SPORTS LINE
The Milwaukee Bucks
The team tipped off the 2024-25 NBA season on the right foot, dispatching the shorthanded Philadelphia 76ers 124-109. The days of Bucks players watching and waiting for something to happen, are over. Doc Rivers is preaching movement off the ball, and Milwaukee’s players have clearly listened. It’s especially apparent when Giannis Antetokounmpo or Damian Lillard has the ball. Then everyone else knows it’s time to start moving. Even Bobby Portis is keeping his eyes up. Much has been made of the Antetokounmpo-Lillard duo, but it was Dame and Brook Lopez who stole the show in the opener. Their pick-and-roll synergy carried over from last season, and it’s already opening up shots for everyone. If Antetokounmpo and Lillard take time to develop chemistry, this duo will be more than enough to keep the offense humming. Giannis Antetokounmpo has had stretches where he’s fit like a glove in a team offensive approach that emphasizes off-ball actions/movement. Then he’ll call his own number and look like a sore thumb out of places at times. If he gets a defender on his hip, he’s still automatic, but his first thought isn’t to attack in a way to see if he can generate looks like that every possession. A work in progress.
Coaching has looked a little inflexible through a very small sample size. They drew up a great plan against a Sixers team who only had Maxey to focus on. Chicago had some red flags in the first half that weren’t addressed until the third quarter, and even then, not in any sustained manner. On the upside, none of this is backbreaking (we’re very early in the season!). On the downside, some of these issues bleed over from the end of last season with the added troubles of integrating a new third of the playable rotation and Antetokounmpo finding his feet again post-injury and post-Olympics.
The Packers.
Through the first half of the season, though, the most important trade of this NFL season occurred on Aug. 26 when the Green Bay Packers sent a seventh-round draft pick to Tennessee for quarterback Malik Willis. Willis, a third-year player who had done little as a Titan, has been a godsend for Green Bay since his arrival. Willis and the Packers went 2-0 when franchise quarterback Jordan Love missed Weeks 2-3 with a knee injury. Willis then relieved an injured Love Sunday and rallied the Packers to a 30-27 win over Jacksonville. The biggest came in the final 2 minutes after Jacksonville rallied from a 10-point deficit to tie the game, 27-27. Willis, who entered early in the third quarter after Love exited with a groin injury, had thrown just four passes at that point.
Most expected Green Bay would be playing for overtime. Instead, LaFleur and the Packers had enough faith in Willis to try winning the game. On second-and-6 from the 34, Willis faked a handoff and rolled right. Wideout Jayden Reed was lined up in the right slot, blocked down, then crossed the field and headed up the left sideline. The offensive line did Yeoman’s work and Willis hit Reed in stride at the Jacksonville 40. Reed rumbled all the way to the Jaguars’ 15-yard line for a 51-yard gain. Four plays later, kicker Brandon McManus drilled a 24-yard, game-winning field goal. It’s unclear if Love will be ready for Green Bay’s Week 9 showdown against NFC leading Detroit (6-1) on Nov. 3. Two months ago, that would have led to panic in the NFL’s smallest city after the Packers spent a training camp watching their backup quarterback’s struggle. Now, having Willis means anything is possible thanks to the trade that keeps on giving. It truly was and remains a gift, as he costs the team $49,000,000 less than Love per years.
