Reasons to believe and doubt the Bucks.
Team has hopes, but doubts linger
The Milwaukee Bucks arrived at the all-star break with a 22-32 record, not what they were expecting when they gathered for training camp in October.
Chemistry issues, a revamped roster, road woes and defensive struggles all have contributed to the disappointing mark at approximately the two-thirds pole of the season.
But players and coach Jason Kidd gained some belief from two impressive home court victories—against Boston and Washington—just before the all-star break. Making the playoffs still is the longest of long shots, with the Bucks sitting in 13th place in the Eastern Conference, but they believe they can make a run over the final 28 games. Can they do it? Here are reasons to believe and reasons to doubt when the team regroups in Milwaukee on Wednesday night:
3 REASONS TO BELIEVE
Home cooking: The Bucks will have 18 home games and 10 road games when they return to action. They are15-8 at home thus far despite spending most of their time on the road (7-24).
In March the Bucks play 10 of15 games at the BMO Harris
Bradley Center and they have their first three games in April at home, making it a stretch of 13 out of 18 at home. They hope to take advantage.
Parker’s progress (and
Giannis too): There was plenty of reaction in Salt Lake City Feb. 5 when former Duke player Rodney Hood scored 23 points while his fellow Dukie and former teammate Jabari Parker managed just two on 1of-6 shooting in the Bucks’ 8481 loss to Utah. But Parker played a season-high 41 minutes against Washington on Thursday and contributed 17 points, nine rebounds and four assists in helping the Bucks prevail.
Kidd was quite supportive of the 20-year-old Parker in comments before that game.
“You’ re talking about J ab ari, he had a serious( knee) injury ,” Kidd said of the No .2 overall pick in the 2014 draft. “Our schedule was maybe not to see him until December or January and not to play him over 35 minutes. But he’s exceeded all those expectations and he’s playing on back-to-backs. He’s a very unselfish player.
“Everybody might have the expectations of him being Melo (Carmelo Anthony). Maybe he doesn’t want to be Melo. Sometimes we over analyze things. If we’ re just patient, good things will happen .”
Giannis Antetokounmpo continues to improve and is one of the league’s most exciting players in the open floor. He is averaging 15.9 points and 7.1 rebounds, and he and Parker are getting more comfortable as a forward tandem.
Mr. Do-It-All: Khris Middleton is adding to his game, becoming a playmaker to go along with a clutch score rand top three-point shooter.
Kidd ran the offense through Middleton in the pivotal final quarter against the Wizards on Thursday and the fourth-year pro made all the right plays. He has developed his post game and often is a major problem for smaller guards to defend.
“I’m just trying to be the most complete player I can be,” Middleton said. “I feel I can do a lot of things. I still feel like I have a lot of things to improve on.”
3 REASONS TO DOUBT
Still finding a leader: It’s clear the Bucks have missed the leadership they received last season from veterans Zaza Pachulia, Jared Dudley and Ersan Ilyasova. They served as valuable mentors for the young players and were effective on the court as well.
Middleton has taken on a larger leadership role but it’s a work in progress for such a young team.
Point, counterpoint: Point guard Michael Carter-Williams has been benched twice this season, and he spoke out about it last week after it happened the second time and he
filled a reserve role against Boston and Washington. The 2014 NBA rookie of the year said he believes he should be starting but he would play with “a chip on his shoulder” either way.
The Bucks often have used a point guard by committee approach featuring Carter-Williams, Jerryd Bayless and O.J. Mayo, with Middleton and Antetokounmpo also filling ball-handling roles. Carter-Williams has played well in stretches but has been inconsistent, scoring 18 points and adding13 assists at Sacramento on the recent road swing but posting just two points and two assists the next night at Portland.
What’s in reserve? The Bucks bench situation has been so perilous that Kidd moved Carter-Williams and Greg Monroe to the bench the last two games. It worked as Milwaukee grabbed two victories, but it may not be viable in the long term.
Point guard Greivisto be back from ankle surgery in three or four weeks, and Bayless has been a bright spot off the bench all season. Reserve center John Henson has been out with a sore back for the last five games but could return after the break. Rookie Rashad Vaughn is in the rotation and starting to play a bigger role.
Milwaukee will need bench help to have any chance at leaping into playoff contention.