By Adam Roberts – 12/23/2020

The Bucks will open the 2021 season tonight against the Celtics in Boston, hoping that this season they take that next step on their quest to win an NBA Championship.

Milwaukee will look to have a better start to the regular season than the preseason, where it went 0-and-3, and subsequently is hoping to improve over their unexpected semifinal exit in the bubble last season against Miami. The starting lineup for the Bucks tonight looks like this:

PG: Jrue Holiday

SG: Donte Divincenzo

SF: Khris Middleton

PF: Giannis Antetokounmpo

C: Brook Lopez

Milwaukee should be at essentially full strength, with only point guard D.J. Augustin listed on the injury report.

By Adam Roberts – 12/23/2020

Upsets in high school basketball are harder to come by than you might think. At this level of competition, the difference between the haves and have-nots is usually wide enough that the favorite wins most games. And at halftime, the score between the second-ranked (D5) Bangor ladies and Luther was 15-11 Cardinals.

But on their home floor, the Knights were not content to roll over.

Senior Cassie Warren finished with 13 points to lead overall scoring and was complimented by 10 from 6’2″ junior Rachel Koenig as Luther outscored Bangor 31-25 in the second half, just enough for a stunning 42-40 upset win. Despite a cold start to the game on offense, Luther’s defense never allowed Bangor to run away with things. In a game where big runs are usually the dagger to any upset hopefuls, there were really none to be found.

The win was also the 500th in the history of the Luther girl’s program.

2-3 Luther next faces C-FC on Monday, while Bangor looks to bounce back with a good showing in the Shullsburg Tournament in Wisconsin Dells starting on Tuesday.

By Adam Roberts – 12/22/2020

Back in 2015, the future of the Milwaukee Bucks in the Milwaukee area was in jeopardy with the aging Bradley Center the third oldest arena in the NBA and the league demanding an upgrade. If that did not happen, it was very possible the team would relocate to Seattle or possibly Las Vegas. Thankfully for fans of Wisconsin pro basketball, the state senate voted to allocate funds for what would become the Fiserv Forum.

Still, I think it’s safe to say most basketball fans want to see the Supersonics, or some new Seattle NBA team, once again. Now it appears that could be a possibility in the near future.

In a press availability Monday, league commissioner Adam Silver described the league as having a sense of “manifest destiny.” This is a change of tone from the head man in the Association, who has said the league has not been considering expansion over the past few years. The NBA hasn’t added teams since it expanded to 30 in 2002 with a team returning to Charlotte (originally the Bobcats before the Hornets name became available once again). The most likely destination of this new expansion would be Seattle, which nearly landed the Sacramento Kings in 2013 and then the Bucks as mentioned above, but Las Vegas could also be a popular choice.

Hell, maybe the league would shrug its collective shoulders and go “Why not both?”. Two new teams with expansion fees paid off to the league would certainly help the league handle revenue losses from a lack of fans during the pandemic, and new two teams in the West could push Memphis and New Orleans to the East, helping balance competitiveness.

Silver has said that plenty of conversations need to be had still, but on the otherside of COVID-19, basketball back in Seattle could be very much in the picture.

By Adam Roberts – 12/21/2020

While he certainly made a name for himself as an All-Pro linebacker between his rookie year in 1985 and his final season with Carolina in 1999, it wouldn’t be until the 2010 NFL season when Kevin Greene would get his coveted Super Bowl ring. The third-leading sacker in league history missed out on a ring shot when the Steelers lost to Dallas in Super Bowl XXX, and with Charles Woodson out of the game suddenly for the Packers in Super Bowl XLV, the now linebacker coach needed to light a fire under someone’s rear.

That someone turned out to be a then-second year stud Clay Matthews, who drew Greene to the Packers in 2009 after seeing a lot of himself in Clay, plus skills he admitted he never had. After telling Matthews that Woodson was out for good, and that the team needed a leader to speak up, Matthews responded by hitting Rashad Mendenhall on the first play from scrimmage in the fourth quarter to force a fumble recovered by Desmond Bishop. The Pack never lost their lead, and secured their 13th world championship that night.

Greene’s stats speak for themselves; the Hall of Famer also had 23 forced fumbles and five interceptions to go with his 160 sacks. But his fiery passion and knowledge of what the right thing to say in the moment to inspire a young star was why finally put that ring on his finger. A fiery passion many teams would certainly give an arm and a leg for today.

Greene was 58 years old.

By Adam Roberts – 12/21/2020

The NBA is docking the Milwaukee Bucks a 2022 second-round draft pick for speaking to free agent Bogdan Bogdanovic too early.

The league announced the Bucks violated league rules when they spoke with Bogdanovic prior to the allowable date.The Bucks did not end up signing the forward after a failed sign-and-trade with Sacramento, which was taken into account when the league decided on the severity of the punishment. Bogdanovic ultimately signed with the Atlanta Hawks.

The Bucks did acquire Jrue Holiday this offseason and also re-signed Giannis to a five-year supermax extension, so many would consider that and the addition of Sam Merrill and drafting of Jordan Nwora as net wins for the franchise. Milwaukee begins the regular season this Wednesday against Boston.