Young Bucks Tracker: Triple-double alert! Giannis off to strong start
With two-thirds of the roster born in 1990 or later, the Milwaukee Bucks are a young, growing team. Every Thursday for the rest of the season, FOX Sports Wisconsin will take a closer look at the players that are 25 years old and younger (for the most part, those still in their first four NBA seasons), measuring, highlighting and evaluating their progress.
This is the 1st edition of the 2016-17 Young Bucks Tracker.
(A glossary of the advanced statistics used for season totals, which are from basketball-reference.com. can be found at the end of this article)
GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO (Age 21, fourth season)
Statistical season averages: 35.8 minutes, 23.3 points, 9.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.0 steals, 2.0 blocks, 51.4 FG%, 25.0 3PT%.
Advanced stats, season: 26.5 PER, 57.1 percent TS%, 27.1 percent USG%, 114 ORtg, 105 DRtg, 0.3 VORP.
Notable: It's a small sample size thus far, but last year Antetokounmpo's usage rate was 22.3 percent and his player efficiency rating 18.8. In his last two games he was two rebounds and two assists and then three assists short of triple-doubles.
MALCOLM BROGDON (Age 23, first season)
Statistical season averages: 18.8 minutes, 7.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.5 steals, 0.0 blocks, 40.0 FG%, 16.3 3PT%.
Advanced stats, season: 14.2 PER, 46.0 percent TS%, 21.2 percent USG%, 94 ORtg, 106 DRtg, 0.0 VORP.
Notable: The second-round pick has seen a decent amount of court time in the early going, with a season high 23:44 on Tuesday. In that win over New Orleans, Brogdon had 14 points, four assists and four steals.
THON MAKER (Age 19, first season)
Statistical season averages: 2.0 minutes, 0.0 points, 1.0 rebounds, 0.0 assists, 0.0 steals, 0.0 blocks, n/a FG%, n/a 3PT%.
Advanced stats, season: 6.1 PER, n/a percent TS%, 0.0 percent USG%, n/a ORtg, 102 DRtg, 0.0 VORP.
Notable: It's been a slow start for the No. 10 overall pick in the NBA Draft. Maker has appeared in just one game, playing 1:35 in a loss at Detroit on Oct. 30.
JABARI PARKER (Age 21, third season)
Statistical season averages: 30.8 minutes, 15.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.3 steals, 0.0 blocks, 44.0 FG%, 25.0 3PT%.
Advanced stats: 14.9 PER, 52.3 percent TS%, 22.7 percent USG%, 106 ORtg, 113 DRtg, -0.1 VORP.
Notable: Parker's shooting percentage is down from last year but he's taking almost a shot more a game (again, small sample size), so expect his points per game to increase once he gets in the groove, Also, Parker is shooting 84.2 percent from the line in four games. He increased his percentage to 76.8 percent last season from 69.7 percent as a rookie.
TONY SNELL (Age 24, fourth season)
Statistical season averages: 26.7 minutes, 7.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.3 steals, 0.0 blocks, 38.5 FG%, 21.4 3PT%.
Advanced stats: 6.8 PER, 44.2 percent TS%, 15.2 percent USG%, 91 ORtg, 111 DRtg, -0.1 VORP.
Notable: Snell missed the first game recovering from an ankle injury and started the next three. His season high in minutes per game is 20.3 with Chicago last season.
RASHAD VAUGHN (Age 20, second season)
Statistical season averages: 18.5 minutes, 8.5 points, 1.3 rebounds, 0.0 assists, 1.3 steals, 0.5 blocks, 40.6 FG%, 40.0 3PT%.
Advanced stats, season: 13.2 PER, 53.1 percent TS%, 19.3 percent USG%, 100 ORtg, 107 DRtg, 0.0 VORP.
Notable: Vaughn is still searching for consistency as his second year in the NBA begins. He had 22 points and made 6 of 12 3-point shots in a win over Brooklyn, but followed that up with a 2-for-8 shooting game against Detroit. He's made just 2 of 7 3-pointers in the two games since playing the Nets.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
PER -- Player Efficiency Rating: A measure of per-minute production standardized such that the league average is 15.
TS% -- True Shooting Percentage: A measure of shooting efficiency that takes into account 2-point field goals, 3-point field goals, and free throws.
USG% -- Usage Percentage: An estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while he was on the floor.
ORtg -- Offensive Rating: An estimate of points produced per 100 possessions.
DRtg -- Defensive Rating: An estimate of points allowed per 100 possessions.
VORP -- Value over Replacement Player: A box score estimate of the points per 100 TEAM possessions that a player contributed above a replacement-level (-2.0) player, translated to an average team and prorated to an 82-game season.
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