Milwaukee Bucks

Bucks Select DiVincenzo in NBA Draft

June 22, 2018 By mpilch@learfield.com

The Milwaukee Bucks selected Villanova sharpshooter Donte DiVincenzo with the 17th overall pick in the NBA Draft.

DiVincenzo was the star of the NCAA National Championship Game when he had 31 points and five 3-pointers. He shot 40 percent from three-point range last season. DiVincenzo was named the top sixth man in the Big East after averaging 13.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.
The Bucks shot 35.5 percent from 3-point range last season, tied for 21st in the NBA. They averaged just 8.8 3s a game, 27th in the league.

DiVincenzo is very athletic, with a combine best 42-inch vertical leap.

Bucks Open Summer League Play Against Detroit

June 13, 2018 By Bill Scott

The Milwaukee Bucks will open up NBA Summer League play in Las Vegas on July 6th against the Detroit Pistons.

The complete schedule was released on Tuesday and for the first time ever, all 30 teams will participate in the league.

The Bucks will also play the Mavericks and Nuggets in preliminary round play before being seeded in a tournament. Each team is guaranteed a minimum of five games.

The Bucks are expected to put last years rookies, D.J. Wilson and Sterling Brown on the Summer League roster, as well as the teams draft pick this year.

Bucks Name Assistant Coaching Staff

June 7, 2018 By Bill Scott

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

June 5, 2018 By Bill Scott

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.

Antetokounmpo named to All-NBA Second Team

May 25, 2018 By Bill Scott

Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo has been named to the All-NBA Second Team. He is joined on the Second team by Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook, San Antonio’s LaMarcus Aldridge, Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan and Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid.

Antetokounmpo set career highs in points per game (26.9), field-goal percentage (52.9%) and rebounds per game (10.0).

The All-NBA Second Team honor is the second straight for Antetokounmpo. The two players that finished in front of him and thus garnering first team honors were LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State’s Kevin Durant.

The last Bucks player to make consecutive all-NBA teams was Sidney Moncrief, who earned the recognition five straight seasons starting in 1981-’82.

Antetokounmpo is the fifth Bucks player to be selected to multiple all-NBA teams.

Antetokounmpo falls short of NBA Defensive honors

May 24, 2018 By Bill Scott

The NBA released it’s all defensive teams on Wednesday and Milwaukee Bucks all-star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo fell short of both the first and second teams.

Anthony Davis (New Orleans Pelicans) and Robert Covington (Philadelphia 76ers) earned the forward spots on the first team. Draymond Green (Golden State Warriors) and Al Horford (Boston Celtics) took both spots on the second team.

Former Marquette standout Jimmy Butler of the Minnesota Timberwolves also made the second team.

Bucks make Budenholzer’s hiring official

May 18, 2018 By Bill Scott

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

May 17, 2018 By Bill Scott

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

May 15, 2018 By Bill Scott

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.

Bucks expected to interview Spurs assistant Becky Hammon

May 5, 2018 By Bill Scott

The Milwaukee Bucks coaching search is underway with the interview process starting as early as this weekend.

The list of potential candidates to interview continues to grow, with the latest being San Antonio Spurs assistant Becky Hammon.

A woman has never been a head coach in the NBA and Hammon is the first female assistant in the league.

The bucks have said they have a thorough plan and process in place to hire their next coach, but with no timeline. However, teams are preparing for the NBA draft on June 21 and free agency which starts in July 1st, which means the Bucks would like to have a coach in place before then.

Current coach Joe Prunty will also be among those interviewed. He led the Bucks to a 21-16 record after taking over for the fired Jason Kidd in January. The Bucks said at that time that Prunty would have a chance to keep the job.

The Bucks won 44 games this past season, two more than the previous year, but failed to advance beyond the first round of the NBA playoffs.