Utah Jazz are a fucking wagon. There is no other way to say it. They’re playing such good basketball right now. It is similar to watching the Bucks in 2018-2019 or pre-pandemic in 2019-2020. They’re on another level on both sides of the ball. Their NET rating is through the roof. I’m not sure why I felt good about this one. Is it a bad loss? No, not at all. Utah is one of the elite teams right now, and Milwaukee caught them at a bad time. Who knows if they played in a few weeks, maybe the Jazz aren’t this team. Bucks are now 3-2 on their road trip, and yes, this Utah loss makes the Phoenix flub a little more annoying.

One thing to think about: Are we at all concerned with the Bucks’ record against .500-plus teams? – For those wondering, Milwaukee’s record against those teams is 3-6 now. This might be a down-the-road problem and something that Bucks fans will not have to fear much to finish off the first half of the season. Milwaukee only plays two more teams with above .500 records the rest of the way – Denver and LA Clippers. Now, Toronto is playing good basketball along with New Orleans, so, it’s not a cakewalk.

Another thing to think about: D.J. Augustin might be a lemon – Jon Horst has done some good things, but there are usually bad moves here and there. D.J. Augustin is a disaster. He is too short. He doesn’t exactly fit with what Mike Budenholzer wants to do offensively. The defense is a joke. This is where the Bogdan Bogdanovic fuck up really screwed with the Bucks offseason. Who knows maybe they move on from Donte DiVencenzo instead if they knew Bogdan wasn’t happening and keep George Hill.

One last thing to think about: Giannis Antetokounmpo needs to get going early – In both the Denver and Utah games, we saw Giannis struggled early in the game. He only had 9 points against Denver and two versus Utah in the first half. That is not going to get it done. Mike Budenholzer needs to create more opportunities for Antetokounmpo to get some easy buckets early and often.

Next up: They have Valentine’s Day matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Bucks cannot take the Thunder lightly. Oklahoma City took the Lakers to overtime twice and lost by two to Denver in the last three games. They’re a scrappy ass team. I hope that the idea of losing three straight will be enough motivation for Milwaukee to deliver the hammer against the Thunder.

Charlie.