It’s official. The Milwaukee Bucks are back in the NBAPlayoffs for the second time in three seasons and have solidified a winningrecord in the regular season for the first time since the 2009-2010 “Fear TheDeer” campaign. After earning much-needed victories over the 76ers on Saturdayand the Hornets on Monday night, the 42-win Bucks locked themselves in thesixth spot with a date against the Toronto Raptors.
3 vs. 6
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 12, 2017
Raptors vs. Bucks
Who ya got? pic.twitter.com/qk2KUEprXY
With that being said, it’s almost time to hand out seasonawards and with that comes predictions. Here’s how some Bucks factor in.
MVP – Year of theTriple-Double
1. Russell Westbrook
2. LeBron James
3. James Harden
4. Kawhi Leonard
5. Giannis Antetokounmpo
What season it has been with all the talk surrounding guyslike LeBron James, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook, who broke Bucks legendOscar Robertson’s single season triple-double record after capturing his 42ndon Sunday night. The MVP award will most likely go to one of those three, butone can’t ignore the fact that Giannis Antetokounmpo’s name deserves to atleast be mentioned. The Greek Freak had a remarkable season getting Milwaukeeback to the playoffs for the second time in his career while leading his teamin points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks.
The triple-double used to be a stat that was exciting to seebecause of its rarity, but Russell Westbrook and James Harden have changed that.While King James recorded a respectable 13 triple-doubles and Giannis got his 3rdon Monday night, Harden and Westbrook have combined for a whopping 63 thisseason. Now you would think that it would be easy to just hand Westbrook thetrophy considering what he’s gone through after losing longtime teammate KevinDurant in free agency, but not even Oscar Robertson himself won the award backwhen he averaged a triple-double during the 1961-1962 season.
Getting back to this season, it’s been a back-and-forthdebate primarily between Harden and Westbrook. While it should probably go toone of those guys, one could make the case that LeBron, who’s averaging 26.4points, 8.6 rebounds, and 8.7 assists per game, should get the awardconsidering he’s been the best player in the world for the past decade.Honestly, LeBron should get the award because even though the Cavs have KyrieIrving and Kevin Love, they would be nowhere near the same team without KingJames. The same could also be said for the Thunder without Westbrook, who hassingle-handedly put his team on his back all season long. He has one motor andplays at that high level every single night. LeBron could get the award everyyear just like Kobe could have during his glory days as well, but the NBA likesto spread it around. Another guy I haven’t mentioned who also more thandeserves this award is Kawhi Leonard, who has quietly led the Spurs to thesecond seed in a loaded Western Conference. Leonard is arguably the besttwo-way player in the NBA, but the MVP is an offensive award and it’s hard tosay no to Westbrook, at least for this season.
Most Improved Player
1. Giannis Antetokounmpo
2. Isaiah Thomas
3. Rudy Gobert
4. Nikola Jokic
5. Bradley Beal
While Giannis is Milwaukee’s MVP, he seems to be a clearfront-runner for this year’s Most Improved Player award, which went toPortland’s C.J. McCollum last season. Not only did Giannis become the fifthplayer in NBA history to lead his team in all five major statistical categoriesthis season, but he is also looking to become the first player in NBA historyto finish in the top 20 in the entire league in all five of those respectivecategories. After finishing third in the MIP voting last season, getting theaward this season would be an incredible feat and a giant step in becoming oneof the best players in the NBA.
Rookie of the Year
1. Malcolm Brogdon
2. Dario Saric
3. Wily Hernangomez
4. Marquese Chriss
5. Buddy Hield
What more can you say about the Bucks 36th overall pick otherthan he’s been one of the most surprising stories of the season. It’s no doubthe’s been the steal of the draft considering he would more than likely be a top10 pick if they were to do the draft over. When he’s not hitting crazy shots tobeat the Celtics or dunking over guys like LeBron James, Kyrie Irving or DwyaneWade, the Bucks newest fan favorite has humbly taken on the role as the team’sstarting point guard. With the nickname “President” stemming back to days atthe University of Virginia, Brogdon has been the glue to this Bucks teamespecially throughout the second half of the season. That was evident after theirmiraculous 14-win month of March when he had to miss the next four games with aback injury. Consequently, the team went 1-3 and they looked like a totallydifferent team without him. After he returned Saturday in Philadelphia, theteam bounced back and won two straight to secure their playoff birth.
Considering what this team has been through, with injuriesto Khris Middleton to start the year followed by Jabari Parker’s second ACLtear, Brogdon just may in fact be the second most important player on the Bucksroster. The chemistry he has developed alongside Giannis and a rejuvenated GregMonroe has been extremely beneficial in helping lift the Bucks to the positionthey are in today.
