The Milwaukee Bucks have been knocked out for the second time in a row in the first playoff round. How is their season rated?
In a nerve-racking first-round series against the Boston Celtics, the Milwaukee Bucks have said goodbye to their NBA season after seven games. That would have been unsurprising if the final table of the regular season served as a benchmark: accordingly, the Celtics would have been the No. 2 seed against the Bucks in 7th place the big favorite.
Quite simply, the situation was not known. Due to the many injuries on the part of Celtics spoke much for a balanced series. What's more, just because of the personalities of Giannis Antetokounmpo - a player whose quality is not to be found in the current Celtics squad - the Bucks were considered slightly favored.
But they did not capitalize on that. The home strength of both teams dominated the series, not once left the guest team as the winner of the floor. And so was the fabled home-court advantage, which is battled for 82 games in the regular season, once again crucial. Also in the seventh game, which logically took place in the TD Garden.
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The bottom line is that the Bucks will only have the second first-round finish after being eliminated by the Toronto Raptors in the last year and the question of whether the 2017/18 season was somehow given away.
Sure, there were these positive things: Khris Middleton played the best season of his career, Jabari Parker got to fit in the playoffs. With Eric Bledsoe, the necessary reinforcement in the backcourt came. And most importantly, Giannis Antetokounmpo took another giant step forward and was even part of the MVP discussions for a long time.
The big problem was nevertheless that the Bucks have not managed to improve compared to the previous season. They only scored two more victories in the regular season and dropped out again in the first playoff round.
The Bucks need a 180-degree turn on the head coach position. They need a coach to repair the defense and modernize the offense. The new head coach has to develop the young core around Antetokounmpo, so that in three or four years - when he is going to reach his prime they have realistic chances to win a title.
The chances of a bigger solution are not bad anyway. It is quite rare that a small team like the Bucks has to offer a coaching job that is well sought-after like no other, which of course is due to Antetokounmpo's future and all the young potential in the team. Giannis still has a lot of air up to create his offense, and a decent coaching system could help to improve that segment of his game and to increase the chances to win a title.
