Every Thursday, we send out the great OnMilwaukee Weekend Preview filled with awesome things to do. Some are sports-related; many are not. So every Monday, we recap what happened in the world of Wisconsin sports while you were doing all those other awesome things.
Friday
Giannis third in Most Improved voting: Bucks point-forward Giannis Antetokounmpo finished third in Most Improved Player voting by the league’s media, behind Kemba Walker and winner C.J. McCollum. Antetokounmpo, who became Milwaukee’s primary ball-handler and distributor about two months ago, had five triple-doubles in that time, and coach Jason Kidd announced he’d be in the playmaking role again next year. In his third season, Antetokounmpo upped his 2014-15 averages from 12.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game to 16.9 points, 7.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game.
Brewers lose to Phillies, 5-2: In his second major-league start of the season after being called up from Triple-A, pitcher Zach Davies gave up four runs on nine hits in six innings and took another loss. Philadelphia third baseman Maikel Franco went 3 for 4 and homered twice at Miller Park, driving in three runs, while Brewers first baseman Chris Carter went 2 for 4 with an RBI double.
Admirals lose to Griffins, 3-1: In its first-round playoff series opener, Milwaukee scored early but then gave up the next three goals to fall to Grand Rapids at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Trevor Murphy put the Admirals up 1-0 in the first period, but just a couple minutes later, the Griffins tied it up. Grand Rapids scored twice in the second period, and despite Milwaukee outshooting its opponent 12-5 in the third period and 33-22 overall, the hosts couldn’t break through again.
Saturday
Wisconsin Football practices, plays itself: During the Badgers’ annual Spring Game, Team Abbrederis and the offense beat Team Schobert and the defense, 28-22, at Camp Randall Stadium. Quarterback Alex Hornibrook completed 4 of 8 passes for 138 yards, including two touchdowns to wide receiver George Rushing, and running back Corey Clement ran for a nine-yard score. On the defensive side, linebacker Vince Biegel had five tackles and two sacks, while Ty DeForest had three tackles and an interception.
Badgers get two basketball commits: Wisconsin augmented its 2016-17 class by securing the oral commitments of a pair of teammates from IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. Guard D'Mitrik Trice and forward Aleem Ford chose the Badgers, according to IMG, which announced the news on Twitter. Trice had scholarship offers from Ohio State, DePaul and several mid-majors, while Ford had offers from Rutgers, Saint Louis, George Mason and others.
Brewers lose to Phillies, 10-6: For the second straight game, Milwaukee pitchers allowed a pair of homers in a defeat to Philadelphia at Miller Park. Maikel Franco blasted another one, his fifth of the season, and drove in four runs in a three-hit performance. Odubel Herrera went 3 for 4 with a homer, two RBI and four runs scored. Brewers starter Chase Anderson lasted just four innings, giving up eight hits and four walks for six earned runs and the loss.
Admirals lose to Griffins, 2-1: In Game 2 of the Central Division Semifinals, Milwaukee dropped another home game at the BMO Harris Bradley Center and found itself on the verge of elimination. The Griffins scored both their goals on the power play, in the first and then the second period, and the Admirals didn’t get on the board until the third period (another goal was disallowed by the referees). Game 3 of the best-of-five series is set for Tuesday in Grand Rapids.
Sunday
Brewers beat Phillies, 8-5: Ryan Braun homered for the second consecutive day, and the Crew broke out for 12 hits and three homers to take the final contest of their three-game series at Miller Park. Four players had two hits for Milwaukee, including Chris Carter and Domingo Santana, and Scooter Gennett and Alex Presley both socked dingers. Starter Wily Peralta earned his first win of the season with six innings of no-walk pitching, allowing three earned runs on seven hits with five strikeouts, and Jeremy Jeffress notched his sixth save.
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.
