Will the Real Milwaukee Bucks Please Stand Up?

×

Expand

There comes a time when patience starts to wear thin. For the past couple of seasons, the motto for the Milwaukee Bucks had been “Own the Future.” With a plethora of young talent and upcoming stars to go along with new owners and a future hall of famer in Jason Kidd as your coach, all signs pointed in the right direction. While they haven’t had this much stability and promise of a roster since the “Light it Up” era run by George Karl, the narrative continues to be the same as it’s been for the last 15 years. In Milwaukee’s last seven playoff appearances, they haven’t been higher than a 6th seed while falling in the first round each time.

After a tough postseason loss to the Raptors last season, many felt that it was just the beginning of what was to come of this Bucks team with expectations of being a top four seed this season. As it stands today, the Deer once again find themselves in the latter half of the standings at 22-18 in the dreaded 6th spot. If the playoffs started today, the Bucks would unfortunately match up against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Despite the latest struggles from the Cavs brass, the fact of the matter is they have the best player in the world in LeBron James, who has taken his team to seven straight NBA Finals. Yes, the Bucks did defeat Cleveland the last time they played, but I still wouldn’t be excited about their chances in a first round matchup come April.

While Milwaukee arguably has the second best player in the Eastern Conference and top five player in the entire league in Giannis Antetokounmpo, there always seems to be something holding this team back. Whether it’s injuries to guys like Jabari Parker or questionable coaching from Kidd, the Bucks need to stop pointing fingers and making excuses. For teams to take them seriously, Milwaukee needs to go out and earn their respect. In order to get the respect they deserve, they have to simply be more consistent. Sure it’s fun to beat teams like the Cavs, Timberwolves, Thunder and Wizards, but they can’t have poor performances against the Bulls, Hornets and Pacers mixed in between. It’s easy to say that teams are getting better in both conferences but so are the Bucks and they are too talented to be losing games to teams they should be beating.

It could be worse, however, but when you see Giannis and the Bucks destroy a team like the Pacers on their home floor and then get embarrassed a few days later by the same Pacers team on the road, it’s hard not to feel completely frustrated. It’s one thing to be excited about being four games over .500 and making the playoffs, but it’s another thing when you have one of the most talented rosters in the Eastern Conference similar to the Celtics or Raptors, who are well above .500 at 18 and 24 games, respectively.

I was listening to Stephen A. Smith’s radio show the other day on ESPN Radio and he was talking about the Washington Wizards, who are ironically tied with the Bucks at 22-18 in the standings. Smith was pointing out his frustrations with a team that has two All-Stars in John Wall and Bradley Beal, and how they get up for the big games while not only playing down to their competition against teams they are expected to beat, but getting blown out by teams such as the Nets, Hawks and Jazz. I couldn’t help but think the same thing about the Bucks and wish there was a specific problem to pinpoint. It’s definitely not Giannis, who is having a special MVP-caliber season averaging 28.7 points, 10 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.2 blocks a game with a PER of 30.1. It’s incredible the numbers he’s putting up on a nightly basis. In fact, he just had a 28-game streak snapped where he put up at least 20-plus points and five-plus rebounds. That’s something that has only been done by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on multiple occasions.

I don’t really want to say because Giannis is still so young and the team is coming into its own so to speak but if the Bucks aren’t careful, they could seemingly waste some vital years of the Greek Freak’s career. For example, there’s another guy by the name of Aaron Rodgers in the state of Wisconsin, who is now 34 years old with just one Super Bowl appearance in his career back in 2010. While the Packers have been back to the NFC Championship game twice since then, many feel that the team has wasted the prime years of Rodgers’s career after failing to put a competitive roster behind him. It took an injury to Rodgers himself this season for the organization to realize their shortcomings and they responded by firing their general manager along with a majority of the coaching staff. I’m not saying the Bucks need to clean house or anything, but a lot can be said about the job Jason Kidd has done. I was a fan of the Kidd hire when it happened and it’s been a great move for the franchise in the short term. That being said, if Milwaukee has yet another average season or two without advancing in the playoffs, it may be time for the organization to find a coach who can get this team over the top.

Without getting too far ahead of ourselves, there’s still 42 games remaining this season with an important piece in Jabari Parker in the midst of returning to the lineup in the next few weeks. There’s also continued talks of adding a center to the mix via free agency or trade. The names include the Clippers DeAndre Jordan, the Suns Tyson Chander, and a possible reunion with former Bucks number one overall pick Andrew Bogut, who was recently waived by the Los Angeles Lakers. While it would take a haul to get Jordan, the more logical options would be Chandler or Bogut. Chandler, 35, is a good friend of Jason Kidd from their days playing together and would be a much-needed addition due to his defense, rebounding and ability to body up other bigs in the league. Personally, I would love the Bucks to bring back Bogut, who played his first seven seasons in Milwaukee before being traded to the Golden State Warriors. Now 33, Bogut isn’t obviously the same player he used to be, but the former NBA champion could provide some much-needed strength at 260 pounds along with rebounding, defense and passing ability to a team that is relying on just John Henson (229 lbs) and second year pro Thon Maker (223 lbs) to anchor the center position.

I understand that injuries have plagued the 7’0 Australian’s career to this point, but he’s the cheapest option by far and the Bucks wouldn’t have to give anybody up to get him. Bogut has said he wants to play for a playoff team and it seems like a perfect opportunity for him to come to the team that could desperately use him off the bench for roughly 15-20 minutes a game. I don’t know if I speak for most fans, but I would welcome him back with open arms and would love to see him finish his career where it started.

It’s time for the Bucks to stand up and take initiative of the situation. This team has a chance to do some special things. Getting Parker back and adding a center will help, but they need to have a better sense of urgency on a nightly basis. They made a run last year by going 14-4 in March and could use a spark like that again to put the Fear in the Deer.

Don’t Forget to Vote Bucks!