The Milwaukee Bucks had been the hottest team in the NBA until these past few games. It will be interesting to see how this team handles the last week and a half of the regular season and how this affects their performance if and when they make the playoffs.
The acquisition of John Salmons along with the development of Andrew Bogut and Brandon Jennings have provided Bucks fans with the most exciting basketball we have seen in seven or eight years from the hometown team. They are playing defense, executing on offense, winning on the road and winning period. This team has risen from the depths of a 16-23 first half to on the verge of having a winning season and a playoff berth. As of just ten days ago, it looked like the Bucks were going to cruise into the Eastern conference playoffs as a 5-seed and have an interesting first round matchup with Atlanta or Boston.
Although they could still end up with this 5-seed, they are going to have to take it to yet another level to do that and then be prepared to take it up yet another step when the playoffs start. This past week has seen the Bucks drop two close road games against the best team in the East, Cleveland in which the Cavs shot 40 more free throws than the Bucks, and Charlotte in which the Bucks could not clamp down defensively at the end of regulation or overtime to pull out a win. Combine this with a loss to lowly Philadelphia and a demoralizing loss to Miami which has overtaken the Bucks for the 5-seed, and all of the sudden it appears that this Bucks team is not ready for a playoff run.
They have now dropped three straight games against fellow Eastern conference contenders and have watched Miami, Charlotte, Toronto and Chicago all surpass them in recent performance over the past ten days. Add to that, that the top four seeds, Cleveland, Boston, Atlanta and Orlando are all beginning to step it up as well, and it appears that the Bucks have quickly fallen from the league’s hottest team to the most suspect as we hit two weeks before the playoffs tip off.
And it isn’t going to get easier for the Bucks. Their last seven games include contests against Phoenix, Chicago, Atlanta and two against Boston. All four teams are in a similar position as the Bucks as they are fighting for playoff positioning or in the case of Chicago, trying to make it into the playoffs.
From a fan perspective, I am just excited that the Bucks are in a position to make the playoffs. But, even this isn’t a gimme anymore. If the Bucks lose to Phoenix and then can’t beat the Bulls Tuesday night, Milwaukee would then ride a 4-game losing streak and be only five games over .500. With five games to play, they could be staring at only a three game lead over the Bulls for that final playoff position. Stranger things have happened.
Of course, the other downer would be if the Bucks slip to seven or eight in the standings and have to open with Cleveland or Orlando. This would not bode well for a Bucks team especially if they are struggling. A sweep out of the playoffs would be eminent.
It’s tough to look at the glass half full when you are a Bucks fan. It’s rare that this team puts it together at all, not to mention at the right time. Hopefully Scott Skiles can get this team coached up again to be physical and execute like they did in February and most of March. They are going to need to if they are going to continue to give us anything to cheer about.
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