Let’s end this. No more talk about the NBA play-in and the playoffs. It’s rage bait. It feeds a delusion. It’s a manufactured and unhealthy cycle of hype followed by a crashing thud. Believe what you’ve seen. The awful blowouts. The bad defense. The seven games that were over for the Milwaukee Bucks by halftime. Remember it and accept it.
The Bucks don’t have the depth in talent or the consistency in execution, nor the leadership organizationally, to be a top-8 team with a winning record in the Eastern Conference this year.
But that doesn’t mean there is no purpose anymore. The Bucks need to play, and play hard, for the young teammates, for the culture, for the recruits, and many other things – and that should be their new challenge.
But those 8 wins out of 10 games in February? So what? That’s the month when NBA teams lose a little focus, because the season is too damn long, and Milwaukee just took advantage of it. Or got a little lucky. Milwaukee has now lost three straight.
“Kind of fool’s gold, for real,” Bobby Portis said. “Rolling 8 of 10, playing against bottom teams, teams that’s trying to lose, for real, right?”
Thank goodness we still have Bobby Portis.
Fans know. The real ones, who chose to show up to Fiserv Forum, were so respectful in Giannis Antetokounmpo’s big return to the court March 2 after a six-week absence with an injury. Even when it became obvious the Bucks were going to lose to the Boston Celtics by the end of the first quarter, they didn’t boo the home team. Instead, we have a new Milwaukee custom: fans streaming out of their seats midway through the fourth quarter to beat the construction-induced traffic jam on I-94.
Nah, there’s too much wrong with the Bucks, and that makes the purpose ahead all the more clear in this race to April 13, the merciful end to this season.
This is just my opinion, and this is an opinion column:
First, let’s talk about the Bucks’ faults
Milwaukee’s defense is atrocious. It gave up 77 points in the first half to the New York Knicks. It gives up way too many offensive rebounds in games against good teams. Too many players look too unsure about their priorities. Should they contest ferociously? Or step back and give up open shots to protect the paint, the rim, the interior? They don’t look like they know.
And the team in general lacks a defensive culture. This is jarring. Former coach Mike Budenholzer talked about defense with an obsession, but it wasn’t this complicated thing. It was simple. Be aggressive and throw the first punch.
And no, Milwaukee’s defense isn’t bad just because Antetokounmpo has been hurt. Anyone who can get a heart rate over 140 can play defense. No excuses.
Knicks coach Mike Brown names a defensive player of the game every game, to the media, and a fan group on X highlights it. And they’ve been playing great D the past month.
You get what you emphasize.
Stop calling for Doc Rivers’ firing
There’s been enough losing, in epic fashion, to warrant coach Doc Rivers’ firing. Instead of asking for it, ask why it hasn’t happened.
It’s clear Bucks ownership is content with keeping Rivers on, maybe just to make sure the place doesn’t burn down before the season ends. I say that respectfully, if you’ll believe it. This is an unfortunate way for Rivers to end his beautiful career, and possibly lead up to a Hall of Fame induction in April. He’s not even been introduced at some of the home games this year. And he’s a Marquette guy.
I wonder if he regrets accepting this job.
Jon Horst messed this up by firing Budenholzer, then firing, by necessity, Budenholzer’s replacement, Adrian Griffin, and then hiring Rivers off the golf courses and out of the comfy television analyst’s chair.
Rivers is still coaching in games, trying to call effective time outs, trying to develop strategies. It doesn’t look like the whole team has quit on him. A few games ago, Myles Turner came off the court for a normal substitution, and when he missed whatever Rivers was trying to tell him, he jumped back to listen to Rivers’ instruction. He could have ignored his coach. It’s good to see the professionalism.
But Rivers benched a healthy and able Kyle Kuzma for the Celtics game, when the Bucks can’t afford to give a locker room attendant the night off. And when stuff like that happens, instincts say things are really going sour in a hurry.
So where is the Bucks leadership?
So yes, the fact remains, it looks like general manager Jon Horst is choosing to do his job without facing media questions or taking any accountability.
But there are other red flags: The abrupt switch at president, with Peter Feigin suddenly swapped out for Josh Glessing. That’s the business side of the team, but Feigin was such an important part of the Bucks, and he got Milwaukee.
