decide if they want to bring Jabari Parker back after his contract expired at the end of the season.

The Bucks have the 17th pick in the upcoming June 21st draft and Budenholzer will now join the Bucks team to help decide which direction they want to go with that selection.

The Bucks still haven’t set a date and time to formally introduce Budenholzer to the media.  That is expected to happen soon.

 

Reports: Budenholzer to take over as Bucks head coach

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According to multiple reports, the Milwaukee Bucks have reached an agreement with Mike Budenholzer to become the 16th head coach in franchise history.

The deal was first reported by ESPN, which said Budenholzer’s deal will cover four years.

The 48-year-old Budenholzer was one of two finalists, along with San Antonio Spurs assistant Ettore Messina, to be interviews a second time by Bucks G.M. Jon Horst as well as the Bucks ownership team.

Budenholzer will replace Joe Prunty, who coached the Bucks for 37 games as well as this years playoffs, following the dismissal of Jason Kidd in January.  The Bucks finished seventh in the East this past season (44-38).  They fell to Boston in seven games in the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. [Read more…]

Bucks to meet with Budenholzer a second time today

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The Milwaukee Bucks will meet with former Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer for a second time today (Tuesday).  According to reports, the second interview will include members of the Bucks ownership group.

The Bucks have met with several coaching candidates, including Joe Prunty, who finished the previous season on a interim basis after Jason Kidd was fired in January.

Budenholzer has spent the last five seasons as head coach of the Atlanta Hawks and 17 years before that as an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs.

If the Bucks like Budenholzer, they may have to move quickly to lock him up.  He is also said to be the top candidate in Toronto after the Raptors fired head coach Dwayne Casey.

While in Atlanta, Budenholzer guided the Hawks to the playoffs four times, including a 60-win campaign in 2014-15.  The Hawks advanced to the Eastern Conference finals and Budenholzer was named the NBA’s Coach of the Year.