The Buck Stops Here Roundtable #9: Mid-Season Review

What are your most important takeaways from the first half of the season?

Adam Coffman (@A_Coffee4): I find that I have to keep reminding myself to maintain perspective, particularly while the team is struggling like it is. Expectations weren’t high when Khris went down, and the Bucks are probably still outpacing most of their projections. With that out of the way, I’ve been more than satisfied with what Giannis and Jabari have added to their games, which was really more of the goal in the first place. Moose has reinvented himself, Brogdon has been a revelation, and the Beasley and Snell trades look better and better as time goes on. There are clearly some issues to be worked out, but I’m happy with how the season has gone from a talent perspective.

Travis Schlepp (@travischlepp): My big takeaway from the first half of this season? The sky is truly the limit for Giannis Antetokounmpo. He’s shown that he continues to improve year-after-year. He’s already proven to be an elite defender — something I did not expect– and every game there seems to be a new wrinkle to his offensive skillset. I no longer doubt that he’ll add a consistent jump shot, and I truly believe he’s on the verge of becoming a top five player in the league. Even during the struggles he’s been a pleasure to watch.

Rohan Katti (@rkattijr): The one consistent aspect of this season so far is Giannis Antetokounmpo being a fully-fledged superstar. While rotations have changed around him, Giannis continues to dominate in ways like no player in league history. Besides the Greek Freak, another takeaway would be how inconsistent Jason Kidd has been with the center rotation. I realize he is trying to find the right combination, but what if the right combination just needs more time together?

John Heffernon (@Silky__Johnson_): My biggest takeaway is that Giannis Antetokounmpo has officially become the face of this franchise and gives the Bucks a real chance to win a championship going forward. Everything else about the season has been relatively depressing even though the Bucks are who we thought they would be without Khris Middleton. But watching Giannis and thinking about what he might be in the future is both beautiful and frightening.

Adam McGee (@AdamMcGee11): Giannis is great. Jabari is good and improving. Thon’s potential is at least real — although whether it ever becomes more than that is a different question. Greg Monroe can fit in with the right players around him.

I’m not sure how much of the rest of what we’ve seen can be considered a takeaway. The Bucks have better role players than before, but much of the rest has stayed pretty similar. Defense remains a major issue, as does consistency. With both of those problems considered, valid questions still surround the long-term future of Jason Kidd as head coach.

Jordan Treske (@JordanTreske): While it’s easy to dwell on the team’s recent struggles, the long view of the team’s long-term direction definitely remains intact.

I keep running out of ways to describe Giannis, but he has truly risen to heights on an individual level that I haven’t seen personally in my lifetime as a follower of the team.  Although his flaws, primarily defensively, are still a point of contention, the progress we’ve seen from Jabari this year has been incredibly encouraging and has confirmed his post All-Star break play last year was his leap forward into the player he’s capable of becoming.

Those two things alone were what everyone honed in on heading into the season, especially after the news of Middleton’s injury broke. From what we’ve seen so far, it’s hard to be disappointed from that aspect.

Tim Wray (@TRW24): The Bucks are still one of the most inconsistent teams in the NBA, flaws in the defensive scheme are only becoming more evident and legitimate concerns exist over Jason Kidd’s long-term future. However, with Giannis ascending towards super-stardom, Jabari developing into a lethal offensive threat, Brogdon turning into the undisputed steal of the draft and Thon continuing to show unique flashes of potential in limited minutes, the light at the end of the tunnel is shining brighter than ever.