Focused on improving
Last games let players prove themselves
Players can lose interest late in the season when their team is out of the playoff picture.
That isn’t happening right now with the Milwaukee Bucks, who have six games remaining before heading home for an early summer.
The Bucks have stayed focused in practices and games while believing better times are ahead. Coach Jason Kidd has emphasized these are not meaningless games but chances for players to prove themselves.
Witness the Bucks’ stirring comeback in the final minutes as they overcame the Orlando Magic, 113-110, on Friday night for their second straight victory.
Now the competition gets even stronger with the Chicago Bulls visiting the BMO Harris Bradley Center on Sunday evening, followed by Cleveland on Tuesday night and a visit to Boston on Friday.
“You always are playing for something,” Kidd said. “Unfortunately we didn’t make it to the playoffs.
“But for yourself, your pride, your character, you are always trying to improve. There’s always someone watching. For the guys who are free agents, they have to understand that. There is no time to just relax. This is a great opportunity to showcase that they can play at this level.”
It’s also a chance for the Bucks’ young core to keep improving and for several players to get increased playing time. Take 21-yearold guard Tyler Ennis.
Kidd left Ennis on the floor for the entire fourth quarter Friday, and the former Syracuse player rewarded him with a clutch basket and two game-clinching free throws. Ennis scored a career-high 15 points, including eight in the final quarter. “Tyler is not going to panic,” Kidd said. “He’s a point guard that is always under control. His teammates trust him.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo picked up his fifth tripledouble in the last 20 games and Jabari Parker scored 26 points and the game-winning basket against the Magic.
The two 21-year-olds continue to develop a connection that could put the Bucks in a winning mode in the future, and Khris Middleton is finishing a stellar season on an upbeat note (18 points, five rebounds, five steals and four assists Friday).
Kidd said recent practices have been conducted at a high level and even longer than expected, given the Bucks have been eliminated from playoff contention.
“The process of us getting better at practice and also in the games, we can’t take that for granted,” Kidd said.
There’s also the matter of being a factor in the outcome of the Eastern Conference playoff race.
The Bulls are fighting for one of the final playoff spots in the East, and so are the Indiana Pacers, the Bucks’ opponent in the final regularseason game April 13.
Ennis
Orlando beat both of those teams last week to play a spoiler role. Now the Bucks will get their chance.
“You look at the teams ahead of us (on the schedule), some are in the playoffs, some aren’t,” Kidd said. “I don’t know if we’re playing the spoiler, but I think we would like to compete and show we can play with the best.
“We’re playing for something. Also we need to get better. We want to be playing next season (for the playoffs).
“Not saying this is spring training but we need to simulate certain situations. Second and third, and we need to advance the runners. We need to figure out how to win games.”