Keys to Turning the Milwaukee Bucks Season Around

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Dec 23, 2015; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Michael Carter-Williams (5) and forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) celebrate following a play during the third quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Effort and Belief

A fourth way the Bucks can turn things around is to up their effort and believe in their ability.

Though it sounds simple, the Bucks have struggled significantly with effort. In big games, such as those against Golden State and Cleveland, the team has shown full effort for the entire game. They dove for loose balls, hustled to make plays, and found ways to be as disruptive as possible to the opposing team.

The result was scrappy, hard-working performances, two of which resulted in wins:

In many other games, however, they’ve looked lost, getting consistently beaten on hustle plays and getting outworked on both ends of the floor. This was never more apparent than during their performance against the Los Angeles Lakers last week.

After ending one of the longest winning streaks in professional sports history, the Bucks came out flat against a horrible Lakers team. Throughout the entire game, the Bucks were outworked on both ends of the floor by an inferior opponent. The result was an 18 demolition by LA, arguably their worst loss of the young season:

Giving more consistent effort is key for any team. Many of the NBA’s most successful regular season teams, such as the Chicago Bulls, don’t just win games because of talent. They win because they leave it all on the court every single time they step on it.

The Bucks have the talent to compete with the best the NBA has to offer. Talent is not the problem. Their effort, however, has been suspect, especially against teams which they should be beating.