By Jake McCormick
The Milwaukee Bucks season ending media session Monday afternoon included discussions about the past, present, and future direction of a team that shocked the NBA world with a 46-win regular season and came within a game of advancing their improbable run into the second round of the playoffs.Despite going up 3-2 heading into a Game 6 at home against the Atlanta Hawks, before succumbing to fatigue, Atlanta athleticism and talent, and the lack of a midrange and inside game, the Bucks’ season was nothing short of enjoyable for fans, players, and coaches.
“This was 46 wins; most people would say that’s a good team not a great team,” head coach Scott Skiles said. “But if your criteria for a team is guys that play hard, try to guard, play unselfishly, don’t have any agendas, try to bring it every day, pay attention, those things, then this is a great team.”
Of course, being a Skiles-led team, Milwaukee wasn’t ready to forget the back-to-back losses to Atlanta and settle on calling the season satisfying. Rather, most players were quick to point out how they loved the plot-line and cast, but hated the ending.
In Quentin Tarantino fashion, I’ll start at the ending and work back through the plot and characters.
The ending
The Bucks earned their highest seed in the Eastern Conference first round since 2000-01 and took a heavily favored opponent to seven games, despite missing their best player. This qualifies as a successful season for most smaller market NBA teams, and overall it was as much for Milwaukee.
“I’m still disappointed we lost,” Skiles said. “We played so well for so long and for the last couple of games to not play as well as I know we could’ve and the guys know we could’ve, it’s hard.”
But given the way the series ended after the Bucks stunned the Hawks in Atlanta before they returned the favor at the Bradley Center and expectedly shut the door in Game 7, Milwaukee players couldn’t help but admit they flew home with a bittersweet taste in their mouths.
“You never want to be satisfied with being eliminated in the playoffs, esp. in a series where you’re up 3-2 and have a chance to win,” Andrew Bogut said. “We don’t want this to be a habit now, where we call making the first round a success again. We’re capable of getting home court and advance, and we don’t want to settle for same spot next year.”
Plot
In any profession, there’s a great deal of pride to be had in exceeding expectations. The key to following up with any unexpected success is working to maintain and even improve off those achievements.
Skiles said changes are inevitable over the summer, but the 2009-10 Bucks turned into one of his favorite teams he’s ever coached.
“We knew early on we were going to be better than people thought,” Skiles said. “We weren’t sure how much better, based on the work the guys were doing, the attention to detail, and the teamwork we could see developing.”
Picked to finish last or close to last before the season began (The Sports Bank’s own David Kay slotted the Bucks at 29th), Milwaukee had very little to live up to. To quote a staple cliché of the GOP, the Bucks proceeded to shove those low expectations down the throats of NBA analysts and experts by winning 46 games, which was a 12-win improvement over their 2008-09 record.
“Proving everybody wrong and getting to the playoffs (were the most memorable parts of the season),” Brandon Jennings said. “I think we overachieved what a lot of people thought we were supposed to achieve.”
Cast
Perhaps the most overwhelming sentiment shared by each player that stepped in front of the media on Monday was that of a sense of belonging in Milwaukee.
“The reason we had a decently successful season is that we had a locker room where guys got along with each other,” Bogut said. “Generally our flights were pretty good, and we didn’t have some of the stuff that can go on with teams, which I’ve witnessed the last couple of years.”
One by one, the 2009-10 Bucks starters and bench players were asked about their feelings on the team chemistry and overall cohesiveness, and each gave some form of a compliment to their ability to gel on and off the court.
“I was definitely surprised at how hard the guys worked in training camp,” Kurt Thomas said, “and it carried all year long.”
Typically it would be easy to call any of those quotes politically correct. But when they come from the mouths of players on a team that improved by 12 wins from the previous season, with no proven star, no semblance of selfish play, and no expectations, those statements carry a little more weight.
“It feels good to have teammates you want to be around,” Salmons said. “I’ve never been with a team where you never felt tension between teammates.”
Thomas, Jerry Stackhouse, Primoz Brezec, Royal Ivey, and Luke Ridnour are off the books this offseason, and each expressed an interest in returning as a Milwaukee Buck. Retaining Thomas, Stackhouse and Ridnour will no doubt be considered by GM John Hammond and Skiles, but the most important storyline to follow will be whether Salmons picks up his player option and if the Bucks attempt to extend him to a longer deal.
The summer of 2010 may not yield a superstar like Dwayne Wade or Amare Stoudamire, but it will go a long way in determining how the Bucks will follow up their improbably successful season. Stay tuned…