FOX Sports Wisconsin will broadcast 78 regular-season Milwaukee Bucks games in 2017-18, the team announced on Wednesday. Former Bucks All-Star Vin Baker will step up as the primary "Bucks Live" analyst, while recently retired hometown hero Steve Novak has been added as a "Bucks Live" contributor.
The regional sports network’s regular-season Bucks coverage tips off on Wednesday, Oct. 18 for Milwaukee’s season opener in Boston against Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward and the new-look Celtics. On Friday, Oct. 20, FOX Sports Wisconsin will televise Milwaukee’s home opener against the defending Eastern Conference-champion Cleveland Cavaliers, with a special one-hour edition of "Bucks Live" beginning at 6 p.m. CT.
For the third straight season, the broadcast team will feature nationally recognized play-by-play voice Gus Johnson, along with Bucks legend Marques Johnson as the color man. That duo rejoins longtime Bucks announcers Jim Paschke and Jon McGlocklin, who are entering their 32nd and 42nd years, respectively, of calling professional basketball in Milwaukee.
This year, Baker will take on a larger role with the broadcast team, becoming the primary analyst for all Bucks Live shows throughout the season. He’ll be paired with FOX Sports Wisconsin anchor Craig Coshun for pre- and post-game shows, and work with newcomer Steve Novak – the former Brown Deer High School and Marquette University star – who joins the group as an occasional contributor. Telly Hughes and Sophia Minnaert return to complete the FOX Sports Wisconsin team and handle sideline reporting duties again this year.
The 78-game regular-season schedule includes 39 telecasts from the BMO Harris Bradley Center and 39 road contests. "Bucks Live" on FOX Sports Wisconsin will air before and after every telecast. The network’s broadcast schedule also includes two Bucks preseason home games – Wednesday, Oct. 4 against the Indiana Pacers and Friday, Oct. 13 against the Detroit Pistons.
Fans can get ready for the NBA action with the "Bucks Season Preview" show, which premieres at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, or immediately following that night’s preseason game.
Born in Milwaukee but a product of Shorewood High School (go ‘Hounds!) and Northwestern University (go ‘Cats!), Jimmy never knew the schoolboy bliss of cheering for a winning football, basketball or baseball team. So he ditched being a fan in order to cover sports professionally - occasionally objectively, always passionately. He's lived in Chicago, New York and Dallas, but now resides again in his beloved Brew City and is an ardent attacker of the notorious Milwaukee Inferiority Complex.
After interning at print publications like Birds and Blooms (official motto: "America's #1 backyard birding and gardening magazine!"), Sports Illustrated (unofficial motto: "Subscribe and save up to 90% off the cover price!") and The Dallas Morning News (a newspaper!), Jimmy worked for web outlets like CBSSports.com, where he was a Packers beat reporter, and FOX Sports Wisconsin, where he managed digital content. He's a proponent and frequent user of em dashes, parenthetical asides, descriptive appositives and, really, anything that makes his sentences longer and more needlessly complex.
Jimmy appreciates references to late '90s Brewers and Bucks players and is the curator of the unofficial John Jaha Hall of Fame. He also enjoys running, biking and soccer, but isn't too annoying about them. He writes about sports - both mainstream and unconventional - and non-sports, including history, music, food, art and even golf (just kidding!), and welcomes reader suggestions for off-the-beaten-path story ideas.
