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What is krack alacking Hardwood Knocks listeners, I am Dan the Valley, coming

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at you without my fan tabulous co
host Adam Framwell. I am continuously though

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excited to continue our season look Aheads
were moving on to the Milwaukee Bucks.

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In this one, I have tapped
thy Windish. He is a co host

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of the Eurostep podcast of the Eurostep
Podcast Network on the Blue Wire Podcast Network.

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Follow him on Twitter at thy Windish. That's at t I W I

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N D I s c H.
He's great. That podcast is great,

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So check out the Eurostep Podcast and
all the stuff that they're publishing over at

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00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:41,960
the Eurostep Podcast Network. We'll get
into a whole lot as usual, though

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I have some housekeeping notes and I'll
just begin to the thank you you guys

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continue to show up, download and
listen to these season look Aheads as a

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league wide podcast. We appreciate that
you have such an interest in every team

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that always pumps us up. But
if this is your first time around these

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parts, consider throwing us a permanent
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subscribe to us anyway. We cover
the entire MBA. We have a

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lot of fun. Our takes her
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in my opinion. But we also
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Hardwood Underscore Knox. Without further delay, let's get into some Milwaukee Bucks talk.

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Excuse me, ragining champion Milwaukee Bucks
talk with the Eurostep podcast thy windish

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Ti. Welcome back to the Hardwood
Knox Podcast. I was very amped up

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when I prerecorded the intro for this
podcast because it's exciting to talk to someone

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who is coming off covering a team
that just won a title. So the

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first and most important question is,
how the hell are you doing? Are

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you still drunk from the Bucks Championship
pade? I'm doing great, So we

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were. We had some beverages on
the Game six finals postgame pot, and

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I think I may have been drunk
from then until the parade and then for

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another week or two. I did
get to go to the parade. I

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didn't go to any finals games.
I went to one playoff game. It

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was the only home playoff game.
They lost to a team not called the

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Brooklyn Nets, the first Atlanta loss, so I wasn't allowed to go back.

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Everyone made it very clear, so
I watched all the games from home.

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But I did get out to the
parade. It was such a great

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time. But I think emotionally,
I'm still drunk off the box, and

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I think I don't know if I'll
ever not be We've already got been frustrated

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by the team again, so I'm
glad that we haven't lost the fastball of

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yelling about the Bucks. But it
certainly is a lot easier to get over

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some of the things you may disagree
with when you get to see Honis and

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Chris celebrated championship, and also when
at the moment your team is not Minnesota

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or even as a Bright. Now, the other question that I have to

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ask you is have you tried sprite
and lemonade together yet? Is that a

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thing that already should have been tried
When Jannie ordered that at Chick fil A

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and I saw that clip. I
was like, that sounds so delicious.

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I haven't tried it. I was
like, that just feels like it makes

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so much sense, and that it
must be an amazing beverage. I think

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either the next day or two days
after, I got myself over to Chick

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fil A, I didn't get the
fifty piece. He calls them mc nuggets,

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which I find hilarious. But I
didn't score fifty in a clinching finals

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win, so I didn't get the
fifty piece. I did try the beverage

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with light ice. That's a part
of it too, be honest, is

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the honest is very focused on saving
money. He's not trying to pay for

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all that ice, which I commend. Yeah, I think he said no

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ice in his clip when he got
it right, or might it might be

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no ice. It might be no
ice, that's right. However it was,

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I'm pretty sure I ordered it the
right way and it was good.

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Like I'm not gonna lie. I
would probably get it again. I haven't

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really been to Chick fil A since
then now that it's like the official restaurant,

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to be honest, but I think
when I go back, I'll probably

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get it again, if nothing else, just for the mems of probably the

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best IG Live ever, certainly the
best clean NBA IG Live ever. I'll

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say that, Yeah, that was
just an amazing moment. I have not

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tried, need to try it eventually. I've actually just never tried Chick fil

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a period, so that's probably something
I need to remedy. But that was

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that had to be like one of
the best post championship moments ever. And

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even him walking out of the tunnel
at one point, like swaying his hip

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side to side with his hands in
the air. I was just like,

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this might be the most wholesome championship
celebration I've ever seen because he is so

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when I know there's been talking about
how other players feel about your honest and

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then they did kind of support him
coming out after that. But he is

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just so from a fan's perspective and
even a media's perspective, so infinitely likable.

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And so that was someone who just
roots for chaos are really good games

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in series. The moment, like
in the extended moment of it is not

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just them winning the title, but
the parade right there, Like, man,

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I know PJ. Tucker's not on
the bucks anymore, but PJA Tucker

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might still be drunk from thee that
was just so all that stuff was so

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funny, cool to watch. Yeah, it really, it really was.

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We were joking on the live pod
before we did a four hour free agency

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live pod, which is probably a
mistake, but before he of course signed

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with the Heat and that came out, we were joking that, like,

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the Bucks were trying to find him. He's probably passed out at harp or

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somewhere in Milwaukee, just covered in
champagne, and they were trying to wake

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him up and get him to sign
a contract. Unfortunately it was Heat officials

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that were doing that. But yeah, I think one of the most surprising

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things for me about the post championship
period for the Bucks is, like you

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said, you know, Beannest so
likable. I thought people were going to

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hate the IG live like I thought
people were going to get sick of be

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honest. I just think it's easier
to like and root for someone when they

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are the under and after that the
honest performance, he's a champion. Now,

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you know, maybe the nets variable
kind of change this, But a

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lot of the times we see,
you know, the likable, fun loving

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team gets to the top and then
everyone's like oh, we don't like them

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anymore now that they're there and the
honest, you know, one of the

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all time great finals performances, but
everyone is still like, yeah, we

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still like Giannis. So I think
that really speaks to just how genuine and

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good of a dude he actually is. I think also part of it,

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too, was just like his knee
bent the wrong way to two and f

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we say whatever it was, and
then here he is just dominating in the

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finals. Was having that that moment
for it to think I did take issue

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with before we get into the nuts
and bolts of their off season what it

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means moving forward was them saying that
he did it without a super team,

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which is like true but also not
true because Drew Outy and Chris Middleton are

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really fucking good and I've just long
been I still think Chris Middleton's underrated.

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I thought he had an All NBA
case, not this past year, but

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the year before when it was really
strong, and so I thought it was

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like, let's contextualize, like Janis
had they got good health. Jannie is

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an all time talent. He's the
only top ten, top fifteen, top

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twenty player on his team right now. But there was the framing of he

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did this without help, and it's
like Drew Holliday's defense is exhaustive and I

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get tired of watching him defend.
And then Chris Middleton is just so and

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had a lot of responsibility later in
games. But yeah, Yannis Is,

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that was one of the most memorable
Finals performances ever, I think, just

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because of the singular moments that he
gave us even before they won. When

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you look at the block on deandret
and specifically which is just one of the

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wildest moments I remember watching live.
I just still can't. My head's not

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computing the ground that he made up
on all of that. So congrats to

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you, Congrats to the Bucks,
Congrats to Jannis, who I personally still

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am not sick of either. I
certainly am not. I can I can

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tell you that, you know,
it's it's funny, it's Jannie Is quotes.

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You know, I did this the
hard way. I think there's some

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truth to it. I mean,
I think obviously he would have had an

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easier path if he went to play
with one of another top ten, albeit

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even you could say even top five
player. I mean, the Nets have

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two of those most likely this year. But I do think you know that

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it's always been I always kind of
set these things out when it's like because

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I've seen it both ways over the
last three or so years, since twenty

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eighteen nineteen. Is you know,
people who don't like Yannis say stack team.

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Ben Simmons can do the same thing
there. It's it's a stack team.

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It's built for him and people you
know who are more pro honest who

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just don't like the Bucks. Oh
it's Johannest and a bunch of crap,

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and it's you know, Yannis is
carrying these bombs. And as always with

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these ridiculous you know, extreme sides
two or something like this, it's always

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somewhere in the middle, like it's
not a conventional super team. Like before

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they all assembled, nobody was that
excited about Chris and Drew and I mean

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before they drafted Yannest even Yannas except
for the Hawks. But by the time

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they all played together and they assembled
the pieces, I think, you know,

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both of the two complimentary players I
think are top thirty ad to Siyes

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top rating, and I think they're
both somewhere in the top twenty five for

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ESPN. So like stars, clearly
very good players, great players, but

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it's it is funny. I mean, when they paid Chris, people called

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it an overpay and said they'd rather
have to buy his hairs. When they

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traded for jew people said they gave
up too much money. And the honest

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has heard all sorts of slander over
the years. So I think you're right

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in that it's a great team.
It's a very talented team, and the

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top three guys are on par with
any top three that's not in Brooklyn.

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But also it is funny that they
got there after pretty much every move along

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the way, at least by some, not everyone, but by some was

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more or less laughed at. Yeah, he wasn't even the one that said

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he did do it the hard way
relative to what he could have done.

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He wasn't the one that mentioned the
super team thing. Really, it was

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just everybody else. So that was
more of my Chris Middleton applause. I'm

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forever going to die on the chrismascept
Hey, I'm right there with you.

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Although he had me, I was
a little shaky at times, but he

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redeemed himself. I don't know how
many game tying or winning shots yet the

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most sense Lebron and oh seven or
something crazy like that. I mentioned this

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00:10:07,639 --> 00:10:09,200
team before we started recording. One
of the issues with looking ahead to this

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season for this team is that it's
not as compelling if you're trying to frame

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it as like, oh, what
could they be or what's going to happen.

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Let's just pretend we're not going to
talk about where they land in the

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East yet, because it's just so
obvious when we bet for the ends.

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Let's pretend there's an air of mystery
to the Bucks right now, even though

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there isn't. Looking at their offseason, what do you what becomes their biggest

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addition or who's their most important player
that they added? And I'm looking specifically

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at the Grace and Allen, George
Hill, Rodney Hoods here. You can

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00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:41,080
throw Semi Ojela in there if you
want to, that's your choice. But

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I'm just curious as to who you
think is going to play the biggest role

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or who's just most important among those
new additions for this team. Yeah,

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so I think I want to save
Hood and Shemmy. I think we have

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another question later that I think they're
more of an answer too, sort of,

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But in terms of biggest addition before
the Grace and Allen Trade. I

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00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:07,039
definitely was on board George Hill being
that, And I know, I think

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the thing with George Hill and everyone
who signs with the Bucks, suddenly the

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00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:13,200
national consensus seems to sour on them
for whatever reason. But the thing with

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George Hill is, you know,
with Philly he wasn't as effective as they

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00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:20,919
had hoped, and that it kind
of happened with the Bucks a couple of

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years back too, in the bubble
especially. But I think the thing is

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teams have just been asking too much
of George Hill. Like George Hill the

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last few situations he's been in,
whether it's Eric Bledsoe is the starting point

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guard on his team or Ben Simmons
is the starting point guard on his team,

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suddenly he becomes like asked to do
a lot in the playoffs, like

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okay, we basically we need you
to be actually our starter. George Hill,

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I don't think he can do that
anymore. But the Bucks don't need

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that from him. That's the thing. Drew Holliday has proven without a doubt

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he can be a championship point guard
even if he's not you know, the

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ideal Chris Paul Maestro, you know, commanding the basketball, so they actually

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just need George Hill to be a
backup point guard. I think he's going

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to be phenomenal in that role.
I think they're gonna do some really fun

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two guard lineups with he and Drew. And I think, I mean backup

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point guard by the finals was clearly
their biggest hole, and I think it

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was made to seem even bigger because
if you have a good backup point guard,

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like I mentioned, you can play
him with Drew. The Bucks had

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no guards by the time they were
in the finals. Dante gets hurt,

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Jeff tu had a nice moment in
the Hawks series, simply was not playable

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for ninety plus percent of his minutes. Flipping him out for George Hill,

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I think is really big for the
Bucks. I think that's the safe answer.

