Buck-less in Milwaukee
Will Calabrese
Staff Writer
The NBA opened the 2024-2025 season on October 22nd, and we already have something interesting happening with a former championship team. The Milwaukee Bucks, who ESPN ranked 9th in the preseason and who many had as a playoff contender, have had an abysmal start to their season. As of November 8th, the Bucks are 2-7 and basically are dead last in the Eastern Conference. The Bucks have lost to multiple teams so far, including the likes of the New York Knicks, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Boston Celtics, the Dallas Mavericks, and even teams such as the Detroit Pistons, who had the worst record in the NBA last season. The season has barely even started, we are nowhere near the halfway point of the season, and the Bucks are dead in the water. With a team that has superstar talent such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, and even Khris Middleton, why are they struggling? There are multiple reasons as to why:
To start, many Milwaukee fans believe that the hiring of the former 76ers coach Doc Rivers was one of the main reasons behind their failure. After the firing of their championship coach Mike Budenholzer last season, they believed that Rivers would be the catalyst behind a stronger playoff run and potentially a championship for the Bucks’. That would not be the case, as the Bucks dropped to 18-25 since Rivers took over in January and were ranked 18th offensively and 19th defensively per NBA.com’s rankings. The Bucks went from a league threat to being ranked in the bottom half of the league under their new head coach.
Another reason fans believe is the reason behind the poor start for the Bucks is the lack of chemistry among teammates in Milwaukee. Chemistry is a major factor behind a team’s success. You can have all the star power you want on a team, but if they don’t have chemistry or some form of connection both on and off the court, it is a rare chance that team can be successful. One major example was the New York Knicks last season. Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo, and Josh Hart all went to Villanova together, not to mention Brunson had played with Julius Randle before, which led to the Knicks having better chemistry and one of their best seasons in the past 10 years.
When comparing them to the Milwaukee Bucks, there is rarely any connection or chemistry between most of the players on the team. While Giannis and Damian Lillard have been great and are beginning to have some chemistry after last season, the rest of the team doesn’t seem to be helping. After a loss to the Brooklyn Nets, Giannis was quoted by ESPN saying, “Right now, we don’t have an identity…Like, how are we going to win the game? Are we going to defend for 48 minutes? Are we going to move the ball for 48 minutes? Are we going to attack and play fast for 48 minutes — or 36 minutes and slowdown in the last 12? We got to find an identity. We don’t have that right now.” It also doesn’t help that many sports media outlets are writing that Giannis will potentially be requesting a trade out of Milwaukee. Even with all these issues with the Bucks, Giannis still goes out and performs for the team. On November 13th, Giannis dropped 59 points against the Detroit Pistons, basically carrying the team on his back, and they still lost. Even with the current struggles, it’s still too early to tell what will happen to the Bucks next.
Contact Will at will.calabrese@student.shu.edu