All-Time Tournament: Day 2

The second day of our All-Time Tournament is in the books and it was a wild one! A pair of upsets, one expected and one unexpected, put the second day in stark contrast to our first day which featured no major upsets.

Here is the portion of the bracket that saw action on Day 2:

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Game 4

The first game of our second day here featured two versions of Ray Allen. The 1996/97 Bucks trotted out the rookie Ray, while the 2002/03 Bucks had a prime-aged Ray at their disposable. 70 percent of our arm chair experts figured the rookie Ray, even with Glenn Robinson, would stand no chance of pulling off the upset.

But they did anyway! A disastrously cold shooting second quarter doomed the 02/03 Bucks enough to where their second half comeback was just out of reach. In the dual Ray Allen battle, prime-aged Ray won (30 points on 4/8 shooting from three), but lost the war, so to speak. The rookie scored 15 points on just 1/5 shooting from three, but Vin Baker’s triple-double (14 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists) along with Glenn Robinson’s double-double (13 points and 10 rebounds) was enough to vault the 96/97 Bucks into the Round of 32 against the 1981/82 Bucks.

Game 5

We had our first Giannis Antetokounmpo sighting during the second game of the day as he, along with Khris Middleton, represented the 2015/16 Bucks. The young trio took on the 2011/12 Bucks which featured another current day Buck, Ersan Ilyasova, and a mish-mash of bodies on the roster. The 41st seeded 15/16 Bucks were the trendy upset pick, voted to win by a 60-40 margin, so did they live up to expectations as the lower seed?

They sure did! The 15/16 Bucks needed a strong second half comeback to seal the upset, but they are advancing nonetheless. Antetokounmpo finished with 13 points, eight rebounds, and three assists, while Greg Monroe spearheaded the comeback with a double-double effort (19 points and 13 rebounds). Not to be outdone in the double-double department, Ilyasova tallied a 24 point and 13 rebound night, but it was all for not. The 15/16 Bucks are moving on to dance with the 1979/80 Bucks.

Game 6

Our final game of the day certainly looked like a mismatch on paper, with the Scott Skiles helmed 2008/09 Bucks taking on the 2003/04 Bucks and peak-Michael Redd. A whopping 90 percent of our pundits predicted the end result would be as out of hand as the match-up on paper appeared.

By the skin of their teeth the 03/04 Bucks staved off the upset! A furious fourth quarter rally keeps their dream of being named the best team of all-time alive and they have their All-Star, Michael Redd, to thank for that. 03/04 Redd tallied 30 points on 4/7 shooting from beyond the arc and played off big man, Tim Thomas (15 points and 13 rebounds), all game long. The 08/09 were led by Charlie Villanueva’s 15 points and 13 rebound double-double performance. The 03/04 Bucks will take on the 1972/73 Bucks in the Round of 32.

Here is an updated look at this part of the bracket, now that our second day is complete:

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Looking Ahead to Day 3

We continue to move onward in the All-Tournament and turn an eye towards the third day. Half of the teams in action are from the 90s, while the other half are from the 10s, including this most recent season. Here is a bracket view of the match-ups that are on the horizon:

Game 7

We kick off the third day of action with the 1995/96 Bucks taking on our most recent entry into the history books, the 2017/18 team. The 95/96 team featured a solid, young front court duo in Vin Baker (21.2 PPG/9.9 REB/2.6 AST) and Glenn Robinson (20.2/6.1/3.6), but the third and second year players were not able to lift this team to many wins, as they finished with a paltry 25-57 record.

We are all familiar with the 2017/18 iteration of Bucks basketball, but for those just tuning in, this squad was led by Giannis Antetokounmpo (26.9/10.0/4.8) as he made his second consecutive All-Star team and flirted with MVP consideration. Antetokounmpo was not alone, with Khris Middleton (20.1/5.2/4.0) and Eric Bledsoe (17.8/3.9/5.1) pitching in as KEG steered the roster to a 44-38 record overall.

Can the young and unheralded 95/96 squad tap 17/18’s KEG completely dry?

Game 8

Next up, we have two teams that are just two years apart from each other in the 2012/13 and 2010/11 teams. The 12/13 team made the playoffs with a 38-44 record and were led by Monta Ellis (19.2/3.9/6.0) and Brandon Jennings (17.5/3.1/6.5), but they were not enough to avoid a playoff sweep to the Miami Heat. This Bucks teams saw second-year player, Tobias Harris, be traded to the Orlando Magic for two months of JJ Redick, sigh.

Although the 10/11 team had a worse record (37-45) than the 12/13 team and did not make the playoffs, they are the higher seed in the tournament. Second-year Brandon Jennings (16.2/3.7/4.8) and prime-age Andrew Bogut (12.1/11.8/2.0) were the promising duo of the future for Milwaukee. This was also Larry Sanders’ (4.4/0.8/1.2) rookie season, Sanders is most famous for still being on the Bucks’ payroll here in 2018, three seasons after he last suited up for the team.

Which unpleasant memory of a team will advance out of the Play-in Round?

Game 9

Day 3 concludes with the 1992/93 dial-up team taking on the 1998/99 pre-dot com bubble burst team. The funnest fact about the 92/93 team is that Hall of Famer Moses Malone (4.5/4.2/0.6) suited up 11 times for them. Blue Edwards (16.9/4.7/2.6) and Frank Brickowski (16.9/6.1/3.0) were joint scoring leaders as these Bucks went 28-54, including losing eight straight to close out the season.

Much like the world wide web, the 98/99 squad was sleek, fun, and full of potential. Sam Cassell (13.8/2.3/4.3) made his Milwaukee debut and thus began the Big 3 era, however, he only played in four games during this strike-shortened season. This team went on to finish 28-22 and earned some valuable playoff experience that they built off of.

Can the the 92/93 team nip the first edition of the Big 3 in the bud?