Roundtable: Bucks > Everybody Edition

Welcome back to the Brew Hoop Round Table, where we ask that everybody use coasters and please don’t feed the pugs from the table, thanks. Today, we ruminate on the current state of the Milwaukee Bucks, who have been winning games for as long as we choose to can remember, with seemingly no end in sight. Life is good right now, eh?

The Bucks just won their 50th game on Tuesday. How did you celebrate?

Adam: Ruminating on the many, many years where the team didn’t sniff 50 wins in my lifetime. Also popcorn. Like Sterling Brown car-full levels of popcorn.

Mitchell: * yawn * Wake me up when they hit 60, I guess. 50 wins is just old hat at this point!

Kyle: Holding my son as we laughed at the peasants.

Giannis Antetokounmpo was last year’s MVP. What is he now: MVP, or something more?

Mitchell: The current iteration of Giannis is, assuming health and a scandal-free future, worthy of inclusion in the GOAT conversation. You know, the one that right now includes LeBron James, Michael Jordan, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He’s been that good.

Kyle: I don’t think he will be unanimous, but I expect another MVP to go his way, along with a Defensive Player of the Year award.

Adam: He’s more than last year’s MVP, which is what a player must do to win back-to-back MVPs. Voter get bored, but elevated play is enough to keep them enticed.

Two-time All Star Khris Middleton: First time All-NBA Forward?

Mitchell: It’s been discussed, on this FanPost and on Twitter, and it’s a really tough crowd. He’s already behind the presumptive locks at the position (Giannis, LeBron, Kawhi, Anthony Davis), so he has to get ahead of two of at least Tatum, Butler, and Siakam. And what about Brandon Ingram? Or Bam Adebayo, if not listed as a center?

Kyle: He might sneak in for a third team and I think he edges Pascal Siakam.

Adam: Middleton has rewarded the Bucks’ brass for their faith, and lucrative investment, in him this offseason with the finest season of his career. The real issue is with his position and having to crack the All-NBA shell that often exists. Once you’re in the club, it’s much easier to stay in the club. Given his general perception as a distant number two (which we all know isn’t true, but seems to remain a national narrative) to Giannis, I doubt he’ll get past some flashier choices like Jimmy Butler (helped revive the Heat), Kawhi Leonard, Anthony Davis, Jayson Tatum and the like.

Over/Under for the number of Bucks on the NBA All Defensive Teams: 2.5

Kyle: Under. I expect Giannis to get a spot and Brook Lopez might sneak up and take it from Gobert, I just am not sure if Bledsoe will get the benefit of the doubt.

Adam: Under. Even more than All-NBA, All-Defense is an insular award category where getting past the velvet ropes significantly improves your odds of staying there. I’d fully expect Bledsoe and Giannis to remain, but the real question is whether Brook Lopez can unseat Joel Embiid or Rudy Gobert from the center spot. Even with Stan Van banging the BroLo drum on national TV the other night, I just don’t know if there will be enough widespread support to put him on there.

Mitchell: Screw it, give me the over. Giannis is a lock, Lopez should be since he’s better than last season, but it’s still a reputation-based award and Bledsoe is still performing at a high level. Embiid can sit this one out, just like he will sit out in June.

Mike Budenholzer was Coach of the Year in 2019. He’s going to win more games in 2020, but will he repeat with the award?

Kyle: it’s either Frank Vogel or Nick Nurse that’s winning it.

Mitchell: Maybe Vogel should win for avoiding the patented Jason Kidd coup d’etat? But seriously, Bud? Nope. He should, but he won’t. Other coaches have done excellent jobs and are worthy of recognition.

Adam: Even if he wins 70+, I don’t think there’s a chance he gets it. No coach has ever won it in back-to-back years and he’s already won it twice. People like shiny/new or perceived overperformance. I’d pencil in Frank Vogel or Nick Nurse for this one. It’s a tidy narrative for either.

The Bucks have 24 more games. What will their record be over that stretch?

Mitchell: I believe in this team in the playoffs, but I also believe that they’ll load-manage their way into dropping more unnecessary late-season games than they otherwise would. I think they close things out 15-9.

Kyle: 16-8 they will have the 1 seed locked pretty early and that along with their tougher slate of games this next month will cause some people on Bucks twitter to unnecessarily panic, because it’s Bucks Twitter.

Adam: 18-6. I think they rest some guys down the stretch.

That’s it from us, but what do you think? Answer our questions yourselves in the comments, and tell us where we have it right (or where we’re dead wrong). It’ll probably end up being more of a challenge than the Bucks have on a nightly basis!