Monday Morning Media Roundup: August 22nd, 2022

If ever you needed a reminder that Milwaukee, Wisconsin does not constitute a premier market in the NBA’s eyes, look no further than our upcoming scintillating home-opener against... a Houston Rockets team that may win 24 games this year.

Yes, it’s that time of year again. Schedules get released, fans line up in online queues for the opportunity to snag tickets for the Warriors game at face-value before flipping them on SpaceGeek for a tidy profit, and we play prognosticator confidently predicting that the Bucks will start the year something like 20-5 if things go well. For those of us who live out of state but somewhat near another NBA arena, we also get to plan what may be our only opportunity of the season to see the Bucks in-person. It is exciting!

What’s less exciting is the reality that, a full season removed from winning it all, the Bucks have retained their rightful place as the grandest outpost in NBA Siberia. 23 national TV games is pretty good, although 9 of them will be on NBATV which means the only people who will see them are those in attendance like we’re living in the 1950s. Worse yet, we’re not even a marquee team listed under the press release for NBATV games:

Atlanta Hawks??????? OK.

Anyways, it doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things, and the NBA’s ability to flex the occasional game in and out of ABC/TNT/ESPN means our count may climb if the year goes better than expected. I just figured we’d get a little more bounce given the existence of Giannis Antetokounmpo. Guess not! If only Khris had been able to suit up against the Celtics...

Let’s roundup!

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Whatever The Hell This Was From the US Embassy in Athens (United States Department of State)

And they say American diplomacy is dead...

Sandro Mamukelashvili Sits Down With Marques Johnson at Summer League (Bucks YouTube)

Biggest reveal in this entire interview happens pretty early on: Marques and Mamu live in the same building in the Milwaukee area. I won’t go so far as to say this is just another hint that Sandro is destined for greatness, but I’ll let others say just that if they like.

Giannis Antetokounmpo undergoes MRI after back soreness with Greece (Clutch Points)

Giannis Antetokounmpo and just being sore all the time: Name a more iconic duo.

Between carrying our franchise and carrying the Greek national team, I’m surprised his back hasn’t already snapped in half. However, we should feel confident that the steady diet of souvlaki he’s been consuming since arriving in Greece will help him heal better than ever.

Milwaukee Bucks center Brook Lopez proposes to longtime girlfriend at Walt Disney World (ESPN)

There are Disney adults, and then there are whatever the Lopez brothers are. Now, Brook is far from unique proposing at the Most Magical Place on Earth, but you have to admire the commitment to propose on the exact same day in the exact same particular theme park in which you first met your partner.

Epcot better.

Looking Back at 40 Years of Bucks Basketball (Shepherd Express)

It is a testament to just how good the Celtics and Lakers were to get to the NBA Finals as often as they did during the 80s. Milwaukee fielded an extremely strong team to start the decade, only to fail to get that final breakthrough. Our version of the Bucks thankfully found their way to gold, but the broad-brush similarities between the eras are definitely there.

Stars Make a Splash, but Continuity Is King in the NBA (The Ringer)

Shamelessly posting this here because “continuity” will likely be the keyword guiding this franchise for years to come. The talk of our becoming “Spurs north” remains popular not only because of the similarities between loyal star player/coaching connections, but also because it is probably the only way we can keep this ship moving forward. Of course, even San Antonio had to evolve and hit on a few lottery tickets along the way.

The NBA’s one-and-done rule could be ending just in time for a monster draft class (Yahoo)

Speaking of lottery tickets, I wanted to include this piece if only to wonder at the knock-on effects a wave of high schoolers will have in reordering drafting priorities in the lottery. Assuming Milwaukee will continue to reside in the 20s, we’re likely to benefit if teams ahead of us select ever more teenagers who have a higher theoretical upside and a longer development track. That might mean that guys age 20 or 21 who would normally go somewhere in the teens could drop into our range. Maybe that’s wishful thinking and it won’t impact the level of prospect we may expect to find, but a wave of new prospects is bound to reshuffle things.

Fan Post of the Week

The Social Media Section

Turns out I, too, can be as beautiful as Serge Ibaka with just a few tricks

T-minus a few weeks until Mamu puts Giannis on a poster in front of the entire continent of Europe

There are good elements to work with here, but as someone outside of fashion I think there are some misses

Giannis the type of dude to beat Poland in a friendly and celebrate like it was another NBA title

Milwaukee*

...why?

Obviously a flight enthusiast got control of the Bucks Twitter admin login

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This is the section where I normally preview the upcoming games for Milwaukee. As it is, we have the Greek and Georgian national teams to look after as they wind down their schedules before the start of EuroBasket. Greece will play a pair of World Cup Qualifier games this week, first on Thursday against Serbia, and then on Sunday against Belgium. Serbia will have back-to-back NBA MVP Nikola Jokic opposite Giannis, so there should be some good fireworks there. For Georgia, their qualifier games come up on Wednesday against the Netherlands and Saturday against Italy. We wish both national teams the best of luck!

Happy Monday!