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Well, would you look at that. We’ve made it through our first full month of Milwaukee Bucks basketball. It seems like just yesterday we were making preparations for Opening Night, doesn’t it? As is the case for any calendar month in the NBA, the young Bucks have experienced their fair share of ups and downs. There have been moments where you may have felt a little hot under the collar, and there have also been several moments where you’ve gone to work the next day with a sore hand as a result of all the post-game high fives you administered. Probably. I’m definitely not speaking from personal experience here.
Much of the attention heading into the season was given to the starting lineup, and deservedly so. Need we remind you that the starters have an average league experience of under three years and none of them are over the age of 26? Anyways, while the spotlight was on the starting unit, several of the Bucks’ brightest performances in November have come from off of the bench. With a few offseason moves to get younger and an injury to O.J. Mayo to start the season, the bench has been spread a little thin, at least in terms of experience together. Thankfully, Milwaukee has been able to rely on a few familiar faces and a fresh one to carry the bench as the team tries to find their groove.
With this in mind, let’s look back on the month that was in super sub performances.
In his first game back after missing four games with a sore Achilles, Henson was dominant in just 23 minutes of action. Henson told reporters after the game that “it was good to be able to get out there and throw that left hook,” and that he did, scoring seven points during a 11-2 run in the fourth quarter, highlighted by a three-point play underneath the basket and a critical block of Carmelo Anthony. Oh, Henson also made six of seven free throws on the night. Quite the productive night in the Big Apple for John.
Fresh off of an electric Build the Future tailgate before the game, the Bucks capped off an undefeated week with a 94-86 victory over the Brooklyn Nets. Jerryd Bayless, making the first of many appearances on this list, notched a double-double off the bench, his 10 assists falling just one shy of his career high. With Michael Carter-Williams out nursing a bad ankle during this stretch, the Bucks needed the other guards to step up, and they went to Jerryd.
Coming off of a home game the night before against the Boston Celtics, it wouldn’t have shocked many people if the Bucks struggled in the high altitude in Denver the following night. Fueled by Vasquez, the Bucks stormed out to a 64-point first half. When the team went cold to start the second half, Bayless led a furious comeback that helped give the Bucks a late lead. Unfortunately they came up just short in a loss, but the effort of both guards was not lost on anyone.
In what was arguably the best win of the season, Bayless (told you he would make several appearances) led seven Bucks scoring double figures with 17. The back and forth game saw Giannis Antetokounmpo foul out in the beginning of the second overtime, and guess who drew the straw of guarding LeBron James the rest of the way? That’s right, it was the 6-3 Bayless. Though shutting down James wasn’t totally possible, Bayless did his best to make things difficult, and the stops that the Bucks did get allowed them to pull just far enough away to secure the win in front of the raucous BMOHBC crowd.
Though little seemed to work against the hot shooting Kings the night before Thanksgiving, John Henson was able to put up a remarkably efficient stat line, notching a double-double on 6-for-8 shooting in only 19 minutes of his action. Henson is shooting just under 57 percent on the season, the best on the team.
Coming off of the bench for the second straight game, MCW put his fingerprints all over this game. He was especially active in the second half, where he put up 8 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. “Tonight, I had a different attitude coming into the game. I wanted to go in there and give a good impact; I didn’t want to be tentative,” MCW told reports after the game. It was hard to ignore said impact in the second half, not only because he was everywhere on the court, but because the Bucks were able to stretch their lead to a more than comfortable margin.
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