Tucker’s return helps set Bucks’ bench roles
P.J. Tucker pursed his lips. Seeing three of his four shots fall through the net against Atlanta on April 15 was nice. Playing 16 minutes was even better. But for a player who doesn't miss games, let alone play in them with minutes restrictions, it was like walking into the sun after a long trip through a dark tunnel.
Acquired in a trade with Houston on March 19,
Tucker played in just three games for the Milwaukee Bucks before straining his left calf on March 24.
He missed 10 games and played on minutes restriction in Minnesota on April 14.
“It's been frustrating,” he said. “It's been really frustrating. You get traded, been waiting so long to get traded, and to have a nagging injury and me having deal with that for months even before you got traded, and then to get here and find out you gotta sit when you could've been healthy on your new path, that's super frustrating.
“And then getting back and ready to just run through a ton of bricks and make up for lost time and do everything that you want to do and show. It's super frustrating. Minutes restrictions and sub patterns, everything, it's all frustrating.
“And still in a new situation. It's a lot. It's been a lot. But I've been working hard, just trying to do what I can to stay ready and try to help the team win.”
Tucker had played 267 straight games (regular season and playoffs) for Houston from 2017 through February of this season. He had missed just eight games from 2012-16 for Phoenix and Toronto.
“It's been bothering me for a while, but I hadn't missed any games in so long, it's just a part of me,” he said of the calf. “I just play. And, they weren't having it.”
His return to action – and at full capacity – is a welcome development for the Bucks as they hit the home stretch of the 72-game regular season. Especially for the bench.
Since early February a myriad of factors have kept that group from finding cohesion:
Feb. 8-25: Jrue Holiday missed 10 games while in the health and safety protocol.
March 17: D.J. Augustin, Torrey Craig and D.J. Wilson were traded before the game against Philadelphia.
March 20-31: Rodions Kurucs missed seven games with an abdominal injury.
March 22-April 14: Giannis Antetokounmpo missed eight games with a left knee injury.
March 26-31: Bobby Portis missed four games while in the health and safety protocol.
March 26-April 11: P.J. Tucker missed 10 games with a left calf strain. April 1: Jeff Teague signed.
Add in ailments for Donte DiVincenzo (four games) and Khris Middleton (two), an additional two more missed games for Holiday and nights off for Brook Lopez and Bryn Forbes and the bench has not played together or in their regular spots.
“I think it’s going to be big for the playoffs, you know?” Forbes said. “I think we got maybe 20 more games left. I think to have a group, like a solid group, that we’re going to use going into the p layoffs and not one person is starting this night another person starting another night, just the same group we’re going to have, I think that’s important to kind of get our rotations and playing with each other.
“Not having Bobby in that second group is different. Because usually we do. It’s just different. But I think to prepare for the playoffs I think it’s going to be good to have everyone.”
Bobby Portis, who Holiday considers as sixth man of the year, said he felt that at least with Tucker and Teague the veteran experience would help them coalesce a bit faster. Teague agreed that the unselfish nature of the team had helped, but considering the number of games Tucker missed and how often Portis and Pat Connaughton have had to start of late, there is still a learning curve with plays, communication and knowing what each different teammate likes to do.
And there’s only one way to figure that out – by getting on the court together.
“Yeah, I think it’s super important,” Tucker said. “I think I even talked about it a lot in the game, timeouts tonight, taking advantage of situations, knowing where we need to grow. I’ve always been talking to everybody, players, some of the coaches, people around the team just finding out where they think we kind of lacked the last few years not to be able to get over that hump, what do we need, what do we gotta do?
“In those conversations it’s things that are very small to most people but it’s a big thing in the NBA when it comes to winning and that culture and guys being on the same page. That’s something that will take us up and we can’t get that unless we play. We gotta play. Everybody has to play and get in those situations and taking advantage of it.”