NBA Archives - Wisconsin Radio Network

Bucks to play 18 games on National TV

August 11, 2018 By Bill Scott

The Milwaukee Bucks will play the first-ever regular season game at the new Fiserv Forum on Friday, Oct. 19 against the Indiana Pacers. They’ll tip-off the 2018-19 season on Wednesday, Oct. 17th at Charlotte before playing the next three games in Milwaukee.

The 2018-19 schedule also includes a previously announced Christmas Day contest against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. It is one of 18 nationally televised games for the Bucks this season.

The National Television breakdown includes a single game on ABC (March 17 vs. Philadelphia), nine games on ESPN and eight games on TNT.

The two-time defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors will make their only appearance at the Fiserv Forum on Friday, Dec. 7. The Bucks will welcome LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers to Milwaukee on Tuesday, March 19.

The Bucks will also have a season-long six-game homestand from Nov. 14-24.

Ilyasova is back with the Bucks

July 2, 2018 By Bill Scott

Ersan Ilyasova is returning to the Milwaukee Bucks for a third time, agreeing to a three-year deal worth $21 million. The third year of the deal is not guaranteed according to a Journal Sentinel report.

Ilyasova was originally drafted by the Bucks in 2005. Mike Budenholzer will be his seventh different head coach in Milwaukee, although Ilyasova played for the new Bucks coach in Atlanta.

Ilyasova split last season with the Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers, averaging 10.9 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. He is a career 36.6% three-point shooter.

The Bucks roster currently stands at 14 players.

Bucks to show off new arena in August

June 29, 2018 By Bill Scott

The Milwaukee Bucks plan to show off their new home to fans and sponsors in late August. They’ll hold the grand opening of their $524 million arena with a day long event on Sunday, August 26.

The details are still in the works, but the Bucks say they’ll hold a block party on the plaza outside of the building and hold free public tours throughout the afternoon.

The Bucks say more details will be released in the weeks ahead.

The new Bucks Arena will take the place of the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Demolition of that facility will take place in the fall.

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.

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…]