National Basketball Association

Milwaukee Bucks: Grades From 98-83 Loss To Detroit Pistons

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Milwaukee Bucks were on the losing end of the second game of their back-to-back, but how did each player perform in the loss?

Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

As the Milwaukee Bucks lost on the road in Detroit on Sunday, the key number from the game was the Bucks’ field goal percentage, which was a dismal 39.1 percent. These kinds of numbers do not make for winning basketball, and putting up more points with greater efficiency has to be the top priority for Milwaukee moving forward.

Although he did not do much, the team saw the first NBA action of Thon Maker in this game. He logged two total minutes and grabbed one rebound. Despite having virtually no impact on the game, it was good to see him step onto the floor and show that it is possible for him to see some minutes as the season goes on.

In terms of positives from the game, it is not hard to look at Giannis Antetokounmpo. The season is only three games in, but we are yet to see a bad performance from the young man. Outside of Giannis, however, there were not many positives to go around. Matthew Dellavedova had another solid outing, where he started to show his prowess from beyond the arc with two three-pointers on three attempts.

As a team, the free throw shooting was again solid at 78.6%. As a team, the Bucks shot just 74.7% from the charity stripe last season. Through three games this year, they are 46/58, or 79.3%. If the team can keep this rate up, they would finish in the top half of the NBA in a very important statistical category.

The key negatives in this one were clearly field goal percentage and rebounding. Rebounding against a team that possesses a player of Andre Drummond‘s caliber is certainly very difficult, but Milwaukee lost the rebounding battle by 18 boards. This needs to be improved, as the Bucks have only won the rebound battle in one of their contests, where they had one more rebound than the Brooklyn Nets.

Without further ado, let’s take a closer look at the action and find out what grades we give to Milwaukee’s players, Jason Kidd, and the Detroit Pistons!

Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

Starters

Matthew Dellavedova

G, Milwaukee Bucks

BMainly regarded as an underrated passer, Delly dished out five more assists against the Pistons and once again seemed very in control of himself with the ball in his hands. While playing with LeBron James in the past, his abilities as a catch-and-shoot player are well-known, but Delly is already showing that he is much more than just a stand-still shooter in Milwaukee. He doesn’t have elite quickness, but he is quite crafty and his floater is difficult to guard, even when it is expected. Outback Jesus (I will find a way to put this nickname in any article involving Delly) received the second-most minutes out of any Buck in this one, but only took seven shots. He connected on four of those, which included two three-pointers.

Tony Snell

G, Milwaukee Bucks

D+In his second game with the team, Snell was not very impressive. He upped his minutes to 26, but struggled with his shot. He was unable to connect for a three-pointer on two attempts, and only tallied four points and four rebounds in his time. His defense has also not lived up to the expectations set for him after being traded to the team a few weeks ago. In order for Snell to really gel with the team and make an impact in his minutes, he is going to need to bring more production to the table. For the amount of minutes he is receiving, there has to be more than four points in his bag of tricks.

Giannis Antetokounmpo

G/F, Milwaukee Bucks

B+The major bright spot from this game, Giannis showed that it is very difficult to have a bad game. Although, Giannis had his worst shooting outcome (5/16 from the floor), he was active in so many different aspects of the game. He finished with 17/8/8/3, which is a very respectable line. This ability to be a “do-everything” kind of player allows him to make an impact on the game even when some of his best stuff isn’t clicking. In this one, the two major positives from his game were that he yet again tallied a three-pointer and made every single one of his free throws. For a player who loves to attack and has a relatively high free throw attempt rate, seeing his free throw percentage shoot up this season would be awesome. Along with that, he is showing confidence with his shot from deep. Even if he ends up knocking down one per game at about a 35% clip, that would make him an even bigger threat with or without the ball.

Jabari Parker

F, Milwaukee Bucks

D+There’s no other way to put it: Jabari Parker just does not look good right now. He struggled mightily in this one, finishing 6/16 from the floor for only 13 points. For a player that needs to be a big-time scorer in order for the team to succeed, these middling point outputs in the teens are not going to get it done. Jabari does not need to be a 25+ scorer per game, but at least getting up to around the 18 PPG range would be huge. Maybe it is about getting into a rhythm, but if that’s it, it would be nice to see him hit it soon. Parker still doesn’t have very good defensive instincts and makes several boneheaded plays on that end of the floor. With his current scoring rut coupled with his defense, Jabari is struggling, and he needs to pick up his play for the team to get some wins.

Miles Plumlee

C, Milwaukee Bucks

CAfter two abominable performances to start the season, Plumlee looked much better in this one. Still not great, but he will never be a high-volume scorer. Tossing in eight points and five rebounds in just 17 minutes is a pretty good stat line and if he can settle into a role in that 15-20 minutes per game range, that should start to settle down the centers’ roles for the season. For now, there is a ton of fluctuation between the three centers (Monroe, Henson, and Plumlee) and creating stability at the position would contribute greatly to general team stability. On a somewhat trivial note, Plums was the only Buck with a positive +/- while on the floor against Detroit.Next: Bench

Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

Bench

Mirza Teletovic

F, Milwaukee Bucks

DFor a player with very little defensive skills, Teletovic needs to rely on knocking home three-pointers and putting up great offensive production to earn his minutes. To this point, he has greatly disappointed in this regard. He only registered two points and took three shots in his 16 minutes. Teams are definitely looking to run him off the arc when he is on the floor, but he has to do a better job finding shots for himself when working off the ball. If he keeps putting up this kind of offense while struggling mightily on the other end of the floor, those minutes will start to dip even more.

