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Young Bucks Tracker: Giannis doing things not seen in decades
With two-thirds of the roster born in 1990 or later, the Milwaukee Bucks are a young, growing team. Every Thursday for the rest of the season, FOX Sports Wisconsin will take a closer look at the players that are 25 years old and younger (for the most part, those still in their first four NBA seasons), measuring, highlighting and evaluating their progress.
This is the 16th edition of the 2016-17 Young Bucks Tracker.
(A glossary of the advanced statistics used for season totals, which are from basketball-reference.com. can be found at the end of this article)
GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO (Age 22, fourth season)
Statistical season averages: 35.5 minutes, 23.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 1.7 steals, 2.0 blocks, 53.1 FG%, 27.7 3PT%.
Statistical averages, last week: 35.7 minutes, 25.3 points, 9.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 2.0 steals, 2.0 blocks, 60.0 FG%, 33.3 3PT%.
Advanced stats, season: 26.9 PER, 61.0 percent TS%, 28.1 percent USG%, 118 ORtg, 104 DRtg, 5.8 VORP.
Notable: You think Antetokounmpo is a little driven these days (perhaps to make the playoffs)? He had 21 or more points in all four Bucks games last week, including two double-doubles. He also shot 52.4 percent or better from the field in each game, had games with eight and seven assists, one with three blocks and twice had two. His pièce de résistance came Wednesday against the Knicks, when he had 32 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks and just 1 turnover. That was his 15th game this season with 30+ points, which is the most for a Milwaukee player since Michael Redd in 2006-07. Antetokounmpo has 17 games with 20+ points and 10+ rebounds in a game, the most for any Buck since Vin Baker had 32 such games in 1996-97. Giannis also now has 19 games with multiple steals and blocks, which is most in the NBA this season (by four over Golden State's Draymond Green and New Orleans' Anthony Davis). Phew.
MALCOLM BROGDON (Age 24, first season)
Statistical season averages: 25.8 minutes, 9.9 points, 2.7 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.1 steals, 0.1 blocks, 44.6 FG%, 41.7 3PT%.
Statistical averages, last week: 27.1 minutes, 11.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.3 blocks, 47.2 FG%, 38.5 3PT%.
Advanced stats, season: 14.2 PER, 54.8 percent TS%, 18.5 percent USG%, 110 ORtg, 111 DRtg, 0.4 VORP.
Notable: Head coach Jason Kidd has been limiting Brogdon's minutes a bit -- he played under 24 minutes in three of Milwaukee's four games last week -- to help prevent the dreaded so-called rookie wall. Brogdon did play 41 minutes vs. Toronto and had 17 points, five rebounds and three assists. His streak of six straight games with double-digit scoring ended Wednesday when he had just four points on 1-of-8 shooting against the Knicks.
THON MAKER (Age 20, first season)
Statistical season averages: 8.2 minutes, 3.5 points, 1.7 rebounds, 0.2 assists, 0.2 steals, 0.4 blocks, 42.3 FG%, 42.0 3PT%.
Statistical averages, last week: 12.8 minutes, 3.8 points, 2.3 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.0 steals, 0.5 blocks, 25.0 FG%, 9.1 3PT%.
Advanced stats, season: 13.1 PER, 54.1 percent TS%, 19.2 percent USG%, 110 ORtg, 109 DRtg, -0.1 VORP.
Notable: Maker continues to start but see limited minutes. His high this past week was 14:45 at Philadephia, when he had seven points and three rebounds. Maker has been shooting more -- seven or eight field-goal attempts in three of the four games this past week, but suddenly is finding it harder to get the ball in the net (6-of-24 shooting).
KHRIS MIDDLETON (Age 25, fifth season)
Statistical season averages: 25.9 minutes, 14.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.3 steals, 0.3 blocks, 50.5 FG%, 48.4 3PT%.
Statistical averages, last week: 30.7 minutes, 18.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.5 steals, 0.5 blocks, 58.7 FG%, 42.1 3PT%.
Advanced stats: 20.2 PER, 62.7 percent TS%, 22.5 percent USG%, 120 ORtg, 109 DRtg, 0.3 VORP.
Notable: Suddenly, 30 minutes a game is no problem for Middleton, which is good for the Bucks (hey, 4-0 last week) and Middleton, who had a tremendous week. His true shooting percentage was 70.9 percent and his Offensive Rating 129. Think Milwaukee missed Middleton's ability to stretch out defenses?
TONY SNELL (Age 25, fourth season)
Statistical season averages: 28.9 minutes, 8.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.2 blocks, 45.2 FG%, 40.5 3PT%.
Statistical averages, last week: 30.5 minutes, 10.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 1.3 steals, 0.0 blocks, 42.9 FG%, 50.0 3PT%.
Advanced stats: 9.4 PER, 60.1 percent TS%, 11.8 percent USG%, 114 ORtg, 113 DRtg, 0.5 VORP.
Notable: Snell had his best game as a Buck on Monday at Philadelphia, scoring a season-high 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting -- including 5-of-7 on 3-point attempts -- and also recording seven rebounds and two steals. Snell followed that up Wednesday with 10 points and seven rebounds vs. New York.
RASHAD VAUGHN (Age 20, second season)
Statistical season averages: 10.5 minutes, 3.1 points, 1.2 rebounds, 0.4 assists, 0.4 steals, 0.2 blocks, 35.0 FG%, 33.9 3PT%.
Statistical averages, last week: 3.4 minutes, 0.0 points, 0.3 rebounds, 0.0 assists, 0.0 steals, 0.0 blocks, 0.0 FG%, n/a 3PT%.
Advanced stats, season: 7.7 PER, 45.1 percent TS%, 16.0 percent USG%, 90 ORtg, 110 DRtg, -0.2 VORP.
Notable: Vaughn played in three games with a high of 5 minutes vs. Denver.
Others: Terrence Jones signed but has yet to play.
Out for the season: Jabari Parker.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
PER -- Player Efficiency Rating: A measure of per-minute production standardized such that the league average is 15.
TS% -- True Shooting Percentage: A measure of shooting efficiency that takes into account 2-point field goals, 3-point field goals, and free throws.
USG% -- Usage Percentage: An estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while he was on the floor.
ORtg -- Offensive Rating: An estimate of points produced per 100 possessions.
DRtg -- Defensive Rating: An estimate of points allowed per 100 possessions.
VORP -- Value over Replacement Player: A box score estimate of the points per 100 TEAM possessions that a player contributed above a replacement-level (-2.0) player, translated to an average team and prorated to an 82-game season.
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