Good luck when it comes to betting on the Milwaukee Bucks. Seriously. There is a clear disconnect between who these Bucks want to be and who they are. A successull 2014-15 season goaded them into investing in Greg Monroe, the thought being that he would take a playoff team and make it better. But the Bucks are no longer a playoff team, having crumbled under a flawed model. Betting on them is a trying on endeavor, and it’s going to take some time before things get substantively better.
Defensive regression is at the heart of the Bucks’ flaws. Adding Monroe has impacted the way they guard opposing offenses.
Since he isn’t a good rim protector, the Bucks cannot take as many chances in passes lanes or stage as many traps. They aren’t forcing as many turnovers and have to instead cheat toward the paint.
That leaves them suscpetible to three-pointers, which they’ve done an OK job of recovering against, and dribble drives. This is a lethal combination, in a bad way, when you don’t have a robust offense on which to fall back.
Who Do The Milwaukee Bucks Play Next
Here you’ll find the Bucks’ next opponent. See the moneylines, spreads, overs and unders, then place your bets accordingly—after doing the necessary research, of course.
Milwaukee Bucks Game Schedule
This is the rest of the Bucks’ schedule in its entirey. Planning some of your bets in advance is always good practice. You won’t have the exact lines available, but selecting certain opponents and reseraching how well or poorly they stack up against Milwaukee will give you a jump start.
You’ll also want to use these schedules as a baseline for teams the Bucks have played before.
Look back, and see how they’ve fared against certain opponents. This way, when those opponents reappear on the schedule, you will know to lean toward a particular bet.
Milwaukee Bucks Standings Today
This is where you can see how the Bucks measure up to the rest of the Eastern Conference. Eventually, you’ll want to use these standings to figure out where Milwaukee sits in the playoff picture—or whether they have a real chance to make the postseason at all.
For now, these standings are just a reminder that the Bucks are speeding toward yet another lottery appearance.
The Bucks' Difficult Balancing Act
This is what makes betting on the Bucks so difficult. They are simultanteously far away and right there. Alas, until they travel in one or the other direction, flat out becoming a rebuilding team or genuine contender, you'll want to keep your futures betting, from win totals to conference odds to championship chances, to a conservative minimum.
Milwaukee's offseason should give you a better idea as to where it's headed. The Bucks won't transform into a championship contender overnight, but they should end up favoring one way or the other.
Before anything happens, good or bad, the Bucks really need to find a new home for Greg Monroe. They cannot fashion their preferred defense around him, and he doesn't do much for their offense, since he's not a floor spacer.
John Henson is just about ready to take up full-time duties at the 5 anyway, and he doesn't command as nearly many touches as Monroe. He is a solid pick-and-roll threat, and he will protect the rim in ways Monroe never will.
Deploying some extra shooters will also be part and parcel of any Bucks uprising. They are going to have a floor spacing liability at the 5, which is unavoidable at this point. They will also have another one or two in Antetokounmpo or Parker, since, at best, their outside accuracy is a work in progress.
The Bucks cannot afford anymore spacing detriments. They need to modernize their offense so that they're not solely relying on a defense that's no longer tailored to their personnel.
If and when they part ways with Monroe while injecting some extra spacing into the offense, that's when you'll want to consider betting on futures, be they win totals or conference odds. The championship picture will be the only no-no in that scenario, as the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors have that tier down on lock.
How To Make Money Betting On Milwaukee Bucks
It shouldn't be too long until the Bucks start figuring things out on the offensive end. Head coach Jason Kidd has installed Giannis Antetokounmpo as the team's de facto point guard, and while he's still working out the kinks of assuming such responsbility, he is also giving Milwaukee a reliable playmaker, consistent attacker and solid finisher around the rim.
That's a skill set you can build around. The Bucks just need to throw some additional shooters around him so that his own jumper doesn't become such a liability.
If Antetokounmpo ever develops a jumper, though, the Bucks will be on the brink of becoming a two-way dynamo. And that's the weird thing about this rebuild.
For as far away as the Bucks actually are, they still appear to be hovering on the cusp of something great. Khris Middleton, Jabari Parker and Antetokounmpo will work together long term. They just need to fill out the rest of the roster.