Why the Milwaukee Bucks benefit from being an overlooked superteam

The Milwaukee Bucks often don’t pop up in the conversation of scary superteams. That’s playing out exactly how they should want it to.

At the 50-game mark of the season, the Milwaukee Bucks‘ 43-7 record is by far the best in the NBA. Returning most of the same bunch that won 60 games a season ago, coach Mike Budenholzer continues to do a fantastic job with his unit. The organization is cementing itself as one of the premier ones in the league.

With that status, though, often comes a certain level of respect. Despite having a tremendous amount of regular season success and one of the league’s best players in Giannis Antetokounmpo, that respect isn’t quite there. Some basketball analysts and pundits alike aren’t mentioning Milwaukee as one of the scarier teams in “The Association,” pointing to the fact that it doesn’t have a second star.

Two-time All-Star forward Khris Middleton is doing his best to help put that narrative to rest. The 28-year-old signed a lucrative five-year, $178 million deal with the Bucks this past offseason and needless to say — he’s been worth it to this point. Averaging 20.3 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game, he has performed quite well when healthy.

The efficiency is there, too, as Middleton is on pace to become a member of the historic 50-40-90 club. He’s shooting 50.8 percent from the field, canning 44.1 percent of his attempts from 3-point range and hitting at a 90.1 percent clip at the free throw line. Aside from Middleton, point guard Eric Bledsoe is as steady as ever. As a whole, Milwaukee is a deep team and performs at a very high level each and every night.

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Throughout the course of an NBA season, teams are under constant pressure to perform. Sure, plenty of that comes internally. Players, coaches, executives, etc. are the best in the world at what they do. They demand greatness.

On the outside, though, comes a completely different kind of pressure. Fans and analysts are critical by nature, and some of those opinions can seep into locker rooms and negatively impact team chemistry. Luckily, the Bucks are built to weather that storm and block out the noise.

Milwaukee is a team composed of a perfect balance between veteran leadership and young talent. Reigning Executive of the Year, Jon Horst, knows what he’s doing. When the season ended prematurely in last season’s playoffs, he didn’t make a ton of major changes. He believes in the team he has.

Budenholzer is one of the best coaches in the NBA. He also has complete faith in his players. That faith is reciprocated by the team. No one is taking the Bucks seriously as a superteam, nor giving them a good chance to win the NBA Finals? No big deal. They’re used to it.

Right now, the team is playing better basketball than any other squad. Milwaukee’s net rating (first), offensive rating (second) and defensive rating (first) all rank at or near the top of the league. Antetokounmpo has followed up his MVP campaign with an even more dangerous version of himself in 2019-20. Middleton is a hand-in-glove fit as his sidekick. The bench is getting the most out of its youth.

The Milwaukee Bucks probably won’t receive any respect until they do some damage in the playoffs. Reaching the Eastern Conference Finals isn’t enough. A championship appearance is where the bar is set. Really, a championship win is. Until then, though, expect this overlooked superteam to continue dominating on a nightly basis.