Milwaukee Bucks: Highlights from Bucks Town Hall Q&A session

Jordan Treske

SANTA MONICA, CA - JUNE 24: (Photo by Jennifer Pottheiser/NBAE via Getty Images)

LAS VEGAS, NV – JULY 8: (Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images)

Key Milwaukee Bucks officials, as well as third-year swingman Sterling Brown, all appeared at Thursday night’s Q&A session, hosted by Fox Sports Wisconsin.

The start of the Milwaukee Bucks’ 2019-20 season is still more than a month and a half away, but the excitement is starting to rise with the changing of the seasons.

That was definitely the case Thursday night where the local home of the Bucks, Fox Sports Wisconsin, hosted a Town Hall Thursday night at the Beer Garden in the Deer District outside Fiserv Forum.

Mike Budenholzer and Jon Horst

One season into their partnership, both Budenholzer and Horst have been instrumental in turning the Bucks into a worthwhile contender in such a stunning rate of time, which led to both being named NBA Coach of the Year and NBA Executive of the Year for last season, respectively.

Upon being asked what working with one another is like, here’s what Horst had to say:

"“Ah, there’s no doubt I think we work great together. He’s been an unbelievable partner. I think he would agree it has a lot to do with the other award we got also, the MVP on our team. Great partner, thankful to have him, what an amazing addition to our organization and looking forward to many years to come.”"

Likewise, Budenholzer, sporting a rugged offseason beard, reflected on his relationship with Horst:

"“Yeah, it’s been incredible working with Jon. The roster he put together, everything he’s giving us to be successful and I think his openness to my coaching staff, to me, learning from each other, having great debates, figuring out what’s best for our team, what’s best for our organization. I couldn’t imagine a better partner. I couldn’t be more happy working everyday with Jon and both of us pushing each other to be better. He pushes me to be better and I very much appreciate that.”"

When asked about the process of hiring Budenholzer back in May of 2018, Horst recounted what stood out about bringing in the two-time NBA Coach of the Year and how it’s manifested into on-court success for the Bucks:

"“There’s two things that really stood out to me: his passion for his staff and player development. And you can see it with our young players. Guys like Sterling (Brown), Donte (DiVincenzo), D.J. (Wilson). You know, Pat Connaughton, the way he’s come on to the scene. Even the guys that are more established. Eric Bledsoe becoming a better player, Khris Middleton, Giannis (Antetokounmpo). Their player development and how passionate he was for that really stood out. And then he talked about unlocking the talent. He appreciated the roster we had in place, the pieces we had in place. It really felt he could do more with the group we had and of course, we had to add more to it. And then, talking about being a great partner and the experience he’s had in San Antonio, seeing how Pop and R.C (Buford) work together and collaborate on roster decisions, on coaching things and really valuing partnership at every level of the organization. So those two things really stood out and we’re very grateful to have him, obviously.”"

On working with the reigning Most Valuable Player, Budenholzer relayed what has stood out to him in coaching one of the greatest players in the league today:

"“How long is this show? (to laughter) We could talk about him all night. But I think the competitive spirit he brings to everything he does. I think that’s everything. We want to start with great competitors and that may be his defining characteristic. What a great characteristic to start with. But I think him as a teammate, how he’s grown as a leader, how his teammates respect him and look to him. I think the work ethic that comes everyday. But I think there’s a compassion he has with teammates, he understands his role and how important he is. But he wants to be treated the same as everybody else, he wants to be coached hard. He’s critical of himself, so, he’s really a coach’s dream, to be honest with you. And I think he’s a teammate’s dream, which is probably even more of a compliment to Giannis and how he’s respected in the locker room and appreciated. Laughing with his teammates, laughs at himself. You know, he’s just the best and there’s no doubt in our mind he’s the MVP. He makes me a much better coach. Our organization, he’s such a critical part of it and I can talk about him just on and on.”"

When asked about looking back at what he and the Bucks accomplished as a whole last season, Budenholzer touched on what was such a memorable season, even with what was such a stunning end to it in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Toronto Raptors:

"“All summer, it’s trying to balance. You know, there’s always a frustration when you’re not that last team, when you’re not the team standing at the end of the year. You feel like you could have been that team, so there’s that, I’ll just use the word frustration. But there’s also a ton of pride in all of the team accomplishments. Being the number one team in defensive efficiency and really talking about that from the first day of camp, the first drill we do being defensive related. All of the great things that happened on that side of the ball. From an offensive perspective, the way the team was able to learn and grow and understand what we were doing offensively. There’s all that day-to-day work, day-to-day improvement, both collectively and individually. Everybody sees 60 wins and it’s kind of the, I think, fruits of that labor. If you don’t put in all the time at work each day, you don’t get to 60. A special season for our players, for our organization, for our fans and our city. Incredibly prideful, but still feel like there’s a lot more to be done.”"

