Bucks go deep, John Henson's left hand, training camp draws near

Bucks.com | Boeder: The Best Things in Life Are Three
Great read and charts from Alex on the ever-rising importance of the three-point shot over the past 30 years. The Larry Bird numbers are particularly interesting (and illustrative).

Take a look at the best three-point shooting teams in terms of accuracy last season. 1. Warriors 2. Heat 3. Thunder 4. Spurs 5. Knicks 6. Mavericks 7. Hawks 8. Rockets I spy just one team that missed the postseason. And all but one boasted an above average offensive efficiency. Perhaps even more telling, eight of the top nine teams in three-point attempts also made the playoffs.

I'm still not exactly sure how all the Bucks' new pieces will fit together offensively, but what they've lost in shot-creation they've certainly tried to make up for in shot-making from deep. Brandon Knight, O.J. Mayo, Carlos Delfino, Caron Butler and Gary Neal were all effective shooters from three last year, while Luke Ridnour has typically been at least average from deep (and is always above-average on long twos). That's why I'm not terribly worried about the Bucks' below-average offense of last year (21st in efficiency) regressing too much further. Yes, Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings were playmakers and tough to stop when they were on their games--but most of the time they weren't on their games. I'm probably more worried about the departure of Mike Dunleavy, all of which stands to make the 13/14 Bucks a great case study in the "addition by subtraction" hypothesis.

Also not to be missed: Alex's annual mapping of the Bucks' roster.

Fox Sports Wisconsin | Gruman: John Henson could be major contributor for Bucks
FSW continues their player-by-player previews with a look at everyone's favorite NBA sophomore, who also happened to throw out the first pitch at the Brewers' game on Friday. And in case you're wondering: yes, Henson throws a baseball with his left hand, which shouldn't be surprising since he also bowls lefty and is much better at finishing around the hoop with the same hand, too.

So how many more years does Henson need to shoot 50% from the line with his right hand before he goes the Tristan Thompson route and thinks seriously about trying free throws with his left hand? The obvious difference for Henson is that he doesn't look terrible shooting as a righty, but his penchant for bricking free throws (usually off the back iron) limited him to 53% from the stripe as a rookie. Which wasn't surprising given he connected on just 44%, 48% and 51% in three years at UNC. He has better touch than those numbers suggest, but it's unlikely he'll ever be a reliable scorer without demonstrable improvement from the stripe.

Bucks.com | Inaugural Fan Fest and open practice set for October 5
Winning back fans is all kinds of important for the Bucks in the long term, and it starts in a week with media day on September 30 and the annual open practice the following Saturday, October 5. As usual, the open practice at the BC will be free (2 pm), and beforehand the Bucks will stage their first "fan fest" outside the BC with players and staff in attendance to sign autographs and take pictures.

Hoops Hype: Camp bodies!
We already know who will be on the Bucks' roster on opening night, but that doesn't mean the Bucks won't add a few random dudes to fill out their camp roster. Former Marquette guard Junior Cadougan, Miami guard Trey McKinney Jones and possibly Polish forward Olek Czyz have been mentioned thus far.

I have nothing interesting to add on this topic, because honestly it's not very interesting to begin with.

Sporting News | Giannis Adetokunbo's impact may not be immediate, but Bucks' influence on him will be
Not sure there's anything really new in this piece from Sean Deveney, but it does reiterate the Bucks' plans for carefully managing their first round pick's exposure to NBA basketball--and not making a trip to Fort Wayne a big part of that.

"We are not thinking about the D-League for him," Hammond said. "Should that present itself, should the opportunity and the timing be right for him to do it, and it fits for us within our schedule, I am not saying it is not going to happen, but that we are not going into the season expecting him to be a D-League player. We?re expecting him to be with our team."

The Bucks yo-yo'ed Doron Lamb up and down from Fort Wayne a number of times last year, cherry-picking portions of the schedule where they could get Lamb D-league minutes without missing important time with the big club. I'd favor a similar approach with the 18-year-old Antetokounmpo, who could certainly benefit from the sort of in-game seasoning provided by the D-League but could also use the stability and systemic benefits of life with the big club.

JS | Milwaukee Bucks think fans will be floored by new court design
Following on the heels of the very cool Our Mecca exhibition, the Bucks will unveil a new floor design on Tuesday:

"The original court was so original, so Milwaukee...such a breakthrough," Loehrke said. The idea of doing something like the original MECCA floor was floated early on in the brainstorming process among the design and marketing teams for the Bucks.

With NBA games televised internationally today, the NBA has become pretty fussy about what these floors look like, Loehrke said. There are "layers and layers" of scrutiny, he said.

In the end, the Bucks came up with something that is inspired by and that pays homage to Indiana's floor. But that introduced another hurdle — they needed the artist's approval.

"That was huge for us," Loehrke said. "If he wasn't comfortable with what we were doing... we had to get his blessing."

Bucks.com | Giannis Antetokounmpo's Interview with Greece's Sports 24
Antetokounmpo sat down with Greece's Sports24 to talk about his new hometown, the NBA and his expectations of the season.

JS | Jon McGlocklin will split games with Sidney Moncrief on Bucks' telecasts
Sidney Moncrief may have lost his gig on the Bucks' coaching staff, but the Bucks' great isn't leaving Milwaukee. Moncrief will begin transitioning into the role of color commentator opposite Jim Paschke on Fox Sports Wisconsin broadcasts this coming season, with Jon McGlocklin opting to cut back to around 36 games in his 48th year with the team.

Tony Smith filled in for McGlocklin at times last year, but evidently didn't impress enough to get another chance to be Jonny Mac's heir apparent. Instead, he'll continue on as a studio guy. Sir Sid filled in as a color commentator for a handful of games before joining Scott Skiles' coaching staff in 2011, and I recall him being pretty solid in the role--though he'll have some big (and well worn) shoes to fill.