Milwaukee Bucks: Lazy, Lackadaisical Performance a Troubling Sign

Yes, the Milwaukee Bucks are lacking some talent due to injury, but it’s no excuse for an abysmal effort on Wednesday night.

No one can see into a man’s heart, but they can make judgments based one one’s actions. On Wednesday night, the Milwaukee Bucks looked like a collective Tin Man without a map to Oz or a wizard on speed dial.

People keep talking about this team supposedly making a playoff push. Maybe someone should tell the players as the team now has a 26-33 record on the season.

In an utterly embarrassing performance – one of the worst of the year – Milwaukee fell to the Denver Nuggets 110-98. After the Bucks’ “effort” – and I use that term loosely – the focus should only be on developing young talent.

More from Milwaukee Bucks

Watching a game in person gives one a terrific perspective on what is happening all over the court. It also gives you a feel for how the game is flowing.

There was an obvious observation for the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday: a complete debacle.

It was plain to see the squad lacked energy, focus and the basic tenants of professional effort on the court.

Milwaukee played lazy defense across the board, particularly in the first half. As the Nuggets put up 32 points in the opening quarter and 63 by halftime, some common themes stood out:

Confusion on defensive strategies
Slow reaction on switches
Countless, unchallenged layups
Cheap fouls
Constant, wide-open three-pointers
No adjustments to pick-and-rolls and backdoor cuts

Denver deserves credit for their constant motion and fantastic passing. The Nuggets knew exactly where to go with the ball, utilizing the extra pass to set up high-quality shots.

However, the amount of open shooters and uncontested shots were largely created by the Bucks absent defense.

Tony Snell was the worst offender defensively. Snell was continuously beat off the dribble for easy buckets as his feet appeared to be stuck in cement.

Few have patience to watch athletes waste their phenomenal talent with apathetic effort.

A number of times he was “burned” by 6-foot-11 Danilo Gallinari. For the most part, Gallinari looked like he was in slow motion – yet he dribbled past Snell with ease.

Gallinari finished with a game-high 22 points, while Snell had the worst defensive rating of players with at least 6 minutes on the court.

Well, Jason Terry tied Snell in the defensive rating category, but truthfully, no one put forth much resistance on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Bucks offense was the polar opposite of Denver’s. Considering what the fans were watching, it wasn’t a surprise to see just 15 first-quarter points and a mere 37 at the break.

There were a number of issues with the lackadaisical offense they ran:

Far too much dribbling, both stationary dribbling and in traffic
Careless passes
Out of control, unforced turnovers
Missed layups (Malcom Brogdon had at least 3 in the first half alone)
Aimless movement off the ball – no purpose to the action
Lack of burst in their cuts and off screens

To say most of the guys were going through the motions would be an understatement. Couple that with a general lack of awareness and it’s not hard to see why they struggled.

Giannis Antetokounmpo was the biggest culprit. He tallied 6 turnovers of his own, mostly from reckless handling of the ball.

A few times as he tried to back down a defender, he’d take too much time and dribble or spin into another guy and lose the rock. Other times, he was trying to force too much action, either with poor shot selections or ill-advised passes.

One of many easy, high-percentage buckets against he Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday. Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports /

It was a rough night for the Bucks’ lone star at the moment.

All this led to Milwaukee shooting 30.6% in the first half, contributing to the 63-37 deficit at the Bradley Center.

The Bucks never led in the contest, trailed by as many as 31 points, and never pulled within 10 points of the Nuggets after the first quarter.

There were certainly some boos coming down from the crowd, and with good reason. Not for the outcome as much as the way it was happening.

That, in turn, makes one wonder why this occurred. It’s definitely not the first time this year. In fact, there have been more games like this than one may care to admit.

One has to first look at the coach. Teams often reflect their leadership. What is Jason Kidd communicating to his group? How is his energy, attitude and perspective impacting the players?

After the game, Kidd mentioned having a young team and that it’s a process. In general, that is a fair statement. However, at some point it sounds like an excuse and a lack of accountability when he keeps playing that card.

More from Dairyland Express

Plus, nothing about Wednesday night’s contest had the markings of “young team” on it. They looked like a group sleepwalking through a game as their body language screamed vague indifference.

Still, regardless of the coach and his mentality or philosophies, the players need to be responsible for their own actions. In theory, having a number of younger, unproven guys should increase effort for different reasons.

Some of them are getting their first extended looks on the floor.

Others are trying to make an impression for next year and beyond.

Additionally, if the playoffs are still truly in the Milwaukee Bucks’ sights, that should be plenty of motivation.

Apparently, that wasn’t enough to push them on Wednesday.

Next: Milwaukee Bucks Must Sit Delly and Mirza

With 23 games left in the season, the Milwaukee Bucks need to find their purpose in a hurry. People can respect a losing team with players that give their all. Few have patience to watch athletes waste their phenomenal talent with apathetic effort.

Home/Milwaukee Bucks