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Let's imagine for a second that you are a fan of the Wisconsin men's basketball team, which I know is a stretch for many of you, but please bear with me. You love watching the Badgers play but have been a bit disappointed recently in how much NBA level talent Bo Ryan has been producing. Since you're already a fan of the Wisconsin basketball team, it probably isn't too much of a stretch to say that your favorite NBA team is the Milwaukee Bucks, right? Well, do I have some excellent news for you!
The all-time Wisconsin leader in three-pointers made (with 235) is going to run with the Bucks summer league team in Las Vegas from July 11-21!
Excited to play summer league with the @Bucks !!
— Ben Brust (@BenBrust) June 27, 2014
I've discussed Brust's chances of making an NBA roster here before, and despite the invite to play with Milwaukee I'm still not 100% sold on Brust suiting up for the Bucks this season.
You all know what his skills are (remember, in this scenario you are big fans of the Badgers), but let's just reiterate them in case this post is being read by aliens or Canadians. Brust is an excellent shooter from distance. For his career he shot 38.7% and as I mentioned before set the Wisconsin record for made three point baskets. In his senior season he averaged a shade under 13 points per game, while continuing to add new facets to his game like scoring inside of the arc (something he started working on in his junior season).
For a short (6'1) shooting guard, Brust is a superior rebounder. His career 40 minute average for rebounds per game is a stellar 5.2. For a team like the Bucks, who finished 29th in the NBA in defensive rebounding and 24th in total rebounding, getting rebounds from a non-traditional rebounding position could be an important factor in who does and doesn't make the team.
Brust played solid, if unspectacular, defense and moved his feet well to stay in front of his man while at UW. He'll have trouble guarding larger two's and quicker one's in the NBA though, so defense may fall under the "let's not talk about it too much" category for Brust.
The Bucks first summer league game is against Cleveland and will give fans a glimpse of the matchup they've been wanting to see: Ben Brust v. Andrew Wiggins. I can't wait to see how Brust stacks up.
As I've said multiple times, I'm extremely happy about Brust's career at Wisconsin and am pleased that the team sent him off with a Final Four run last year. I know his professional basketball career won't end with this summer league stint, but I'm not sure if it will continue in the NBA after July 21st. If Brust doesn't catch on with the Bucks, I know for a fact there are plenty of teams in the NBA that could use someone that can score (woooo go Sixers!).