All-Time Tournament: Day 6

We have made it to the final cluster of Play-in Round games, and after our penultimate Play-in Round day yielded three more close games and an upset, the round’s finale was looking to go out with a bang.

Here are the final three games before we venture off to the Round of 32:

---

Game 16

Our first game of the day featured a turn of the century Big 3 taking on a 2006/07 Bucks team that was beleaguered by injuries. Will the 1999/2000 Bucks sleepwalk into the Round of 32 like nearly 95 percent of our experts predicted?

It took until the fourth quarter for the turn of the century squad to pull away, but pull away they did. Glenn Robinson dropped a 30 point performance as he lifted his team in their fourth quarter run. Big Dog went 3/5 from beyond the arc, making up for Ray Allen’s underwhelming 1/6 effort from deep. Sam Cassell notched a double-double with 19 points and 16 assists. Mo Williams and Andrew Bogut were the bell carriers for the 06/07 Bucks. Williams eclipsed the 20 point mark, while Bogut recorded a 13 point and 12 rebound double-double. The 99/00 team will take on the 1969/70 Bucks in the Round of 32.

Game 17

Two-thirds of our arm chair experts believe that the 1974/75 Bucks will snatch the win from the 1997/98 team. Receiving just a 67 percent vote of confidence seems low for a team led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but can the baby-faced Ray Allen and Glenn Robinson pull off the shocker?

They came close! The 74/75 Bucks bookended the game with dominating first and fourth quarters, it was the middle part where they had some trouble. Abdul-Jabbar posted a 24 point and 14 rebound night with Bob Dandridge playing second fiddle and tallying 18 points to go along with five steals. Allen and Robinson combined to shoot 16/41 from the field and were only in sync as the 97/98 squad mounted their comeback and pulled ahead. Unfortunately, they did not have enough gas in the tank and squandered their lead late in the game. The darkhorse Cinderella 74/75 Bucks will take on the 85/86 Bucks in the Round of 32.

Game 18

The final Play-in Round game features Giannis Antetokounmpo and friends taking on Michael Redd and, uh, Dan Gadzuric. By a nearly unanimous vote, the fans at home believe the 2016/17 will glide past the 2004/05 team.

And glide they did. In a wire-to-wire victory, Antetokounmpo recorded 24 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Nine different players scored five or more points for the 16/17 Bucks, with Thon Maker slotting in as the second leading scorer. Maker dropped 15 points on 3/5 shooting from three-point range. Ketih Van Horn was the leading scorer for the 04/05 Bucks, which helps explain the 42-point margin. KVH scored 16 points and nabbed seven rebounds all while going 2/5 from beyond the arc. The 16/17 Bucks will move and tango with 1983/84 Bucks in the Round of 32.

Now that we know who is advancing, let’s take a peek at the updated section of the bracket:

---

Looking Ahead to Day 7

The Round of 32 is finally upon us and that means we will be seeing the heavy hitters and teams that are favorites to win the tournament. There will be four game per day in the Round of 32 as we will be picking up steam as the tournament does.

So, without further ado, here are the first four games in the Round of 32:

Game 19

Fresh off the heels of a 112-87 victory over the 32nd seeded 1976/77 Bucks, the 2001/02 Bucks are looking to take down the tournament’s top dog. Ray Allen carried the squad with 31 points and Sam Cassell pitched in with 20 points of his own to cruise into the Round of 32.

The top-seeded 1970/71 Bucks have the great distinction of being the only team to have a championship banner raised in their honor. They finished with a 66-16 record and and cruised to a 12-2 post-season record, sweeping the Baltimore Bullets in The Finals. Lew Alcindor (31.7 PTS/16.0 REB/3.3 AST), who would become Kareem Abdul-Jabbar the day after winning his first NBA title, carried the team in just his second-year in the league and finished with a 57.7 field goal percentage. Fellow Hall of Famer, Oscar Robertson (19.4/5.7/8.2), provided savvy veteran leadership, while still playing at an elite level all season.

Can the year-after-the-year Big 3 take down the champs?

Game 20

The second game in our Round of 32 features two teams that both had to earn their way into the round. The 1988/89 Bucks completely waxed the 1993/94 Bucks, 115-86 en route to the Round of 32. Terry Cummings and Jack Sikma recorded double-doubles as they led the team to a wire-to-wire victory.

The 2009/10 Bucks squeaked by the 2008/09 Bucks by a score of 105-95. Andrew Bogut was dominant in the win, recording a double-double as well as a trio blocks. For his part, Brandon Jennings went 4/5 from three-point land and proved that a rookie BJ3 could carry the 16th seeded team.

Will the steady veterans outlast the streaky rookie?

Game 21

The 1996/97 Bucks, and a rookie Ray Allen, took advantage of a cold shooting 2002/03 Bucks squad and pulled off the, 82-76 upset. Glenn Robinson and Vin Baker tallied double-doubles to buoy this squad into the Round of 32 against the overall eight seed.

A 55-win campaign was unfortunately met with a familiar season ending for the 1981/82 Bucks as they lost to the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Sidney Moncrief (19.8/6.7/4.8) and Marques Johnson (16.5/6.1/3.6) were the talented young men that would be the staple of all the early 80s Bucks teams. Moncrief earned his first of five consecutive All-Star game nods during this season.

Do the 96/97 Bucks have another upset in them?

Game 22

A dramatic 103-98 upset victory in the Play-in Round featured a second half comeback for the 2015/16 Bucks. Greg Monroe’s double-double (19 points & 13 rebounds) set the tone as Giannis Antetokounmpo contributed with 13 points and eight rebounds of his own in the victory.

They will be taking on the 1979/80 Bucks that featured a budding star in Marques Johnson (21.7/7.4/3.5) and prime-aged guys with numbers in the rafters. Junior Bridgeman (17.6/3.7/2.9.) and Brian Winters (16.2/2.8/4.5) navigated the team to a 49-33 record before losing in seven games to the Seattle Supersonics. This was the last season that the Bucks were in the Western Conference and it was also the last time a Don Nelson coached Milwaukee failed to win 50 games.

Will the franchise’s last Western Conference team put an end to a fledgling Cinderella?