Milwaukee Bucks New Year’s Resolutions For 2018

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Nathaniel S. Butler NBAE/Getty Images

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As the Milwaukee Bucks ring in another new year, the 50th in franchise history, they find themselves in 5th place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 20-16. Going back to last season, Milwaukee had a similar record on January 5 of 18-16. Even after a stretch of winning five of their last eight games, there still seems to be a sense of urgency missing that has many feeling increasingly anxious by the day.

In a year that has seen Giannis become an All-Star starter, Khris Middleton take his game to the next level with career numbers and the acquisition of All-Star caliber point guard Eric Bledsoe, the Deer have shown flashes of what they are capable of despite hovering around .500 yet again. New GM Jon Horst has done a respectable job in his first year at the helm with the moves he’s made, but it’s time for the Bucks to realize their potential moving forward. With that in mind, here are some realistic New Year’s resolutions for this Bucks’ team as they near the halfway point in the season.

Win 45 or More Games With a Top 4 Seed

This has been an achievable goal in the past and an expectation that most thought would be easily attainable before the start of the season. The last time they eclipsed the 45-win mark was back in the 2009-2010 season when they went 46-36 in the original “Fear The Deer” season with Brandon Jennings and Andrew Bogut at the forefront.

With a roster led by MVP-candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo, there is no reason why they shouldn’t be capable of getting to that mark this season. The recurring issue that will keep them from getting there is that they have become accustomed to getting up for big games while playing down to their competition against teams they should be blowing off the court. This is where that sense of urgency comes in. With less back-to-backs and 15 of their next 21 games before the All-Star break against teams lower than them in the playoff standings, it’s important they find a way to win more than half of these contests before welcoming back an important piece in Jabari Parker to the roster.

It may be annoying when Jason Kidd preaches about matching the energy and effort of their opponent on any given night, but it’s going to be hard to win games if they don’t. Talk about scheme all you want, but when the team is playing at a high level as a unit they are a problem for anyone to deal with.

Win a Playoff Series

Who would have thought one trade could have changed so much for a franchise already having to deal with playing in one of the smallest markets in the NBA. I hate to say it but George Karl put a curse on the Bucks by trading a 27-year-old Ray Allen for a 34-year-old Gary Payton back in 2003. Despite seven trips to the playoffs since making the Eastern Conference Finals back in 2001, Milwaukee still has yet to win a playoff series, which is the longest drought in the NBA. The closest they’ve come was once again back in 2010 after blowing a 3-2 series lead over the Hawks.

With most of the roster back from last year’s playoff team that lost the Raptors in six games, however, the Deer hope they can use that experience to propel them and finally get over the hump come April. Obviously they have to get to back to the playoffs first, but it would have to take a major injury or total team collapse for that not to happen. The marquee three of Giannis, Khris Middleton and Eric Bledsoe alone should be enough to give them a chance to beat anyone in the first round as long as they stay healthy and continue to build chemistry.

Finish with a Top 10 Defense

When you see that Milwaukee ranks in the top 10 in the league for steals, blocks and forced turnovers per game, it’s puzzling to see that they currently sit at 22nd in the league with a net defensive rating at 107.0 per game.

The problem? The Bucks rank 23rd in opponent field goal percentage at 46.7% per game including dead last in three-point percentage at 39.1% per game. With all their length and athleticism, there should be no reason why they shouldn’t at least hover between 15 and 10. While having a scary top 10 defense three seasons ago, they have yet to live back up to the hype of “Team All-Length.”

Whether it’s coach Sweeney’s scheme or a lack of discipline, something has to give because they leave too many open shooters on the perimeter. To their credit, they’ve showed the willingness to make changes stemming back to a loss in Utah back in late November. It may be too late to get all the way back to the top 10 this season, but getting anywhere close would be a major step forward in making them a dangerous team come playoff time.

Giannis Finishes Top 3 in MVP Voting

The Greek Freak has picked up right where he left off last season after winning the Most Improved Player award. Antetokounmpo stole headlines early on this season by putting up monster numbers including a career-high 44 points against the Trailblazers in the first week of the season. For the season, he’s averaged career-highs in points (29.1), rebounds (10.4) and field goal percentage (54.9%) while also putting up 4.7 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. What’s most impressive is that he is one of three players in the league with a player efficiency rating over 30 at 30.19 with the other two being James Harden (30.54) and LeBron James (30.02).

The evolution of Giannis’ game continues to turn heads and at just 23 years old, no one can predict just how high his ceiling will be when it’s all said and done. Each and every time on the floor he seems to do something we have never seen. As always, his only setback is three-point shooting but even for guys like LeBron James, it took a lot of time to develop a consistent percentage. The willingness to improve his outside shot is there and as long as he can still get whatever he wants inside the perimeter, should we really be concerned at this point in his career? What’s scary is he’s still figuring out how to play this game and should be a constant MVP contender for years to come.

Getting a Second All-Star

It’s no secret the Bucks haven’t had multiple All-Stars in the same season since Ray Allen and Glenn Robinson did it back-to-back in the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 seasons. With news coming out yesterday that Giannis indeed leads the Eastern Conference in voting, the Bucks have an opportunity to have at least one of their two remaining aforementioned marquee three join him at NBA All-Star weekend in Los Angeles in February.

Eric Bledsoe has provided a huge boost to their backcourt in so many ways on both ends of the floor since coming over in the trade with Phoenix and should get plenty of votes, but the most likely culprit to make his first All-Star appearance is Khris Middleton. The former second round pick out of Texas A&M has been having a career season averaging 20.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 46.6% from the field. Despite a dip in three-point shooting at 35.7% per game, Khash has vaulted his game to the next level as the second best player on the roster in Jabari Parker’s absence. Among small forwards across the league, Middleton ranks first in minutes and fourth in points per game behind LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Paul George. Since Durant and George play in the Western Conference, that alone should give indication where Middleton is at in terms of his production and hopefully garner him plenty of consideration to be voted in by his peers and coaches around the league.

Jabari Parker Finishing Season Strong and Healthy

Last but not least, getting Parker back from injury and integrating him into the lineup is something that we’ve all been waiting for. The 22-year-old has already suffered not one but two season-ending knee injuries during his first three seasons in the NBA. In 51 games last season, Parker averaged a career-high 20.1 points and 6.2 rebounds while shooting 36.5% percent from downtown. He was undoubtedly having a breakout year playing at All-Star level before being sidelined.

After yet another stressful year of rehabbing, his time has almost come as he’s already had multiple stints practicing with the G-League team, Wisconsin Herd, running some closely monitored 5-on-5 action. While reports suggest he’s looked great and ready to return to the Bucks sooner than his originally projected return in February, the organization seems to playing this one close to the chest and I don’t blame them. As excited as we are to see him mesh with the current roster, his value means so much more with him set to enter restricted free agency this summer. It’s not a guarantee Parker makes the Bucks better but his presence alone should be enough of a reason for teams to want to Fear the Deer in the playoffs.