The Buck Stops Here Roundtable #9: Mid-Season Review
By Tim Wray
Which player(s) has impressed/disappointed you the most so far?
Coffman: For impressed, I’ll go with the obvious and say Giannis Antetokounmpo. There was a lot of pressure on the Freak prior to the season what with his new contract and Middleton’s injury, and he’s risen above even the most optimistic expectations. He’s currently leading the team in just about every major stat you can think of, and has become somewhat of a household name in NBA circles (assuming the rest of the league can pronounce it by now).
As far as who’s disappointed me, Miles Plumlee immediately comes to mind. Plums was dealt a tough hand to begin the year – he’s just not a $50 million type of player, and judging him on that standard gets depressing fast. Money aside, he’s been a definite negative when he’s on the floor, shooting just 44 percent and posting a minus-15 net rating. Here’s hoping he can recapture the chemistry and effectiveness that made him so valuable the latter half of last season.
Schlepp: Greg Monroe has really impressed me this season. Before this year I danced with the idea of shipping him away for whatever we could get, but now my only concern is whether or not he exercises his player option and stays through next year as well. I didn’t think he could ever be a capable defender, he proved me wrong. I never thought he would improve his athleticism, he’s noticeably trimmer and smoother on the floor. I didn’t think he would accept a bench role, he did.
Most disappointing is Mirza Teletovic. I thought it was a very savvy signing for a team that has struggled to make three’s for years, and I think he still might turn it around, but his streakiness has really put the Bucks in tough spots. When he’s on, he kills it. When he’s off, he makes me want to pull my hair out. He’s shooting a career low in FG percentage and his Offensive Box Plus/Minus is one of the worst on the team. I think he can turn it around.
Katti: Jason Terry has really impressed me this season. When he was originally signed, I thought it was a bad signing because there were rumors that Ray Allen could possibly come back to the Bucks. For someone who was supposed to only bet a veteran presence, JET has really shown me otherwise this season. Whenever Terry takes the court, he brings a lot of energy to the team that starts to rub off on the other players. Hitting the occasional three and doing his trademark celebration also helps his case.
Heffernon: Greg Monroe has impressed me so much this year. He went from the biggest free agent signing in Bucks history to the player Bucks fans despised the most in a single season. His response? Get significantly better on defense in ways that not only make his stats look good but help his team, accept a role off of the bench, continue to score efficiently and effectively, and be one of the key facilitators on a bench unit that has been performing above expectations all season.
Miles Plumlee is certainly the easy answer for the player who has most disappointed me. He has zero confidence and has been unable to conjure the solid play he showed at the end of last season. He got payed a significant amount of money to rebound, defend, set picks, and provide energy. He just isn’t able to do any of it at a high level. It is frustrating watching him and it seems like there is very little hope that he’ll be able to turn it around.
McGee: Greg Monroe has turned into exactly what the clichéd soundbite of what the Bucks needed was heading into the summer where they signed him. He’s not just a guy they can throw it down low to late in games to work for easy scoring opportunities, he’s the only player to show an ability to score in those scenarios of late. He’s also meshing much better with teammates, and showing incredibly improved levels of defensive effort. What Giannis has done is truly impressive, but I didn’t previously see this kind of improvement from Monroe as in play.
For disappointments I’ll nominate both of Henson an Plumlee. That should speak for itself.
Treske: Apologies to Michael Beasley, whose addition I continue to eat crow about every day (in a good way, I should say), I’d like to shed some light on how well Tony Snell has played this year. He obviously had big shoes to fill upon his arrival, but Snell has been incredibly solid starting in the place of Khris Middleton this season.
He’s currently having his best shooting season since coming to the league, averaging career highs in points per game (8.2), three-point percentage (38.3 percent), true shooting percentage (59.7 percent). Sure, all of this may be coming in a bigger role than he was accustomed to prior to this year, but Snell has adjusted well in taking on a bigger workload as well as a new team.
With the backup two-spot wide open for the foreseeable future (sorry Rashad Vaughn), Snell has rightfully earned any interest the team may have in re-signing him this coming offseason, which seems like the safest bet in terms of players who could possibly return next year.
Wray: There’s no doubt that Giannis and Jabari have both taken an impressive leap forward this season, but given Greg Monroe’s near-incompatibility with the Bucks style of play last season, Moose deserves a ton of credit for embracing his role off the bench and adapting his game to a point where he has become seriously productive with the second unit, not only due to his offensive efficiency, but because of a completely unexpected impact on the defensive end. The turn-around has been incredible, especially considering the thought that the Bucks needed to trade him in order to salvage some value, whereas now it’s clearly in the team’s best interests that he opts-in to the last year of his deal.
On the other hand, although they have been victims of inconsistent minutes to a certain extent, for plainly obvious reasons, I’d have to say that Miles Plumlee and Rashad Vaughn have been the most disappointing Bucks so far this season.