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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…]

Jon Horst named NBA Executive of the Year

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Jon Horst

Milwaukee Bucks General Manager Jon Horst has been named NBA Executive of the Year, becoming the second GM in Bucks history to win the award.

In his second season as the Bucks’ General Manager, Horst hired Mike Budenholzer, who was named the NBA’s Coach of the Year and assembled a team that went on to have the best record in the NBA at 60-22.

The Bucks were the top scoring team in the league in 2018-19 and finished the regular season with a top five offense and defense.  The Bucks also advanced past the First Round of the playoffs, and made it to the Eastern Conference Finals, for the first time since 2001.

The Bucks are now 104-60 (.634) over the last two seasons with Horst as the team’s general manager, having made the playoffs in each season.

Horst is the second Bucks general manager to earn NBA Executive of the Year, joining John Hammond who won the award following the 2009-10 season.

 

Budenholzer named NBA Coach of the Year

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File Photo by Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images)

After leading the Milwaukee Bucks to a NBA-best 60 wins, coach Mike Budenholzer was named the league’s Coach of the Year on Monday night.

Budenholzer is the second coach in Bucks history to win the honor, joining Don Nelson.  Nelson won the honor twice in 1982-83 and 1984-85.  Budenholzer also won the honor with the Atlanta Hawks in 2014-15.

In Budenholzer’s first season in Milwaukee, he led the Bucks to a 16-win improvement from the previous season as they owned the best record in the NBA at 60-22.  The Bucks 60 wins were tied for the team’s third-most in franchise history and the most since the 1980-81 season.  As the top seed in the Eastern Conference, the Bucks won their first playoff series, and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals, for the first time since 2001. [Read more…]

Grizzlies hire Bucks assistant Jenkins

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Milwaukee Bucks assistant coach, Taylor Jenkins, has been hired as the next head coach of the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies.

Jenkins has been on Mike Budenholzer’s staffs in both Milwaukee and Atlanta and becomes the third NBA coach to come off Budenholzer’s staffs.

The 34-year-old Dallas native is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.  He becomes the Grizzlies’ ninth non-interim head coach since they moved to Memphis.

Jenkins becomes the second-youngest current NBA coach, older only than Minnesota’s Ryan Saunders (33).  He replaces J.B. Bickerstaff, who was fired after the Grizzlies ended the season with a 33-49 record.

 

Lopez and Middleton selected to attend National Team Training Camp

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Brook Lopez – File Photo / Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images).

Milwaukee Bucks standouts Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton will participate in USA Basketball’s Men’s National Team training camp from Aug. 5-9 in Las Vegas.  The 20-man roster for training camp will be used to select the finalists for the 12-man 2019 USA World Cup Team that will participate in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 that tips-off on Aug. 31 in China.

Middleton, who was named to the USA Men’s National Team roster in April of 2018, was an All-Star last season and averaged 18.3 points and career-highs in both rebounds (6.0) and assists (4.3) per game.  He also shot 44.1% from the field and 37.8% from three, appearing and starting in 77 games for the Bucks as they won an NBA high 60 games.

Lopez is one of six additions to the USA Men’s National Team roster for training camp.  Last season, Lopez started 81 games for the Bucks and averaged 12.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.2 blocks (4th in the NBA) and 1.2 assists per game.  He also set the NBA record for 3-pointers made by a center in a season with 187 and became the first player in NBA history to tally 150+ threes and 150+ blocks in a single season.

Milwaukee is one of just three teams (Houston and Portland) to have multiple players selected to the USA National Team roster for training camp.

The official, 12-member roster for the 2019 USA Basketball Men’s World Cup Team will be announced on August 17.

 

Bucks falter down the stretch drop ECF’s to Toronto

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Brook Lopez – File Photo / Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images).

The Milwaukee Bucks led by as many as 15 points late in the third quarter on Saturday night before falling to the Toronto Raptors 100-94 in game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals.  The result gave the Raptors the series win four games to two and the right to face the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals.

After going down 15, Toronto answered with a 26-3 run.  The Raptors took their largest lead at 87-79 with 6 minutes, 45 seconds left.

The Bucks bounced back with a 7-0 run but never did quite make it all the way back.

