One Riser and One Faller From Bucks’ Preseason Loss vs. Hornets

A 105-90 loss in Charlotte on Sunday night was not pretty for the Milwaukee Bucks, but even a rough preseason game shows who is trending up and who needs a better week.

Two guards stood out for very different reasons, as guard Tyler Herro had his best scoring game in a Bucks uniform while guard Gary Trent Jr. could not find the basket at all.

The Hornets led 60-45 at halftime and pushed their lead as high as 24 points, with forward Brandon Miller scoring 18 and center Naz Reid adding 16.

Milwaukee shot 36 percent from the field and 11-for-19 at the free throw line, and Charlotte grabbed 18 offensive rebounds, which head coach Taylor Jenkins pointed to after the game.

"I don't think we executed our game plan… first time scouting a team trying to apply that… we've got to be more locked in especially when it comes to the rebounding…" Jenkins said in comments shared by CBS 58's Cameron Ezeir.

The riser is Herro, who scored 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting with three made threes, seven rebounds and two assists in 23 minutes, and he was a plus-1 on a night when most of his teammates were in the minus column.

His scoring has gone up in each game this preseason, from 11 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves to 13 points in the comeback win over the Thunder and then 18 on Sunday.

Milwaukee got Herro, center Kel'el Ware, forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. and guard Kasparas Jakucionis in the summer trade that sent Giannis Antetokounmpo to Miami, and Herro played just 33 games last season after foot surgery.

I think seeing him get stronger with each game is the best thing Milwaukee could take from this trip.

The faller is Trent, who went 0-for-8 from the field and 0-for-5 from three in 14 minutes off the bench and finished with zero points.

He scored 11 points in the preseason opener, so this one game is not a reason to panic, but shooting is the main reason he is on the floor, and the Bucks need his outside shot.

The loss was not all on two players, since Ware was a minus-22 off the bench and guard Ryan Rollins needed 15 shots to score 12 points.

Forward Kyle Kuzma bounced back with 12 points after he did not play against Oklahoma City, and how Jenkins sorts out the starting group and bench roles is worth watching over the next week.

Guard Brayden Burries, Jakucionis and forward Nate Ament did not play in Charlotte and are listed as day-to-day by ESPN, which thinned out the young part of the roster.

Kuzma has also spoken well of the new staff and system under Jenkins, and a game like this one is a good test of how quickly the group listens.

The Bucks host the Chicago Bulls at Fiserv Forum on Wednesday, Oct. 14, then visit the Indiana Pacers on Friday, Oct. 16.

I expect Herro to keep this going, and I expect Trent to bounce back, but the rebounding has to improve before the games start to count.