“Giannis for MVP and DPOY, Grayson Allen horror show, Big 3 dominance, and much, much more!”: Milwaukee Bucks TSR Roundup

Superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo has been exceptional on both ends of the floor. Milwaukee Bucks Twitter and Grayson Allen have a nightmare.

Welcome to TheSportsRush Mailbag. Milwaukee Bucks edition.

Since the last iteration, the Milwaukee Bucks are 10-7, including a 4-game and a 3-game winning streak as well as losing 5 times in 8 over that period. Firstly, the reigning champions beat the Celtics convincingly on Christmas, followed by wins over the Magic.

Then, they suffered embarrassing defeats at the hands of Detroit and Toronto. In fact, they lost to LaMelo Ball and the Hornets twice in the span of 3 days. They then beat the high-flying Warriors before falling once again to the Raptors and underwhelming Atlanta Hawks.

However, they quickly bounced with a 3-game winning streak including an impressive victory over the Grizzlies. They followed that up before falling to the young Cavs, before beating the disgruntled Knicks.

To summarize, Giannis and company beat the teams with championship aspirations but lost to bottom feeders or troubled teams.

Also Read: Draymond Green opens up about one mistake by Houston’s GM that might have cost them a championship

The Good

Giannis Antetokounmpo looks all set to win his 3^rd MVP and 2^nd DPOY award.

The MVP race this year is one of the closest ones ever and seems like every week the narrative suffers a change. While Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant were the favourties initially, now it is between Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Nikola Jokic, with the Greek Freak slightly edging out.

The has been exceptional this season. The 5x All-Star is averaging 28.8 points, 11.3 rebounds, and a career-high 5.9 points per game. Moreover, with the Bucks being up there on the table, it just makes him the clear favourite.

However, what makes his displays impressive is that he is excelling at both ends of the floor. So much so that the 5x All-Star is leading the charts for the DPOY award. In fact, the last time the list was published, he wasn’t even ranked. Now, Giannis ranks 1st, above Rudy Gobert and Draymond Green.

Giannis is only the third player alongside Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon in NBA history to win the MVP and DPOY awards in the same season. However, the 27-year-old could do it for the second time this campaign, achieving something nobody else has done before.

If the Greek Freak continues on this trajectory, he is primed to win both the MVP and DPOY when everything is said and done.

The Milwaukee Bucks big 3 are unstoppable when on the court together.

When the Milwaukee Bucks are at full strength, there’s almost no team that can beat them. However, the problem is that they haven’t been fully healthy the first few months into the season. That is the only reason why the Bucks’ record doesn’t reflect their dominance on the court.

Throughout 51 games, the trio has only played a mere 23 games together thus far. Giannis Antetokounmpo has appeared in 41 games, Khris Middleton in 39, and Jrue Holiday in 38 as each of the three have had various reasons that forced them to be out of the lineup for various games.

However, when they do share the court, they are nearly unstoppable. In fact, when the big 3 of Giannis, Jrue Holiday, and Khris Middleton all play, they are an impressive 19-4.

Although they have only played in only 23 games this year, it looks like the Bucks are finally starting to get healthy to the point where these three will play with more regularity, and hopefully can stay that way for the foreseeable future.

Also Read: Kevin Garnett reveals being a big fan of the youngest Ball brother and the Michael Jordan owned team

The Bad

The Milwaukee Bucks front office hasn’t made a move to improve their roster…just yet.

With the 2022 NBA trade deadline on the horizon, the Bucks haven’t made notable moves to improve their squad. When the front office cut shockingly DeMarcus Cousins, many expected them to make a move or two to help them once come playoff time.

So without a lot of players in high demand across the league and not much in the form of future draft picks, Milwaukee will have to turn to the buyout market to fortify its roster for another deep playoff run.

However, in the past, the Bucks front office has always come in clutch when it matters most and has done an excellent job with surrounding the Greek Freak with excellent pieces. Hopefully, history repeats itself. Bucks fans will certainly hope that’s the case.

Also Read: Nets’ head coach Steve Nash provides reason behind why the Beard likely won’t miss the All-Star game, despite injury

The Ugly

Grayson Allen and Milwaukee Bucks Twitter disaster class.

By now, we all know the incident that took place between Bucks guard Grayson Allen and Bulls’ Alex Caruso. Just in case you haven’t seen it, here’s the clip:

As you can see, Caruso went up for a dunk attempt, with Allen at his heels. The Bucks player attempted to block the shot… in his own way. Of course, one cannot fault a player for attempting to block a shot, however, whatever Allen did is certainly not that.

To make matters worse, the Bucks player was seen laughing after the incident. While the youngster came out later and clarified that it was a mistake, it was not taken well by anyone. After all, he has a history of making dirty and unsportsmanlike plays from his days at Duke University.

Furthermore, the morning after the incident, the Bucks PR team tweeted out a “good morning” tweet with the picture of Allen, which was not well received by fans of the NBA. Later, it was clarified that it was a scheduled tweet, but the damage was done.

The league issued a one-game suspension to the 26-year-old for his troubles, which was considered lenient by Bulls fans, who were not happy, as Caruso fractured his wrist in the process. With Chicago already suffering from injuries, this is definitely not a welcome sight for them.

What to look forward to from Giannis Antetokounmpo and Co.?

The Milwaukee Bucks are all set to face the Denver Nuggets in a mouth-watering clash between the MVPs in Giannis and Nikola Jokic. Post-that, the Bucks have a relatively easy schedule over the next few games, as they face the Wizards, Trailblazers, and Clippers all in a span of the next week.

At 30-20, the team sits fifth in the Eastern Conference standings prior to the game against the Denver Nuggets. But it’s still anyone’s game as the top six teams in the East are within two games of each other.

Hopefully, by the time the next edition is out, The Bucks are fully healthy and fighting the Heat for the 1^st seed. In the meantime, they will be focused on improving their record in the league and look to gain home-court advantage for the entirety of the playoffs.

Also Read: Andrew Wiggins shouts out Bam-Bam for lobbying for his first All-Star appearance at Cleveland