Bucks Zone

“I think the Bucks are the team to beat” - Charles Barkley gives his take on the Milwaukee Bucks’ campaign this season

Charles and Kenny "The Jet" Smith love what the Bucks have shown so far.
Matthew Dugandzic|
“I think the Bucks are the team to beat” - Charles Barkley gives his take on the Milwaukee Bucks’ campaign this season
“I think the Bucks are the team to beat” - Charles Barkley gives his take on the Milwaukee Bucks’ campaign this season

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Milwaukee Bucks

Are the Milwaukee Bucks the team to beat this season? Two basketball legends believe so.

Charles and Kenny praise the Bucks

Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley both see the Bucks as the team to beat this season owing to their deep lineup bannered by two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.

In a recent edition of Inside the NBA, Smith and Barkley picked the Bucks to go all the way, while Kenny said trade deadline acquisitions have made the Bucks more potent.

“They have…adding (Jae) Crowder, put (Grayson) Allen coming at 8th or 9th man. Point guard play..Jrue Holiday, you have (Khris) Middleton, you have Brook Lopez. They are the deepest team now, which they weren’t before the trade deadline. They are the team to beat,” Smith said.

Smith said that with Antetokounmpo having another great season and the supporting cast that he has, the Bucks are certainly favored to win it all.

“When Giannis plays the way he is with that lineup, I don’t see them losing the East this year,” said Smith.

Barkley agreed with his co-host’s assessment of the Bucks.

“I think the Bucks are the team to beat in the entire NBA,” the Hall of Famer added.

Deep team

The Bucks showed the deep lineup that Smith and Barkley talked about when they easily defeated the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night, even without Antetokounmpo (non-COVID-19 illness) and Jrue Holiday (sore neck).

Giannis is the team’s leading scorer with 31.2 points a game and also the top rebounder with 11.9 per outing. Holiday leads the Bucks in assists with 7.3 per game along with 19.9 points per contest.

And yet those big numbers that the Bucks missed versus the Magic hardly mattered as Milwaukee scored an easy 134-123 win.

“I really think it’s just the caliber of players we have. We’ve got guys who are high basketball IQ and are unselfish, team first. It’s great to have a couple of those guys, but to have a bench full of them; we’re really lucky,” Lopez said after the win.

Tuesday night’s win stretched Milwaukee’s league-best record to 47-18. With the competition entering the homestretch, Milwaukee is certainly looking like a legit title contender. 

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Matthew Dugandzic
MATTHEW DUGANDZIC

Matthew finished his bachelor's degree in Economics (Management) at the University of Split and got his master's degree in the same field at the University of Zadar. Whether it is playing the game as an undersized 6'3'' power forward or simply watching it, Matthew can't get enough of it. After all, he has been an avid NBA fan since the 2000s. But don't get him wrong, as Matthew still loves the old-school NBA and is a true student of the game. From on-court moments to off-court stuff, whether it's about the stars of modern-day basketball or legends of the game, Matthew covers every category of the NBA world and basketball in general, as long as it makes for an engaging and exciting story.