The opinions on the Milwaukee Bucks are mixed heading to the NBA playoffs, which only further highlights the rather up-and-down campaign the team has had.
NBA Power Rankings from various social media outlets have the Bucks in the middle of the pack among the remaining postseason contenders, a position that’s not really comforting to be in for a squad with championship aspirations.
What Happened to the Milwaukee Bucks in 2023-24?
The Bucks entered the 2023-24 season with massive expectations after trading for Damian Lillard. Nonetheless, the problems that fans and experts alike predicted when they acquired Dame and parted ways with Jrue Holiday really showed, as the franchise struggled to put up championship-caliber defense.
Despite winning games and being a Top 4 team under then head coach Adrian Griffin, the Bucks were never able to really dominate like they hoped to do. It led to the Milwaukee brass to fire Griffin and hire Rivers as head coach.
While the defense improved significantly under Rivers, the inconsistent plays continued. The defense also didn’t live up to the previous iterations that made Milwaukee a powerhouse team.
With that said, the Bucks finished 2023-24 with a 49-33 record, which is basically the eighth-best record in the league and third in the East. They will be facing the sixth-seeded Indiana Pacers in the first round, a team that has beaten them four out of five meetings during the campaign.
The Bucks also head to the playoffs having lost eight of their last 11 games, and with Giannis Antetokounmpo dealing with a calf injury and unlikely to play to start their series with Indianas, there are plenty of concerns surrounding them.
What Do Media Outlets Say About the Milwaukee Bucks?
Naturally, while it’s wrong to overlook and underestimate the Milwaukee Bucks, various media outlets have tempered their expectations on them. They definitely have the ability to contender, but it’s unknown if they can be consistent enough to do just that.
“It really is hard to describe what transpired in Milwaukee this season — between two head coaches, several defensive identities and injuries to top players, the Bucks vacillated between the conference’s best challenge to the Celtics and a legitimate ‘blow it up’ candidate,” Colin Ward-Henninger of CBS Sports wrote about Milwaukee in his NBA Playoffs power ranking, putting the team at the eighth spot.
“Through all of that Giannis Antetokounmpo was as brilliant as ever and the Bucks dominated the minutes he shared with Damian Lillard, even though the former Blazers guard wasn’t quite up to his usual standard. The defense improved slightly under Doc Rivers, but was still nowhere near the usual Milwaukee standard, contributing to much of the problem.”
Kevin Hicks of Sports Illustrated ranked Milwaukee ninth on his list among the playoff teams, writing, “The Bucks have a tough matchup against a historically strong Indiana Pacers offense – and will presumably be sans Giannis Antetokounmpo for several games in the series. The saving grace is the potential for Damian Lillard to take over as the number 1 option – a role in which he seemingly plays better slotted into. The Bucks also have home-court advantage.”
On the other hand, The Athletic put the Bucks 12th on their list under the category “Play-In Team or Better,” excluding them altogether from their contenders list.
“It’s kind of odd to be this down on a team that nearly won 50 games, but the expectations were sky high as the Bucks have massively underperformed. They ousted a coach who was winning but wasn’t someone they believed in,” Zach Harper of The Athletic explained.
“Now, they have Doc Rivers, whom they seem to believe in but has not done the job at the level he’s expected to do it. On top of that, Giannis Antetokounmpo is hurt, and Damian Lillard has been really bad/inefficient by his standards. Everybody seems to be writing off the Bucks, which maybe eliminates the pressure to perform in the playoffs? The Pacers will find out soon enough.”
It remains to be seen if the Bucks will be able to turn the tables in the postseason, but that’s definitely a big IF.
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