Horst, more specifically, talked about that bitter Conference Finals defeat and why the underlying details came to haunt the Bucks and their performance at that stage:

"“In context to the question that you asked, what are the things you feel like you can to do to improve. And my response was I think it’s different for all of us. I’m sure that Bud and his staff are spending time figuring out which areas they need to improve and what they can do different. I know our players are working every single day, have had an unbelievable summer, trying to improve and get better, so they’re better prepared. We spent an entire summer trying to continue to improve the roster and our flexibility, our options, to continue to be actionable and transactional when needed. At the end of the day, it’s a lot about what Bud had said, every single day, every single possession. It’s just the minor, the small steps along the way that matter. Just like in that series, you can really trace it back. For Bud, it might be three possessions. For me, it might be five. For Khris, it might be one. But it’s not the context of a whole series. It’s not looking too far ahead, looking too big. It’s really kind of the next step, taking it in day by day, taking it step by step and that’s how you get better and improve.”"

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – MAY 06: (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Checking in with Sterling Brown

Joining both Budenholzer and Horst for the next segment was Sterling Brown, who’s heading into a critical third-year campaign. Looking back on the strides Brown made over the course of his sophomore season, Budenholzer detailed what stood out to him in the 24-year-old’s play:

"“I think, Sterling brings so much to the court. When we first got the job and you talk with Jon about the team, talk about wanting to be really good defensively and having toughness, hold players accountable, things like that. The thing that stands out to me about Sterling is the toughness he brings to the game and sometimes you can’t teach that. We’ll say, it’s just very real with Sterling. So we know when we put him on somebody out there defensively, we know his guy is going to feel him. He’s going to do his work on the defensive boards, he’s going to get through screens. I think we’re always trying to talk about defense first and I just love the physicality, the physical presence he brings to the game. Learning Sterling, him embracing shooting the 3-ball and shooting it with a lot of confidence and adding on and attacking. I think as the season progressed, him understanding passing. I think he made a lot of what we call high-level passes. There’s a lot to work with with Sterling, but I think to me, it always starts with his toughness and that really draws us to him. We feel like he’s got a bright, bright future because he’s got a lot of talent to go with his toughness.”"

Brown subsequently assessed his second season with the Bucks and kept it short and sweet about the progress he made:

"“My growth from the beginning to the end. Learning Coach’s system and how I can implement myself and just getting my teammates better as well as myself. I feel like I made huge strides and I got a lot more to go.”"

Diving a little deeper into one of the biggest areas of improvements for the former Mustang, Brown touched on his playmaking and growing ball skills:

"“I’m definitely better at that. Being able to make the right read or make a play for myself or for others, I enjoy that just as much as putting the ball in the basket. I feel like I’ve grown over the last few years and I definitely got better this summer. it’s going to be a good year.”"

Finally, Horst evaluated the progress Brown has made and how the strides he’s made has matched what he and the front office envisioned when the organization brought him in to the fold three drafts ago:

"“I tell Sterling all the time how proud I am of him. We drafted him out of, I would say like a little unknown, smaller school at SMU and he was a guy we were extremely excited to get in the second round because he shot a ton threes in college, he made them at a high rate. Big time athlete, defender. All of the things that we thought he’d able to do in the NBA, he’s starting to do. He works tremendously hard, he gets better every day. He’s a great young man and just really proud of him and grateful to have him.”"

ATLANTA, GA – DECEMBER 06: (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Evaluating a busy offseason

The Bucks’ offseason was filled with a number of high-profile additions, aimed at improving the team’s depth and retaining many of the core pieces that contributed to the Bucks’ 60-win season last year.

Of course, Malcolm Brogdon was the lone piece the Bucks didn’t retain and Horst answered why he and the front office were comfortable with letting the 2017 NBA Rookie of the Year go:

"“Obviously, a tough decision and Malcolm is a great player and we wish him well and he will be missed. There’s no way around it. A lot of that has to do with some of the questions and conversations we’ve had so far. We believe in our player development, we believe in the young talent we have in our roster. We’ve got a lot of good guards, we’ve got great depth at the guard spot. And at the end of the day, we had to weigh and measure the assets that we could acquire in a trade versus the market value that we knew was out there for Malcolm Brogdon, and make a decision. Really, the decision was to continue to be in a position where we could build a team and sustain our success over a long period of time. Have flexibility, be mobile and pivot if we need to and acquire some assets. So, it’s really more of a statement of believing in Sterling, believing in Donte and the ability to acquire Wes Matthews. George Hill, bringing him back. We believe we’re going to be fine without Malcolm and he’s a great player and we wish him well.”"

That naturally led to touching on the luxury tax and Horst broke down how that played into their decision to let Brogdon go and how it may inform their decisions in the future:

"“I want to be really clear with this. We’re sitting in this area, we’re looking at that arena, the practice facility is across the street. We have an ownership group that will stop at no expense to bring a championship to the state of Wisconsin, this city of Milwaukee. And the luxury tax only factors in terms of how it limits our flexibility, our ability to continue to build this team and be in a position to capitalize on opportunities. So, we’re not afraid to spend. We’re not going to spend just to spend, we’re going to spend intentionally. We’re going to spend some more and do that at the right time. We’re going to invest in this time when we need to.”"