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00:12:35,799 --> 00:12:39,799
I think Grayson Allen, though,
could end up being that Dante,

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who is just such a lightning rod
for Bucks. Takes his highs I think

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are higher than Grayson Allen's highs for
sure, but I think Grayson is much

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more consistent. He stayed much healthier
than Dante has, and I think having

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00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:56,440
a guy who could end up being
the starting two guard on this team,

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getting him for Sam Merrill and a
couple of picks that they out from trading

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down from the Rockets pick that they
got when they acquired PJ. Tucker when

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they got off DJ. Augustine.
Was truly a pretty wild sequence of events

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and goes to show John Horace for
all the draft issues the Bucks have had

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in the last few years, he
is good at flipping nothing into something.

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And I think that trade is a
really good, very low cost move,

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and Grayson could end up being super
important to this team. I like the

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way you framed the George Hill stuff
because sometimes I think it is really as

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simple as he's they're trying to upgrade
from Jeff tique. They won because it's

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not Jeff t essentially, is how
you can look at it. And Georgia

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also, before he got injured in
OKC, he was having a pretty good

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year and then it's like, how
long did it really just take him to

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ramp pap up back up because he
was injured slash They weren't trying to win

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games, so how many you know, how fresh was he? And then

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you go to Philly and I think
the expectations there were too high because that

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was a team that was in the
Kyle Ower sweepstakes. And also the last

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time Georgia was good was with the
Buck anyway, Like he said, not

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as much in the bubble, but
he shot like a trillion percent from three

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that year with Milwaukee, So I'd
probably agree with you there. I do

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think Grace and Allen might come pretty
close because I and I think this might

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even be my next question to go
back to that that line. But because

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off Donte Devincenzo's injury and just they
need to get a little bit deeper outside

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of their top five or six guys
anyway, and he had sort of an

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understated year with Memphis and he's a
long term I prefer Donte Devincenzo buy a

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pretty large margin, but he's insurance
if Donte Devancenzo just goest in restricted free

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agency and this team isn't willing to
pay him, and so I thought,

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and to get him for what they
did, which was just basically nothing,

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that ends up being huge for them
too. But I think I agree that

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George Hill by default ends up being
that biggest edition. Do you have any

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sense of a timeline for Dante's return
from that? It's the torn ligament in

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his left ankle, and what is
you know, will they default to starting

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him again when he's healthy or do
you think that's sort of up for debate

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right now, where maybe they want
him in the second unit. Think if

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he's healthy by the time they're actually
starting the season and he's going to start,

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I don't think they would have a
competition for that. I don't expect

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that to happen. But the funny
thing about the timeline is we have no

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idea, So the Bucks are doing
this new thing. I'm glad. I'm

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glad you have no idea, by
the way, because when I go like

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poking around before send these outlines,
I'm like, we haven't heard anything,

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Like I must be missing something,
But oh no, we've here. These

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are the updates we keep getting.
He's ahead of the timeline. What's the

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timeline. We have no idea what
the timeline is. But he's ahead of

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the timeline. So the Bucks are
being a little a little koy and vague

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on purpose, which of course all
teams love to do that with injuries.

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So he's ahead of some sort of
a schedule. Whether that means he's backed

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by Christmas, he's ready for camp, we have no idea. I would

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assume not camp the sense that we've
gotten at the Eurostat podcast network, the

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four of us just from reading everything
and conversations and whatnot, don't think he's

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going to be ready by the start
of the year all the way, which

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I think then it'll be a little
bit of a competition. Maybe Bobby Portis

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states a case, but I think
the Buck's lack of big depth means that

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Grayson Love a really good shot to
start. So then I think, then

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I think where Dante slides in when
he is healthy, given that he's not

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healthy to start the year, which
is still an assumption that I think depends

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on how good they look with Grayson. I think they could look really good

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with him. The thing with Dante
is just a wild difference between his floor

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and ceiling from night to night,
and even play to play. I think

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if Grayson is just consistent, solid, hits threes, plays okay defense,

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the Bucks starting five might look really
good with them out there, and then

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we'll see what happens when Dante does
get healthy. Yeah, that's I would

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say, especially on offense, he
probably have a better chance of grace now

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and being more consistent. I also
think because his role is a little bit

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more defined because there's like Dante can
do probably a little bit more on the

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ball, and it's gonna, I
think, let's say, test the limits

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of what he can do when he
sometimes he certainly going to do that.

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Yeah, And I do think he's
probably a better off ball mover, even

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if Grace now and the better shooter
and can do more in that respect.

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But I like the idea of Dante, even Trenzo. If you want someone

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cutting or just attacking, I'd probably
prefer him. But yeah, I'm in

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total agreement with you there, and
hopefully we will date this podcast with this

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question. It'd be a true shock
if he ended up getting an extension before

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the season, right, Yeah,
I think so. I just think,

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you know, we've had this conversation
a lot because basically with the other thing

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they did with Grayson, I think
you put some fire on Dante because they're

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on the same timeline for contracts,
right, So, I would not expect

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the Bucks to retain both. I
would expect the Bucks to retain one of

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them, which means they let one
walk or they trade one. And I

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think really it's there's a couple of
things that I think John Hors did to

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basically give himself until the deadline to
make some more firm decisions. I think

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this is one of them. But
an extension for Dante I don't think will

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happen because we know what the Bucks
financial situation is. They're going to be

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in the tax it's going to be
expensive. I don't think at this point

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you can go give Dante even like
four for fifty with where they're at,

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just with the inconsistencies he's shown,
the inability to stay healthy and even on

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court inconsistencies, And if I'm Dante, why why would I even want to

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take that? Right? Like four
for fifty doesn't even feel like a lot

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for someone who's shown some of the
flashes he's shown, and usually guys restricted

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free agency just go get paid.
So personally, I just don't think it

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would work out. You never know, the Bucks have gone from very high

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on Dante to trying to trade Dante
too, you know, high on Dante

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again. It's a little bit of
a confusing thing. But I would not

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bet on an extension. I don't
think like, given just again, just

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the inability to stay in the court
and some inconsistencies, I feel like the

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Bucks would not want to tie up
money in a big contract for him long

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term. You can always flip a
deal, but it gets a lot harder

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if the guy is injured. I
think it also leaves him options, as

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you said towards the trade of mind, where if you extend him, he

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basically becomes impossible to move with the
boys and pill provision is he still their

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swing piece? Is if the Bucks
are so good or just something happens that

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we didn't see coming. He's one
of the primary reasons why or do you

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view what he did for the most
of the regular season last year is sort

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of just like that's what the most
complete version of Dante Devintrensa looks like.

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Maybe with an air of more offensive
consistency. I think he still could be

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seen as a swing piece. I
mean, he's old for a guy wrapping

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up his first contract, because of
course he played for a while at Nova.

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But the guy we saw in the
first month or so of the regular

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season, the defense is great,
better off ball than on ball. He

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makes some bad decisions sometimes on ball, but off ball, I mean he's

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00:19:36,839 --> 00:19:41,000
a tornado. He's whirling dervish.
He generates turnovers. He starts fast breaks,

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which obviously, when you do that
with you honest. On the court,

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it's basically too sometimes a good thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

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it's not terrible. But offensively,
he started the year draining threes I want

316
00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:56,680
to say, like forty plus percent, maybe forty four percent for the first

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several weeks. It's like, oh
my god, if they have this Dante,

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00:19:59,599 --> 00:20:02,480
I don't know how anybody beats them. And that was pretty hardened the

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Nets. Now it's like, okay, if the Nets have seven great days,

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I don't know if anyone beats them
anymore. But with this, with

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that version of Dante, it's like, Wow, they've never had a guy

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00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:15,599
who was this good of a three
point shooter and this good of a defender.

323
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I'm obviously when Drew is there,
but even period, I think Brodden

324
00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:23,039
wasn't as good defensively and just has
a slower trigger on threes than Dante.

325
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But then he got really cold from
deep and stayed that way for the rest

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00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:30,599
of the year and just it just
wasn't as positive. So that's the question,

327
00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:34,440
right, like, can he consistently
shoot forty percent from deep and continue

328
00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:37,319
to drive and maybe get a little
better with the ball in his hands?

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The Bucks see him is kind of
like a backup point guard option as well.

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I don't think it's a thing like
they're they're making it a thing.

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00:20:45,599 --> 00:20:47,640
I don't think it's going to be
a thing. I don't think he's got

332
00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:48,880
it. But you know, if
he gets a little bit better as an

333
00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:52,079
off ball creator, continues to cut
as well as he does, defend as

334
00:20:52,119 --> 00:20:56,519
well as he does, he is
kind of a perfect complimentary starter to the

335
00:20:56,519 --> 00:21:00,039
other three guys. The question is
can you do it consistently enough? So,

336
00:21:00,119 --> 00:21:03,440
yeah, I think I think it's
fair to call him these swing piece

337
00:21:03,559 --> 00:21:07,519
just because if for no other reason, then you pretty much know what you're

338
00:21:07,519 --> 00:21:10,519
gonna get from a lot of the
other guys, although some of the new

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00:21:10,519 --> 00:21:15,920
additions could probably qualify too, especially
Rodney Hood. Yeah, that's ah they

340
00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:18,799
got. I thought for the market
that Milwaukee is when you look at and

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00:21:18,799 --> 00:21:22,960
free agency and the guys thinking this
because I thought they got pretty good mileage

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00:21:22,039 --> 00:21:25,720
out of some of their minimums,
and I'm just mostly looking at I was

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00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:27,799
a little bit surprised at what George
Hill got after the season he had,

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00:21:27,799 --> 00:21:33,799
but Rodney Hood specifically, I thought
could have gotten more than that. Could

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00:21:33,799 --> 00:21:37,599
you also in a cent say that
Jannis is that player and I'm not talking

346
00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:41,119
about in the context of what if
he all of a sudden starts hitting all

347
00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:47,160
these threes or more of his little
slow dribble pull ups. There is if

348
00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:51,720
he's scoring in the post or hitting
more of his fadeaways and then stabilizing at

349
00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:52,920
the free throw line, as we
kind of saw him do later in the

350
00:21:52,960 --> 00:22:00,720
postseason, the bucks become that more
dangerous because there's the feeling of inevitable with

351
00:22:00,799 --> 00:22:03,599
Jannis, of game over, like, how are you supposed to He doesn't

352
00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:07,359
need the outside shot, and his
game is just so you mentioned the Ben

353
00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:11,359
Simmons stuff before, it's just so
drastically different from Ben Simmons on the most

354
00:22:11,359 --> 00:22:15,720
fundamental level of he is so aggressive
looking to score, and then there's way

355
00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:18,200
more difference beyond that. So could
he sort of still be that guy?

356
00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:23,640
Which is the the wildest thing to
say about a finals MVP. I'm a

357
00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:30,000
two time league MVP and just someone
who is so good already. No,

358
00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:37,200
I think I almost don't view him
as such, just because obviously he played

359
00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:40,519
the best ball of his life.
But I think one of the bigger differences

360
00:22:40,599 --> 00:22:44,839
in the latter part of the playoff
run with Jannis was just his approach.

361
00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:48,039
He stopped trying to be lebron as
much, especially in the half court,

362
00:22:48,559 --> 00:22:52,119
and said, I'll just be a
model. I don't want to say better,

363
00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:56,519
but I'll say a more modern version
of Shack, right, like a

364
00:22:57,279 --> 00:23:03,759
playmaking finding guys for threes, more
at more. Again, I don't want

365
00:23:03,759 --> 00:23:07,559
to shock. Obviously, prime Shack
was an all time most dominant force,

366
00:23:07,039 --> 00:23:11,720
but like more athletic, more quickness, a little bit more ball handling,

367
00:23:11,799 --> 00:23:15,799
juice not as bulky, but tam
close without strongness. The Honest has gotten.

368
00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:18,319
But that's what he became, right
Like. We had never seen the

369
00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:21,440
Honest get fed post touches like this. It just didn't happen. It's not

370
00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:23,240
what he liked to do. He
liked to handle the ball and everything else,

371
00:23:23,599 --> 00:23:26,079
and he talked about it a bit, you know, before the playoffs

372
00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:30,880
end during but seeding the ball handling
to Chris and Drew and letting them get

373
00:23:30,960 --> 00:23:34,839
him in position, whether it's the
chrisy Honest pick and roll that's become nearly

374
00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:38,480
unguardable, with the way Chris can
pull up from anywhere and fade away,

375
00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:41,279
and of course if you give him
too much attention, it's it's a dunk

376
00:23:41,799 --> 00:23:45,680
or just even posting him up,
which we just didn't see all that often,

377
00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:48,279
and it wasn't that great when we
saw it. He just had a

378
00:23:48,279 --> 00:23:52,400
different approach, and I think we're
not going to see it all year long.

