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Budenholzer named NBCA Co-Coach of the Year

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Mike Budenholzer – Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images)

Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer joins Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Billy Donovan as the 2020 recipients of the Michael H. Goldberg NBCA Coach of the Year Award.

The award recognizes the dedication, commitment and hard work of NBA Head Coaches and is presented annually to a Head Coach who helps guide his players to a higher level of performance on the court and shows outstanding service and dedication to the community off the court.  It is the only award voted upon by the winners’ peers, the Head Coaches of all 30 NBA teams.  This year’s voting was based on games played from the start of the 2019-20 regular season through games played on March 11.

Budenholzer guided the Bucks to the best record in the NBA (53-12) for the second year in a row.  He becomes the first two-time winner of the Award.  The Bucks were the NBA’s highest scoring team, averaging 118.6 points a game, and outscored opponents by a league-high average of 11.2 ppg.  The 11.2 ppg differential is tied for the fifth largest margin in NBA history.

Defensively, Coach Budenholzer’s Bucks  held opponents to 107.4 ppg, fifth best in the league.  He won Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for December (13-2 record) and February (10-1 record).

Donovan led the Thunder to a 40-24 season, tied for fifth in the Western Conference.  From Thanksgiving through March 11, the Thunder went 34-13.  Donovan joins Rick Carlisle, Erik Spoelstra and Steve Kerr as the only active head coaches to guide their teams to the playoffs in each of their first five seasons.

 

Bledsoe still back home after testing positive for COVID-19

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Eric Bledsoe: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images)

Earlier this week, Milwaukee Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said the Bucks entire 35-person traveling party still wasn’t with the team.  One key element to the Bucks lineup that still hasn’t arrived in Orlando is point guard Eric Bledsoe.

Bledsoe has tested positive for COVID-19, but he said he’s asymptomatic, feeling fine and looking forward to joining his teammates once he meets all of the NBA’s protocols.

The Bucks went through some individual drills during practice on Thursday and will be back on the practice court inside the bubble in Orlando today.

The Bucks will begin playing exhibition games next week against the San Antonio Spurts.  They’ll resume the NBA season on July 31st against the Boston Celtics.

 

Bucks close practice facility

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The Milwaukee Bucks shut down their practice facility on Sunday after receiving the results from coronavirus testing on Friday.  According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the team still plans to depart for training camp in Orlando on Thursday, but it isn’t expected to hold any more workouts before that time.

The Bucks haven’t released any details in terms of the closure or who among the team that might have tested positive for the virus.  Head coach Mike Budenholzer said last week that such information wouldn’t be made available to the media.

The Bucks still have more than three weeks before they resume their season against the Boston Celtics on July 31st, giving any members of the organization that may have tested positive, time to recover.

The Bucks had planned to have media availability on Monday, but that has since been canceled.

 

Budenholzer, Antetokounmpo honored by NBA

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

Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer has been named the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for February.  It’s the second time Budenholzer has won Coach of the Month  honors this season and the fifth time as the head coach of the Bucks.

In February, Budenholzer led the Bucks to the best record in the NBA at 10-1, which was tied for the third-best month in Bucks history and improved the team’s league-best record this season to 51-8.  The Bucks outscored its opponents by an average of 15.2 points a game last month as it led the league in scoring (120.8 ppg) and gave up the fewest points on average (105.6 ppg).  Nine of the Bucks’ 10 wins in February came by double digits, including three by 20+ points and the largest win of the season on Feb. 28 when the Bucks defeated the Thunder by 47 points.

In his second season as head coach of the Bucks, Budenholzer has led Milwaukee to the top record in the NBA at 52-8.  The Bucks are outscoring their opponents by 12.7 points per game this season, currently [Read more…]

Budenholzer named Eastern Conference Coach of the Month

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

Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer has been named Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for December.  It’s the third time Budenholzer has won Coach of the Month honors with the Bucks and the fifth time overall in his career.

In December, Budenholzer led the Bucks to the best record, most wins and fewest losses in the NBA at 13-2.  Last month, Milwaukee led the league in scoring (119.3 ppg), rebounding (52.2), field goal percentage (.491) and opponent field goal percentage (.400) and was tops in the NBA in net (16.2), offensive (115.5) and defensive (99.3) rating.  The Bucks outscored their opponents by an average of 16.5 points a game in December and won 11 of their 13 games by double digits, including seven by 20+ points.

In his second season as head coach of the Bucks, Budenholzer has let the team to the best start in franchise history and the best record in the NBA at 31-5.

 

Bucks win streak ends at 18 (AUDIO)

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The Dallas Mavericks put an end to the Milwaukee Bucks’ 18-game winning streak with a 120-116 victory on Monday night at Fiserv Forum.

