Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways from 102-96 win over Minnesota Timberwolves

Rotations

Coach Jason Kidd’s rotations were unconventional to say the least. At approximately the two-minute mark of the game, bench substitutes Thon Maker and Sterling Brown entered the game. Maker went on to play more first half minutes than Henson, while Brown played nearly into the second quarter, before being benched for the remainder of the contest.

At nearly the same point in the second half Kidd also pulled Giannis, despite Giannis having accumulated zero fouls to that point. You would be hard pressed to find many NBA coaches who have ever pulled a player two minutes into a game, and you would have an even more difficult time finding one that pulled their star player so early in a half.

The weirdness didn’t stop at early substitutions as bench players also received inconsistent minutes throughout. In the first half of the game, Kidd played a large rotation consisting of reserves such as Jason Terry and Sterling Brown, while the second half was essentially a seven-man rotation.

The biggest quirk of Thursday night’s rotation was the playing time of Malcolm Brogdon. Brogdon received just three minutes of action in the first half, then played 22 of 24 in the second. Brogdon was good in the time that he played and it is hard not to wonder if his absence contributed to Milwaukee’s deficit.