379
00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:53,960
He's not going to play at the
five all year long, which I'm

380
00:23:53,960 --> 00:23:57,319
fine with. I'm fine with playing
Brook and him and Bobby and him,

381
00:23:57,319 --> 00:24:02,119
although I think the honest is the
five portis. But I do think we're

382
00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:04,119
going to see some of that approach
carry over, and I think they're just

383
00:24:04,119 --> 00:24:07,599
going to be way better because of
it. Right, Like I agree with

384
00:24:07,599 --> 00:24:08,720
you, I don't think he ever
needs to shoot threes. I think he's

385
00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:12,240
going to continue trying. That's again
he's the antithesis of Ben Simmons, and

386
00:24:12,279 --> 00:24:15,440
I'm fine with him trying, but
just work on the shot in general,

387
00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:19,039
work on that fade away, work
on the free throws. We saw he's

388
00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:22,359
literally unstoppable when he hits the free
throws. He had fifty points and five

389
00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:27,079
damn blocks to clinch of finals.
But playing that way, I think makes

390
00:24:27,279 --> 00:24:30,400
that's the best version of the honest
when he sticks to that stuff, and

391
00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:33,839
it sounds like I'm trying to limit
him I'm not. I'm fine with him

392
00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:37,960
experimenting and working on more of the
ball handling and everything else, but I

393
00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:41,000
think we've seen without a doubt that's
the best version of the Honest, and

394
00:24:41,079 --> 00:24:45,799
doing that stuff more will make the
Bucks way better. I think it puts

395
00:24:45,799 --> 00:24:51,599
everyone in better positions on the team, And I think prioritizing Portis kind of

396
00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:55,359
leans toward the Bucks looking to that
long term, because I do think Portis

397
00:24:55,440 --> 00:25:00,319
is a really fun and interesting front
court pairing with the Honest playing more as

398
00:25:00,359 --> 00:25:03,920
a center with the spacing he gives
you while also letting you bully the boards

399
00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:10,000
the way Honest and brook Lopez can
do. So does that make the criticism

400
00:25:10,079 --> 00:25:14,039
of them not retaining PG Tucker overblown? I went, I didn't go back

401
00:25:14,079 --> 00:25:17,160
and forth. I'm always of the
mind of you could have kept him.

402
00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:21,240
He did help you, so you
should have kept him. The honest PJ.

403
00:25:21,359 --> 00:25:22,960
Tucker minutes, which is what everyone
was concerned about, is them playing

404
00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:26,640
without another big. They weren't great
during the regular season. They're also very

405
00:25:27,039 --> 00:25:30,640
few because he wasn't there for that
long, and then the playoffs that ended

406
00:25:30,680 --> 00:25:34,240
up being like a deadly combination.
And you just look at the some of

407
00:25:34,279 --> 00:25:38,839
the defensive workload that Tucker shoulder.
Even when he was becoming there are points

408
00:25:38,839 --> 00:25:42,559
where it felt like he wasn't even
providing enough defensively to offset what he wasn't

409
00:25:42,559 --> 00:25:45,359
giving you on offense, you know, shooting sub thirty two percent on corner

410
00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:48,400
threes. So I go back and
forth on that matter, and I'm just

411
00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:52,440
curious as to where you fall with
it. You know, I agree.

412
00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:59,920
I think in a perfect world where
you have the you know, most ridiculously

413
00:26:00,079 --> 00:26:06,279
obsessed own balmer, basically ridiculously obsessed
owner, yeah keep him cut Mammity Diakite

414
00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:10,039
or Elijah Bryant, who are guys
who will never play meaningful minutes for the

415
00:26:10,039 --> 00:26:12,279
bucks. Well maybe Mammady will if
he sticks around, because they don't have

416
00:26:12,319 --> 00:26:15,680
a true backup center. But I
digress. But yeah, keep him because

417
00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:21,000
there's it doesn't take away any opportunities
to get anyone else. And maybe he's

418
00:26:21,039 --> 00:26:25,640
that helpful. Again, I think
it was a perfect storm for him to

419
00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:29,200
come in and become a starter and
take on all that defensive workload. But

420
00:26:29,599 --> 00:26:33,039
why not, right, why not
keep him around? I get why they

421
00:26:33,079 --> 00:26:36,359
didn't. I don't agree, but
I do get it right. It's a

422
00:26:36,359 --> 00:26:38,519
lot of money and they're going to
be in the tax. Whatever else would

423
00:26:38,519 --> 00:26:42,079
have preferred. They kept him for
sure, both for on court and because

424
00:26:42,079 --> 00:26:47,759
he's a Milwaukee legend forever and still
talking about Milwaukee and dropping Milwaukee merch which

425
00:26:47,799 --> 00:26:52,519
is awesome. But I do think
you look at the playoff run as a

426
00:26:52,559 --> 00:26:56,079
whole basically doesn't play in the Miami
Series. Is a starter after that,

427
00:26:56,640 --> 00:27:03,039
indispensable to winning a championship, indispensable
for the work on KD in the two

428
00:27:03,079 --> 00:27:07,079
series after that, useful, little
less indispensable I mean for that team,

429
00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:10,680
yes, because they just didn't have
players, But I think his role in

430
00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:12,799
particular, he was the Kade,
the guy who had to guard KD,

431
00:27:14,279 --> 00:27:17,759
and then after that he tried to
guard smaller players, which I don't think

432
00:27:17,759 --> 00:27:19,400
his ideal for him. I think
it was harder for him to try and

433
00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:22,920
guard a Booker or Chris Paul obviously
than it was for KD. He's more

434
00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:27,319
built to defend forwards. I think
it hurts more that he's probably going to

435
00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:32,680
end up guarding Jannis and that sucks. But I also think he was their

436
00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:37,440
oldest rotation player by far, and
I would have rather kept Portis than him,

437
00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:41,079
even if he was more useful in
that run than Portis. Was just

438
00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:44,920
that Portis is on the honest age
timeline, and the Bucks love guys who

439
00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:48,920
are that age. Grace and Allen
is also around that twenty five twenty six

440
00:27:48,319 --> 00:27:52,359
age range, and I think this
is the new Bucks thing, is bringing

441
00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:56,079
these bylow guys who are younger,
get them bought in, and then just

442
00:27:56,160 --> 00:28:00,480
find ways to retain them and build
that more lasting core rather than, you

443
00:28:00,519 --> 00:28:04,519
know, just just only keeping the
thirty four thirty five year old guys,

444
00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:11,200
do you it's you already kind of
mentioned and if like it's never Jannis the

445
00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:14,880
five has never been like this huge
regular season staple for the Bucks, even

446
00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:18,160
if functionally when he's playing with Portis, there's there's stuff talking about there,

447
00:28:18,319 --> 00:28:22,200
there's letting PJ. Tucker Warks Walks
sort of inform that they'll be going to

448
00:28:22,279 --> 00:28:26,960
that but sparingly, or it's just
the fact that you already mentioned this,

449
00:28:26,039 --> 00:28:29,759
like they don't have necessarily a true
backup center, and even if you think

450
00:28:29,759 --> 00:28:33,960
that they do, importist like it's
Portis and Brook Lopez and that's it at

451
00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:36,720
the moment. So I sort of
go back and forth there too, as

452
00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:41,319
to what the volume on those Jannis
at the five lineups that that everybody loves

453
00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:45,799
and just for context, like he
played under five hundred possessions per cleaning the

454
00:28:45,839 --> 00:28:52,240
glass during last regular season without another
big on the court alongside him. Yeah,

455
00:28:52,279 --> 00:28:56,000
I think they might do it a
bit more this season. Again,

456
00:28:56,039 --> 00:28:59,200
I don't think they're gonna go to
it too much with the miles every everyone

457
00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:00,759
in the league has put but especially
the Bucks. Now, I just I

458
00:29:00,759 --> 00:29:06,119
don't think they're going to push anybody
all that hard this this regular season.

459
00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:10,240
Hobby Portis might be the one guy
because he took you know, half of

460
00:29:10,279 --> 00:29:12,400
the playoffs here where he didn't take
it off he was he was. He

461
00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:17,799
didn't play half of the Brooklyn series
just for defensive concerns, which is the

462
00:29:18,119 --> 00:29:21,799
one obviously huge negative with him,
although he got better as the yu and

463
00:29:21,839 --> 00:29:23,359
on. But I think Portist might
play a ton because he doesn't have the

464
00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:26,200
miles the other guys. Dude,
we didn't go to the bubble everything else.

465
00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:29,839
But I think Ji, honest,
Chris Drew are going to be you

466
00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:33,680
know, not being pushed, especially
early in the year. But I think

467
00:29:33,680 --> 00:29:37,920
they'll have to go to it a
little more because they don't have the backup

468
00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:41,680
five, which outside of the Robin
Lopez year, they've almost never had a

469
00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:45,559
true backup five. I mean they
had times when they played Merritage as the

470
00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:49,200
backup five and nineteen and it hurt
my eyes to watch because he just couldn't

471
00:29:49,200 --> 00:29:52,559
do it. And Portist is not
quite there, but he's kind of close.

472
00:29:52,599 --> 00:29:56,839
When they asked Portist to drop to
disaster, So I think Jianness will

473
00:29:56,920 --> 00:30:00,359
end up playing kind of some five
just by default. I do think they

474
00:30:00,359 --> 00:30:03,599
didn't do it in the past.
It wasn't great when they did it in

475
00:30:03,599 --> 00:30:07,480
the past, and there are Bucks
fans who believed, like it's not the

476
00:30:07,519 --> 00:30:10,720
way to go. He needs a
centex it hasn't worked. My thing was

477
00:30:10,759 --> 00:30:12,720
always they just they don't do it
well right, Like they don't have him

478
00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:17,240
played true center. He's still playing
as he usually does, but just without

479
00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:19,720
the center back there. I think
we saw that shift in the finals that

480
00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:26,079
informs me to think maybe they're gonna
have like I think he's gonna play more

481
00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:30,799
real center at times, and I
think that is probably their best option.

482
00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:34,240
Although if Lopez finally missed his time
for the first time in three years now,

483
00:30:34,599 --> 00:30:37,079
I do think they'll need to add
someone because I don't think you want

484
00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:41,920
the honest and Bobby Porter's playing forty
eight minutes of center for you, and

485
00:30:42,240 --> 00:30:45,480
that's kind of leads me. My
next question is, too, what is

486
00:30:45,519 --> 00:30:49,079
your level of confidence in Bobby Porters
providing let's call it, an adequate encore

487
00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:52,920
to what he did last year?
And you short have mentioned Brook is not

488
00:30:52,079 --> 00:30:56,480
dealt with anything really serious in the
three years that he did with Milwaukee,

489
00:30:56,640 --> 00:30:59,119
but you also look at it,
it's like, all right, age thirty

490
00:30:59,160 --> 00:31:02,559
three, you don't have a ton
of other options at center like it's portis

491
00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:04,279
after that, So it feels like
he's even more important to them this year

492
00:31:04,839 --> 00:31:08,039
conceptually than he was last year,
which is they won the title and he

493
00:31:08,039 --> 00:31:11,440
was an important part of that.
So certain enough to consider that. So

494
00:31:11,480 --> 00:31:15,319
what's your level of confidence that he's
going to give the Bucks that adequate encore?

