Milwaukee Bucks Weekly: The Gang That Can’t Shoot Straight Starts 0-3

The Milwaukee Bucks had five players who averaged double-figure points in 2012-13 and four of those players now wear different uniforms. Milwaukee has 11 new players, an entirely new coaching staff and already a bevy of injuries to deal with.

So it can’t be a complete shock that the Bucks are (a) having trouble generating offense through their first preseason games and (b) having trouble winning said preseason games.

The Bucks lost their preseason opener on Tuesday to the Cleveland Cavaliers on the road, 99-87, a score that was artificially close because Milwaukee outscored the Cavs 28-19 in the fourth. The Bucks also lost forward Ersan Ilyasova to an ankle injury in that game—he hasn’t played since. The list of walking wounded includes Carlos Delfino (still recovering from foot surgery), Ekpe Udoh (out another four to six weeks with a knee injury) and Zaza Pachulia (recovering from Achilles surgery).

In the second preseason game, a 98-89 neutral-court loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves at Sioux Falls, S.D., on Thursday, guard Nate Wolters hurt his wrist in a hard fall to the floor, forward Giannis Antetokounmpo had problems with a sore knee and Gary Neal hurt his foot in the first half.

The wrist injury put a bit of a damper on what was a big night for Wolters, the 38th overall pick in this year’s draft out of South Dakota State, who came to the Bucks after a pair of draft-night deals. He was originally picked by the Washington Wizards, traded to the Philadelphia 76ers and then dealt to Milwaukee. HoopsHabit’s own Nathan Giese was in Sioux Falls to talk with Wolters and you can read his story here.

The Bucks played their first preseason game at the BMO Harris Bradley Center on Saturday night, but blew a 21-point lead in the second half and lost to the visiting Charlotte Bobcats 83-76. Coach Larry Drew was not pleased after the Bucks were outscored 33-9 over the final 12 minutes.

"“We came out flat in the third, but we did pick it up. We just didn’t respond to their run. That was the most disturbing part about it, in not responding and just seeing the body language when the team got on the run. We’re going to have to be better—much, much better.”"

On the injury front, Wolters didn’t play because of the wrist and Neal sat out with the sore foot. Antetokounmpo did log 14 minutes.

Scoring has been a constant problem in the preseason, in part because the Bucks just aren’t shooting well. Milwaukee is averaging just 84 points per game through their first three preseason contest and are doing it on just 40.5 percent shooting (94-for-232), including a 35.7 percent mark (20-for-56) from deep.

More concerning, however, might be that the Bucks are being outboarded by more than five rebounds per game and are averaging just shy of 22 turnovers a night while getting just 18.

However, Milwaukee’s defense—at least in terms of shooting—has been good. Bucks’ opponents are shooting just 38.7 percent (96-for-248) overall and 38.9 percent from 3-point range (21-for-54). But the extra opportunities afforded by being outrebounded (Milwaukee has surrendered 49 offensive rebounds in three games) and turning the ball over so much are making a difference.

One of the Bucks’ new acquisitions, Brandon Knight, is really struggling with his shooting (5-for-22 and 1-for-7 from deep) and Larry Sanders, armed with his new contract, is just 4-for-18, but does have 18 rebounds and eight blocks in 62 minutes.

O.J. Mayo is only 11-for-31 and has 29 points in 74 minutes while Caron Butler is a solid 13-for-27 with 35 points and 11 boards in 79 minutes.

Antetokounmpo has played 71 minutes thus far, scoring 20 points on 5-of-15 shooting (he’s 9-for-12 from the free-throw line) and has 16 rebounds, four assists, three steals and eight blocks. But the 18-year-old from Greece has also turned the ball over 12 times. He’s been better than expected, but undeniably raw.

Antetokounmpo did fill up the highlight reels with this block against the Timberwolves in Sioux Falls that led to transition dunk for Olek Czyz.

And the player that has rapidly become known as “The Alphabet” in Milwaukee provided another highlight with a nasty putback slam in the loss to Charlotte Saturday night:

In fairness to new coach Larry Drew, it’s been tough to get much accomplished because even with a training-camp sized roster, there have been so many guys banged up that it’s been hard to get 10 healthy bodies to scrimmage. The injuries are also slowing down the cohesion process necessary for so many new parts to come together.

And, hey, that’s why they have a preseason, right?

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