Podcast: Talking Bucks with CBS Sports’ Matt Moore

The Bucks are not in action again until tomorrow against the Chicago Bulls. So, for the first time in a long time, we had an open weekday to use to try to create some unique content on the Locked on Bucks podcast and I think we did just that with our special guest, Matt Moore.

Moore is a national NBA writer for CBS Sports, but more importantly, he is a maniacal consumer of all things NBA. There are few people in the world that watch the NBA on a nightly basis with a closer eye on the minutiae of every single game than Moore. It is hard to think of someone better qualified to help us contextualize the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA landscape than Moore.

Our conversation touched on a number of topics, but here is a quick rundown of the major points in our conversation:

• Giannis Antetokounmpo. Just how good is Antetokounmpo? How does he compare to some of the other young players in the league? Is he playing winning basketball or just putting up empty numbers?
• Jabari Parker. Just how good is Parker? Will his poor defense ever be able to fit into a contending team in Milwaukee? Could the Bucks live with themselves if they traded him and he blossomed elsewhere?
• Greg Monroe. How well has he fit in this year? Will he be a target for other teams in a trade? If so, what sort of return would you seek for him?
• The Bucks’ Defense. What is it? Does anyone else in the league run anything even remotely comparable? Can the Bucks use the scheme to win basketball games, and more importantly playoff games, when it has such obvious flaws?
• The Bucks’ Playoff Chances. When taking a closer look at the rest of the Eastern Conference, do you view the Bucks as a playoff team? Are they actually talented enough to sneak into the playoffs this year?

If you enjoyed our conversation, be sure to follow Matt on Twitter for his writing (@MattMooreCBS) or his thoughts (@HPBasketball) and check out more of his work at CBS Sports’ NBA page. (He just wrote this awesome piece about how Kawhi Leonard’s defense is currently hurting the Spurs. You should really check it out. It’s fascinating.)