495
00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:18,920
Especially not that I would say Argue
came out of nowhere with what he

496
00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:22,160
did, just because this was someone
who like really wasn't couldn't even fit on

497
00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:26,880
a NIX team that was just like
throwing players out there beforehand. So yeah,

498
00:31:26,960 --> 00:31:32,720
I'm actually pretty confident. I think
portis proved over the year that a

499
00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:37,000
he's entirely bought in to everything the
Bucks do. I mean, he's you

500
00:31:37,039 --> 00:31:41,279
know, reaching out to be honest, directly to get some influence on getting

501
00:31:41,359 --> 00:31:48,000
him signed. He bought in.
I think crucially when he got benched in

502
00:31:48,039 --> 00:31:52,759
the Brooklyn series, he took it
as well as an NBA level competitor can

503
00:31:52,799 --> 00:31:55,680
take it. And that is something
that I think meant a lot to the

504
00:31:55,680 --> 00:31:59,359
team and just the Bucks org and
that they have what they called the note

505
00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:01,359
a Holes rule, and I think
in years past they got a little bit

506
00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:06,319
too soft. I think the addition
of PJ and Drew helped them be like

507
00:32:06,480 --> 00:32:08,920
nice guys to maybe seem like a
holes to the other team, which I

508
00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:13,240
think is good. Also another way
to say it, we dogs, as

509
00:32:13,279 --> 00:32:15,640
p J. Tucker said one hundred
and fifty times in his speech, which

510
00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:19,759
was incredible. How they let that
dude walk? So I don't don't,

511
00:32:19,839 --> 00:32:22,079
I don't I know, well he
said he said before on that speech,

512
00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:24,640
you know, I taught them how
to be dogs. So hopefully they can

513
00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:28,880
continue to be dogs. They need
that to win a title. That's that's

514
00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:31,440
the way that team has to play. But I think Portis has bought in.

515
00:32:31,519 --> 00:32:35,440
I think he's worked really hard.
Clearly that the work on the shot

516
00:32:35,519 --> 00:32:38,079
has shown itself. He shot incredibly
well, one of the few Bucks to

517
00:32:38,119 --> 00:32:42,799
make any sort of threes in the
playoffs. Basically him, Chris and Pat

518
00:32:42,839 --> 00:32:45,519
were the only guys who could reliably
shoot them and Brent Forbes in the first

519
00:32:45,599 --> 00:32:52,519
round. But I think defensively he
came along as they went and crucially,

520
00:32:52,359 --> 00:32:55,960
he cannot be a drop defender as
a five. He just can't do it.

521
00:32:57,039 --> 00:33:00,519
He gets lost. But when they
switch, and they switch more now

522
00:33:00,799 --> 00:33:02,640
when they switch, he's actually pretty
good. He was getting cooked by Chris

523
00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:07,000
Paul and Devin Booker, so has
everyone else in the universe. Those guys

524
00:33:07,039 --> 00:33:09,119
cook everybody. I thought he stayed
in position pretty well, and i'm most

525
00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:14,160
other players he holds up pretty well
switching. I think he's a not good

526
00:33:14,519 --> 00:33:19,079
a capable switching defender, which what
he gives you on offense, it's probably

527
00:33:19,079 --> 00:33:22,400
worth the tradeoff. I think he's
definitely worth the tradeoff to play him.

528
00:33:22,720 --> 00:33:24,759
So I'm bought in. I think
he's going to continue to improve. I

529
00:33:24,759 --> 00:33:28,680
mean, he's having a lot of
fun right now going on SmackDown and everything

530
00:33:28,680 --> 00:33:31,240
else. But I think he's bought
in and trying to win more championships,

531
00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:35,519
and you know, I wish he
could have gotten paid right away. I'm

532
00:33:35,559 --> 00:33:38,119
not happy about this, But he
also still has to earn the big Bucks

533
00:33:38,160 --> 00:33:42,799
contract because of the way the CBA
is set up. So I think there's

534
00:33:42,839 --> 00:33:46,200
no concern for me about like a
contract year type of thing because he really

535
00:33:46,200 --> 00:33:51,440
hasn't gotten there yet. So I'm
pretty bought in. I don't think he's

536
00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:53,960
going to be like their center of
the future. I think if anyone,

537
00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:58,279
it's honest, I think they could
still use a backup center. But I

538
00:33:58,319 --> 00:34:00,559
do think he's going to be a
useful piece who makes a really interesting front

539
00:34:00,599 --> 00:34:04,720
court with y honest, no matter
what position you want to call him,

540
00:34:05,359 --> 00:34:07,960
Yeah, I'd be more worried about. And maybe he's an anomaly in disrespect

541
00:34:07,960 --> 00:34:12,639
because I probably trust when to move
laterally more than north south when he's on

542
00:34:12,679 --> 00:34:14,760
defense, which speaks, and that's
always been a lot of when you look

543
00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:17,400
at his just rim protection in the
past. So the switching, I'm actually

544
00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:21,679
totally with you there. I mean, he's big. He's has a wingspan

545
00:34:21,760 --> 00:34:23,280
of like seven one seven two whatever
it is, and so like that length

546
00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:27,559
can can help you against the you
know, he's not going to keep up

547
00:34:27,679 --> 00:34:30,079
with like the quicker ball handlers.
But there's also no you know, Devin

548
00:34:30,119 --> 00:34:32,800
Booker and Chris Paul have like two
of the best mid range games in the

549
00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:36,039
league, and so it's not a
matter of just getting by him. It's

550
00:34:36,079 --> 00:34:37,760
because you have to plan against the
pull up. So I do agree that

551
00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:42,039
he's just better switching than he would
be as just sort of a normal rim

552
00:34:42,079 --> 00:34:45,199
protector. I guess my main concert
with him would be does the shooting normalize

553
00:34:45,199 --> 00:34:47,760
at all? Forty seven plus percent
from three and he was like close to

554
00:34:47,800 --> 00:34:52,280
sixty percent on two's last year.
It was just absolutely it was brain bendingly

555
00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:57,159
efficient the way he played on offense
or most of the last season. I

556
00:34:57,199 --> 00:35:00,000
do think part of it that I
think the three is probably going to come.

557
00:35:00,239 --> 00:35:01,440
I think they came down of the
playoffs. Here I have the number

558
00:35:01,480 --> 00:35:05,840
he shot something. It was everyone's
three pointer came down during the playoffs.

559
00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:09,800
Every yeah, every Buck except Pat
Connadon. Let's see thirty four point six

560
00:35:09,880 --> 00:35:13,280
percent, which isn't great, but
for the Bucks it's awesome. Like Chris

561
00:35:13,280 --> 00:35:15,440
shot thirty four point three percent.
If you're a Buck and you're above like

562
00:35:15,519 --> 00:35:19,639
thirty three in the playoffs. It's
like God's God's work, which is why

563
00:35:20,039 --> 00:35:24,000
at shooting thirty nine percent was one
of the all time great Milwaukee sports miracles.

564
00:35:24,039 --> 00:35:29,119
But I think with Portis he's always
going to shoot really well from two

565
00:35:29,159 --> 00:35:32,039
because in addition to the pull up, his midi game is ridiculous. He's

566
00:35:32,079 --> 00:35:35,960
really good at those playing with the
Honest, and this is why I was

567
00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:38,599
excited when they first announced it,
Like the Honest really hasn't played with we'll

568
00:35:38,639 --> 00:35:42,920
just say big to not bring up
the four or five thing again, who's

569
00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:49,320
that athletic and like Springy before you
know he's played with Portis, with Lopez,

570
00:35:49,400 --> 00:35:52,280
with Mirror Titch, I guess than
Maker. Although Thon was always a

571
00:35:52,320 --> 00:35:55,719
little bit stiff, to be honest, but Robin Lopez like he didn't have

572
00:35:55,880 --> 00:36:01,079
this like other athletic player. And
I think Porters finds a lot of easy

573
00:36:01,119 --> 00:36:05,840
buckets. Just like being fast.
I don't think anybody in the league runs

574
00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:09,559
harder in transition, not faster,
but harder. Bobby Porter is full on

575
00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:14,440
sprints toward the basket and every fast
break, and I think it's just hard

576
00:36:14,480 --> 00:36:19,119
for defense is to handle the combined
athleticism of he and Ianas. Of course

577
00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:22,760
nat such being such a focal point, it opens up a lot for porters.

578
00:36:23,400 --> 00:36:28,880
His tanasis gonna pick up his twenty
twenty three player option. No,

579
00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:31,559
I'm sorry, opt out and get
another four year contract. Don't be silly,

580
00:36:31,880 --> 00:36:35,320
and not another will probably get it. One of those I went on

581
00:36:35,440 --> 00:36:37,360
a mini It wasn't a mini rant, but I was just I understand why

582
00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:40,679
the Bucks did it. I would
actually argue that his player option is more

583
00:36:42,039 --> 00:36:45,039
explainable than Corey Joseph getting a player
option in Detroit. Those were the two

584
00:36:45,440 --> 00:36:47,719
that stuck out where at least the
Bucks it was like, all right,

585
00:36:47,880 --> 00:36:52,679
John's his brother and he will play
his ass off on defense, I suppose,

586
00:36:52,760 --> 00:36:55,079
but just ad throw than I was
just him and Corey Joseph having a

587
00:36:55,119 --> 00:36:59,679
player option is just very funny.
What's this? And I feel like we've

588
00:36:59,760 --> 00:37:02,199
kind of danced around a couple times. What's this team's like biggest weakness or

589
00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:07,360
void right now? And I think
the common answer will be they It's weird

590
00:37:07,400 --> 00:37:10,719
to say because they ended up missing
Dante de Vincenzo last year and Drew Holiday

591
00:37:10,719 --> 00:37:15,760
missed some time with COVID, but
they were relatively healthy, and I think

592
00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:19,159
you can still look at this roster
despite the additions they've made, despite going

593
00:37:19,159 --> 00:37:22,079
too deep in some positions, and
say it could be their depth at large.

594
00:37:22,119 --> 00:37:24,840
But is there anything else that you
sort of view as a potential Achilles

595
00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:29,159
healer or just something that you wish
they could have improved upon over the offseason

596
00:37:29,280 --> 00:37:34,199
or that they should be just monitoring
ahead of the trade deadline in February.

597
00:37:34,320 --> 00:37:37,719
Yeah, I'm actually I'm not that
concerned about their overall depth. I think

598
00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:43,880
they have like probably three more guys
that can play, even not including Dante

599
00:37:43,920 --> 00:37:45,920
in that count, who obviously didn't
appear off tout of their sweep of the

600
00:37:45,960 --> 00:37:52,440
Miami Heat than they did last year. Like I think kill I think I'm

601
00:37:52,480 --> 00:37:57,920
just I'm assuming one of Hood and
Shemy is like a useful playable piece,

602
00:37:57,960 --> 00:38:00,719
and then Grayson Allen. So I
think they're three. They add three and

603
00:38:00,760 --> 00:38:05,159
lose one and PJ, which hurts, but it's still a net gain of

604
00:38:05,480 --> 00:38:07,320
two guys and then three if you
want to include Dante as well, which

605
00:38:07,480 --> 00:38:10,480
we just haven't seen him play in
such a long time now. But I

606
00:38:10,480 --> 00:38:16,800
think the real biggest they have two
I'll say the one that is like more

607
00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:22,519
surface level, is a true another
true center on the roster. I would

608
00:38:22,559 --> 00:38:25,400
like to see. It may just
end up being Diakete is the emergency center.

