Milwaukee Bucks Player of the Week (Jan 1. - Jan 7.)
Week 11 was a pretty good one for the Milwaukee Bucks. They won two of their three games and looked solid along the way. Four Bucks played extremely well this week but there is only room for three in the PotW rankings.
Mandatory Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports
The Milwaukee Bucks played three games against two different teams this week: one against the Oklahoma City Thunder and two against the New York Knicks. The standard of the Bucks’ opponents was higher than the average week in the NBA regular season.
But the Bucks prevailed, winning two of the three games. The team finished the week 18-17 in the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference. Through 35 games the Bucks positioned themselves nicely for a playoff appearance.
As the team matures and the young stars, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker, grow, the Bucks could find ways to improve and win an even better percentage of their upcoming games.
This week saw the best highlight of the Milwaukee Bucks’ season to date. The Greek Freak hit a buzzer-beater against the Knicks in Madison Square Garden. That will come up a bit later as we talk about Giannis in more detail in his section.
The big surprise in the player of the week rankings this week is that someone bumped Jabari from the number two spot. Through the first ten weeks of the season Parker had held the second spot eight times. Week 11 is bucking that trend.
Four players had strong weeks and all deserve some love, but only three can make the cut and get that distinguished face-time. There was an intense battle for third in the rankings. So let’s see who nabbed the last spot!
Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Milwaukee Bucks Player of the Week Rankings
Major Cat played in all three games this week and averaged 38.8 minutes, 19.7 points (on 46.7 percent shooting from the field), 4.7 rebounds, and 3.3 assists. He was second on the Bucks in points and tied for third in both rebounds and assists.
Jabari Parker’s biggest contribution in week 11, like always, was scoring. In his past three games he scored in a myriad of ways but none better than from the perimeter. Parker attempted 4.3 threes per game and made over 53 percent of them. In fact, Jabari was one of 19 NBA players to attempt at least four threes per game and make over 50 percent.
Once you move beyond the threes, the positives fall away pretty quickly. While shooting over 50 percent from three, Parker was only able to shoot 46.7 percent from the field. That isn’t embarrassing, but when your threes are falling at a high rate it shouldn’t be too difficult to hit 50 percent of your shots. Especially when you are a fantastic scorer in the paint like Jabari.
His rebounding was still pretty soft for a player playing almost 40 minutes a night at the forward position. Jabari really needs to work on helping his team on the boards. Sure, Giannis, Greg Monroe, and John Henson typically do most of the Bucks’ work in the rebounding department, but Parker needs to find a way to give his team more in that regard too.
The volume of assists Jabari provided wasn’t fantastic but relative to his career averages it was a nice passing week. Jabari produced solid passing numbers last week so for him to maintain that was nice to see. If he can keep it up it adds a dimension to his offensive game that makes him even more difficult to guard.
Week 11 wasn’t Jabari Parker’s best week. But he contributed in a number of ways and helped spread the floor for his teammates. He didn’t make many silly mistakes and helped the Bucks stay close in every game. For that, he deserves the third spot.
Milwaukee Bucks Player of the Week Rankings
Moose played in all three games this week and averaged 28.5 minutes, 17.3 points (on 64.5 percent shooting from the field), 8.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2.0 steals, and 1.0 block. He led the Bucks in steals, was second in rebounds, tied for second in blocks, third in points, and tied for third in assists. Additionally, he had the second best plus/minus on the team at +6.0.
So far 2017 has been very kind to Greg Monroe. Week 11 was his best week of the entire season. It all starts with the variety of his contributions. Only eight players averaged at least three rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block over their last three games. Of those eight, only Joel Embiid and Monroe did it while playing less than 30 minutes per night.
Moose is not the same player he was last season. He has morphed into the perfect version of himself. The way his current style of play now fits into the Bucks is an exact match. He does just about everything for the team off of the bench and constantly shows why he was given such a big contract two years ago.
The defense provided by Monroe this season has been the most striking improvement. Only Robert Covington and Monroe averaged at least two steals and one block per game this past week. Moose isn’t an elite defender by any stretch of the imagination but he is getting it done on that side of the ball currently. He takes the ball away from the offense and sparks Milwaukee fast breaks on a consistent basis.
