Bucks Buzz Vol. 5: Are We Having Fun Yet?

Milwaukee Bucks headed into tonight with a 2-2 record in hopes of going over .500 for the first time this season. They faced a new-look Indiana team who many peg as a playoff team. Bucks steamrolled Pacers in a rousing 125-107 victory. It’s the second straight game where the offense scored 115 points or more. Not to be a cynic, but it’s very possible these are two of the worst defenses teams in all of basketball. But let’s enjoy this moment for Bucks especially as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker both scored 20 plus.
Player of the Game: Jabari Parker (Bucks) – What a beast. Great game from the young Bucks budding star. People worried about Parker through the first couple games, but it turns out he needed to get his feet wet again to playing regular season ball. Parker finished with 27 point and eight rebounds, but what really stands out is he hit four-of-six from three. If Parker is making 3-5 threes on a regular basis, this Bucks team is very dangerous.
(Not) Player of the Game: John Henson – No word from Bucks beat on why John Henson had a DNP today. He’s off to a rough start to the season, but it’s curious why he didn’t get any run in this game. Curious to know whether he’s hurt, or it’s a matchup thing. With how Greg Monroe is playing off the bench, I wonder if Henson is the odd man out.
Player of the Game (Pacers): Paul George – Old school game for Pacers where Paul George had to carry the team pretty much by himself. He had 23 points on 9-of-20 shooting. George did all that he could to keep Indiana in this basketball game. Their defense isn’t very good which is quite the change from last year.
Positive: Greg Monroe excels off the bench for Milwaukee last night with 16 points, 16 rebounds, and six assists. You could argue this one was one of Monroe’s best nights as a Milwaukee Buck. Also, we should be giving Jason Kidd early props for selling Monroe on the idea of coming off the bench and flourishing in the role. We’ll see if this continues in the young season.
Negative: Bucks defense still looks a little leaky, but I’m not sure if it’s their fault. The amount of possessions in the last three of four games where Milwaukee allowed 100+ points could be due to bad defense by their opponent. It’s really hard to blow the doors off a team when you scoring as much as Milwaukee has for the last three of four.
Next up: Boogie Cousins and Sacramento come to town Saturday night. It should be a fun game with a lot of scoring. Milwaukee lost both games with Kings including a bad Jason Kidd ejection at the Bradley Center.
Charlie.