Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways from 133-99 preseason win over Utah Jazz

Kicking out to Korver

Having been a part of the long list of absentees who sat out Monday’s win over the Bulls, Kyle Korver made his Bucks debut against his former team on Wednesday at Fiserv Forum.

Upon entering the game for the first time, Korver received a warm ovation from the Milwaukee crowd, and then essentially wasted no time in introducing himself.

As a veteran of watching Korver play — particularly having watched close to every second he played for his first four years in Atlanta, three of which came under Coach Budenholzer — I’m more than familiar with the electric energy he can bring to a game.

There are few role players that can make the game revolve around them, that can draw the attention of everyone in the building, but that’s what Korver is capable of. Once he entered the game, his teammates were fixated on trying to get him open looks, as Budenholzer likely was from the sideline, the Jazz were preoccupied with trying to prevent him from getting open, and every fan in the building likely shifted forward a couple of inches in their seats.

Korver isn’t just a good shooter, he’s unquestionably one of the greatest to ever play the game. That brings a lot to any contest, working to his team’s advantage even before he’s let fly on a single shot.

Nobody was more determined to create shots for Korver than Giannis, and while it will take some time for them to fully click, the intent that was on display on Wednesday leaves no doubt that those two will connect on countless made triples over the course of the year.

Equally important, and hopefully illuminating for Bucks fans getting to know Korver better, is how he can leverage his gravity into making plays for others. Korver is an underrated passer, and in that regard, the fact that his very first play resulted in a Jazz defender closing out too hard, allowing him to dish a beautiful find to Brook Lopez for two points inside only speaks to the opportunities now at the Bucks’ disposal.

Kicking out to Korver doesn’t just create scoring chances for one of the league’s all-time great three-point marksmen, but it induces panic in the opposing defense too. Those defensive breakdowns will lead to countless easy points for Milwaukee this year, if they’re willing to move the ball at pace. There are certainly some things that the Bucks lost this offseason, but they’ve also never had a player like Korver as, very simply, there aren’t that many of them out there.