Milwaukee Bucks Mailbag: First Game Freakouts

In our most recent Milwaukee Bucks Twitter mailbag, Ti Windisch answers Bucks questions concerning Opening Night of the 2016-17 NBA season.

Hello and welcome to the Milwaukee Bucks mailbag! In order to connect even further with Behind the Buck Pass readers we’ve decided to try a second mailbag–in addition to the one featured on the Win in 6 podcast, now we’ll have a text mailbag as well!

We took questions both on my Twitter and the BTBP account this time around. Be sure to ask away next Friday if you have any burning Bucks questions. Without further ado, let’s get to the questions!

First off, let’s not say “we” like I didn’t predict the Charlotte Hornets to win by eight points. Now that I’ve gotten my first (and probably last) chance to enjoy nailing a prediction, let’s really answer the question.

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Yes, Bucks fans were too excited about the team’s chances this year. They probably still are. Without Khris Middleton, the most consistent and probably best Buck last season, Milwaukee will struggle greatly.

The difference between the loss of Middleton and the loss of Jabari Parker in his rookie season, when Milwaukee went to the postseason, is that those Bucks weren’t used to Jabari being there. They need him.

Plus Jabari doesn’t fill a specific hole in the Bucks skills, aside from scoring. Middleton’s strengths–defense and perimeter shooting–are much more specialized and important to the overall team than what Jabari does well. It might be a very long year.

That is a good Vine, and I always support Matthew Dellavedova. However, this is the best NBA Vine ever. HERE COMES AUSTIN RIVERS:

It won’t take many more games like this for Bucks fans to panic, considering how badly the fanbase wants the team to be successful. In terms of total games played it will probably take three more.

Milwaukee faces the Brooklyn Nets, the Detroit Pistons and the New Orleans Pelicans over their next three games. They should beat the Nets at home, but then they have to travel to Detroit and New Orleans.

The Pistons game will be written off as coming against a good team, (even though Detroit is hardly a powerhouse without Reggie Jackson) but if Anthony Davis annihilates Milwaukee and the Bucks get blown out by a horribly thin Pelicans team people will start to worry.

If they lose to the scrappy Nets, it could take less time. If they win one of those road games, it could take the next homestand, which includes home games against the Indiana Pacers and Sacramento Kings.

I try to avoid freaking out based on one game, especially considering how little Opening Night lineups can mean for the rest of the season. That being said, playing Miles Plumlee eight minutes and Giannis Antetokounmpo 39 is ridiculous.

If it takes running Giannis ragged to win games, is it really worth it? The San Antonio Spurs have proven that resting stars is the way to extend their careers, just as the Chicago Bulls have showed the opposite to be generally true.

Still, it was just one game, and one game without slotted starter Tony Snell. Things could get better. I hope.

Malcolm Brogdon looked good compared to many other Bucks on Opening Night, but he wasn’t unreasonably good. He shot under 40 percent from the field and missed both of his threes while posting eight points, five rebounds and five assists.

Those definitely seem like realistic per game averages for the rookie. He’s exceptionally polished, and will likely find himself relied on far earlier than any rookie should be relied on.

I probably would go with Thon Maker in this hypothetical in-game shooting contest. Michael Carter-Williams and Rashad Vaughn would both miss their first shot and then freak out–Thon just seems so much more confident than the other two guys in his shot.

I was on literally two weeks ago! I missed last week’s episode because I had just gotten back from a trip to Washington D.C., and I almost went on despite my jet lag.

I should make fairly regular appearances on the show for much of this season, but I’m reliably unreliable so we’ll see about all that.

Next: What Should Be Expected From The Role Players?

Thanks for all of the great questions, everybody! Check back next week for more answers.