Kawhi Leonard had 27 points, 17 rebounds and seven assists to lead the Raptors.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Bucks.  Brook Lopez added 18 and Khris [Read more…]

Bucks season is on the brink after game 5 loss

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Eric Bledsoe – File Photo – Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images).

The Milwaukee Bucks are facing playoff elimination after losing home court advantage and falling to the Toronto Raptors 105-99 at Fiserv Forum on Thursday night.

The Bucks captured the first two games of the series, but have now dropped three straight for the first time this season.

Kawhi Leonard scored 35 points, hitting the 30 point mark for the fourth time in the series.  Leonard added five three-pointers and had seven rebounds and nine assists.  Fred VanVleet added 21 points, hitting 7 of 9 three-pointers in the Toronto victory.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 24 points for the Bucks, while Eric Bledsoe added 20.  Guard Malcolm Brogdon returned to the starting lineup and added 18 points and 11 rebounds.

The Bucks led by 10 after the first quarter and as many as 14 in the first half, but maintaining consistency on offense was a problem again.

Khris Middleton struggled offensively, not hitting his first field goal of the game until the first minute of the fourth quarter.  Middleton had missed his first six shots.

The Bucks now head to Toronto for Game 6 of the series, needing a victory to get the series back to Milwaukee for a game seven on Memorial Day.

Antetokounmpo unanimously selected to All-NBA First Team

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Giannis Antetokounmpo – Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images).

Giannis Antetokounmpo was unanimously selected to the All-NBA First Team, marking the first Milwaukee Bucks player to earn First Team honors since Sidney Moncrief following the 1982-83 season.  The Bucks forward is just the fourth player in franchise history to garner All-NBA First Team honors, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Marques Johnson and Moncrief.

In his sixth season, Antetokounmpo led the Bucks to the best record (60-22) in the NBA and the team’s most wins since the 1980-81 season, while setting new career highs in points (27.7, ranked 3rd in the NBA), rebounds (12.5, ranked 6th in the NBA) and assists (5.9) per game.  He became just the ninth player in NBA history to average at least 25.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game.

Antetokounmpo is joined on the All-NBA First Team by James Harden (Houston), Stephen Curry (Golden State), Paul George (Oklahoma City) and Nikola Jokic (Denver).

 

Antetokounmpo & Bledsoe named to NBA All-Defensive First Team

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Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and guard Eric Bledsoe have both been named to the 2018-19 NBA All-Defensive First Team.  This is the first time since 1990-91 (Alvin Robertson) that the Bucks have had a player selected to the All-Defensive First Team and just the third time in franchise history that Milwaukee has had two players selected to the All-Defensive First Team in the same season.

The Bucks were the top-rated defense in the NBA this season and held opponents to a league-low 43.3 field goal percentage.  Antetokounmpo averaged 1.5 blocks per game, the second highest mark of his career and Bledsoe added 1.5 steals a game.

For Antetokounmpo, this is his first selection to the All-Defensive First Team after being named Second Team All-Defense [Read more…]

Bucks crushed by Raptors, series tied 2-2

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Khris Middleton – File Photo / Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images).

The Milwaukee Bucks dropped back-to-back games for the first time in the playoffs and just the second time all season, falling to the Raptors 120-102 in Toronto on Tuesday night.

The Bucks shot out of the gate playing well offensively, but that didn’t last long.  Defensively, the Bucks didn’t stop the Raptors all night.

Kyle Lowry finished with 25 points, 12 of them coming in the first quarter.  Kawhi Leonard had 19 points, Norman Powell added 18 points, Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka added 17 and Fred VanVleet added 13 for the Raptors.

Khris Middleton led the Bucks with 30 points and dished out seven assists and Giannis Antetokounmpo added 25, with 11 of the 25 coming in the first quarter.

That was it for the Bucks, who got little from Eric Bledsoe again.  His minutes dropped to 20.  But his replacements, Malcolm Brogdon and George Hill struggled as well, giving the Bucks little from the guard position.

Brogdon, after scoring 20 points in game three, had just four points and missed his first eight shots.  George Hill took just two shots.

Ersan Ilyasova picked up four fouls in just 10 minutes and never got into a rhythm.  He finished with just seven points.

Whatever coach Mike Budenholzer tried didn’t work as the series draws even at two.  Now the Bucks have another quick turn-around, trying to figure out how they can get back on track.  Milwaukee hosts game five on Thursday night at Fiserv Forum.