609
00:38:25,639 --> 00:38:29,599
I don't think he's really ready to
play, but I will say this

610
00:38:29,719 --> 00:38:32,480
player like they wouldn't. They don't
need someone to play twenty minutes a night

611
00:38:32,519 --> 00:38:37,239
at the position. They really need
someone to give Lopez some time off or

612
00:38:37,320 --> 00:38:40,000
be lopez insurance and just soak up
minutes. Like I don't know if they

613
00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:45,000
signed Bismac beyonbo tomorrow, Like I
don't think he plays in the playoffs for

614
00:38:45,039 --> 00:38:47,199
them unless something goes wrong. But
I really think it's just a nice It

615
00:38:47,239 --> 00:38:51,239
would be a nice security piece for
the regular season, So I would like

616
00:38:51,280 --> 00:38:53,920
to see that happen before the season
starts. The real answer, though,

617
00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:58,960
the playoffs answer, they need another
big wing defender if they need someone to

618
00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:02,159
approximate? What did you just have
to assume if you're winning a championship,

619
00:39:02,199 --> 00:39:05,960
you're beating the nets, And I
think if you're beating the nets, you

620
00:39:06,079 --> 00:39:09,119
probably need someone else to throw at
KD. Chris did as good of a

621
00:39:09,199 --> 00:39:13,480
job as possible at times. If
the nets are healthy, you may need

622
00:39:13,559 --> 00:39:17,159
him to defend elsewhere he's also there
go to sharpshooter defender. He does really

623
00:39:17,159 --> 00:39:21,840
well at debt, so would I
would presume if the Bucks are healthy,

624
00:39:21,880 --> 00:39:24,880
they would like to start Chris guarding
Joe Harris and let him focus more on

625
00:39:24,960 --> 00:39:30,159
offense. And he's just been good
at Duncan Robinson, Joe Harris guarding those

626
00:39:30,239 --> 00:39:32,800
kind of players, So I think
you honest will take some ups at it

627
00:39:32,880 --> 00:39:37,000
too. He's got to. But
I think between giving Rodney Hood a flyer,

628
00:39:37,079 --> 00:39:39,480
which I don't think he'll ever be
good defensively enough, but if he

629
00:39:39,519 --> 00:39:44,320
gives you something on offense, and
then the chemi thing is pretty clearly like,

630
00:39:44,960 --> 00:39:47,440
let's spend almost nothing to see if
we can get an approximation of PJ,

631
00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:53,679
who I think best case semi is
ten percent worse on defense but fifteen

632
00:39:53,719 --> 00:39:58,800
to twenty percent better on offense if
he chose an aptitude to actually hit corner

633
00:39:58,880 --> 00:40:00,800
threes. And then do you live
with that trade off? Right? If

634
00:40:01,159 --> 00:40:07,599
Katie scores another bucket or two a
game, and or maybe maybe he scores

635
00:40:07,679 --> 00:40:10,199
the same, but as to work
ten percent less hard, because clearly he

636
00:40:10,239 --> 00:40:14,559
didn't have a problem scoring on PJ. It's just Pja made it difficult and

637
00:40:14,599 --> 00:40:19,239
warm down over the series. Maybe
maybe it's a little easier for Katie to

638
00:40:19,280 --> 00:40:22,400
score on Semi, but he gives
you some more offensively, So I think

639
00:40:22,400 --> 00:40:24,960
they're going to try out those options. Is like the other wing player who

640
00:40:24,960 --> 00:40:29,559
will play but I and I guess
the Nazis will get a shot too,

641
00:40:29,639 --> 00:40:31,400
right, Maybe he can improve,
maybe he can hit some shots for once,

642
00:40:31,760 --> 00:40:36,760
But I think that's their real biggest
need is finding another proven wing defender

643
00:40:37,079 --> 00:40:40,239
and acquiring them at the deadline or
buy out season or something like that.

644
00:40:40,519 --> 00:40:45,159
The Bucks always make a trade.
I'm sure they will trade for someone no

645
00:40:45,199 --> 00:40:47,400
matter what, but I think that
is the position they could use the most.

646
00:40:47,440 --> 00:40:52,519
Someone you can bring in and say
you got eighteen minutes on KD,

647
00:40:52,760 --> 00:40:54,719
make him work hard and try not
to follow him, and there will be

648
00:40:54,760 --> 00:40:58,360
people in veriable to say, well, why can't Yannis just do it?

649
00:40:58,360 --> 00:41:01,159
It's like that's Yannis does so much
more than just that, and so I

650
00:41:01,199 --> 00:41:06,639
hate that that becomes a discussion basically
every postseason. It feels like I don't

651
00:41:06,639 --> 00:41:08,119
I don't even have anything to add
there. It does seem like you might

652
00:41:08,119 --> 00:41:10,639
even be able to expand it in
the front court, it's more border work.

653
00:41:10,639 --> 00:41:13,920
It feels like they's just a fourth
big like maybe it doesn't need to

654
00:41:13,920 --> 00:41:16,360
be a true backup center, but
like another four just because you know that's

655
00:41:16,400 --> 00:41:21,039
basically just Yannis right now. And
then you have Bobby Portis, who I

656
00:41:21,039 --> 00:41:22,239
guess it's both the four and a
five, So can you get another four

657
00:41:22,280 --> 00:41:27,079
or five? And then I agree
with you on the bigger wing. I

658
00:41:27,119 --> 00:41:29,880
think they're fine playmaking wise. It's
on the depth chart, it's like,

659
00:41:29,920 --> 00:41:31,400
okay, beyond the starting line up, there's not a ton, but because

660
00:41:31,440 --> 00:41:37,280
you can stagger Drew Jannis and Chris
Middleton because those are your three guys you

661
00:41:37,280 --> 00:41:40,519
added George Hill, you end up
being fine there. So I think for

662
00:41:40,559 --> 00:41:44,360
me a four or five might be
a little bit more pressing. But then

663
00:41:44,440 --> 00:41:47,480
if you're looking ahead of the postseason, then given how important PJ. Tucker

664
00:41:47,559 --> 00:41:51,320
was, then yeah, you want
that bigger wing defender there. When you

665
00:41:51,360 --> 00:41:53,440
do look at this roster, and
it's tough to answer this question before we've

666
00:41:53,440 --> 00:41:57,159
gone through any part of the season, knowing what the market is, what

667
00:41:57,159 --> 00:42:00,360
the rumor mills, like, who's
available, Who would you identify as most

668
00:42:00,440 --> 00:42:04,159
likely player to be traded? I
think it's just still the last guy they

669
00:42:04,199 --> 00:42:08,280
tried to trade. I think it's
still Dante between you know, probably not

670
00:42:08,360 --> 00:42:15,159
wanting to pay him a lot right
now and having someone who looks very literally

671
00:42:15,199 --> 00:42:19,000
looks very much like his replacement in
Grayson Allen, and having that be the

672
00:42:19,079 --> 00:42:22,159
one trade they've made so far I
think. I mean, you think about

673
00:42:22,239 --> 00:42:24,400
last time they tried to trade Dante. It was like Dante and salary and

674
00:42:24,440 --> 00:42:29,960
I think second round pick or maybe
a couple of second round picks. I

675
00:42:29,960 --> 00:42:35,119
don't think any first for bogdan Bogdanovich
was like a very good player. I

676
00:42:35,119 --> 00:42:38,880
don't know if they're going to be
able to secure or almost secure someone that

677
00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:43,719
good again. But I think if
you could upgrade from Dante to someone who's

678
00:42:43,760 --> 00:42:46,920
a little bit more proven, while
including some second rounders or whatever else,

679
00:42:47,199 --> 00:42:51,719
I think they would do that pretty
quickly or maybe even positionally. Maybe that's

680
00:42:51,719 --> 00:42:54,400
how they find this four or five. I mean, the salaries never worked,

681
00:42:54,480 --> 00:42:59,559
unfortunately, but just theoretically, like
if Harrison Barnes didn't make a lot

682
00:42:59,599 --> 00:43:02,000
of money, I think that could
be something that would be very interesting to

683
00:43:02,039 --> 00:43:06,360
me. I think there's some people
who would say that's selling way too low

684
00:43:06,400 --> 00:43:08,559
on Dante. I think there's some
Bucks people who would say I can confirm

685
00:43:08,599 --> 00:43:14,440
that as someone who got destroyed in
the comments section of something I wrote where

686
00:43:14,800 --> 00:43:16,239
I wanted the Bucks to lean into
it was a fake trade, and I

687
00:43:16,280 --> 00:43:21,199
had Harrison Barnes. Dante was going
to Milwaukee lash Dante was going to Sacramento

688
00:43:21,280 --> 00:43:23,400
last year, and Harrison Barnes is
going to Milwaukee, and it got I

689
00:43:23,480 --> 00:43:28,159
got vilified in the comments section of
that before. I think I've proposed something

690
00:43:28,199 --> 00:43:30,679
like that too, before we thought
we'd actually be able to get bogd in

691
00:43:30,719 --> 00:43:32,519
and then of course we didn't.
But I just think Harrison Barnes can play,

692
00:43:32,519 --> 00:43:36,199
and I think he'd be a really
nice compliment. So scalable. Everything

693
00:43:36,199 --> 00:43:38,800
he does is so scalable. I
really like Harrison Barnes, but someone like

694
00:43:38,920 --> 00:43:42,840
that, it won't be him.
The thing about the Bucks is none of

695
00:43:42,840 --> 00:43:45,400
the fake trades are that fun because
they have no tradeable salary. Like,

696
00:43:45,440 --> 00:43:49,320
I don't think they'll trade Brook maybe
if it's a perfect deal, but I

697
00:43:49,320 --> 00:43:52,119
don't think so. He's the only
guy outside of the Big three making more

698
00:43:52,199 --> 00:43:58,199
than a couple million dollars maybe six
or so. Yeah, their fourth highest

699
00:43:58,239 --> 00:44:02,880
paid player is excuse me players.
Pat Connaughton at five point three millions,

700
00:44:05,440 --> 00:44:07,360
I think he's very tradeable now after
the postseason he had. I don't think

701
00:44:07,360 --> 00:44:12,719
they'll trade him either. I think
Johannest loves him and he's so so freaking

702
00:44:12,719 --> 00:44:15,719
good in the postseason. I think
they'll keep him around, and he's quietly.

703
00:44:15,760 --> 00:44:16,920
I think he's more of a four
than a two at this point,

704
00:44:16,960 --> 00:44:21,159
but clearly doesn't have the size or
anything to hang with a k D,

705
00:44:21,320 --> 00:44:23,159
so I still think that's a position
to need. But I think he's kind

706
00:44:23,199 --> 00:44:25,639
of he's not a four or five. I think he's more of a three

707
00:44:25,719 --> 00:44:29,800
four than than a two three at
this point, although if they do add

708
00:44:29,800 --> 00:44:31,000
a four or five, maybe he'll
just play three. Whatever. It's enough.

709
00:44:31,039 --> 00:44:35,840
Pat good player, really won me
over. But yeah, I think

710
00:44:35,840 --> 00:44:37,719
trading Dante you have to just find
someone who doesn't make that much money,

711
00:44:37,760 --> 00:44:40,800
which is what makes it difficult.
But you know, if you can secure

712
00:44:40,840 --> 00:44:45,440
a bigger wing player or just you
know, maybe a guy into contract for

713
00:44:45,519 --> 00:44:50,800
longer for Dante and something, I
think that's the most likely, but maybe

714
00:44:50,800 --> 00:44:53,400
it's just the end up. I
don't know. I think they're gonna do

715
00:44:53,440 --> 00:44:57,519
something they always do something. I
don't know what it's gonna be. They

716
00:44:57,519 --> 00:45:00,119
need Dame to request a trade,
and see in Portland does with Robert Covington

717
00:45:00,320 --> 00:45:06,639
at this point, or hell even
Larry Nance at that point. Their their

718
00:45:06,719 --> 00:45:09,159
challenge though, is Robert Company says, one of the least expensive players in

719
00:45:09,159 --> 00:45:13,360
the league. And it's just like
the Bucks would even have problems matching salary

720
00:45:13,360 --> 00:45:16,320
and that unless they're step laddering because
it needs you look at Dante and then

721
00:45:16,400 --> 00:45:20,159
I would say Pat Connaton just as
like salary filler, you can take back

722
00:45:20,199 --> 00:45:23,159
like a twelve point two million dollar
player. If you want to like get

723
00:45:23,199 --> 00:45:25,480
above that, I mean, one, you have to be willing to trade

724
00:45:25,519 --> 00:45:30,039
both Pat Conton and Dontevian DiVincenzo.
That has to be reality. But if

725
00:45:30,079 --> 00:45:31,679
you want to go beyond that,
you have to start step laddering where it's

726
00:45:31,960 --> 00:45:35,599
are you moving George Hill, or
you're moving Grayson out, or you're moving

727
00:45:35,639 --> 00:45:38,039
Bobby Portius. If you don't want
to move any one of your main four

728
00:45:38,119 --> 00:45:43,239
guys, there's to me, there's
a little point in moving a Rodney Hood

729
00:45:43,320 --> 00:45:45,360
just because he's gonna give you more
than minimum value. So there's just like

730
00:45:46,440 --> 00:45:50,840
that's their challenge. But because of
what they do seem to do every year

731
00:45:50,840 --> 00:45:52,280
at the trade deadline, I'm with
you where I think they'll make a move.

