Celebrating the return of the Wisconsin Herd
The Milwaukee Bucks' G League affiliate is back in action for the 2021-22 season
After a hiatus that spanned 610 days, the Wisconsin Herd are back for their long-awaited return to the hardwood at Oshkosh Arena.
When last we saw the Herd in action, they rolled through and sat atop the G League with a 33-10 record, mirroring that season’s Bucks team. Of course, the beginning stages of the COVID-19 pandemic put an end to a magical season for the Herd led by then-coach Chase Buford.
Names and faces have certainly changed since then and the Herd have a tough act to follow after their best season in club history. Now led by first-year head coach Chaisson Allen, the Herd will be eager to pick up where they left off.
With that, let’s dive into some of the bigger points of interest going into the Herd’s return to action Monday night.
2 big names return
Continuity in the G League is a rare commodity, but two big names stand out on the Herd’s roster, those being Rayjon Tucker and Jemerrio Jones.
The two players couldn’t be more different in their respective styles, but they were equally integral to the Herd’s success back in 19-20. Tucker enjoyed an explosive start that year that propelled him to a callup from the Utah Jazz and he was a two-way player for the Philadelphia 76ers last season.
Jones, meanwhile, is far from the high-flying scorer that Tucker is. However, what makes Jones so special is his ability to dominate the glass, guard multiple positions and push the pace while on the break. All while topping out at a slight 6’5.”
It remains to be seen just whether the Herd can find a winning formula again, but having both Tucker and Jones in the fold certainly gives them a good foundation to do so heading into this campaign.
From Chase to Chaisson
As Buford readies for his maiden voyage leading the Sydney Kings in the NBL, the Herd turned to a familiar face with the appointment of Allen in late September.
Allen served as an assistant coach under Buford two seasons ago and even stepped in the coaching seat for Buford during the latter’s two-game suspension late in the year. And Allen and the Herd have made a point of keeping their coaching staff intact from that year with the return of assistant coaches Dennis Cutts, John Little as well as newcomer Jack Herum.
Like his predecessor, Allen’s primary focus lies in developing each and every Herd player in hopes of giving them a launching pad towards success as Jim Oskola of the Oshkosh Northwestern recalled during Allen’s introductory press conference last month:
“The biggest thing for our staff is developing the players and making sure they create good habits, great habits that will carry them along the way when they get called up so that they are prepared for it,” he said. “As long as we develop the guys on the floor and have them create those great habits, the winning part will come with it.”
Only time will whether the preaching of good habits and taking a longer view in their approach will yield the results that Allen and the Herd hope to achieve. But there’s no doubt Allen is hungry to get off to a good start this year.
Plenty of NBA experience along roster
While we’ve focused on who returns to the Herd after all this time, there are a number of players who are looking to make it back in the NBA by way of Oshkosh.
Players like Tremont Waters, Wenyen Gabriel, Jalen Lecque, along with Tucker and Jones as well as the Bucks’ two-way player Sandro Mamukelashvili and Justin Robinson, have all had varying stints across the NBA. Having that kind of experience littered along the roster as the Herd does for the second straight season certainly gives them a leg up in terms of being able to come together and race out of the gate.
That trio of affiliate players, those being Waters, Gabriel and Lecque, all come to the Herd boasting intriguing potential, skills and experience.
When the Herd were cleaning up multiple awards in the COVID-shortened G League campaign two seasons ago, Waters was named as the G League Rookie of the Year. His surehandedness at the lead guard position will give the Herd a poised playmaker to lead the offense.
Gabriel, meanwhile, brings a level of size and shooting that is always needed for the Herd to mirror the Bucks’ system on the floor. Having gone undrafted in 2019, Gabriel may have only 51 appearances under his belt, but he is certainly remembered for his start in Game 1 of the Portland Trail Blazers’ first round series with the Los Angeles Lakers during the bubble in 2020.
Lecque followed down the revived preps-to-pros trail when he entered the 2019 NBA Draft as a 19-year-old. After going undrafted, though, he quickly found a home with the Phoenix Suns and the bulk of his development and minutes have obviously come in the G League, both in Phoenix and as a member of the Indiana Pacers last season.
He still has plenty of strides to make to iron out the deficiencies in his game, but there’s no doubt his astonishing explosiveness will bring Herd fans to their feet at least once or twice during games.
The wait is nearly over for the Herd going into their season opener against the Cleveland Charge. They set a high bar for themselves two seasons ago and we’ll soon see whether they can hit such a mark again.