Welcome to Winners & Sinners, where we reflect on the week that was for the Milwaukee Bucks. Week 3 saw the Bucks go 0-3, with the team losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Boston Celtics, and Toronto Raptors, despite some valiant efforts that put them in positions to win. But who’s deserving of the hardware?
MVB
Prior to the Raptors game, this was a legitimate conversation between Myles Turner and Tyler Herro. Then Turner pulled one of his all-too-common vanishing acts. Meanwhile, Herro put in his best
playmaking performance as a Buck to make it a no contest. And although he’s struggled in first quarters—zero first-quarter points this week—it hasn’t really mattered. He heats up. Quickly. But as Nate O. said in our staff thread, “he’s definitely more than just a microwave—he’s an air fryer.”
And so the nickname was born: Tyler Herro, the Air Fryer. Please make this a thing.
Defensive Belt
Defending Champion: Vacated.
The Contenders: Myles Turner, Ryan Rollins.
The Decision: I was so ready to anoint Turner as the defensive champion following his showings against the Timberwolves and Celtics, where he was a force blocking shots, accumulating seven across the two games, and also doing yeoman’s work on the boards (at least for him). Then he made it look like the Bucks would have to give up picks in any swap for Jakob Poeltl. Rollins had his moments too, especially when hounding Derrick White. But this belt ain’t no participation award; folks need to take it. And so it’s still collecting dust in the locker room.
The People’s Champ
This week’s champion is Sausagemahoney, who raised a very thought-provoking question about the Bucks’ decision to take Brayden Burries over Yaxel Lendeborg, who’s since given the zombie Golden State Warriors new life—and who legend Chris Mullin thinks is “going to be a perennial All-Star and just an All-NBA type”:
Truthfully, I’m just jealous I didn’t pose the question for this week’s Bucks Reacts Survey.
Run That Back
If, prior to the season, someone told you that Nate Ament would play fourth-quarter minutes for the Bucks—not the Herd—in the third week of the season, you’d have assumed it would come in garbage time. If they told you he would be a key contributor in a 22-point comeback, splashing an above-the-break three-pointer to cut the lead to two, you’d have called them crazy. Yeah, the Bucks didn’t go on to win this one. And, yes, the Bucks are in the trenches. But moments like this give you a reason to believe.
No hesitation, no rim. No ceiling. Not for this rookie.
Sinner(s)
Whoever coined “Kuzmania” absolutely nailed it—even if it was originally intended as a positive. Like “mania’s” psychiatric denotation, Kyle Kuzma’s game is just all over the place far too often for a tenth-year veteran. This week’s case in point came at the 2:59 mark of the fourth quarter against the Boston Celtics when, after coming back from a 22-point deficit and down only two, Kuzma decides to take a corner three with 19 seconds left on the shot-clock. 19! It wasn’t even as if he was hot—he’d hit only two field goals all game. Of course, after it clanks off rim, the Celtics go on to collect multiple offensive rebounds on the next possession, before Derrick White makes an and-one layup to extend the lead to five. Game over. But the most infuriating thing isn’t even that it cost the Bucks the win, it’s that Kuzma is supposed to be a veteran presence teaching the Bucks’ youth. Some lesson.
If… Then…
If Taylor Jenkins moving Brayden Burries into the starting lineup is a signpost of his willingness to tinker, then he has to do so elsewhere too. There is absolutely no reason to continue to start Kuzma and play him heavy minutes. None!
That’s all for Week 3. Share your winners and sinners in the comments!
