Milwaukee Bucks: Grades From 105-110 Loss To Washington Wizards
The Milwaukee Bucks looked rough throughout their last game against the Washington Wizards, and ended up losing. How did the players grade?
Dec 10, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2) dribbles as Milwaukee Bucks guard Matthew Dellavedova (8) defends during the second half at Verizon Center. Washington Wizards won 110-105. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
| Wizards | 23 | 29 | 25 | 33 | 110 |
| Bucks | 32 | 20 | 25 | 28 | 105 |
The Milwaukee Bucks were really on a roll going into their game against the Atlanta Hawks. Their recent losses had been causes for optimism, not despair. They had won games against actual, good teams!
Now they’ve dropped two straight, one to a struggling Hawks team and another to a struggling Washington Wizards team. Something about the Bucks just looks off. The energy and strength the Bucks seemed to have on a nightly basis weren’t there for most of the game against Washington.
Khris Middleton‘s absence is being cited as the reason for the rough stretch, and there’s no doubt having Middleton would help massively. Still, the team beat the Cleveland Cavaliers and nearly beat the San Antonio Spurs without him. It’s not impossible to win this season.
It’s only looked that way very recently. Milwaukee can snap out of this rough patch, the team just needs to click once more. Hopefully some active coaching by Jason Kidd and some internal leadership from the players will help the team move forward.
Unfortunately, before looking forward we have to look back. The Bucks lost to the Wizards in an ugly, boring game on Saturday night, and we’ve got grades for each and every Buck involved in the game.
Dec 10, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) blocks the shot attempt by Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2) during the second half at Verizon Center. Washington Wizards won 110-105. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
Starters
Matthew Dellavedova
G, Milwaukee Bucks
CMatthew Dellavedova wasn’t as bad as he was on Friday night, but Delly didn’t look great against Washington. He recorded four assists compared to just one turnover, but he scored just six points on eight shots. The Wizards outscored the Bucks by 15 points in Dellavedova’s 31 minutes of action, which is abjectly awful. John Wall dropped 24 points on Delly, but at least it took him 20 shots to do it. That’s a positive, I guess.
Tony Snell
G, Milwaukee Bucks
DTony Snell has been bad recently. On Saturday night he scored a grand total of two points, even though he managed to take six shots in his time on the floor. Similarly to Delly, the Bucks got killed when Snell was on the floor. Milwaukee was outscored by 12 points in Snell’s 33 minutes. He did put up six rebounds and two assists, but it wasn’t enough to help Milwaukee win. Bradley Beal tore Snell up on Saturday, scoring 20 points against him.
Giannis Antetokounmpo
G/F, Milwaukee Bucks
AGiannis Antetokounmpo had himself a nice bounce-back game against the Wizards, ending the night with 28 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. Unfortunately he was as close to a quadruple-double as he was to a triple-double–Giannis had seven turnovers too. Still, he was the only Buck in the starting five to have a positive plus/minus against Washington, and he worked damn hard to give the Bucks a chance to win.
Jabari Parker
F, Milwaukee Bucks
CThings that should not happen: Jabari Parker getting 24 minutes in a game. Jabari wasn’t playing well early, scoring eight points on eight shots with four rebounds and three turnovers, but he should still get a chance to right the ship. Jabari was absent for large stretches in the second half–it would’ve been nice to see if he could’ve made something happen late in the game on offense before things were basically over.
John Henson
C, Milwaukee Bucks
BThe first half was the John Henson show against Washington, and surprisingly the reviews were positive. Henson ended the night with 14 points, four rebounds, one assist and two blocks while shooting 70 percent from the field. Henson needs to get more active in the paint and grab some more rebounds, but that’s an excellent offensive performance from the Bucks starting center. If Henson keeps this up, he won’t cede that starting job to anybody anytime soon. Next: Bench
Dec 10, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards forward Otto Porter Jr. (22) shoots over Milwaukee Bucks forward Mirza Teletovic (35) during the second half at Verizon Center. Washington Wizards won 110-105. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
Bench
Greg Monroe
C, Milwaukee Bucks
B+Greg Monroe‘s passing has been phenomenal this season. He dropped another five dimes on Saturday night, to go along with six points and seven rebounds. Monroe was criticized for only being able to score last season, and, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, he deserves tons of credit for working on the rest of his game. Moose has been adding to Milwaukee on both ends, and the team is much better with him on the floor this year.
Malcolm Brogdon
G, Milwaukee Bucks
B+Malcolm Brogdon‘s threes are falling. That’s huge–his three-point stroke was the one thing it looked would take some time to translate to the NBA earlier this season. He’s up to an insane 46.9 percent from deep on the season, and he’s now made eight of his last nine attempts. This dude is a stud, and the Bucks are starting to look genius for drafting him where they did in the second round. Brogdon had 11 points, two assists and a steal against the Wizards, another more-than-solid performance from the rookie guard.
Michael Beasley
F, Milwaukee Bucks
C-The Bucks have too many big men for them all to play, and this time Michael Beasley was the man left out. Beas played just five minutes against Washington, made one-of-three shots and committed two turnovers. It was a rough five minutes, although Beasley did pull down a rebound. The only Buck to play less was Thon Maker, who got credited with zero minutes played but was still -2 in that time.
Jason Terry
SG, Milwaukee Bucks
CIn a vintage Jason Terry game, JET scored three points on one made three. He also managed one assist in his 11 minutes played. These aren’t bad games, but Rashad Vaughn should be playing more than the zero minutes he’s getting these days.
Mirza Teletovic
F, Milwaukee Bucks
A+How did this guy catch two straight DNP-Coach’s Decisions?! Mirza Teletovic went off against the Wizards, scoring 25 points on just 12 shot attempts. Somehow Washington still outscored Milwaukee by four points during Mirza’s minutes, but it’s tough to fault him for that. Teletovic took six threes, and missed just one of them. He also added three rebounds, a blocked shot and no turnovers. Mirza is good!Next: Jason Kidd
Nov 12, 2016; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks head coach Jason Kidd calls a play in the second quarter during the game against the Memphis Grizzlies at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Head Coach
Jason Kidd
Coach, Milwaukee Bucks
It might also be time for Tony Snell to stop being on the floor in the fourth quarter. Snell has been completely ineffectual, and any of Malcolm Brogdon, Rashad Vaughn or potentially even Jason Terry could at least provide a real three-point threat. Snell has not done that, and his defense hasn’t exactly been stellar either. Losing Michael Carter-Williams doesn’t hurt even if Snell isn’t good, but it seems that the Bucks are asking too much of their fill-in shooting guard at the moment.
Dec 10, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Tony Snell (21) dribbles as Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal (3) defends during the first half at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
Opposition
Washington Wizards
Southeast, 9-13
The Bucks now sit at 11-11, and will take on the Toronto Raptors on the road on Monday night.
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