Kristaps Porzingis led Dallas with 26 points, 12 rebounds and two blocked shots.  Seth Curry had 26 points off the bench, as Dallas improved to 7-2 in their last nine games.  The Mavericks played without their top player, Luka Doncic, who was sidelined with an ankle injury.

Giannis Antetokounmpo poured in 48 points and pulled down 14 rebounds for the Bucks, who lost for the first time since November 8th.  Kyle Korver hit five three-pointers and finished with 17 off the bench. [Read more…]

Cold second half sees Bucks fall to Celtics

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The Boston Celtics outscored the Milwaukee Bucks by 27 points in the second half and went on to post a 116-105 win in Boston.

Kemba Walker scored a game-high 32 points for the Celtics, who improved to 3-1.  Jayson Tatum added 25 points and Gordon Hayward had 21 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

Khris Middleton poured in 26 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo added 22 points and 14 rebounds as the Bucks dropped to 2-2 on the season.

The Bucks hit 5 of 9 from three-point range in the first half, then went 9 of 36 the rest of the way.  The Bucks managed just 34 points in the paint.

The Bucks remaining starters, Eric Bledsoe, Brook Lopez and Wes Matthews combined to hit just 6 of 24 from the field.

As concerning as the Bucks cold spell was, Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer was even more concerned with his teams defense, or lack there of it in the second half.

The Bucks are off today and face the Magic in Orlando on Friday night.

 

Bledsoe set for Bucks opener in Houston

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Eric Bledsoe File Photo – Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images)

When Milwaukee Bucks point guard Eric Bledsoe left the court on October 9 with an injury, it was feared that he wouldn’t be ready to return for the start of the regular season.

At the time, it was believed that Bledsoe suffered an oblique injury, but instead, it was cracked cartilage in his rib cage.

After going through the majority of practice on Saturday, he followed that with a full practice on Tuesday.  Now Bledsoe has been cleared to play and start the season opener against the Houston Rockets on Thursday night.

Bledsoe’s return means the Bucks are 100% healthy for the opener as Mike Budenholzer has his entire 15-player roster available.  He’ll start Bledsoe, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez and newcomer Wes Matthews.  Matthews takes over at the shooting guard spot after Malcolm Brogdon was traded to the Indiana Pacers in July.

That group hasn’t had a lot of time together in preseason games, but they’ve spent considerable time working together in practice.  We’ll see how well that translates to regular season game action starting Thursday night.

 

Bucks cruise past Utah in exhibition home opener

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Giannis Antetokounmpo – File Photo

After not playing many of their regulars on Monday night in Chicago, the Milwaukee Bucks used their starters on Wednesday night and cruised to a 133-99 win over the Utah Jazz at Fiserv Forum.

Giannis Antetokounmpo took the ball to the rim time after time, getting multiple dunks to finish with 22 points 11 rebounds and four assists in 20+ minutes of playing time.

Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez added 14 points each.  Wes Matthews joined the starters on Wednesday night and finished with eight points, three rebounds and two assists in 17 minutes.

Donte DiVincenzo bounced back from a poor shooting night in Chicago on Monday by scoring 10 points on 4 of 7 shooting.  He added four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Kyle Korver played his first game for the Bucks and took three shots, making all three of his three-pointers for nine points.  Thanasis Antetokounmpo also finished with 9 points and five rebounds.

Bucks starting point guard Eric Bledsoe did leave the game in the second quarter with an oblique strain.  The Bucks are hoping that’s an injury that won’t keep him out long.

The Bucks are 2-0 in exhibition play and will travel to Dallas to face the Mavericks on Friday night.

Giannis named NBA’s Most Valuable Player (Audio)

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Giannis Antetokounmpo – (File Photo) – Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Milwaukee Bucks may have finished two wins shy of a trip to the NBA Finals, but they cleaned up at the NBA Awards ceremony on Monday night in Los Angeles.

After Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer was named the NBA Coach of the Year and GM Jon Horst captured Executive of the Year honors, superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo was awarded the Kia NBA Most Valuable Player award for the 2018-19 season.

While leading the Bucks to their best record since the 1980-81 season and the top mark in the NBA at 60-22, Antetokounmpo averaged 27.7 points (3rd in the NBA), 12.5 rebounds (6th in the NBA) and 5.9 assists (T-20th in the NBA) per game, all career-highs.  He also shot a franchise record 57.8% from the field (11th in the NBA), blocked 1.5 shots (10th in the NBA) and swiped 1.3 steals per game.  Giannis became just the ninth player in NBA history to average at least 25.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game over the course of a season and did so with the highest shooting percentage [Read more…]