Ersan Ilyasova is back on the Bucks! The initial excitement has worn off for me a little bit, but it’s still great to see him back where he belongs. You may notice the “vintage” thumbnail image, evocative of the ones I was using around 2015. True DTB historians will remember that the image of Ilyasova with sunglasses was my original channel icon when I first started, all those years ago. He was my fave player then, and maybe he isn’t now, but he still holds a great place in my heart.
Alright, enough sappy nonsense. This is serious. The Bucks are 7-0 now, the only undefeated team in the league, and it turns out they don’t even need Giannis. Just have Ilyasova score a bunch of quick points (optional), keep spreading the ball around, and 20-point wins will come naturally. Budenholzer has really worked some magic here. I don’t want to sound too excited, because knowing the Bucks things will implode in some horrific/comical way, but I’ve never seen them play like this. In any iteration. I’m too young to really remember the last time they were good, almost two decades ago. But maybe they’re really good now.
Again, don’t want to get ahead of myself. It’s a long season. Ilyasova will probably score 20 at some point, Sterling Brown will demand a trade, and I will demand a trade for Thon Maker. There’s a lot of basketball still to be played.