National Basketball Association

Milwaukee Bucks: Expect Inconsistency Throughout The Season

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

With some ups and downs marking the Milwaukee Bucks’ early season play, inconsistency looks set to be a feature for the rest of the year.

The Milwaukee Bucks won three straight games. Then they dropped consecutive contests to winless opponents. Then they showed up again with an impressive victory over a solid Memphis squad.

How does one explain such a rollercoaster in the early stages of the regular season? Put simply, the Bucks are young, inexperienced and all but guaranteed to deliver inconsistent play in 2016-17. Milwaukee’s fans should get used to the ups and downs.

I expect the Bucks to hover around the .500 mark and compete for a playoff spot. There will be stretches when the team looks great. Those stretches will be followed by frustrating valleys of silly mistakes and unnecessary follies. That’s what happens when a team’s top two performers are barely old enough to order a beer.

Be patient, Bucks fans. These growing pains are a part of the process. It’s not fun to watch pedestrian guard J.J. Barea torch the Bucks and help the Mavericks to an 11-point win over Milwaukee. It’s not fun to witness the Bucks turn the ball over 27 times against a team with zero wins heading into the game. It’s painful to drop a matchup at home to a winless New Orleans group.

Take a deep breath during the tough times, and remember that this Bucks team is capable of truly impressive efforts on the court. We’re blessed with the opportunity to watch Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker develop into stars. Antetokounmpo put up 27 points, nine assists and seven rebounds in the team’s 125-107 victory over Indiana.

Parker, although still looking a bit too timid, has shown flashes of brilliance. Rashad Vaughn has had his moments, including knocking down four three-pointers in Milwaukee’s 117-91 win over Sacramento. Matthew Dellavedova and Greg Monroe have delivered veteran leadership and solid production. Jason Terry possesses a wealth of knowledge to pass on to the team’s young core.

So, when the Bucks are throwing up bricks from the free-throw line in the final minutes of contests, try to keep the bigger picture in mind. It’s not always easy. I get that. When you invest your time and energy into a sports team, the losses sting. Still, the reasons to be optimistic far outweigh the negatives of this Bucks group.

Milwaukee is 4-2 at home in this young season. If the Bucks can continue to perform at a high level in front of the hometown fans, the playoffs will certainly be in the team’s future. The Bucks will be tested, though. The Hawks, Warriors, Raptors and Cavaliers are all on the docket through the rest of November. As of this writing, those four opponents represent the three best records in the Eastern Conference and the second-best record in the Western Conference. Surviving the rest of the month with a .500 record would be a great feat for this young squad.

Don’t be surprised if the Bucks fall to the struggling Heat and follow that with a win over Golden State. It doesn’t make sense on paper, but that’s what happens with young, developing teams. I was in the arena when the Bucks ended the Warriors’ streak last season. Another upset is totally within the realm of possibility.