If you picked the Milwaukee Bucks to be 12-12 24 games into the NBA Season, you are a basketball genius. Most analysts predicted that Milwaukee would be at the bottom of the Eastern Conference because they were a team with a new head coach in Jason Kidd, and a team without many proven NBA players.
Oh, and not to mention, the Milwaukee Bucks won an NBA worst 15 games last season, so playoff aspirations did not seem like a realistic possibility for them this season. However, the Bucks are hanging onto the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference and have a better record than the Detroit Pistons and the New York Knicks, two teams who were expected to be much more competitive than Milwaukee. Talented rosters on paper do not always compute to productive rosters in real life, and the Milwaukee Bucks are a great example of a team who doesn’t have a superstar, but they play hard, they play as a team, and they share the scoring distribution throughout a variety of individuals.
Brandon Knight, Jabari Parker, Ersan Illyasova, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and O.J. Mayo are all averaging double figures for the Milwaukee Bucks. At 19-years-old, Jabari Parker has not been a dominant force in the NBA to this point, but he has been playing solid and is the only rookie who is even close to shooting 50% from the field. Brandon Knight is having a breakout season and seems to be thriving under Jason Kidd’s leadership.
Also, the man with the best nickname in the NBA, Giannis Antetokounmpo (The Greek Freak) has proved to be a versatile and valuable player for the Bucks this year. Gianni is 6-foot-11 and has even started some games at point guard this season for the bucks.
The Bucks are not great in any one area, but they rank in the top 15 in both offensive and defensive production, which doesn’t make them great, but it makes them compete every night to the point where they are giving themselves a chance to earn a victory every evening.
The Bucks are not flashy, and they most likely do not have any players who are going to be selected to the NBA All-Star game this season. However, the Bucks are a great example of a team they plays together unselfishly without an agenda. The share the rock and are outperforming teams with a lot more talent. So, don’t always feel bad if your favorite team doesn’t have some of the talent that other teams in the league do. The Milwaukee bucks are an example of what happens when a team plays together with passion and togetherness.
The Bucks have a Western Conference road trip coming up, so we will see when they return, if they still have what it takes to be the surprise team in the NBA this season.
*Upon the publication of this article, Milwaukee Bucks Forward Jabari Parker recently tore his ACL and is most likely going to be out for the reminder of the season.
Contributing writer Jasen Sousa for Premier Hoops is the author of a number of poetry and fiction books for young people. Jasen has an M.F.A. in Creative Writing and is a life-long participant and fan of the game of basketball.