Looking at the depth
With all of the player absences the Bucks had on the night, that gave a chance for those either fighting for rotation minutes entering the season or even a spot on the team’s opening night roster to make their mark in their opening preseason game.
From that standpoint, it was Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Dragan Bender and two-way player Frank Mason III that all left solid impressions with the performances they put up, and how they influenced the Bucks’ win in general, respectively.
Starting with Antetokounmpo, the 27-year-old showed his firestarter capabilities and his trademark hustle by making plays out of thin air and on the glass, all of which fueled his near double-double performance (nine points, 10 rebounds) in close to 20 minutes of burn. His 1-of-2 shooting from three and going 2-of-6 from the free throw line shows how much further the elder Antetokounmpo will have to go on that front.
Bender came away with a similar outing as the newcomer Antetokounmpo as he held his own on the glass and didn’t show any of the physicality concerns that have followed him throughout his career. The Croatian big man put up 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting (1-of-4 from long range), seven boards and two assists, though he did foul out to finish out his night prematurely.
Mason may have come out with the strongest impression as he showed very few stumbles leading the Bucks’ offense as the night’s starting point guard. The 25-year-old’s offensive orchestration led to a strong stat line with 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting (0-of-1 from three, 4-of-4 from the charity stripe), six assists, four steals, three rebounds, two turnovers and was a +10 in nearly 27 minutes.
The Bucks will return home to continue their preseason slate on Wednesday night to host the new-look Utah Jazz for a 7pm CT tip-off at Fiserv Forum.