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| 14/15 NBA Preseason | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
vs. |  |
| October 18, 2014 | ||
| U.S. Cellular Arena | Cedar Rapids, IA | ||
| 7:00 CT | ||
| No local TV | 1250 WSSP / 105.7 The Fan | ||
| Probable Starters | ||
| Giannis Antetokounmpo | PG | Ricky Rubio |
| Khris Middleton | SG | Corey Brewer |
| Jared Dudley | SF | Andrew Wiggins |
| Jabari Parker | PF | Thaddeus Young |
| Zaza Pachulia | C | Nikola Pekovic |
| 2012/13 Advanced Stats | ||
| 91.8 (24th) | Pace | 97.3 (4th) |
| 103.0 (26th) | ORtg | 108.9 (9th) |
| 111.8 (30th) | DRtg | 106.2 (12th) |
On the Wolves: Canis Hoopus | A Wolf Among Wolves | Howlin' T-Wolf
Injury bug. The Bucks will start the second half of the preseason in the Hawkeye state without a few of their key players...again.
Ersan Ilyasova (knee) and Larry Sanders (illness) will not make the trip, meaning they will miss Milwaukee’s next 2 preseason games. #Bucks
— Andrew Gruman (@AndrewGruman) October 16, 2014
#Bucks guard Brandon Knight will make the trip to Cedar Rapids & New York. He says his strained groin feels better. Unsure if he'll play Fri
— Andrew Gruman (@AndrewGruman) October 16, 2014
The hope was that Kidd would be able to tinker with lineups to see what worked and what didn't before the regular season got underway. But with a rash of sick and injured players over the first two weeks of camp that task has become a little more difficult. Not the end of the world, but certainly not ideal. After Iowa, the Bucks head to New York to take on the Knicks on Monday before heading back home for a rematch with the Wolves on Wednesday, so hopefully by Wednesday the Bucks might have their full rotation (save for injured rookies Damien Inglis and Johnny O'Bryant) back in uniform.
Tonight also marks the first preseason match-up between the top two picks in this past year's draft, with Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker. Back in July, Wiggins claimed a comeback win over Parker while still a member of the Cavs, only to be dealt to Minnesota roughly one month later in the big Kevin Love deal.
Still, the top two picks squaring off should be quite the scene, even if the players themselves don't really put much into the supposed "rivalry."
"I'm not looking for any matchups. I don't know why a lot of people try to compare us," Parker told reporters on Thursday. "I hope we become our own players."
Downplaying their little rivalry is all fine and dandy, but there's no denying that when these two players square off--at least for now, and hopefully pretty frequently later on down the road--the attention will be on them. Take this photo snapped from Summer League if you need a reminder of their collective magnetism.
Methinks Cedar Rapids is in for a treat tonight.