Greg Monroe

C, Milwaukee Bucks

CGreg Monroe was one of the four Bucks to reach double figures in this game, but it still wasn’t an outstanding performance for him. He played a reasonable 18 minutes against his former team, and managed to take a shot for every two minutes he was on the floor. He was third on the team in rebounds with five, but these numbers, along with his overall game, made for an average outing. It can be expected that he will toss numbers that near a double-double on a per-36 minutes basis just about every night, so this was neither horrible nor spectacular.

Malcolm Brogdon

G, Milwaukee Bucks

C+Brogdon struggled from the floor the night before, but got more on track on this one, going 3/7 from the floor. However, he missed his one three-point attempt in the game, making him 0/4 from behind the arc for the season. He is still attempting the shot with confidence, but he is going to need to start making them, or the defense is going to start to back off. He had two rebounds and one assist without fouling or causing a turnover in this game, so it is hard to say that he had a bad game, but it wasn’t great either. Just an average game from Brogdon.

Michael Beasley

F, Milwaukee Bucks

C-After only receiving nine minutes the night prior, Beas almost doubled that number against the Pistons, where Coach Kidd let him roam the floor for 16 minutes. In this time, he had seven points and added a couple of steals and assists. The concerning thing from his game tonight was that he committed three fouls and turned the ball over twice in that same span of time. Beas continues to be an incredibly inconsistent player with an inconsistent role. Like Jabari, Beas is a high volume scorer who is yet to produce. But maybe seeing neither player reach their usual status as scorers is a good thing for the Bucks. Everything regresses to the mean, right?

John Henson

C, Milwaukee Bucks

FDespite leading all centers in minutes and hitting the game-winner the night before, Henson was limited to just 12 minutes in this one, which was last among centers. While on the floor, however, he was dreadful. J-Hook was 0-3 from the field and scored no points. He also had no impact in terms of stopping Drummond in the post. On the contrary, he picked up five fouls and turned the ball over twice in those 12 minutes. That’s uh…not good.

Rashad Vaughn

G, Milwaukee Bucks

CAlthough he still shot the ball with confidence in this one, Vaughn was unable to match his output from the night before. Nonetheless, he did cash another three-ball and had five points. He wasn’t great, but he snatched three steals from the opposition in what was a fairly decent defensive night for the young lad. For a guy with such few expectations for this season, Vaughn playing 22 competent minutes against the Pistons is another positive sign for him this season. He’s not the type of player who is going to open many eyes with his play, but RaSplash is starting off the year on a positive note.

Thon Maker

F, Milwaukee Bucks

CWell, Bucks’ fans, there is your first look at Thon Maker in a regular season game. He supplied one rebound in two minutes and adding nothing else to the box score. Despite not getting a huge opportunity or doing anything flashy in those minutes, it was nice to see him step onto the floor. Maybe he isn’t as far away as people thought from getting some important minutes. If he is showing good stuff in practice, he will get his chance. Just wait it out Bucks’ fans. His time will come.Next: Jason Kidd

Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

Head Coach

Jason Kidd

Coach, Milwaukee Bucks

Still, there is a lot of season to go and I will stand by what I said after the last game: it is far to early to cast judgement on the coaching staff for this season. The roster and team dynamic is far different from last year, and the coaching staff has just as much of a learning curve as the players do.

With Thon Maker getting his first minutes of the season, it will be interesting how much of the floor he starts to see, especially if Thon starts to really impress in practice. Will Kidd let the kid get out there and run to get game reps, or will he be patient with the rookie, and just let him get his feet wet in the NBA this season. For a 19-year-old with lots of grooming to do, this year could easily serve as a sort of redshirt with the team. Fans might not like this approach, but it might be what is best for his future.

After all, things seemed to work out for Giannis in Milwaukee, so I trust the coaching staff with the progression of Maker.

But for this game on the whole, the Pistons were a tough match-up, especially considering the back-to-back. And with shots not falling all night, it is hard to say Kidd is at fault for the loss.

Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

Opposition

Detroit Pistons

Central, 2-1

In a style vastly different from the Bucks, all five starters finished in double figures, with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope leading the way with 21. Despite struggling mightily from three while shooting 5-20 (20%), they shot from the floor with a 44.3% clip.

With 23 rebounds from Andre Drummond, his immense size and strength in the post proved to be a force against the Bucks and will wreak havoc and several other teams throughout the season. On the whole, the Pistons were a solid team last season and should be just as good this season, making this not a bad loss in the long run.

Now at 1-2 for the season, the Bucks next battle is against the New Orleans Pelicans on the road this Tuesday at 7p.m. CT.

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