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Game In Review: Milwaukee Bucks Vs. Detroit Pistons – October 10.

By Adam McGee

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Starting Lineups

Milwaukee Bucks: Michael Carter-Williams, Greivis Vasquez, Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Greg Monroe

Detroit Pistons: Reggie Jackson, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Marcus Morris, Ersan Ilyasova, Andre Drummond

After opening up their pre-season campaign with a ten-point loss on the road in Chicago on Tuesday, Saturday marked the first home game of the Milwaukee Bucks pre-season schedule for 2015-16. The Detroit Pistons were the visitors as many rivalries were renewed, and former teammates got reacquainted.

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Detroit had started their preparations for the season off with back-to-back defeats against Indiana and Brooklyn, having played on Tuesday and Thursday, and in comparison to Milwaukee, Detroit certainly looked like they were closer to full speed.

The Pistons came surging out of the starter’s blocks, racking up points, and red-hot from three-point range. As hot as the Pistons were to start the game off, the Bucks were sluggish on both ends of the floor.

Oct 10, 2015; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks center Greg Monroe (15) shoots against Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond (0) during the third quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Milwaukee’s defense was lackluster throughout the first half, with perimeter close-outs particularly lax, as evidenced by Detroit’s 6-7 from deep in the first quarter. On top of that, turnovers were a chronic issue offensively for Milwaukee, with 13 of them coming between quarters one and two also.

Still, there were some glimpses at the start that this could be a fun night. An early three-pointer from Michael Carter-Williams quickly followed up by a strong Giannis Antetokounmpo dunk, was enough to send some positive vibes around the Bradley Center. It wouldn’t be long before they were proven to be a major false dawn though.

The Bucks were undone by a general sloppiness in their play. That consisted of a combination of missed and poorly selected shots, reckless live ball turnovers, and far too many fouls. There aren’t many NBA games that you will see officiated as tightly as this one, and considering that it’s pre-season that seems utterly bizarre.

Khris Middleton fouled out midway through three quarters without scoring a single point, while Giannis Antetokounmpo wasn’t far behind with five fouls of his own.

There were a couple of positive individual performances for Milwaukee that luckily will help them to forget just how bad of an overall showing this game was.

Michael Carter-Williams was about as aggressive as he has ever been in a Bucks uniform. Driving to the basket where he’s at his best, MCW offered Milwaukee a solid outlet across the floor.

When he seized control himself, the way in which he’d bully his way in behind the defense to either collect his own easy basket, or to find a teammate in a better spot was truly impressive. Once Carter-Williams got to the basket, it seemed like it was either a score or free throw attempts.

MCW totaled 14 points on 6-9 shooting from the field, but perhaps the pick of all of his plays was a bullet no-look pass to Greg Monroe.

Speaking of which, Carter-Williams wasn’t the only impressive Buck, in fact, marquee free agent signing Monroe had an outstanding game too.

Monroe had 18 points and eight rebounds in an impressive showing against his former team. Matched up against Andre Drummond, the man who Detroit effectively chose over him, Monroe went blow for blow, arguably coming out on top too.

Rookies Damien Inglis and Rashad Vaughn once again showed plenty of promise. Inglis came in for a late cameo in which he knocked down a pull-up transition three-pointer, and pulled off a beautiful spin move. Vaughn got into a real groove with his own silky soft jump-shooting touch late on, but his most impressive play came with him putting the ball on the floor and tricking his way to the rim in the early exchanges.

In other news, Miles Plumlee took a nasty fall as Reggie Bullock swept underneath him as he competed for a rebound and had to be helped to the locker room, although according to Andrew Gruman the Bucks are confident that it should be nothing serious.

In spite of some nice runs, Milwaukee’s imbalance in terms of turnovers, fouls and three-pointers was always going to make it near impossible to turn this game around. Comfortable win for Detroit.

Next up for the Bucks, they face the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday in the Quicken Loans Arena.

88. 89. 117. 64. Final

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