It would be inappropriate to not touch on Greg’s scoring output and efficiency this week. He attempted 10.3 shots per game and made a whooping 64.5 percent of those shots. Only five NBA players were able to make at least 60 percent of their shots while attempting at least 10 per game.
The only black mark against Monroe’s scoring total this week was his free throw shooting. He actually led the Bucks in free throw attempts with eight per game but he didn’t connect on as many of them as he should have. Moose only made 50 percent of his free throws. He needs to do better, especially when he is getting to the line so frequently.
Monroe earned his place in the number two spot of the player of the week rankings with his best week of the 2016-17 season. When Moose plays like this the Bucks tend to win more games than they lose. If he can figure out a way to play like this more often the Bucks could essentially guarantee themselves a spot in the playoffs.
Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Milwaukee Bucks Player of the Week Rankings
The Greek Freak played in all three games this week and averaged 39.3 minutes, 26.0 points (on 50 percent shooting from the field), 9.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.3 steals, and 3.0 blocks. He led the Bucks in points, rebounds, and blocks, and was second in assists and tied for second in steals.
Let’s start this by looking at how Giannis compared to his NBA brethren over the past three games on a per game basis.
Like usual, Giannis had a very special week doing a variety of things that not many of his contemporaries could match. In fact, there was just one NBA player who was able to basically match Giannis’ output in week 11: Kevin Durant. Here are there stat lines side by side:
Anytime you’re matching or exceeding Durant’s numbers you know you are doing something right. Antetokounmpo is typically doing something right, if not everything right. He has been the Bucks player of the week for 11 straight weeks to start this season. He is a very rare player and even 11 straight PotW honors don’t provide him the credit he deserves.
Barring something insane, Giannis is heading to the first All Star game of his career in February. He certainly deserves it, as he is leading the Bucks in all five major statistical categories.
The Greek Freak was a center playing point guard this week. He had two points-rebounds double-doubles in three games. He also had a game where he registered five blocks. Those definitely have the taste of power forward/center numbers.
But Giannis was even more than just an elite big man. He hit a game winning shot in the second game of the week against the Knicks. On the road, in Madison Square Garden, Giannis backed down his man with just a few seconds left and then turned and sunk a solid fade away jumper. The defender, Lance Thomas, played him perfectly but Giannis utilized his length to get off an uncontested look. The result was glorious.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is how a superstar is born. Antetokounmpo is going to have his opportunities to join the elites of the NBA. Plays like that are the ones he’ll need to make if he wants to entertain being among their company.
Beyond playing like a top center and hitting clutch shots Giannis contributed in other ways. His assists were down but he was still the lead point guard and the second best facilitator on the floor for much of the week. Additionally, Giannis played amazing defense. Averaging 3.0 blocks per game for a three game stretch is no easy feat. Adding a couple steals in with that makes for a pretty special defensive stat line.
Giannis is the best player on the Bucks and it isn’t even close. It is just not fair to compare him to his teammates anymore because he wins easily. It is only fair to compare him with the league’s elite and see where he matches up. So far, this season he has compared very favorably. It will lead to an All Star appearance and potentially the playoffs this season. Where it will take the Bucks in the future is an even more exciting question.
Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Week 11 Wrap Up
The Milwaukee Bucks are playing well right now. They have done a fantastic job maintaining a .500 record or above this season. There have been ups and downs and the schedule will continually challenge the team but if they can keep up what they are doing then a low playoff seed in the East will be the likely result.
In week 12 the Bucks play three more games. Two of them should be winnable: versus the Washington Wizards (unfortunately we’ve already seen this one slip away) and versus the Miami Heat, both at home. One should be a likely loss: on the road against the San Antonio Spurs. If the Bucks can somehow get two out of three wins they will be in a good place.
The Spurs game on Tuesday will be a good test for the Bucks. San Antonio is one of the consistently elite teams in the NBA. If the Bucks can pull off that win, it will be a week to celebrate.
After this week the Bucks play nine games combined in their next two weeks. Five of those nine games are against teams with better records than Milwaukee. The Bucks need to perform well in week 12 because the schedule is going to be brutal in weeks 13 and 14.
Keep tuning in to Bucks basketball to see if they can keep their record above .500 and if they can weather the storm their upcoming schedule is concocting.
Player of the Week Rankings over the course of the season
More from Behind the Buck Pass
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