Ranking 3 burning Bucks questions based on how badly we want them answered
By Dalton Sell
The Milwaukee Bucks kicked off their 2024-25 campaign with a victory over a solid yet short-handed Philadelphia 76ers team.
Although just one matchup, especially one that was against a team as banged up as Philadelphia, is a small sample size in any regard, several questions spawned from this contest. As the regular season goes on and the Milwaukee Bucks aim to hang another banner, let us look at three current questions and rank them based on how badly they need to be answered.
No. 3 - Can newcomers be ultimate difference-makers on defense?
Gary Trent Jr. and Taurean Prince both found themselves in Milwaukee's starting five for their opener, and the team needed them to make an impact defensively. With how poor Milwaukee's efforts on the perimeter were last season defensively, the Bucks went out and added two players they felt could be difference-makers on that end, and they both lived up to that stature in the first outing.
In addition to a masterful showing offensively, Prince was excellent defensively, holding 76ers players to 5-of-18 (27.8 percent) field goal shooting. No matter who he guarded, Prince was physical in every single situation, using his height and length to bother the offensive player. The same goes for Trent, who held players to 7-of-19 (36.8 percent) field goal shooting.
Trent, whose defense should comfortably be categorized as one of Milwaukee's prominent X-factors this season, took on the toughest assignment of the night, Tyrese Maxey. In that matchup, Maxey hit just five of his 15 shot attempts, a mere 33.3 percent, to score 12 points. Trent limiting an All-Star to these numbers is a welcoming sign to kick off the season.
Both players were incredible in the opener, but the question now is whether or not they can keep this type of high-energy play defensively up. If they can while also playing well offensively, which they did against Philadelphia, the Milwaukee Bucks could very well have signed the two biggest steals of NBA Free Agency as a whole. This defense could be the shot in the arm Milwaukee lacked last year.