LaFleur makes Packers history with postseason berth

Matt LaFleur, Packers head coach (⬆️ UP)

Green Bay’s box scores are rarely pretty, but the NFC North standings are a treat to look at. LaFleur has led the Packers to an 11-3 record with an outside shot at grabbing a first-round bye in the postseason. LaFleur also became the first Green Bay head coach to lead the team to the playoffs in his first year at the helm.

Aaron Rodgers, Packers quarterback (⬇️ DOWN)

What is going on with Rodgers? The quarterback hasn’t been exactly awful this year, but he hasn’t been good by his standards, either. Rodgers has had three great weeks — wins over Oakland, Kansas City and the New York Giants. He averaged 325.7 yards and four touchdown passes per game in those three contests. But in the other 11 games, Rodgers has logged 226.0 yards and just over one score per contest, throwing for multiple touchdowns three times. Is he showing his age or is the Packers’ identity winning ugly?

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks forward (⬆️ UP)

Ok, this is getting ridiculous. Antetokounmpo led the Bucks to an 18-game winning streak, the second-longest string of victories in franchise history. Unfortunately, that ended Monday night against Dallas, but let’s take a closer look. During this 18-game stretch, Antetokounmpo played 17 contests (he missed the win over New Orleans on Dec. 11) and logged 32.1 points, 12.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.0 blocks per game. He also shot 34.7% from 3-point land, a big boost from his 28.4% career clip. While Milwaukee fell to the Luka Doncic-less Mavericks, Antetokounmpo still posted 48 points to keep his MVP-caliber season rolling.

Brook Lopez, Bucks center (⬇️ DOWN)

Lopez has scored in single digits in six of his last seven games, the outlier being a mere 10-point outing against Memphis last week. Over this drought, Lopez is shooting 28.8% from the field and 29.6% from 3-point range, cashing in on 8 of 27 attempts. The big man’s numbers are way down from last season – 9.6 points (down from 12.5), 29.0% from 3 (down from 36.5%) and 4.8 3-point attempts (down from 6.3). Now, the decrease in attempts makes sense considering the Bucks added 3-point shooters in Wesley Matthews and Kyle Korver in the offseason, but Lopez hasn’t done much with the opportunities he’s had of late.

Kyle Korver, Bucks forward (⬆️ UP)

Korver is coming off his best game since signing with the Bucks. During Milwaukee’s streak-snapping loss to Dallas on Monday, Korver splashed in 5 of 7 3-point attempts to keep Milwaukee within striking distance. Korver is shooting 38.5% from 3-point range this season, down from his career average of 42.8%, but he’s sunk multiple 3s four of his last seven games.

Wisconsin Badgers basketball (⬇️ DOWN)

The 2019-20 season was advertised as a rebuilding year for Wisconsin. It’s been a rough go of it so far. Wisconsin is 5-5 but has yet to win a game away from the Kohl Center. The Badgers rank 12th among Big Ten teams in scoring offense (68.1 points per game) and dead last in assists, assist/turnover ratio, 3-point defense and defensive and offensive rebound percentage.