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The Milwaukee Bucks will most likely lose in either six or seven games to the Chicago Bulls in Round 1 of the 2015 NBA playoffs, but they are still unquestionably one of the most fun teams to watch right now.
No one expected the Bucks to be where they are right now, especially after a tumultuous offseason where they bizarrely hired Jason Kidd in a reported bad bluff gone wrong case when Kidd demanded more power from when he was head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, only to be denied and shipped off to Milwaukee to start fresh.
What was viewed a comical situation at the time over the summer has been one of the biggest surprises in the NBA. Make no mistake about it — Jason Kidd is a solid NBA coach. No more is the stoic figure on the sidelines who frequently looked lost and overwhelmed during his rookie season coaching for the Nets last year. Kidd has looked confident throughout this season coaching the Bucks, and his play-calling and ability to get his guys to play at a high level has been amazing to watch.
When the Bucks lost their stud rookie Jabari Parker for the season early in the year, people were again ready to count them out of the playoff picture. However, thanks to the emergence of players like Khris Middleton, and most recently Michael Carter-Williams (who the team acquired in a trade deadline deal), Milwaukee has hope for the future. Throw in the boundless athleticism of Giannis “The Greek Freak” Antetokounmpo and the sneaky-great shooting of Ersan Ilyasova, this is a fun team to watch play basketball.
What needs to happen now is for the city of Milwaukee to get behind this team. Their attendance recently has been deplorable, as they finished 27th out of 30 in the NBA this past year in attendance despite having a playoff team for most of the season! During Game 4 of their first-round series against the Bulls, it was shocking to hear how the Bucks’ stadium had been taken over by Bulls fans, who were cheering audibly throughout the game to the point where I had to double-check if the game was being played in Chicago, and not Milwaukee as I had initially believed.
The Bucks’ win over the Bulls on Monday evening, cutting the Bulls’ lead to 3-2 for the series, proved they are in outstanding shape for the future, with a promising head coach leading the charge. All they need now is a fanbase who shows that they actually care. A team can only go so far with a fair-weather crowd.
To me, this should be an exciting time to be a Bucks fan, and it will be absolutely fascinating to watch how Kidd continues to progress as a coach, and how his young group of players make strides in honing their skills as they fight for their playoff lives.
Dan Schultz is an NBA sports writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter @dschultz89. “Like” him on Facebook and add him on Google.