732
00:45:52,639 --> 00:45:55,960
I would just be shocked if it's
anything beyond like a you know,

733
00:45:57,000 --> 00:46:00,239
like a minor sort of housekeeping like
transaction. May even just be a buyout.

734
00:46:00,280 --> 00:46:04,679
I've already identified. I'm calling my
shot way too early this year.

735
00:46:05,239 --> 00:46:07,960
I think Gary Harris on a buyout, especially if if Dante struggles to get

736
00:46:08,000 --> 00:46:12,320
healthy. I think that could make
some sense to shore up the guard defense

737
00:46:12,360 --> 00:46:15,119
a little bit. He'll fit in
with the Bucks motif of not being able

738
00:46:15,119 --> 00:46:20,559
to hit threes and yeah, he's
ready for that. So who is the

739
00:46:21,440 --> 00:46:22,840
or not? Who? What do
you think? And this is such long

740
00:46:22,920 --> 00:46:27,199
hanging through, but this is the
staple question portion of the pod. What's

741
00:46:27,239 --> 00:46:31,599
the Buck's best closing lineup in your
mind? I don't know if it's that

742
00:46:31,679 --> 00:46:35,679
low hanging. I think there's a
little bit to think about here. I

743
00:46:35,719 --> 00:46:37,960
mean, really the hardly wants Nasis
in the closing lineup, but I can

744
00:46:38,000 --> 00:46:44,119
see him in your face. I'm
actually huge the Nazis fan, but I

745
00:46:44,159 --> 00:46:47,280
don't want him and pretty much any
kind of playoff line up, maybe you

746
00:46:47,320 --> 00:46:51,000
know, with five seconds left in
the quarter, see if he can draw

747
00:46:51,039 --> 00:46:54,199
a charge or something, which is
no one takes a six second spell of

748
00:46:54,239 --> 00:47:00,159
playing time with more pride and seriousness
than the Nazis Aeta Kumpo. But the

749
00:47:00,280 --> 00:47:04,199
question, the hardest part about it
is really just figuring out do you want

750
00:47:04,239 --> 00:47:07,760
Lopez out there? And it's not
anything to do with Lopez, who you

751
00:47:07,800 --> 00:47:09,960
know, in the regular season last
year looks slow. I was worried he

752
00:47:10,039 --> 00:47:14,320
was washed. It's just a sixteen
game player. Now I think that's just

753
00:47:14,360 --> 00:47:16,559
what it's going to be. It's
it's very igodala ask and that I don't

754
00:47:16,559 --> 00:47:20,519
think. I think Brook Lopez again
is gonna look slow in the regular season.

755
00:47:20,559 --> 00:47:22,119
I don't think he's gonna leave it
all on the court. I think

756
00:47:22,119 --> 00:47:25,000
he's gonna say it till the postseason, which is this team's goal is to

757
00:47:25,039 --> 00:47:29,239
win there. So I have no
problem. But if we're talking like playoffs

758
00:47:29,239 --> 00:47:31,679
closing lineups, Brook is really good. He's still clearly one of the best

759
00:47:31,719 --> 00:47:37,880
five players. The issue is is
it worth playing him if if it's less

760
00:47:37,920 --> 00:47:42,559
ideal for jannest and it is less
ideal for honest after that first year Lopez

761
00:47:42,599 --> 00:47:45,719
hasn't been that guy from three anymore. He's not drawing that much attention to

762
00:47:45,840 --> 00:47:50,440
his threes, especially in half court, and it makes it harder for Giannis

763
00:47:50,480 --> 00:47:52,400
to do his thing inside. The
honest is so great it doesn't matter,

764
00:47:52,880 --> 00:47:58,480
but that's the issue. So I
really think it's going to depend on what

765
00:47:58,519 --> 00:48:04,280
you get out of the combo of
Dante, Grayson, Allen Rodney, Hood,

766
00:48:05,480 --> 00:48:08,280
Pat Contadan and even Portis and figuring
out and it's probably going to be

767
00:48:08,360 --> 00:48:14,079
somewhat a matchup thing of you know, obviously Jannis Chris drew, one of

768
00:48:14,239 --> 00:48:16,800
Grayson or Dante, Like we'll say
Dante if it's like ideal, like if

769
00:48:16,880 --> 00:48:20,840
Dante is a little bit better,
he gives you a lot of upside,

770
00:48:21,440 --> 00:48:24,880
and then it's gonna be one of
Lopez or probably Portis and maybe even Pat.

771
00:48:25,000 --> 00:48:29,719
So I personally think the Portis one
has the highest upside. So I

772
00:48:29,719 --> 00:48:32,440
think Jannis can do a lot of, if not all, of what Lopez

773
00:48:32,480 --> 00:48:37,840
can do defensively and offensively. Trying
to guard a team that Portis is the

774
00:48:38,119 --> 00:48:43,440
fourth best offensive player is really tough
to do considering how cood he is on

775
00:48:43,559 --> 00:48:46,559
offense. And I think that lineup
you know, could just really tear through

776
00:48:46,599 --> 00:48:51,679
a lot of teams if they're all
playing well together, if Portis is shooting

777
00:48:51,719 --> 00:48:54,719
holds up. Is there a let's
say you're the coach, you're Mike Buenholz,

778
00:48:54,760 --> 00:48:59,719
There is there a quirky, unconventional
out of left field. They probably

779
00:48:59,760 --> 00:49:04,360
never would on a regular basis or
in real life lineup that you would just

780
00:49:04,360 --> 00:49:07,360
want to roll out to see what
happens. Mmm, that's a fun question.

781
00:49:07,440 --> 00:49:12,000
I might try. I might try
to go huge sometimes and just see

782
00:49:12,000 --> 00:49:17,360
what happens, right, like Lopez, Yannis, Hortus, Chris Drew and

783
00:49:17,440 --> 00:49:22,199
just be like we're gonna score a
good amount and we're gonna just try and

784
00:49:22,239 --> 00:49:28,280
grab every single rebound and just bully
teams. And you know, your small

785
00:49:28,320 --> 00:49:31,559
forward is guarding one of Jannis or
Portis and we and or if you try

786
00:49:31,559 --> 00:49:36,119
to stash someone on Lopez, we're
going to clear out and have three shooters

787
00:49:36,119 --> 00:49:39,719
and Yannis and we're just gonna bully
you and just like make make everyone sore

788
00:49:39,840 --> 00:49:43,639
the next day. Like I think, I don't think it's a good lineup

789
00:49:43,679 --> 00:49:45,800
long term, but I think it
might be fun to throw it out now

790
00:49:45,840 --> 00:49:49,039
and again and really just try to
bully. I mean, like Chris for

791
00:49:49,159 --> 00:49:52,559
a two is pretty huge too,
Like just really go and play a little

792
00:49:52,559 --> 00:49:54,440
bully ball. I like the idea
of that. Yeah, this team is

793
00:49:54,480 --> 00:49:59,239
like not built to really try to
try the quirkiness. I like yours.

794
00:49:59,280 --> 00:50:00,519
The only other one that I I
could have thought of it is just what

795
00:50:00,599 --> 00:50:05,239
if you put on the floor,
like the play their asses off lineup,

796
00:50:05,320 --> 00:50:07,360
and so it would just be Middleton, Drew and Jannie who has to be

797
00:50:07,400 --> 00:50:12,440
in any lineup with shemy Ojola and
then Tanasis. I'm just like, I

798
00:50:12,480 --> 00:50:14,639
don't know what the shooting looks like
in that, but you just have a

799
00:50:14,639 --> 00:50:16,400
bunch of dudes who are going to
play their butt off on every single possession.

800
00:50:16,800 --> 00:50:21,480
So this team just really isn't like
built for it because they're too good.

801
00:50:21,519 --> 00:50:24,079
It's a compliment, But yours would
be fascinating to watch. I would

802
00:50:24,079 --> 00:50:28,559
absolutely watch what that lineup does.
I mean, that's that's the fun thing

803
00:50:28,599 --> 00:50:31,119
about Portous is you can squeeze him
into more lineups than you think if you

804
00:50:31,199 --> 00:50:36,239
can let them switch defensively. But
the spacing you provide, I think it's

805
00:50:36,239 --> 00:50:38,480
a lot easier to make some of
those weird lineups work. And also it's

806
00:50:38,519 --> 00:50:42,440
kind of hard to have a bad
lineup with all of Christianis and Drew.

807
00:50:42,559 --> 00:50:45,880
So I think you can try a
lot of lineups with those three without getting

808
00:50:45,920 --> 00:50:49,960
absolutely smoked because they're just so damn
good. Yeah, I mean, you

809
00:50:50,039 --> 00:50:52,480
have to put them in any lineup
that you're talking about. They really could.

810
00:50:52,599 --> 00:50:55,119
Let's say Yannis is off the court, like, let's go Shemy Ojolay

811
00:50:55,159 --> 00:51:00,679
at the five and then Middleton Hood, Donte, Devin Chenzo, Drew and

812
00:51:00,719 --> 00:51:04,119
George Hill or something. Just try
something wild like that. But I'm not

813
00:51:04,239 --> 00:51:06,480
about to build a fun line up
that doesn't have be honest in it.

814
00:51:06,519 --> 00:51:08,760
That just doesn't It could always be
more fun if you throw be honest in

815
00:51:08,880 --> 00:51:14,760
there. So Milwaukee says this recording
current win total is set at fifty five

816
00:51:14,840 --> 00:51:19,239
point five. Are you taking me
over under or are you taking me over

817
00:51:19,320 --> 00:51:21,840
the under? On that? And
where do you see them stacking up in

818
00:51:21,880 --> 00:51:24,559
the Eastern Conference the ladder of which
might be the single most boring question of

819
00:51:24,639 --> 00:51:29,800
this podcast. I think they're gonna
be top two in the East and either

820
00:51:29,960 --> 00:51:34,039
probably when the finals are loosed to
Brooklyn unless something goes horribly wrong. But

821
00:51:34,480 --> 00:51:37,440
I mean, I would love to
say that a clear favorite. Nobody sees

822
00:51:37,480 --> 00:51:40,880
them as such. I understand,
I'm trying to believe it. It's hard

823
00:51:40,920 --> 00:51:45,440
if you assume Kevin Durant, James
Harden, Kyrie Irving and they're a famillion

824
00:51:45,480 --> 00:51:47,840
other old guys are all healthy because
the top end talent. I mean,

825
00:51:47,920 --> 00:51:52,800
we talked about the Bucks have three
maybe top twenty five guys, maybe top

826
00:51:52,880 --> 00:51:57,599
thirty is easier to say Nets have
three like top Tennish guys just brutled it

827
00:51:57,679 --> 00:52:00,840
to try and keep up. But
I'm actually the over on the Bucks at

828
00:52:00,840 --> 00:52:04,480
fifty five and a half. Although
I said, I don't think they're gonna

829
00:52:04,519 --> 00:52:07,400
play you know, heavy minutes for
everyone. I think they're a lot deeper

830
00:52:07,480 --> 00:52:12,079
than they've ever been, considering you
know, they've never had a third star

831
00:52:12,199 --> 00:52:15,480
and been this deep. I think
they were pretty deep in eighteen nineteen,

832
00:52:15,519 --> 00:52:19,800
but maybe not really especially out in
the playoffs, but they were as deep.

