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 7th 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: 34.9 minutes, 22.9 points, 9.1 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 2.1 steals, 2.0 blocks, 52.0 FG%, 29.0 3PT%.
Statistical averages, last week: 37.3 minutes, 26.3 points, 9.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.5 steals, 1.5 blocks, 50.0 FG%, 50.0 3PT%.
Advanced stats, season: 27.3 PER, 60.2 percent TS%, 28.2 percent USG%, 116 ORtg, 99 DRtg, 2.9 VORP.
Notable: Look above at that stat line from last week and consider that Milwaukee had four games. Pretty amazing. In two games against Cleveland, Antetokounmpo went to the line a combined 29 times -- and made 26. Giannis has scored 22 or more points in six straight games (and 16 overall this season). Antetokounmpo is also now fifth in the NBA in Defensive Rating at 99.4.
MALCOLM BROGDON (Age 24, first season)
Statistical season averages: 21.5 minutes, 7.7 points, 2.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.0 steals, 0.1 blocks, 41.8 FG%, 41.7 3PT%.
Statistical averages, last week: 23.7 minutes, 7.3 points, 2.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.0 steals, 0.0 blocks, 48.0 FG%, 22.2 3PT%.
Advanced stats, season: 12.4 PER, 52.1 percent TS%, 15.4 percent USG%, 104 ORtg, 108 DRtg, 0.0 VORP.
Notable: Brogdon's scoring was down this past week, but he did have two games with seven assists and another with five. Oh, and he did this:
https://twitter.com/fswisconsin/status/811387325565390849
And this:
https://twitter.com/fswisconsin/status/811401502057082880
THON MAKER (Age 19, first season)
Statistical season averages: 3.7 minutes, 2.0 points, 1.6 rebounds, 0.0 assists, 0.0 steals, 0.3 blocks, 54.5 FG%, 50.0 3PT%.
Statistical averages, last week: 6.1 minutes, 2.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 0.0 assists, 0.0 steals, 1.0 blocks, 100.0 FG%, n/a 3PT%.
Advanced stats, season: 23.5 PER, 64.9 percent TS%, 19.7 percent USG%, 128 ORtg, 100 DRtg, -0.1 VORP.
Notable: Maker played twice in Milwaukee's four games this past week. He played 3:50 in the win over Chicago, recording one point and two rebounds, then 8:26 (just shy of his season high) in the loss at Cleveland. He had three points, three rebounds and two blocks in that game.
JABARI PARKER (Age 21, third season)
Statistical season averages: 32.9 minutes, 20.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.1 steals, 0.2 blocks, 48.6 FG%, 38.4 3PT%.
Statistical averages, last week: 34.2 minutes, 24.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 0.8 steals, 0.3 blocks, 56.9 FG%, 58.3 3PT%.
Advanced stats: 19.6 PER, 55.6 percent TS%, 26.4 percent USG%, 111 ORtg, 108 DRtg, 0.5 VORP.
Notable: Parker had three more games of 27+ points, including a 30-point effort in the Bucks' overtime loss to Cleveland, giving him six in his last eight games. Parker also has been shooting well, making 52 percent or better from the field in each of his last five games -- despite taking 17 or more shots in four of those five.
TONY SNELL (Age 25, fourth season)
Statistical season averages: 29.5 minutes, 8.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.3 steals, 0.2 blocks, 40.1 FG%, 30.5 3PT%.
Statistical averages, last week: 29.3 minutes, 7.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.0 steals, 0.5 blocks, 42.9 FG%, 54.5 3PT%.
Advanced stats: 8.0 PER, 51.7 percent TS%, 12.91 percent USG%, 104 ORtg, 111 DRtg, 0.0 VORP.
Notable: Snell had 10 points at Chicago on Dec. 16, his first double-digit scoring game since Dec. 3. Against the Cavs on Dec. 20, Snell had a season-high two blocks and tied his season best with four assists (he also had eight points and six rebounds).
RASHAD VAUGHN (Age 20, second season)
Statistical season averages: 11.9 minutes, 4.4 points, 1.1 rebounds, 0.3 assists, 0.4 steals, 0.3 blocks, 38.7 FG%, 36.8 3PT%.
Statistical averages, last week: 10.6 minutes, 4.0 points, 1.5 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 0.0 steals, 0.0 blocks, 37.5 FG%, 50.0 3PT%.
Advanced stats, season: 9.2 PER, 50.0 percent TS%, 17.6 percent USG%, 95 ORtg, 109 DRtg, -0.1 VORP.
Notable: Vaughn appeared in two games, including for 16:25 in the Dec. 21 loss at Cleveland. It was his most minutes for the Bucks since Nov. 5. He scored eight points against the Cavs, which is more than he had combined since that Nov. 5 game (6 points in 7 games).
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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