The Milwaukee Bucks need to find their focus
The Milwaukee Bucks are bound for the playoffs. Until they find their focus though, they are going to be a middle-of-the-road team.
The Milwaukee Bucks are playoff-bound. They currently sit in the seventh seed in the East with a 42-37 record. They sit half a game ahead of the Washington Wizards in the 8-spot and half a game behind the 6-seeded Miami Heat.
This means they are going to the playoffs two years in a row for the first time since the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons. However, the Bucks have also not made it out of the first round since the 2001-02 season, when they lost the Eastern Conference Finals to the Allen Iverson-led Philadelphia 76ers.
With that one exception, the Bucks have not made it past the first round since 1989. With the talent level on this team, this cannot be acceptable to anyone associated with the franchise.
This season, the Bucks had a really good chance to make it into a top-four seed, which would have given them home-court advantage in the first round. Unfortunately, there have been too many lapses against teams Milwaukee should have beaten.
For the Bucks to become a powerhouse in the Eastern Conference again, they need to perform against all teams, not just get their game together against the top teams.
Where they have slipped — non-playoff teams
There are too many non-playoff teams who have beaten the Milwaukee Bucks this year. Eastern conference non-playoff teams who have beaten the Bucks include the Charlotte Hornets (twice), Detroit Pistons (twice), Chicago Bulls (twice), Orlando Magic and Brooklyn Nets.
The Bucks do fare a little better in the Western Conference, but they have been beaten by the Denver Nuggets (twice) Los Angeles Clippers (twice) and the Dallas Mavericks.
This equates to 13 games against current lottery-bound teams they have lost. If the Bucks win more than half of these, their record would be 49-30, which would have them tied with the 76ers in third. Considering two of their remaining three games are against non-playoff teams, they would be in a great position to secure home-court advantage.
Eastern Conference playoff teams
The Bucks have played solidly against some of the top-tier teams. They split their four-game series against the Boston Celtics. They also currently hold a 2-1 advantage against the third seeded 76ers with one game to play. Against the Cleveland Cavaliers, they lost the series 3-1 and were beaten by the Toronto Raptors 2-1.
When it comes to the bottom half of the playoff seeds, the Bucks have lost well more than they should have. Against the 5-seeded, Indiana Pacers they lost the series 3-1. More alarmingly, against the 6-seeded Heat, the Bucks lost 0-3. Against the 8-seeded Washington Wizards, they split the series 2-2. The Wizards have been without John Wall for a large part of the season.
Next: 2017-18 Week 25 NBA Power Rankings
The Bucks cannot take care of business against the lesser teams. How then, can they expect to win a playoff series against a top team? This team needs to focus for every game. Yes, they will lose some, but this is too many to lose against inferior competition with the goal of being competitive in the playoffs.