You know too many teams make the playoffs in your sport when fans don’t even get excited about a post-season appearance. Exhibit A for that in the NBA are the Milwaukee Bucks. There is ZERO buzz about the Bucks upcoming series with the Boston Celtics–which tips off on Sunday afternoon. I’ll grant you, it’s more important to start breaking down the Packers’ draft strategy everyday–more than two weeks before the draft–but sports-talk radio in Wisconsin is having a hard time drumming up any interest.
Perhaps it’s due to the way the Bucks played down the stretch–looking lethargic and uninspired. Thanks to the weak composition of the Eastern Conference, it was almost a given from December that Milwaukee was going to make the playoffs, so it seemed like the players decided to put in just enough effort to win just enough games to clinch a spot and then coast home. The last couple of weeks were a joke in the East, as teams at the bottom of the playoff field did all they could to avoid having to play LeBron James and Cleveland in the first round. The only team that didn’t tank was Philadelphia–which finished the regular season on a 16-game winning streak and avoided the Cavaliers in the first two rounds by finishing ahead of them in the conference standings.
The belief heading into this Bucks season was that this was going to be another building block toward becoming a legitimate title contender. Instead, the team meandered its way through the regular season–playing inspired ball for a couple of weeks after Jason Kidd was fired as head coach–but then falling back into their usual inconsistent effort and disinterest on most nights. Yes, there were injuries to key players like Malcolm Brogdon and Matthew Delavadova–but those two would have little effect on Milwaukee’s poor defense and rebounding–which are based on effort.
The Bucks will get a free pass from the fans next year, who will flock to the new (as yet unnamed) downtown arena just to check out the fancy new digs, but after that they are going to start expecting some results–especially if they make Giannis Antetokounmpo the highest paid player in the league. Surrounding him with marginal talent and second rate coaching–as they have done so far–won’t fill the new place once the novelty wears off.
Maybe the Bucks think they are suddenly going to “turn it on” for the playoffs and seriously challenge Cleveland for the conference title. Maybe they think the injury-depleted Celtics are the perfect first round match up and they can pull off the upset. Maybe they hope the return of Brogdon and Dellavadova will magically cure their ills. But more than likely, they are heading for another first round playoff exit–with few people shedding tears over that loss.