833
00:52:19,840 --> 00:52:22,760
But then swapping and Drew for bled
Cell just makes you so much better

834
00:52:22,840 --> 00:52:27,679
by default. And I think the
way that Jannis plays now, I'm hoping,

835
00:52:27,800 --> 00:52:30,239
even if it's not all game,
every game, it's just going to

836
00:52:30,320 --> 00:52:32,400
make them much better. Also,
I think it's worth noting this is a

837
00:52:32,440 --> 00:52:37,880
year it's going to be year two
of the new Buddenholzer's schemes of like we

838
00:52:37,000 --> 00:52:42,559
switch now and cost them a lot
of wins that they were just figuring out

839
00:52:42,559 --> 00:52:44,840
how to do that. They've just
never done it, and they weren't good

840
00:52:44,920 --> 00:52:46,800
at it to start, and there
was a lot of mistakes. Clearly they

841
00:52:46,840 --> 00:52:50,639
got a lot better over the course
of the playoff run, so I think

842
00:52:50,639 --> 00:52:52,800
there's gonna be less newness. I
think they're still going to add some stuff,

843
00:52:52,800 --> 00:52:55,960
but I don't think it's gonna be
as drastic. So I think they're

844
00:52:57,000 --> 00:52:59,559
really good. I think they're clearly
better than every other team but one that

845
00:52:59,599 --> 00:53:01,599
they're going to play. And while
I think the East as a whole is

846
00:53:01,599 --> 00:53:05,760
a better, they're most teams are
still like two pigs below the Bucks.

847
00:53:05,840 --> 00:53:07,800
So I think they're just gonna kill
most teams. I think they're actually gonna

848
00:53:07,800 --> 00:53:12,360
win the most games they've won since
Kareem was in town. I think with

849
00:53:12,440 --> 00:53:16,360
the honest they they've topped out at
sixty I think sixty one sixty two is

850
00:53:16,719 --> 00:53:21,639
in five for this team. I
reluctantly go the over here just because it

851
00:53:21,639 --> 00:53:24,199
does involve them winning at a higher
rate than they did last season, but

852
00:53:24,320 --> 00:53:28,280
like you said, they were testing
out different things, especially on defense,

853
00:53:28,920 --> 00:53:30,599
that might have cost them some games. I'm still reticent because I'm like,

854
00:53:30,599 --> 00:53:35,679
they just want a title. I
wouldn't be worried about Janie replicating anything he

855
00:53:35,760 --> 00:53:37,559
does. He has an emotional attachment
to every single possession. That's not going

856
00:53:37,639 --> 00:53:42,000
to change because he has a title. But is there just sort of like

857
00:53:42,039 --> 00:53:45,519
we just won the championship drop off
at all? You had Chris Middleton and

858
00:53:45,599 --> 00:53:47,599
Drew Howad they went over and their
off season was even shorter because they played

859
00:53:47,639 --> 00:53:52,639
in the Olympics. But I still
just they're so normally a very good regular

860
00:53:52,639 --> 00:53:55,760
season team under Boutles, even last
year, Like we're talking about them sacrificing

861
00:53:55,760 --> 00:54:00,159
wins or winning at a fifty three
fifty four win pace, whatever, and

862
00:54:00,199 --> 00:54:05,159
posting the fifth best point differential per
one hundred possessions in the NBA. So

863
00:54:05,239 --> 00:54:07,519
I'm going with the over. I
don't feel great about it, but I'm

864
00:54:07,519 --> 00:54:10,800
also looking at someone in the league, and maybe two teams are gonna win

865
00:54:10,840 --> 00:54:15,440
fifty five plus games, And you
don't just look at the West and say

866
00:54:15,480 --> 00:54:16,960
it's gonna be this team, maybe
Utah is because of what they do in

867
00:54:16,960 --> 00:54:20,679
the regular season. You might even
be able to talk to yourself out of

868
00:54:20,719 --> 00:54:23,599
Brooklyn because how many games of their
stars play together, So it has to

869
00:54:23,599 --> 00:54:27,599
be somebody or to somebody's and then
it's just like, right, it's gonna

870
00:54:27,639 --> 00:54:29,880
one of those is going to be
the Bucks. Then that's just what I've

871
00:54:29,880 --> 00:54:32,880
decided at this point. Also,
they were basically point shaving when they played

872
00:54:32,960 --> 00:54:37,639
DJ Augustin and or Jeff t and
they don't have to do that anymore.

873
00:54:37,719 --> 00:54:40,000
And it should not be understated how
big of a difference that will make for

874
00:54:40,039 --> 00:54:45,400
this team. Is there anything we
didn't talk about very little Andrew Holiday or

875
00:54:45,440 --> 00:54:47,000
Chris Milton this podcast, And I
don't really know what to ask about them,

876
00:54:47,039 --> 00:54:50,440
to be honest with you, but
it's anything we couldn't talk about with

877
00:54:50,480 --> 00:54:53,400
this team that you think really needs
to be covered. I think it's really

878
00:54:53,440 --> 00:54:59,400
cool that despite all the stupid noise
about Batman's or Robbins, with the honest

879
00:54:59,440 --> 00:55:05,239
and Chris that they kind of embraced
this thing where like Chris and everyone clearly

880
00:55:05,320 --> 00:55:08,519
understands Yannis is the guy and he
can be that without having the ball to

881
00:55:08,599 --> 00:55:13,199
start every late game possession like that
was such a topic of not in the

882
00:55:13,239 --> 00:55:15,320
Bucks. I don't think they ever
cared that much, but like maybe like

883
00:55:15,360 --> 00:55:20,760
five years ago when they were first
getting good together, but outside of the

884
00:55:20,800 --> 00:55:23,079
Bucks, it was such a topic
right of like is Chris actually the best

885
00:55:23,119 --> 00:55:25,920
player? No, he's not.
Watch the games you can tell he's not.

886
00:55:27,239 --> 00:55:29,440
But he is the best guy to
have the ball in his hands late

887
00:55:29,519 --> 00:55:31,880
in games. And they just like
made it work, right, Like they

888
00:55:31,880 --> 00:55:36,599
were just like, we don't care
if this is unconventional. We're gonna let

889
00:55:36,679 --> 00:55:38,800
Chris handle the ball at first and
hit a bunch of game winning shots and

890
00:55:38,880 --> 00:55:42,400
also get the ball to Yannest to
hit a bunch of game winning shots.

891
00:55:42,679 --> 00:55:46,000
And it's not a concern. I
think it's so like almost poetic that this

892
00:55:46,079 --> 00:55:50,119
team that you know, when they
first came together, they were the worst

893
00:55:50,119 --> 00:55:52,559
team in the league. They were
on that team together. I think they

894
00:55:52,599 --> 00:55:54,960
were both the worst players in the
league in two k and like consecutive years

895
00:55:55,039 --> 00:55:59,480
or something. And the fact that
they made this weird partnership work is super

896
00:55:59,480 --> 00:56:02,599
cool. I think Drew being the
second best player on the Olympic team just

897
00:56:02,679 --> 00:56:06,480
I'll give you a Chris thought and
a Drew thoughts. We haven't talked about

898
00:56:06,519 --> 00:56:09,119
him. I think it might be
really good for him. I think he

899
00:56:09,320 --> 00:56:14,599
struggled a bit being a real point
guard at sometimes. I mean, obviously

900
00:56:14,639 --> 00:56:16,960
the defense was always there, usually
the playmaking was, but he made some

901
00:56:17,000 --> 00:56:22,760
pretty bad decisions on shooting and passing. He got a little I think panicky

902
00:56:22,840 --> 00:56:25,480
with some of his shots, especially
before the end of the finals, early

903
00:56:25,519 --> 00:56:30,760
in the finals and throughout the Brooklyn
series. And I think I think the

904
00:56:30,800 --> 00:56:34,400
confidence of winning a championship, of
being a very good point guard on a

905
00:56:34,519 --> 00:56:37,800
gold medal team, I think he
might come back and even be a little

906
00:56:37,800 --> 00:56:40,280
bit better than he was at last
year. Although he was great in the

907
00:56:40,280 --> 00:56:44,079
regular season he made all his threes, but in the playoffs, I think

908
00:56:44,079 --> 00:56:45,719
that fell off a bit. I
don't think he's gonna make all his threes,

909
00:56:45,719 --> 00:56:49,480
but I think he might be even
better of like a true point guard,

910
00:56:49,519 --> 00:56:52,360
which would be good for this team, even though Chris will be handling

911
00:56:52,440 --> 00:56:57,679
the ball late in games because he's
awesome. I loved It's the honest and

912
00:56:57,760 --> 00:56:59,960
Chris middles has been to give for
now eight years is gonna be a year

913
00:57:00,199 --> 00:57:04,440
and that just doesn't really happen with
guys in the NBA today. There's Stephen

914
00:57:04,559 --> 00:57:07,599
Clay and andre I guess had been
together that long gol and State, but

915
00:57:07,639 --> 00:57:12,199
like that's so unique and their dynamic, I think is really it's more come

916
00:57:12,480 --> 00:57:14,559
to lay bare, like over the
past few years where it's like it was

917
00:57:14,599 --> 00:57:17,320
last season where it was Chris that
gave Janna's pens for his birthday to sign

918
00:57:17,360 --> 00:57:21,880
his extension with Right and so like
stuff like that just cou Yeah, so

919
00:57:21,920 --> 00:57:24,039
stuff like that cousi into you know, the dynamic or the pecking order in

920
00:57:24,039 --> 00:57:28,079
certain situations doesn't really matter. And
then it's nice to see it backed up

921
00:57:28,079 --> 00:57:31,559
on the court where you know there
wasn't like feathers being ruffled when Chris wasn't

922
00:57:31,599 --> 00:57:37,079
the primary ball handling crunch time for
so long. And then last season Yano

923
00:57:37,719 --> 00:57:39,880
Yano Janni's claims to be but he
doesn't even claim to be. But like

924
00:57:39,920 --> 00:57:45,159
the whole narrative around Yannis is he's
egoist and doesn't care. And then you

925
00:57:45,199 --> 00:57:46,800
see what they're actually doing in crunch
time where they've taken the ball out of

926
00:57:46,840 --> 00:57:50,719
his hands for a lot of the
possessions. They want him to move off

927
00:57:50,760 --> 00:57:52,639
and work that way, and he's
just fine and he's gonna do it.

928
00:57:52,920 --> 00:57:55,360
And so to have two guys like
that, and then to add and Drew

929
00:57:55,360 --> 00:58:00,639
Holiday, which just seems like such
a like the perfect personality fit for this

930
00:58:00,639 --> 00:58:04,199
team. They have something special there, but just with Middleton and Janna specifically,

931
00:58:04,199 --> 00:58:07,519
like you touched upon, and maybe
I'm more nostalgic for it, even

932
00:58:07,519 --> 00:58:13,119
though it's happening now, because we
don't see partnerships last this long in the

933
00:58:13,199 --> 00:58:16,000
NBA title winners are so fleeting.
Maybe the Bucks proof leading because so many

934
00:58:16,000 --> 00:58:20,719
different things can happen. But right
down the Yannis just coming back, we're

935
00:58:20,840 --> 00:58:24,559
not even coming back signing his extension, Middleton sort of staying there never you

936
00:58:24,599 --> 00:58:29,000
know, he's a Max Automax contract. Never sorted to seem to bristle for

937
00:58:29,039 --> 00:58:32,880
more, and the Bucks at least
steadfastly agreeing because it was even before.

938
00:58:34,119 --> 00:58:37,519
It's funny that last season was oh
is Yannis? Actually the robin went through

939
00:58:38,280 --> 00:58:42,440
up until last season it was just
can Chris Middleton even be the number two

940
00:58:42,880 --> 00:58:45,960
on a championship team? And so
it's just funny how the goal pulse will

941
00:58:45,039 --> 00:58:49,400
move like that. So they have
something special specifically between those guys, and

942
00:58:49,480 --> 00:58:52,920
I hope, I hope they played
together for for a super long time because

943
00:58:52,960 --> 00:58:54,920
I very much enjoy them. And
like I said, Chris Middleton's not even

944
00:58:54,960 --> 00:58:58,079
a guilty pleasure of mine. I've
just been in love with the way that

945
00:58:58,119 --> 00:59:01,800
he's played basically ever since he's busted
out in Milwaukee. Yeah, and I

946
00:59:01,800 --> 00:59:06,559
think just expounding on like what they've
built there, I think totally agree on

947
00:59:06,599 --> 00:59:10,400
the three personalities, and I think
under at least for me, underrated part

948
00:59:10,679 --> 00:59:15,519
two was I think Bud works really
well with all of them, and I

949
00:59:15,519 --> 00:59:20,280
think for all the faults and certainly
not you know, whitewashing some of the

950
00:59:20,400 --> 00:59:24,280
terrible stuff he's done in past postseasons
coaching wise, which I still still quibble

951
00:59:24,320 --> 00:59:29,440
about people with people to this day, I think personality wise, he's a

952
00:59:29,480 --> 00:59:31,480
great fit. I think he's part
of the reason that team was able to

953
00:59:31,800 --> 00:59:37,079
stay together through some you know,
really gut check losses like the Raptor series,

954
00:59:37,239 --> 00:59:38,719
being up to oh and then being
an ot with a chance to win

955
00:59:38,760 --> 00:59:42,320
and blowing it. And the Raptors
were good, but they blew it.

