Milwaukee Bucks: The double edged sword of FIBA World Cup participation
By Adam McGee
With five players potentially set to play in the FIBA World Cup, the tournament could prove to be to both the benefit and detriment of the Milwaukee Bucks.
When the FIBA World Cup gets underway at the end of the month, Milwaukee Bucks fans will likely be all too happy to have a chance to settle in and watch many of the team’s key players in action again.
The wait for the NBA season to begin can prove to be a long one for the most ardent fans, and with the start date pushing back into later in October this year, the World Cup will undoubtedly garner a lot of interest, even with so many high profile players opting not to participate.
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From a Bucks’ perspective, the World Cup also promises to be unlike any international competition in the franchise’s history. From time to time, the Bucks have had one or two players representing their national teams in World Cups and Olympic tournaments, but this summer that is going to be pushed to entirely new heights.
Although squads have yet to be officially finalized, it seems very likely that the Bucks could have five players taking part in China throughout September, with Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez in strong positions to make the USA Basketball roster, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Thanasis Antetokounmpo being locks for Greece, and Ersan Ilyasova an ever-present with Turkey.
Regardless of how the tournament plays out, and how those players perform, the one thing that’s tough to overlook is the fact that their participation is bound to have some kind of impact on Milwaukee’s preparations for a vitally important season.
There are two sides to that coin, though, and both need to be considered.
There are a number of positives to be taken from a busy summer of basketball for key players. Barring injuries, the players playing in the World Cup should have a distinct advantage in terms of conditioning and sharpness entering training camp and preseason. If the Bucks are to hit the ground running, it certainly won’t hurt that three of the team’s five starters will likely already have quality game reps under their belts.
Another positive is undoubtedly the change of pace offered up by the event. The 82-game season is a grind, and the repetition involved in cycling from season to offseason undoubtedly can contribute to growing complacency and teams growing stale. An injection of a new challenge for important players, and the chance to focus on something else ahead of the new campaign, could act as a form of mental refreshment, along with a chance to shake off on any sense of Conference Finals hangover that may still be lingering from the end of last season.
The potential confidence that a strong tournament could create should not be overlooked either. Strong individual play could offer a perfect base for the new season, but the prospect of competing for medals or winning it all should only further fuel an appetite for NBA contention too. Winning breeds winning, as the saying goes.
Of course, the most notable potential drawback in all of this is the question of the toll those extra games could take on the players’ bodies.
With the Bucks hoping that their season will extend all the way into June, it’s fair to wonder what the cumulative effect of an extra month’s basketball may be at that point. It may not prove to be a problem — it’s certainly not guaranteed to be an issue — but it will undoubtedly require even closer attention to be paid to managing minutes and workload throughout the course of the year.
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The reality is there’s nothing cut and dry about what follows international participation. For some, the added sharpness and confidence can lead to a career year, while for others it can be a factor when they run out of gas in March. The Bucks won’t know exactly how it will alter their season until all is said and done next June, but it’s safe to assume it will be something to reflect upon at that time, whether as a positive or a negative.