Young Bucks Tracker: Brogdon makes history; Giannis' superlatives

By Dave Heller
Published

With two-thirds of the roster born in 1990 or later, the Milwaukee Bucks are a young, growing team. Every Thursday for the rest of the season, FOX Sports Wisconsin will take a closer look at the players that are 25 years old and younger (for the most part, those still in their first four NBA seasons), measuring, highlighting and evaluating their progress.

This is the 9th edition of the 2016-17 Young Bucks Tracker.

(A glossary of the advanced statistics used for season totals, which are from basketball-reference.com. can be found at the end of this article)

GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO (Age 22, fourth season)

Statistical season averages: 35.3 minutes, 23.9 points, 9.1 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.9 steals, 2.0 blocks, 53.7 FG%, 29.3 3PT%.

Statistical averages, last week: 38.1 minutes, 28.3 points, 9.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.3 steals, 3.0 blocks, 62.9 FG%, 37.5 3PT%.

Advanced stats, season: 28.8 PER, 61.5 percent TS%, 28.6 percent USG%, 120 ORtg, 101 DRtg, 3.8 VORP.

Notable: It's hard to keep coming up with superlatives for Antetokounmpo every week, but somehow he keeps doing special things. He not only hit the game-winning shot against the Knicks, but he also was the first Bucks player to have at least 25 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks at Madison Square Garden since Vin Baker on March 17, 1994. Giannis had 27 points and 13 rebounds vs. New York, his seventh game this season with 25+ points and 10+ rebounds which is the most for a Milwaukee player since Glenn Robinson in 2000-01. One more: Giannis has scored 20+ points (actually 22) in 13 straight games, which is one of the longest streaks for the Bucks in the last 30 years.



 

MALCOLM BROGDON (Age 24, first season)

Statistical season averages: 23.6 minutes, 8.5 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 0.9 steals, 0.1 blocks, 44.5 FG%, 44.5 3PT%.

Statistical averages, last week: 35.6 minutes, 12.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 0.3 steals, 0.0 blocks, 40.4 FG%, 27.3 3PT%.

Advanced stats, season: 13.2 PER, 54.2 percent TS%, 17.6 percent USG%, 108 ORtg, 109 DRtg, 0.1 VORP.

Notable: Brogdon became the first Bucks rookie to post a triple-double when he posted 15 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds in a win at Chicago on New Year's Eve. Brogdon scored in double figures in all four games last week -- the longest streak of his rookie season. Perhaps not coincidentally, Brogdon topped 30 minutes for the first time this season, playing at least 32 minutes in each Bucks contest, including more than 38 minutes twice.

 

THON MAKER (Age 19, first season)

Statistical season averages: 4.0 minutes, 2.1 points, 1.3 rebounds, 0.0 assists, 0.0 steals, 0.2 blocks, 55.6 FG%, 50.0 3PT%.

Statistical averages, last week: 3.8 minutes, 1.5 points, 0.0 rebounds, 0.0 assists, 0.0 steals, 0.0 blocks, 50.0 FG%, 100.0 3PT%.

Advanced stats, season: 19.3 PER, 67.0 percent TS%, 19.6 percent USG%, 123 ORtg, 105 DRtg, -0.1 VORP.

Notable: Maker played nearly 6 minutes in the loss to Minnesota and almost 2 minutes in the win over Chicago, sinking a 3-pointer in the latter.

 

JABARI PARKER (Age 21, third season)

Statistical season averages: 33.8 minutes, 20.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.1 steals, 0.3 blocks, 49.7 FG%, 38.9 3PT%.

Statistical averages, last week: 39.0 minutes, 20.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.0 steals, 0.5 blocks, 51.8 FG%, 42.9 3PT%.

Advanced stats: 19.8 PER, 56.9 percent TS%, 25.8 percent USG%, 113 ORtg, 108 DRtg, 0.9 VORP.

Notable: Parker has now scored in double figures in 12 straight games.

 

TONY SNELL (Age 25, fourth season)

Statistical season averages: 28.9 minutes, 8.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.4 steals, 0.2 blocks, 41.7 FG%, 33.3 3PT%.

Statistical averages, last week: 25.9 minutes, 4.0 points, 1.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.0 blocks, 29.4 FG%, 30.8 3PT%.

Advanced stats: 8.4 PER, 54.2 percent TS%, 12.8 percent USG%, 106 ORtg, 111 DRtg, 0.1 VORP.

Notable: Coming off a strong shooting week, Snell struggled offensively in the past seven days. In the four games he made just 4 of 13 3-point attempts.



 

RASHAD VAUGHN (Age 20, second season)

Statistical season averages: 11.9 minutes, 4.4 points, 1.1 rebounds, 0.3 assists, 0.4 steals, 0.3 blocks, 38.7 FG%, 36.8 3PT%.

Advanced stats, season: 9.2 PER, 50.0 percent TS%, 17.6 percent USG%, 95 ORtg, 109 DRtg, -0.1 VORP.

Notable: Vaughn has an ankle injury and hasn’t played since Dec. 21.

 

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

PER -- Player Efficiency Rating: A measure of per-minute production standardized such that the league average is 15.

TS% -- True Shooting Percentage: A measure of shooting efficiency that takes into account 2-point field goals, 3-point field goals, and free throws.

USG% -- Usage Percentage: An estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while he was on the floor.

ORtg -- Offensive Rating: An estimate of points produced per 100 possessions.

DRtg -- Defensive Rating: An estimate of points allowed per 100 possessions.

VORP -- Value over Replacement Player: A box score estimate of the points per 100 TEAM possessions that a player contributed above a replacement-level (-2.0) player, translated to an average team and prorated to an 82-game season.

Dave Heller is the author of the upcoming book Ken Williams: A Slugger in Ruth's Shadow as well as Facing Ted Williams Players From the Golden Age of Baseball Recall the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived and As Good As It Got: The 1944 St. Louis Browns