Before the season started, reports out of the Bucks’ training camp were that Donte DiVincenzo was kicking everybody’s butts and shooting the ball extraordinarily well. I’m sure those reports were true, they wouldn’t just lie about something like that, but I forgot to consider that training camp reports are totally worthless for predicting future success. Every year we hear about this or that player “looking really good” or “has put on 20 pounds of muscle” or “got into a fight with a hobo” but until they prove it in regular season action, it all means nothing.
DiVincenzo didn’t have a good preseason despite those reports, so when it came time for the games to start mattering, he didn’t get any minutes, only a very small amount in what I call “The Time of Garbage”. I was starting to get worried that this would be sort of a lost year for him, smothered in the rotation by steadier veteran guards while the Bucks try to actually make it to the Finals this time.
I don’t know what prompted Budenholzer to randomly give him so many minutes tonight, but he did, and we are all benefiting. This is one of the best games of his career, where he got to show off his improved three-point stroke as well as his passing and defense. And it’s not like he was playing pressure-free minutes; he was a big part of the Bucks turning their small lead into a huge one. If I’m a Magic fan, I’m justifiably pissed. Something about “why do scrubs always go off on us?”.