Mondays during the NBA season can be a bit of a drag: Start of a new workweek, often having to trudge into the indomitable snow and cold of the outdoors, and another week having to wait for your favorite NBA team to once again take the floor.

We must fear not, however! While we can’t say much about an altered workweek, we can safely declare a turn for the better with the weather, and look forward to a stretch of four games this week for the Milwaukee Bucks.

To prepare for that bit of good news, we bring you a selection of various interest pieces, interviews, and other coverage from around the nation regarding the Bucks. This week, we visit with Khris Middleton post-rehab, review the rookies’ seasons thus far, and see what George Karl is up to.

Let’s roundup!

Khris Middleton: 'I Told Myself I Was Invincible' (Sports Illustrated)

A truly wonderful piece to get us started as Khris Middleton describes his journey on and off the court while rehabbing his hamstring. He discusses the inspirations that kept him motivated, we get another look at the innovations the Bucks medical staff continue to adopt, and hear some coach Kidd strategic rationale.

It has taken Middleton a bit of time to round completely back into last year’s excellent form, but recent games have seen him taking on an increasingly heavy (and effective) offensive load. His rehab may be done, but regaining trust with his body will still take a bit of time. Still, for a guy with such a horrific injury, the progress he has made so far has to be uplifting for Bucks fans.

Thon Maker on his NBA adjustment, potential and learning from Giannis Antetokounmpo (Hoops Hype)

Hoops Hype sat down with Thon Maker to get his take on the season so far. The biggest takeaways from the interview include the difficulties he’s felt trying to adjust to an NBA defensive scheme, how having so many talented teammates around his age has helped him feel more at home, and the type of advice that head coach Jason Kidd gives him (hint: “don’t change much” was the crux of it).

There have been plenty of comparisons to the surprising selection of Maker at the 10th slot and the Antetokounmpo pick at 15 a few years ago, and Maker shows that he at least has the drive to try and fulfill the promises of his physical attributes and current skillset.

NBA Rooks: Malcolm Brogdon and Thon Maker: Two Bucks Rising (NBA.com)

As a follow-up to the above post, I present to you a quick video from the NBA’s ongoing series “NBA Rooks”. In this edition, as you can tell, the spotlight falls on Milwaukee’s rookies, Thon Maker and Malcolm Brogdon.

They touch on their seasons so far, the connection the two share as guys going through the highs and lows of the NBA campaign, and much more!

Bucks Sign Terrence Jones (Bucks.com)

This news was reported a few days ago, but the Bucks made it official as of Saturday afternoon. He’s agreed to a deal for the rest of the season, and in order to make room, Axel Toupane has been released from his 10-day contract.

Fare thee well, Axel, for we had barely known you. And welcome Terrence!

15 interesting things about Milwaukee, the Bucks in George Karl’s new memoir, ‘Furious George’ (Milwaukee Record)

George Karl’s name understandably evokes a myriad of complex emotions in the hearts of all Bucks fans. He’s combative, headstrong, and has the fifth-most wins as a head coach in NBA history.

If you’ve ever wanted to dive into the mind of the former Bucks coach, your opportunity is now here with the publishing of his new book ‘Furious George’. He inevitably discusses his turbulent time in Milwaukee within, and Milwaukee Record has a list of the greatest hits relating to our favorite team and town.

The biggest takeaway: “As I mentioned, Gary Payton is one of my five best friends.” Read on, folks.

And so another week’s edition comes to a close. As is now normal, I’ll close with a predicted record for the upcoming week. Tonight, the Bucks visit the Philadelphia 76ers, and then we get a home stretch including the New York Knicks, Indiana Pacers, and Minnesota Timberwolves.

Since we seem to have a recent streak of beating playoff-level teams and tumbling to everyone else, I’ll peg us for wins against the hapless Knicks and the Pacers while we fall short to the Embiid-less Sixers and the Karl-Anthony Towns/Andrew Wiggins-full Wolves.

As always, enjoy the week ahead, join us here for coverage of every game this week, and of course:

Happy Monday!