On the veteran sharpshooting duo the Bucks brought in over the summer between Kyle Korver and Wes Matthews, Budenholzer reiterated how much both players will fit in with the team’s ‘let it fly’ mantra as well as Robin Lopez:

"“I think they’re going to help us (to laughter). I don’t think they need a whole lot of encouragement to let it fly. It’s basically what they’ve been doing their whole careers. We’ll still hopefully find some opportunities for them and I couldn’t be more excited about them as shooters. The more we surround Giannis, Bled, Khris and our whole crew with shooting, it’s critical to our success. Both those guys and I think Robin will surprise you a little bit.”"

Speaking more on Lopez and the reality of having both Lopez brothers, Budenholzer had this to say about that big man duo and their competitive nature with one another:

"“I think most importantly, Robin and Brook are so excited about playing with each other. What brothers don’t dream about playing together in the NBA. Getting to know both of them a little bit this summer, they have warned me that it could get a little testy at times and Darvin Ham will be the one breaking them up, not me. It’s good to have a little of that testiness in practice and competitiveness. I think the physicality that Robin brings to the game is, we’ve been seeing it in open gym these last couple of weeks. We’ve played against it a lot over the last however many seasons. I think it’s something that we’re really going to appreciate, he’s a great add to our roster and I think he’s going to adjust to us a little bit and do some of the things that we’ve been accustomed to what our bigs are doing and he’s excited about that. So really all three of them and Robin, I couldn’t be more excited about the additions.”"

When asked about the possibility that both Lopez brothers could share the floor together for stretches, Budenholzer was open to the idea:

"“As a coaching staff, the summer is great. You kind of consider everything. You throw everything at the wall and it’s including can we play Brook and Robin together. And it’s certainly something to consider and we’ll try it. One of the great things about last year is we played some unique lineups, unusual lineups. The lineup in Utah that one night was very different. So playing Robin and Brook, if there’s opportunity, if we feel like they can help us win and we could be good defensively, we’re going to try it.”"

Looking ahead to the future

Perhaps the question that all Bucks fans will be wondering about for the next two years, at minimum, the topic of Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future naturally came up during the fan portion of the Q&A.

Horst touched on the current realities of the situation, the supermax extension that looms over his and the franchise’s future and the work they’re doing to retain him and keep him in Milwaukee for the long-term:

"“The answer for it right now is we can’t talk or negotiate anything. So Giannis, basically a year from now, will be eligible for the supermax extension at that time. Of course, he will be offered the supermax extension. Bud and I talk about this all of the time. It’s our responsibility to create an environment, a culture, a basketball organization where our players want to come to work every day with players they want to play with every day and want to win at the highest level. We’ve taken great steps towards that last year, we’re going to continue to build on that and I think we all fully believe that if we continue to put the right things in place and give Giannis the opportunities, he loves the city of Milwaukee, the state of Wisconsin, and I think he’ll be a Buck for a long time.”"

Paschke followed up with how Horst and the organization monitors Antetokounmpo’s happiness and feelings with the team’s current situation and his feelings on staying in Milwaukee long-term, to which Horst answered with this:

"“We just talked about this today, you don’t need to talk to Giannis about it all of the time. He loves his teammates, he loves his coaching staff, he loves the style of play, he loves the city of Milwaukee. And we’re winning at a high level and we’re going to continue to win at a high level. That’s recruiting from within. That’s taking care of our business and doing the best we can for Giannis.”"

Meanwhile, Bucks president Peter Feigin addressed the possibility of the Bucks and the city of Milwaukee hosting a future All-Star game at Fiserv Forum:

"“I think every time we see Adam Silver, I put my fingers in his back and say give us the game. You said you’ll give us the game. I think the All-Star Game is in the Midwest the next few years. I think from the commissioner’s mouth, he’s told us we’re in the pipeline and I don’t think there’s a question that we’ll have an All-Star Game. So our expectation is you build one of the world’s greatest destinations, you’ll have an All-Star Game.”"

Lastly, Feigin rounded out the night with his best hope for the 2019-20 season for the Bucks:

"“I think pretty simple. We’re going for an NBA championship, we’re going for constant improvements. You’re talking to people who are focused on really incubating talent and growing people on the business side, on the player side. We want to be best in class. We want to be the gold standard of sports entertainment organizations in the world. That’s kind of our goal, which keeps on moving and you never get there. But I think we’re pretty motivated as an organization to win championships on the court and win championships off the court.”"

With that, the start of training camp as well as the Bucks’ preseason slate will have to hold us over in the coming weeks and month. But the 2019-20 season will soon be here, Bucks fans.

Jordan Treske

I'm a fan of the NBA and I like to write about what I see from it.