And the Bucks owners. Where have they been? They used to be visible in their courtside seats. Even if they are not Milwaukeeans, at least they came to Milwaukee for games. It’s unsettling to see their seats otherwise occupied right now. They’re not in the hallways outside the locker room after games.
A lot of us who live in Brew City, and frankly use basketball as a pleasant diversion to endure these freaking endless winters, do not want to see the Bucks diminished to a branch location for a distant businessman. We can’t afford to be a remote outpost.
Senator Kohl, please hear our prayer.
Should the Bucks shut down Antetokounmpo?
Giannis? Yes. Of course. Don’t put any more mileage on those knees for a season like this. I want to, in theory. In practice, it’s a terrible idea.
The Bucks already have tried to give him more than the average NBA player and, if I was in that position, I would, too. Signing two of his brothers, trying to allow him to have his family around – those are privileges not afforded to just anyone. We can debate if those privileges are earned. (I say yes, but I accept there’s always a consequence of alienating others who don’t have the same privileges.)
Antetokounmpo even rehabilitated his injury during games, rather than sit with his team on the bench for the full 48 minutes of every game, sparing him from watching some really bad basketball like the rest of us.
But giving him a leave of absence to take the rest of the season off actually would do him more harm, I fear. Beyond detaching him more from hoops and fellow hoopsters, it would open him up to further criticism of preferential treatment.
Maybe the Bucks will watch him like a hawk and check in with him daily. How is he feeling? I don’t mean just physically. I mean mentally, too.
If he’s not healthy on both fronts, then severely limit his minutes, manage his workload, and coach him up. Do this for his sake, but also for the sake of the organization, which has made a massive investment in him in the hopes that his future remains in Milwaukee.
What is there for the Bucks to play for?
OK so if the playoffs are not realistic, what is there to play for?
I would like to see the Bucks veterans, particularly Antetokounmpo and Portis, show up, if for only one man: Ryan Rollins.
The 23-year-old guard has got talent, work ethic, the right attitude. He could be someone the Bucks can work with going forward.
It’s tough to see him struggle in recent games and look exasperated at times. And that struggle is real. Marjon Beauchamp never got to see his full potential because his confidence was rattled at too many critical developmental stages of his career. The guy was an NBA talent and he’s not here because of what can happen between the ears.
Rollins is at one of those stages. He needs to learn good habits but also be rewarded with some positive outcomes. Playing with those who have a championship ring can do that.
Other NBA veterans did this for Portis when he was young. Portis can pay it forward now. Antetokounmpo can, too. Mentoring young talent can be rewarding for the mentor as well.
And, finally, what else?
If this is just a job, then do the job. Can’t fault any player for that.
But if there’s any love left for the game, this is a test.
There are lessons in losing, there’s character development in sportsmanship and there’s personal development in being able to lose. Take the ‘L’ like a grownup. Any athlete who has been blessed to play a long career is going to walk through a few valleys. It’s part of a career. When you get older, you realize that the lowlights were also a privilege.
But when you’re going through it, it’s brutal. It feels like so much work and sacrifice for so little reward. Athletes don’t like this. They are goal-oriented and always building toward something meaningful.
So, now, define what is meaningful.
The Bucks leaders − again, whoever and wherever they are − still can figure out who on this roster and coaching staff should stay after April and who should go. What kind of identity do they want to embrace as a team? Then, individually, what lifestyle routines work for their performance? Do they need more work-life balance? Do they need to edit out the distractions that have crept in?
Start looking inward to see what’s worth building up.
Then, when the season ends, start looking outward to find out the new players and coaches who can rebuild this team.
“There’s a lot of things going on in the air, I feel like; a dark cloud,” Portis said. “Just stay together. That’s the biggest thing.
“Staying together is big. There’s so many ways that guys could go. You start thinking about yourself. You can start thinking about summer. Whatever it is.
“Just stay in the now.
“And the good comes to the good; the cream rise to the top and we’ll be playing good ball again soon.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bucks should play hard, but playoffs are distracting ‘fool’s gold’ | Lori Nickel
Reporting by Lori Nickel, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
