Milwaukee Bucks: 3 Keys To Winning A Playoff Series

3. Jason Kidd Tightening Up His Rotations

It’s hard to complain too much about what head coach Jason Kidd has done since arriving in Milwaukee.

To keep it short, he has turned a 15-win team into a playoff squad, drawn attention to the Bucks from national media outlets and helped change the culture and perception of the team and city.

That being said though, he’s still a second-year coach that has a lot to learn about the art of coaching. One of these things is when to substitute players and call timeouts.

It’s happened far too often this year where the opposing team goes on a big run, but Kidd refuses to make an adjustment. He doesn’t call a timeout, he doesn’t change up his lineup, and he decides to ride out the storm essentially.

Jason Kidd is all about the preparation for a game. The team practices hard and works on problems between games rather than search for a fix in the heat of battle.

He takes preparation so serious that he even gives the players a written test they must take on plays and NBA history.

The problem is that preparation only takes you so far.

Coaching in the NBA probably requires less split-second decisions than playing in the league, but it’s a chess match that requires a coach to always be looking ahead at his next move.

Sometimes it’s good to let a young team like the Bucks work through their struggles to grow, but that mindset doesn’t work in a seven-game series where every game is crucial.

If that’s why Kidd has been slow to substitute this season, it makes sense, but hopefully he’ll have a shorter leash come playoff time.

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