If 76ers center Joel Embiid, who averaged 20.2 points 7.8rebounds, and 2.5 blocks in just 31 games, would have been able to play theentire season, then he may have edged out Brogdon for this award. Instead, histeammate Dario Saric is vying for the award and is just as deserving. Brogdon,meanwhile, has certainly made his case with his team in the playoffs and likelygoing to finish in the top five in most categories among rookies. Not tomention, he’s also the only rookie to record a triple-double this season, doingso in a win against the Bulls back on New Years Eve. Oh, and there’s never beena second round pick to win the award. So that alone would make a historicalachievement for Brogdon. What a feel good story to not only the Bucks, but alsoto the rest of the NBA. Brogdon is even so humble that he even turned down anoffer by the team to spend money on a campaign for the award. He instead toldthe organization to donate the money to charity since he didn’t want to drawany extra attention on himself. There aren’t many guys like Brogdon in the NBAand having a guy with his character has been godsend to Milwaukee. How can younot give him the award after all he’s done and brought to the Bucks this season?
6th Man ofthe Year
1. Lou Williams
2. Andre Iguodala
3. Eric Gordon
4. Greg Monroe
5. Jamal Crawford
While he may not be the first choice, a lot can be saidabout the season Greg Monroe is having. After being a prized free agent lastseason, signing a three year, $50 million dollar max deal with the Bucks,Monroe put up quality offensive numbers but struggled to fit in with a teamthat won just 33 games. He was even labeled a defensive liability. If you havewatched the Bucks this season, however, he’s undoubtedly been a differentplayer in year two. While it seems like a demotion, Moose has embraced his rolecoming off the bench while being a true leader to the second unit. His numbersmay be a tad down, averaging 11.8 points and 6.6 rebounds in 22.6 minutes pergame, but his commitment on the defensive side of the ball has not goneunnoticed. He’s been playing the best defense of his career with 1.2 steals pergame while being disruptive in the passing lanes and clogging up the paint.
Just like the most awards, though, this also tends to be anoffensive award and it looks like the most likely candidates involve a pair ofteammates in Houston. Feeding off of MVP hopeful James Harden, sharpshootersEric Gordon and Lou Williams have been lighting it up for the Rockets. WhileGordon has been the frontrunner most of the season, Williams, who won the sameaward back in 2015 with Raptors, has since taken over Houston’s second unit andis in prime position to steal it from him. Andre Iguodala, who is averagingcareer highs in field goal and three-point percentage, also makes his casebeing the catalyst to the west leading Warriors bench this season. Despite ahighly motivated Monroe, his case isn’t as strong being a traditional low postbig man.
Coach of the Year
1. Greg Popovich
2. Brad Stevens
3. Erik Spoelstra
4. Mike D’Antoni
5. Jason Kidd
Many cases can be made here. Seems boring to give it to GregPopovich in San Antonio, who has made the playoffs in each of the last 20seasons. One can’t deny their credentials. Without Timmy D and relying on agingguys like Manu Ginobli, Tony Parker and Pau Gasol, the Spurs continue to simplywin. Chalk up another 60-win crusade for Pop and his squad, who are always oneof the toughest outs in the playoffs. They do have an MVP caliber player inKawhi Leonard, but they always know how to put themselves in the best positionto win as a team.
Erik Spoelstra took an 11-30 Miami Heat team and turned theminto a 40-win team with the possibility of being the 7th or 8th seed in the playoffs.They have become the talk of the East with the Bucks as teams no one wants tosee in the first round.
It seemed like fruition that the Cavs would be the numberone seed in the East, but Brad Stevens and the Celtics proved that to be wrongas well with their more than impressive season. Although they haven’t quitecaptured the top seed yet, a lot can be said of a team whose best player is agenerous 5’9” Isaiah Thomas.
The Rockets, who are third in the West with 54 wins, havebeen an offensive problem for anybody under Mike D’Antoni. The offensive mindedveteran coach has given Houston an identity that makes them as dangerous asanybody when it comes to chances of winning a title.
Is there a case for Bucks coach Jason Kidd? Absolutely. TheBucks went from 26-33 to 42-39 over the last 22 games and he even earned coachof the month in March. He started to find a solid rotation that best suited tohis player’s strengths while still finding minutes for guys like rookie ThonMaker. Will that be enough to get him the award? Probably not but he’s done aheck of job getting this team to where it is today.
Playoff Tickets
In case you haven’t yet, get your playoff tickets today andcheer on the Bucks as they try to win their first playoff series since the2000-2001 season when they made it to the conference finals.
The Bucks will host the Raptors in the first round of the NBA Playoffs!
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) April 12, 2017
Get your tickets for the games @BMOHBC NOW: https://t.co/AL3HR9nwMr pic.twitter.com/HymvqtVZ69
