Monday Morning Media Roundup: January 23rd, 2023

Barring some sudden change in fate, Brew Hoop shall continue on. In the wake of a blogging Friday news dump to end all Friday news dumps, Vox Media is going to be shuttering the vast majority of its hockey, soccer, and, unfortunately for our neck of the sporting woods, some of its NBA blogs. These sites will continue on through February, after which they’ll likely be shut down barring their staffs ponying up the cash to prop the edifices up.

But, as I said, our date with oblivion hasn’t come just yet.

As all of you know, almost nobody who staff these sites do it for money (there ain’t much lol). Even the legendary pipeline of blogging fame to something more permanent in sports media has more or less dried up in a world where traditional/neo-traditional media outlets slash staffing costs across the board. So what’s left? Passion, mostly. Passion for the team, ideally — at least, that’s where most people start out — and over time, passion for the community you become part of.

I’m happy BH has been spared because I deeply enjoy working with my colleagues, I adore the breadth of knowledge and personality our commentariat brings to the site, and beneath it all, I still root for the Milwaukee Bucks and value having a stable place to read about/discuss them. With the closure of these sites, those communities will be sent off into the digital wilderness — fragmented subreddits, brainworm-inducing Twitter, and 2003-style message boards await; that, or a return to simpler times spent checking on the team via box scores.

Yet this is just another component to the rising and falling nature of the internet: the sites of yesteryear were fit for purpose when they ruled the web. Blog empires have now been past their heyday for a long while, the only question being how controlled their descent would be. For Vox and our family of SBN sites, it looks like a series of quick and violent crashes await. The end is in sight whether it be five months or five years off. It has been and will continue to be a pleasure to be here until arriving at our final destination.

Let’s roundup!

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Scottie Pippen will be signing bottles of whiskey in Wauwatosa next month (Milwaukee Record)

The siren song of putting your famous name on a bottle of crappy liquor has drawn in many a celebrity. You will then, inevitably, end up in a Wisconsin suburb at the worst time of year to visit. 50 Cent and Wes Edens come to mind, and now Scottie Pippen joins their ranks with crappy whisky in Wauwatosa. At least it’s only a 45 minute visit.

Bucks’ Brook Lopez blames Gary Trent Jr.’s headband for first career ejection: ‘It was talking to me’ (CBS Sports)

I didn’t think it was possible for Brook Lopez to have sustained beef with any person alive. Turns out he’s capable of stew, though, and so I hope everyone scrubs their minds of thoughts that Gary “Steve” Trent Jr. will be ending up in Milwaukee via trade at the upcoming deadline.

Bucks having to find ways to win at less than full strength (Associated Press)

Funny little line by Jrue Holiday at the end of this one stating he “doesn’t know” what makes an All-Star, although he thinks it is about dunking and scoring and screaming/shouting. Since he doesn’t do a lot of the former and almost none of the latter, the odds of him ever being an All-Star again are pretty low. The only stat he cracks the top-10 in on a per game basis is assists, and unfortunately for him, assists alone won't get him a nod.

LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo lead in 3rd fan returns of NBA All-Star Voting presented by AT&T (NBA.com)

A reminder of the greatness of All-Star Captain Giannis Antetokounmpo brings to the TNT on-air player draft:

God Emperor Goof could find no finer amphitheater than a national TV joke segment. We’ll find out if he can hang in there for his second All-Star captain nomination on January 26th.

NBA Stars Are Stuffing Stat Sheets Like Never Before. But Why? (FiveThirtyEight)

The one thing I’m always confused about with the “skill has never been better” argument supporting upticks in scoring across the league is the counterfactual that... shouldn’t defensive skills also be at their peak? I guess if the focus of developmental basketball from kids up focuses heavily on the offensive part of the game while shunting defense aside, you wouldn’t be surprised if there is a discrepancy between the two halves of the game at the highest level. As someone who can’t competently dribble to save his life, all I’ve got is defense to lean on — I had hoped there’d be a few more NBA players just like me.

Fan Post of The Week

Lest we call into question the integrity of the illustrious one member FPOTW Award Committee, I will avoid granting this week’s trophy to myself. Instead, it goes to burt snipes who cogently drills down on the one question that has and will probably continue to run as a sub-theme to this Bucks season: “Do injuries to stars matter?: The Bucks Fan’s Dilemma.”

It is, honestly, the exact post that makes frequenting BH fun. A little provocative, well-written and with a fun thoughtful hook. Agree or disagree with the premise, I enjoyed reading it.

(And if you want to throw me some Italian/Greek travel tips a la stoneAge, you’re welcome to join in on my FP, “In Euros, Please”.)

Know Your Enemy (Until SBNation ceases to exist)

Detroit Pistons - Detroit Bad Boys - DBB on 3: Midseason impressions on the Pistons

• A nice staff roundtable from the folks over at DBB that can be read to catch up on where the Pistons are at in another year focused primarily on internal development. Curious to see how quickly they push the chips in to start competing if they happen upon Wenbanyama or Henderson in the draft.

Denver Nuggets - Denver Stiffs - Denver Nuggets Film Friday: The lazy excuse

• A good slate of opponents for readers interested in some film breakdown. We’ve got some Nikola Jokic film to look at. His ability to dominate while moving at 2.5 miles per hour truly is mesmerizing.

Indiana Pacers - Indy Cornrows - Analyzing the Pacers who have shown the most growth

• Enjoyed a lot of the clips in this one, especially those showcasing Myles Turner’s growth this year now that he is no longer one half of a big man duo. His sealing off the opposing big off P&R in a zone drop scheme, and all the other little stuff showcased as part of Indiana’s growth this year, make the piece a worthwhile read.

New Orleans Pelicans - The Bird Writes - No star duo [has missed] more games than Brandon Ingram & Zion Williamson

The Social Media Section

Siri, can you pull up the definition of “revisionist history”? (Love you, John)

The “Serge Ibaka proves he is in shape through 10 second video clips” campaign has begun in earnest

MarJon is for the kids

Freedom beckons (in Detroit), my friend

Legendary Sixth Antetokounmpo Brother Mamadi Diakiate sighting

Spend enormous sums on clothing

Former Buck Kyle Korver going places

Jacque Vaughn sweating with the shadow of SVG waiting in the wings

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Riley’s 2022-2023 Weekly Prediction Record: 21-25

Milwaukee’s Actual 2022-2023 Record: 29-17

A full week of play ahead with four games in seven days, starting tonight in Detroit to play the Pistons. Then it is back home to host the Nuggets on Wednesday, down to Indianapolis for the Pacers on Friday, and home once again Sunday against the Pelicans to start a four game home stand.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Giannis got one more night off against the Pistons. With or without him, I’d expect a hard-fought win over Detroit, a loss to Denver, and wins over Indy and New Orleans. 3-1 would be a step in a nice direction.

Happy Monday!