Milwaukee Bucks Looking To Bounce Back

The thing about coming dead last in the NBA is that you can only go up. This is the case for the Milwaukee Bucks who finished the 2013-14 NBA season in 30th place. With just 15 wins (and 67 losses) on the season, the Bucks were clearly the worst team in the league. On many nights, they didn’t even look like an NBA club.

This season however, the Bucks will be looking to improve on their league worst mark, and they should be targeting 20-plus wins on the year. By finishing at the bottom of the standings last season, Milwaukee secured themselves the No. 2 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft and quickly snapped up scoring dynamo Jabari Parker from Duke.

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Parker has been likened to

and is one of the most NBA-ready prospects in the draft. That suits the Bucks who are clearly in need of immediate assistance — especially on the offensive end of the floor where they were 28th in the league last season at 95.5 points per game.

Not that Parker is a one-rick pony, but filling it up is going to be required, and Jabari will deliver from opening night.

The rookie small forward isn’t the only new addition to the roster, as Milwaukee aims to rise up the standings.

Jason Kidd will continue his coaching career with the Bucks having left the Brooklyn Nets after just one season (44-38 and a playoff berth). Kidd doesn’t bring a wealth of coaching experience, but his inaugural season as an NBA head coach wasn’t the worst.

The young Bucks roster should be able to relate to the former point guard and Brandon Knight might especially benefit from the coaching change.

Speaking of point guards, while Brandon Knight is the starter, the offseason saw Milwaukee bring in Kendall Marshall as a backup. He played a very solid role with the Los Angeles Lakers and is a very smart, pass-first point guard who should fit in very well. This signing will further push the development of Knight while giving the second unit some structure.

The Milwaukee Bucks will also welcome back Larry Sanders who missed a large chunk of last season through injury. Sanders anchors the Bucks defense with his rim protection and shot blocking and considering the Bucks allowed 103.7 points per game (25th in the league) — it was a glaring weakness.

On paper, you get the feeling that this Milwaukee Bucks team is vastly improved from the team that took the floor last season. Jabari Parker injects offense and star power, Sanders is key to the Bucks’ setup defensively and you have brought in a veteran presence like Jared Dudley.

When you slot in the role players like Jerryd Bayless, O.J. Mayo, Ersan Ilyasova and John Henson, who showed dramatic improvement last season, the Bucks already look more likely to grab a win on any given night.

The X-factor to this whole team though has to be Giannis Antetokounmpo. The wiry shooting guard (if you can call him that considering he has grown to nearly 7 feet!) had a very solid rookie campaign, logging nearly 25 minutes per contest and putting up 6.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.

While relatively new to the game, Antetokounmpo showed flashes of the potential the Bucks saw when they drafted him with pick No. 15 in 2013.

Milwaukee have brought in Hall of Fame point guard Gary Payton to work with Antetokounmpo in the hopes that it will further enhance his development on both sides of the ball and also provide him with some mental and physical toughness which Payton was renowned for.

If Giannis can make a sizable jump this season, then the Bucks might just surprise a few doubters. They might also score themselves some hardware with Jabari Parker a very solid preseason pick for the Rookie of the Year award, while Giannis Antetokounmpo could be this seasons Most Improved Player. With the talent now at their disposal and a new voice on the sidelines, the Bucks should definitely improve on last season’s record.