Week In Review: Milwaukee Bucks Break Even Despite Losing Jabari Parker
Dec 18, 2014; Sacramento, CA, USA; Milwaukee Bucks head coach Jason Kidd directs his offense during the game against the Sacramento Kings at Sleep Train Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports
OK, Bucks fans, let’s all take a collective sigh of disappointment over Jabari Parker tearing his ACL Monday night.
*siiiiiigh.*
Everyone here at Dairyland Express wants you to know that it’s going to be OK. We’re going to get through this. This young team led by Jason Kidd is showing us that.
Despite the fact that Parker tore his ACL Monday night in the first game of a four-game west coast road trip, Milwaukee managed to win that game against Phoenix, and finish the trip with a respectable 2-2 record.
Before we look into the specifics on how Milwaukee did, there’s something that I want to talk about.
Once Jabari got injured Monday night, there were rumblings from fans and even other writers suggesting the Bucks go into tank mode because of the injury.
I’ll keep this rant short, but the idea of the Bucks tanking because of the injury is ludicrous on so many levels.
We all agree this team needs time to develop and experience before we have any kind of consistent success here in Milwaukee. What better place to get experience and have learning experiences for this young team than in the playoffs?
Imagine the confidence and experience players like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brandon Knight would get from piecing together a winning season and making the playoffs.
The East is bad. The Bucks are 14-14 and hold the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. The eighth seed is the Brooklyn Nets, who are four games under .500. The chance is there to take a season, where expectations were basically nonexistent, and turn it into a building block this team needs to grow.
Jason Kidd has this team playing together, and if the Bucks see this season as a great opportunity to move the franchise forward (which I think they do) then the sky could be the limit for the young core of this team.
But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s take a look back at the West Coast trip.
Next: Dark Night In The Valley Of The Sun