All-Time Oklahoma City Thunder vs. All-Time Milwaukee Bucks

Our first matchup features two very intriguing teams, the All-Time Oklahoma City Thunder vs. All-Time Milwaukee Bucks. It’s a shame that one of these teams will be eliminated so early, but this shows the depth of talent in our tournament. Below is a breakdown of this classic battle.

Oklahoma City’s Advantages

Perimeter Defense: Specifically, the defense of former Defensive Player of the Year Gary Payton. The Bucks starting lineup does not feature a traditional point guard, and Payton’s presence will force them to use more of Oscar Robertson and/or Sam Cassell as the primary ballhandler. When one of these two replaces Ray Allen, there’s less spacing around Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; when one of them replaces Sidney Moncrief, the Bucks perimeter defense is severely compromised. If the Bucks play lineups featuring Robertson or Cassell, Allen, Moncrief, and Marques Johnson, then they’ll suffer on the boards, despite the presence of Jabbar.

Frontcourt Length: Kevin Durant, Shawn Kemp, and Jack Sikma are all over 6’10”, which will cause problems for the Bucks on both ends of the floor. If the Bucks try to play small ball against this unit, they’ll get murdered on the boards, and Durant and Kemp’s athleticism won’t allow Milwaukee to have a large edge in quickness on the perimeter.

Three Point Shooting: This team, featuring one of the greatest groups of three point shooters in this tournament, will never be out of a game. Lineups with Durant at the 4 will be particularly unguardable, and the Bucks won’t be able to physically dominate him on the other end of the court unless they play Vin Baker alongside Jabbar. Baker would have no chance against Durant on defense, so the Bucks will avoid using this lineup as a counter.

Milwaukee’s Advantages

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: If Oklahoma City decides to double Kareem, then the Bucks have the perimeter firepower to make them pay. Lineups with Ray Allen and Michael Redd will be particularly difficult to defend from beyond the arc. Sikma is a crafty defender, but he doesn’t have the size or length to effectively defend Jabbar one-on-one, and if he gets in foul trouble, Oklahoma City doesn’t have another true center on the roster.

Defending Durant: Marques Johnson will make Durant, Oklahoma City’s best scorer, work very hard on the defensive end of the floor. In late game situations, expect the Bucks to put Moncrief on KD, despite the size mismatch. Smaller defenders have had some success against Durant (Jason Kidd, for example), since he doesn’t have the bulk to dominate them down low. He can shoot over anybody, but Moncrief will make him work for everything.

X-Factor

Foul trouble and Roster Depth: Both teams have plenty of backcourt depth, but don’t have a deep roster of big men. Can the Thunder’s bigs stay out of foul trouble defending Jabbar? When Sikma sits, Kemp will serve as his primary defender, so player/coach Lenny Wilkens will have to stagger their minutes and play Spencer Haywood and Detlef Schrempf alongside both big men. Vin Baker will have to step up in case Kareem gets in foul trouble, which (needless to say) is a big downgrade for Milwaukee on both ends of the court.

Results

These two teams go back and forth in a seven game battle. Oklahoma City proves to have a deeper bench, but Milwaukee has the best player in the series. Down the stretch of the deciding game, Durant hits a three to put the Thunder up by one. Seven seconds remaining. Larry Costello knows exactly what to draw up:

Bucks win four games to three.

Next Round

Milwaukee faces the number one seeded Boston Celtics.

All-Time Milwaukee Bucks Team

All-Time Milwaukee Bucks Team Infographic

Fear the deer! The all-time Milwaukee Bucks team has a unique blend of perimeter firepower and low post dominance. With one championship, they are the 17th seeded team in our tournament, and have a first round matchup with the Seattle Sonics/Oklahoma City Thunder.

The starting backcourt consists of all-around dynamo Sidney Moncrief, and the all-time leader in three pointers made, Ray Allen. Moncrief was one of the great, underappreciated players of the 1980s, and won the first two Defensive Player of the Year awards ever. If they need more ball handling, they can bring in the past-his-prime but still effective Oscar Robertson, or Sam Cassell, who averaged 19.0 PPG and 7.2 APG during his five years with the Bucks. In addition, they have two-time Sixth Man of the Year Ricky Pierce, and three point gunner Michael Redd to spread the floor. Similar to the Sonics, they’ll play a lot of three guard sets, and space the floor very effectively around their big men.

Marques Johnson and Terry Cummings are the starting forwards. Johnson was another special player who rarely gets his due; watch how he dominates a do-or-die playoff game against the 76ers to get a feel for his incredible offensive game. Cummings was very athletic, had a great face-up game, and should be a perfect fit in the starting lineup. Bobby Dandridge is the first forward off the bench, a prototypical three who used his quickness and mid-range game to frustrate opponents. They also have Glenn “Big Dog” Robinson, who could score prolifically, even if he didn’t have a great all-around game. Vin Baker is the backup big man, and he’ll have to play both the power forward and center spots. This is another team without great big man depth, so health and foul trouble will both play an important role in their fortunes.

Every single player in this tournament is good, and many are all-time greats. Only a handful are transcendent legends who can single-handedly carry their teams to victory. Milwaukee’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is one of those legends. In his six seasons with the Bucks, the team averaged 57 wins per season, and went to the only two NBA Finals in franchise history. Jabbar won three MVP awards during his Bucks tenure, and easily ranks as the greatest player in franchise history. His presence makes them a dangerous sleeper in this tournament.

In many ways, this team is similar to their first round opponent, with a deep backcourt featuring Ray Allen alongside one of the great defensive players ever, and an athletic, multi-talented frontcourt that lacks big man depth. Jabbar should expect to play a ton of minutes, which he’s accustomed to, since he averaged over 40 minutes per game every year he was with the team.

Coach: Larry Costello

All-Time Franchise Winning Percentage (through 2014-15): .512