D'Amato: Bucks' start not encouraging
Before the Milwaukee Bucks’ season opener last year, co-owner Wes Edens boldly (and half-jokingly) declared the team the “2016 champions” when he addressed the BMO Harris Bradley Center crowd.
The Bucks then stumbled to an embarrassing 122-97 loss to the New York Knicks. It was an omen for a season that wound up falling short of expectations.
There were no such proclamations before the Bucks opened the 2016-’17 season Wednesday night at home against the Charlotte Hornets.
Instead, veteran forward Steve Novak addressed the crowd and promised that the Bucks would “play our hearts out for you all season long.”
The paying customers are owed that much. It would be helpful, in addition, if the players could also make and defend three-pointers and prevent opponents from staging dunk-a-thons in the paint.
Yes, some of the same problems that plagued the team last year reared their ugly heads in the Bucks’ 107-96 loss to the Hornets.
Granted, the season is just 1/82nd over but this was not an encouraging start. The Bucks were disjointed on offense, made only 3 of 16 three-pointers and played poor interior defense, giving up a steady procession of easy baskets.
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BOX SCORE: Hornets 107, Bucks 96
A fourth-quarter rally made the final score somewhat palatable but didn’t fool anybody. Charlotte led by 24 at one point and by double digits for most of the game. There were even a few scattered boos in the Bradley Center (and quite a few empty seats in the upper bowl, despite the game being an announced sellout).
“It was a combination,” coach Jason Kidd said. “We had shots that we didn’t make. We took some bad shots. On top of that, just understanding that offensive rebounding and threes are something that we have to get better at. Anytime we made a run, they made a three.”
Every NBA team is a work in progress in October. And to be fair, Kidd has a lot of new bodies to juggle: off-season acquisitions Matthew Dellavedova, Mirza Teletovic, Jason Terry and Michael Beasley; second-round draft pick Malcolm Brogdon, and newcomer Tony Snell, who didn’t play Wednesday.
Still, the stat sheet, if not the eye test, showed that the Bucks have a long way to go.
Teletovic, acquired for his shooting, went 3 of 12 overall and 0 of 5 from long range. Miles Plumlee started at center but played only 8 minutes, did not score and grabbed one rebound. Those things will happen on any given night. But the Bucks can’t give up 56 points in the paint and expect to win many games.
“The thing that solves that is if you play hard,” Kidd said. “We didn’t play hard. They played harder than we did.”
The loss of Khris Middleton, out at least six months after surgery for a torn hamstring before training camp even opened, was a tough blow. It’s difficult to replace 18.2 points per game by committee, and the team misses his defense.
Still, if the Bucks hope to improve significantly upon their 33-49 record from last year, they’re going to have to figure it out.
There’s a big hole in the ground just north of the Bradley Center where the new arena is going up. The team is being marketed 1,000% better than it was a few years ago. Community outreach has never been better. There are some genuine reasons to be excited about the Bucks.
This was only one game. But sooner rather than later, they’ve got to start playing better.