956
00:59:42,320 --> 00:59:45,039
I mean, you're up to oh. And of course the Bubble was a

957
00:59:45,039 --> 00:59:47,679
disaster, right before Jannis could have
not signed and gotten out of there.

958
00:59:47,719 --> 00:59:51,599
I think budd has a lot to
do with what they've built there, at

959
00:59:51,639 --> 00:59:54,199
least chemistry wise, and also by
the end he was coaching his ass off

960
00:59:54,239 --> 00:59:58,159
too. But also we had Chase
Buford, who was on the bench for

961
00:59:58,159 --> 01:00:01,079
that run, the former coach of
the her the Bucks G League team,

962
01:00:01,119 --> 01:00:04,880
on the pod like a month ago, and he was like, no,

963
01:00:04,960 --> 01:00:08,639
Jannie is actually like that guy too
close up. So Chase his r C.

964
01:00:08,760 --> 01:00:14,039
Buford's son, so he was around
the Spurs a lot in their heyday,

965
01:00:14,079 --> 01:00:15,960
and he's like, it's definitely Duncan
esque of like it all starts and

966
01:00:16,079 --> 01:00:19,920
ends with him. And that's just
how it is in the league when you

967
01:00:19,920 --> 01:00:22,719
know the star player is that important, not just to the performance, but

968
01:00:22,800 --> 01:00:27,400
to like the culture of the team. I think that's really why the Bucks

969
01:00:27,440 --> 01:00:30,880
are so lucky to have Yiannis,
because we've seen in New Orleans, hopefully

970
01:00:30,880 --> 01:00:32,920
not twice in a row now,
you know, all over the league where

971
01:00:34,320 --> 01:00:37,880
you can achieve more than the Bucks
did before this past year with a player

972
01:00:37,920 --> 01:00:40,400
of Jannest's caliber and still lose them
because you know, things go wrong,

973
01:00:40,400 --> 01:00:45,639
they're get unhappy, they're not dedicated
or whatever else. Jannie being the guy

974
01:00:45,679 --> 01:00:50,119
who he is both one of the
greatest players ever I think, and who

975
01:00:50,119 --> 01:00:52,559
he is as a person is the
only way all this happens for the Bucks.

976
01:00:52,679 --> 01:00:55,639
I think that Steph Curry, I
think, shares in that same sort

977
01:00:55,639 --> 01:01:00,119
of a mentality, and I think
it makes it all the more special to

978
01:01:00,159 --> 01:01:05,039
get it done after all the years
of not getting it done. The Mike

979
01:01:05,079 --> 01:01:07,960
Budenholzer conversation is so interesting because he
was just so much better this past year

980
01:01:08,000 --> 01:01:12,599
in terms of testing out things,
playing his stars heavy minutes, and he

981
01:01:12,719 --> 01:01:15,559
was even if you didn't think he
was the reason they won certain games,

982
01:01:15,679 --> 01:01:20,199
he was not as often the reason
they didn't win important games. And nothing

983
01:01:20,199 --> 01:01:23,159
ever boils down to one moment.
But if Kevin Durant's foot is behind the

984
01:01:23,159 --> 01:01:27,800
line, and it's a meme and
it's one of them, is my memes

985
01:01:27,840 --> 01:01:30,239
that went off. But it's true, he's probably not the head coach of

986
01:01:30,280 --> 01:01:34,840
the Bucks right now. Instead,
he has an extension, is a championship

987
01:01:34,880 --> 01:01:37,159
coach. We're talking about him being
a perfect fit. You're tweeting about how

988
01:01:37,159 --> 01:01:42,440
he deserves a lifetime contract. I
saw a few times that's also just funny

989
01:01:42,599 --> 01:01:45,119
how things work out here very quickly. Final question, who is the non

990
01:01:45,119 --> 01:01:50,000
Nets team that would concern you the
most or you'd think could give the Bucks

991
01:01:50,000 --> 01:01:55,199
the most problems in the Eastern Conference. Oh, honestly, I think like

992
01:01:55,239 --> 01:01:59,920
Miami would be the popular answer.
I've been low on them. I think

993
01:02:00,039 --> 01:02:04,079
there's something to it, but I'm
a little scared. Offense has the potential

994
01:02:04,119 --> 01:02:07,199
to be really shaky. They're two
best players don't shoot threes right now,

995
01:02:07,199 --> 01:02:10,239
and that's an actual problem. And
now you need PJ Tucker off sudden be

996
01:02:10,760 --> 01:02:14,400
a better three point shooter than he
was during the postseason. So yeah,

997
01:02:14,599 --> 01:02:16,400
there's definitely a fuck you to their
defense, which I think it terrifying the

998
01:02:16,400 --> 01:02:20,679
opponent. But I'm totally with you
offensively. Yeah, and I think,

999
01:02:20,760 --> 01:02:22,920
I mean, I'm getting killed by
Heat Twitter for saying this, But Jimmy

1000
01:02:23,000 --> 01:02:25,639
just was not that same guy in
the playoffs. I think the Bucks are

1001
01:02:25,639 --> 01:02:29,480
pretty well built to stop him.
I think they still are, even if

1002
01:02:29,480 --> 01:02:31,519
Flowery there makes it harder and the
Heat still don't have the spacing I think

1003
01:02:31,519 --> 01:02:36,239
to let Jimmy and bad get off. But I think the real answer,

1004
01:02:36,480 --> 01:02:39,360
and I'm not super scared of anyone
elseide of Brooklyn. But if the Hawks

1005
01:02:39,400 --> 01:02:43,880
to take another step forward, I
mean they're just they're really good. They

1006
01:02:43,880 --> 01:02:46,280
were really good, and I don't
think they'll make another conference finals run because

1007
01:02:46,280 --> 01:02:51,239
the top two teams are just better. But like if Trey got a little

1008
01:02:51,280 --> 01:02:54,159
better, if John Collins got a
little bit better, any of their multitude

1009
01:02:54,199 --> 01:02:57,880
of young wing players, like Cam
Reddick like a guy who could be a

1010
01:02:57,920 --> 01:03:01,079
star. Bogden could even if he
stays the same. He's just really good.

1011
01:03:01,119 --> 01:03:05,400
Like, they've got a lot of
good young players. They're very deep,

1012
01:03:05,440 --> 01:03:08,239
They've got a legit superstar who can
play in the playoffs. So I

1013
01:03:08,239 --> 01:03:10,559
think then like if everything goes right
for the Hawks, I think they could

1014
01:03:10,559 --> 01:03:15,840
be a legitimately scary team. Again, I don't expect it too but you

1015
01:03:15,880 --> 01:03:17,880
never know. And they have a
lot of options and flexibility right now,

1016
01:03:19,199 --> 01:03:22,719
the team they keep coming back to
just beyond Atlanta and Miami, who are

1017
01:03:22,760 --> 01:03:27,280
the two teams. I would also
mentioned if Toronto decides not to blow anything

1018
01:03:27,320 --> 01:03:30,440
up or make any major changes,
and like they get good health and they

1019
01:03:30,480 --> 01:03:31,920
hit on some of their guys.
You just look at the defensive talent they

1020
01:03:31,920 --> 01:03:35,800
could field, and to me,
it becomes a matter of can you eke

1021
01:03:35,800 --> 01:03:38,199
out just enough shot creation against Milwaukee? I would argue no, and I

1022
01:03:38,199 --> 01:03:42,320
would say that ten times out of
ten. But they're just a team.

1023
01:03:42,320 --> 01:03:45,159
I think people are sleeping on where
everyone thought they should have pivoted into this

1024
01:03:45,199 --> 01:03:49,159
rebuild post Kyle Lowry. But I
think if they're healthy, they have the

1025
01:03:49,199 --> 01:03:52,760
potential to really muck the Eastern Conference
pecking What are up beyond Milwaukee Brooklyn,

1026
01:03:52,800 --> 01:03:55,920
of course, but I think they
could give anyone a really tough matchup in

1027
01:03:57,159 --> 01:04:00,960
any given series. I'm very interested
to see what they do for Draggas because

1028
01:04:00,960 --> 01:04:02,920
I think it'll be a little bit
of an indication of where they want to

1029
01:04:02,920 --> 01:04:06,159
send him swag. He's there for
good. They sent him a swag baggage.

1030
01:04:06,559 --> 01:04:11,000
I think that's a very smart thing
to do when Dallas is expecting him

1031
01:04:11,039 --> 01:04:14,280
for free and you're trying to extract
something for him. I'm just interested.

1032
01:04:14,360 --> 01:04:17,119
I know all that they've said.
I know their rookie said win forty six

1033
01:04:17,159 --> 01:04:20,800
times in an hour, so that's
why they drafted him. But I'm just

1034
01:04:20,920 --> 01:04:25,159
interested. Yeah, no one thought
they would settle for going Draggets and precious

1035
01:04:25,199 --> 01:04:28,079
a chewa for Kyle Lowry. And
they did, so anything anything's on the

1036
01:04:28,119 --> 01:04:30,400
table. I didn't think it was
wild. Mavericks fans did not want to

1037
01:04:30,400 --> 01:04:33,559
give up White Powell in a perspective
Draggas trade like they don't want to pay

1038
01:04:33,639 --> 01:04:36,840
Draggets all that money even though it
is expirment contract. This is not a

1039
01:04:38,000 --> 01:04:41,400
Raptors or Mavericks podcast though, TI
thank you so much for coming on.

1040
01:04:41,559 --> 01:04:44,360
This is great as usual. Or
you're able to tell our listeners where they

1041
01:04:44,440 --> 01:04:48,639
can find you and your work as
always available for a plug at ty windowsh

1042
01:04:48,719 --> 01:04:53,599
on Twitter, T I W I
N d I s H share pretty much

1043
01:04:53,599 --> 01:04:57,960
everything, all sorts of bucks,
thoughts and everything else. But the Eurostep

1044
01:04:58,000 --> 01:05:01,519
Podcast Network is pretty much where all
of my work has found. So as

1045
01:05:01,599 --> 01:05:04,440
the name says, you can find
that on the same podcast feed. You're

1046
01:05:04,480 --> 01:05:09,440
listening to this terrific podcast and you
should give them both five star rating and

1047
01:05:09,480 --> 01:05:14,039
review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you
listen, but especially Apple. We also

1048
01:05:14,159 --> 01:05:16,760
have a substack and a YouTube,
so the YouTube you can just search euro

1049
01:05:16,880 --> 01:05:24,519
Step Podcast Network. The substack,
I believe it's subsect dot com slash GESPN,

1050
01:05:24,719 --> 01:05:28,320
but if you go to b I
T dot l I slash fine,

1051
01:05:28,440 --> 01:05:31,239
GESPN you can find links to pretty
much everything, so that works too.

1052
01:05:31,840 --> 01:05:35,000
And if you have the opportunity to
go back and listen to the Eurostep Networks

1053
01:05:35,079 --> 01:05:40,599
first podcast after the championship, drop
some of my favorite takes of the ads.

1054
01:05:40,719 --> 01:05:43,079
You guys just went I was,
I was in love with it,

1055
01:05:43,159 --> 01:05:45,280
So if anyone gets the chance go
check that out. Ty, thank you

1056
01:05:45,360 --> 01:05:47,719
so much again, rest as short
and I'm sure, as you know by

1057
01:05:47,800 --> 01:05:50,840
now, I will be pestering you
again in the future. Can't wait.

1058
01:05:50,920 --> 01:06:00,119
Thanks much, Dan M.