Hoopla

The Bucks’ young players should prove fun to watch

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The Green Bay Packers are 6-0, the Wisconsin Badgers football team still has half a season left to play, and the World Series hasn’t even begun. But time marches on, and the Milwaukee Bucks are ready to play basketball again.

The team recently spent some time in Madison, holding a week of preseason practices at UW’s Nicholas-Johnson Pavilion in September and playing a preseason game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Kohl Center earlier this week. The focus on Madison — an effort by new ownership to make the Bucks a statewide entity — represented the first time they played here since 1999.

This is a different Bucks team than the one that made the playoffs last year with a 41-41 record, falling to the Chicago Bulls in the first round. First off, the new uniforms no longer have that old-school red stripe and look pretty darn cool with the “Fear the Deer” slogan.

Second, now that the Milwaukee Common Council has approved a $47 million spending plan as part of a $250 million public financing package for a new downtown Milwaukee arena, the Bucks can confidently play knowing the team is staying put. Regardless of which way you lean politically, if you’re a Bucks fan, this is good news.

The offseason acquisition of 25-year-old 6-foot-11 center Greg Monroe via free agency from the Detroit Pistons will bring more physicality and seniority to the Bucks. Second-year forward Jabari Parker, who tore his ACL last December, should be ready to return and lead a group of fan-friendly young players including Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton — two guys who averaged double-digit scoring last season. Milwaukee is still in the process of reaching its potential, and this team should be fun to watch.

Many Badger fans will be keeping an eye on at least two other NBA teams this season. Former Wisconsin Badgers Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker are rookies with, respectively, the Charlotte Hornets and the Houston Rockets.

Kaminsky’s goofy charm was on display last week during a series of exhibition activities in Shanghai, as he danced to “Teach Me How to Dougie,” while Dekker appeared to be making the most of his early yet limited playing time with a slick alley-oop against the Orlando Magic that was good enough for the highlights reel.