Wisconsin Herd (8-3) keep rolling, plus updates on Bucks 2017 draft picks, Two-Way players, Xavier Munford, Cliff Alexander, James Young, and more
The Wisconsin Herd (8-3) kept rolling, winning two of three last week including their Oshkosh home opener Friday night against the Iowa Wolves. They're currently in second-place in the Central Division, a game behind the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.
Central Division (as of 12/5/17)
| TEAM | W | L | GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Wayne | 9 | 2 | -- |
| WISCONSIN | 8 | 3 | 1 |
| Grand Rapids | 6 | 9 | 4.5 |
| Windy City | 4 | 6 | 4.5 |
| Canton | 3 | 7 | 4.5 |
The Herd lost to the 1st-place Mad Ants last Tuesday in a high-scoring and highly-entertaining contest by a final score of 127-122. Cliff Alexander led the way with 35 points (15-of-20 FG!) and 8 rebounds. James Young totaled 29 points (8-of-19 FG) including six treys, eight assists, and six rebounds. Xavier Munford contributed 24 points (10-of-17 FG), four rebounds, three assists, and a steal.
Friday, December 1st marked the Herd's first game in their new home, Menominee Nation Arena, in Oshkosh, WI. Playing in front of a packed house, the Herd staged a come-from-behind victory over the Iowa Wolves, 116-109. Milwaukee Bucks first-round pick D.J. Wilson, suiting up for the Herd for the first time this season, led the team with 24 points.
Read much more about the Herd's home opener here.
On Monday, the Herd outpaced the Grand Rapids Drive on the road, winning by a score of 91-86. Xavier Munford filled it up, scoring 29 points (including five threes) to go with nine assists, eight rebounds, and three steals. Cliff Alexander posted 21 points (10-of-15 FG), eight rebounds, and five steals.
Next up for the Herd:
• Wednesday, December 6, vs Delaware 87ers
• Friday, December 8, vs Oklahome City Blue
• Monday, December 9, at Long Island Nets
Herd defeat Wolves in Oshkosh home opener
Everybody was in Oshkosh for the Herd's home opener on December 1st, and that included both Bucks draft picks from 2017 (first-rounder D.J. Wilson and second-rounder Sterling Brown) and both Two-Way players (Gary Payton II and Joel Bolomboy), in addition to James Young, Xavier Munford, Cliff Alexander, and company.
In fact, there were so many cool things happening in that game, we wrote an entire post about it. Read it here.
The Facebook Live video replay of Herd vs Wolves also includes a halftime interview with Bucks GM Jon Horst. He provides good insight about how the franchise plans to take advantage of having a minor-league team, especially one so close to Milwaukee, and explains how he and Herd GM Dave Dean work as a team. Really good stuff and worth a watch.
Herd Player of the Week
Xavier Munford
Xavier Munford continues to impress, making plays and stuffing the stat sheet on a nightly basis for the Wisconsin Herd. The Herd traded two first-round picks (2017 and 2018) to the Greensboro Swarm before the season in exchange for the rights to Munford, and he's showing everybody why they were willing to give up so much to get him. He currently ranks seventh in the NBA G League in scoring at 24.4 points per game.The 6'3" guard is lightning quick and has proven adept at finding open teammates when running the offense and he has a knack for finishing at the basket among the trees. And then there's his three-point shooting (64.1%), which has been locked in with laser-like precision all year.
In three games last week, Munford averaged 23.7 points (59.4% FG), 6.0 rebounds, 5.33 assists, and 2.0 steals per game, making him my Herd Player of the Week for the second time this season.
Xavier Munford - Herd stats (7 games)
| PPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | REB | AST | STL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24.4 | 54.1 | 64.1 | 73.7 | 5.6 | 5.4 | 1.9 |
Cliff Alexander continues to dominate
Forward Cliff Alexander's strong play last week deserves to be mentioned as well. In three games, Alexander averaged 25.3 points per game on 71.4% shooting, and nope, that's not a typo. He shot 10-of-15 in one game and 15-of-20 in another. He's been nothing short of unstoppable down low and has given the Herd a nice balance of inside-outside they had been missing before his arrival.
Alexander, a 6'9" forward who played his college ball at Kansas, has raised his season averages to 20.2 points (66.2% FG) and 8.3 rebounds per game in six games for the Herd, with many of his shots being rim-rocking jams.
The Herd broadcasting team on Facebook Live has dubbed him "Cliff Alex-Slam-der" and I think it's perfect. Cliff has been punishing rims all over the NBA G League this year, and I'd bet anybody that he shatters at least one backboard before season's end. I love the nickname and I love the way Cliff Alexander has been dominating for the Wisconsin Herd.
Cliff Alexander - Herd stats (6 games)
| PPG | FG% | FT% | REB | AST | STL | BLK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20.2 | 66.2 | 79.2 | 8.3 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 0.8 |
Around the Herd
• Both Bucks 2017 draft picks, first-rounder D.J. Wilson (Michigan) and second-rounder Sterling Brown (SMU), started for the Herd against the Wolves. It was Wilson's first appearance with the Herd and Brown's third.
• D.J. Wilson, a 6'10" forward with good shooting range, scored 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting (3-of-5 3PT) and stuffed the stat sheet with four rebounds, four assists, and two steals in 28 minutes. The promising big man is averaging 0.9 points per game in nine appearances for the Bucks thus far.
• Sterling Brown, a 6'6" guard who excels at slashing to the basket, tallied 14 points (6-of-20 FG), nine rebounds, and three assists in 33 minutes. Brown is averaging 1.8 points and 1.0 rebounds per game in five games for the Bucks this season. He has also started three games for the Herd this year, averaging 21.7 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.
• Both Milwaukee Bucks Two-Way players, Gary Payton II and Joel Bolomboy, suited up for the Herd on Friday in their Oshkosh home opener versus the Iowa Wolves.
• GPII played well in 33 minutes of action scoring 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting (1-of-2 3PT) while adding six rebounds, three assists, and four steals. In three appearances for the Herd this season, Payton is averaging 18.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. He has also spent a lot of time with the Bucks, averaging 1.9 points in 6.4 minutes per game in seven games (two starts) for the parent club.
• Joel Bolomboy, a 6'9" forward who played his college ball at Weber State, tallied six points, six rebounds, and one assist in 33 minutes against Iowa. In two games with the Herd this year, Bolomboy is averaging 13.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Like Payton, he has spent a lot of time with the Bucks this year, averaging 1.0 point and 1.6 rebounds in six minutes per game (five games) in the NBA.
• Top gun James Young scored 29 points last Tuesday against the Mad Ants, and currently ranks 2nd in the NBA G League in scoring at 25.8 points per game. In eight games for the Herd this season, Young is shooting 49.2% from the floor (44.2% from downtown), 79.3% from the foul line, 5.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.3 steals per game, and continues to be one of the league's top players.
• Forward Cameron Oliver, a 6'8" forward who played his college ball at Nevada, had 11 points and seven rebounds against the Mad Ants last week, and is now averaging 8.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per game in four games for the Herd this season.
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