Monday Morning Media Roundup: April 6th, 2020

This isn’t going to be anything like a shocking proclamation, but we’re three weeks into the league’s hiatus and we’re already scraping the bottom of the content barrel (at least as far as this column is concerned). Normally, in the aftermath of a season there is a steady wave of retrospectives on the season that was. Why did X team win, why did Y team lose, where will Z player head next? Then, seamlessly, we move right onto draft coverage where everyone watches five to six YouTube clips and picks their favorite projected mid-round guy. At least, that’s my strategy.

But, with the regular season at a standstill and the only real movement being a purported HORSE competition, I can officially say that media coverage is on life-support.

As we found out this week, there won’t be any Bucks taking part in this carnival ride since not a single player has access to a hoop. So we sit, we wait, we hope nobody is eating their way through the entire Ben & Jerry’s catalogue while the powers that be decide the 2019-2020 season’s fate.

Let’s roundup!

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Independent Study: Who Giannis Should Be Watching (The Ringer)

Thinks this is a very worthwhile exercise from Kevin O’Connor, especially as we begin to think more big-picture on which directions Giannis’s game could/should evolve towards.

For O’Connor’s money, Chris Bosh, Paul Pierce, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Kevin Garnett all jump to mind as potential role models. Each feature a preternatural feel for the game combined with an ace skill or two that made them impossible to counter during their primes. For a guy like Giannis, flashing brute force aggression like Shaq in a slighter frame, the options to tool up are seemingly endless.

Pat Connaughton on the Bucks’ break from the championship chase, his second career, and Giannis’ future (SB Nation)

WARNING: There is a lot, and I mean a LOT, of real estate talk in here. Just chopping it up about real estate, real estate investments, real estate as a second career, real estate as a family business, real estate as a theory, real estate as a meal, real estate as a starting center on a playoff team, etc.

Given the dribble of content available to us, though, we’ll take this like an oasis in the middle of the Sahara. Plus, if you read long enough you’ll get to a juicy “we’ll support Giannis no matter what he does” quote that neither confirms nor denies what Giannis will or wont’ do in free agency.

Writer pens 34 “Giannis haiku” for National Poetry Month (OnMilwaukee.com)

I don’t know how to write haikus.

I understand it’s about syllable count.

This person probably did better than me.

Giannis not playing basketball; no ‘access to hoop’ at home (ESPN)

Would having a hoop out on the driveway even be all the helpful? The science would likely show that the concrete exerts undue stress on the joints, and that working on your shot form in a 10 mph wind won’t help, but I’d have thought a Huffy hoop was mandatory in today’s NBA.

But at least Eric Bledsoe is taking advantage of his mandated time home by working on his cooking skills. Self-improvement is the name of this social-distancing game.

NBA 2K Players Tournament: Bucks proving to be unbeatable (TheScore)

The nonchalant Harrison Barnes clip makes this a worthwhile click. And if you’re interested in watching, uh, Donte, DJ (sort of), and Cam Reynolds play there’s a very long video of that, too.

Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry buys Mark Ronson’s Los Feliz villa (LA Times)

Far be it from me to wonder at the purchases of ownership, because $4.776 million is like a nickel in relative terms, but I have to question the interior design of this mansion Lasry just picked up. Surely he’ll be adding his own flair, but there’s so much armadillo wallpaper and garishly green/blue rooms that need revamping. At this rate, where are we going to get those extra couple million to pay the luxury tax?

The Social Media Section

Way behind on this (by a little over three months), but Zora content is good content especially when it reminds us of a time when we could see other people in the flesh

I like to pretend he’s still a Buck

Crosses Eric Bledsoe’s fingers for him

That this happened in a Laker uniform is just the universe laughing at us

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Anyways, we continue to hope that social-distancing hasn’t been too much of a strain. If you’re feeling like the world is stuck on pause with no chance at respite anytime soon, rest assured: The NBA will soon be rolling out a plan to put players into hermetically sealed bubbles and tour them around the nation in a show of solidarity with the rest of the populace.

And ESPN will be there to capture every glorious minute.

Happy Monday!