In the first non-shortened season of the George Karl era, the Milwaukee Bucks kept on winning games.
The season: 1999-2000
The record: 42-40
The postseason: 2-3, lost in first round
The story:
George Karl became known for a very specific style of coaching in his time in the NBA. Aside from off-the-court concerns, which we’ll cover a few days from now, Karl was known for running a fast-paced, offensive style of basketball in each of his stops.
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The turn-of-the-century Milwaukee Bucks were no exception to that. The Karl Bucks scored, and they scored well. The team actually didn’t run at an exceptional pace in the 1999-2000 season, but the Bucks offense was one of the most efficient in the NBA, ranking second in offensive rating.
The biggest factor in that was Ray Allen stepping up and becoming a true star. Allen was good the last two seasons, but finally broke through as an All-Star once the new millennium hit. He was certainly deserving, with per game averages of 22.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game.
Allen had a ton to do with Milwaukee being so efficient because in addition to being the leading Bucks scorer, his points came on relatively few shots. Ray was able to make 45.5 percent of his field goals, 42.3 percent of his five attempted threes per game, and 88.7 percent of his free throws in an analytically-beautiful season.
Glenn Robinson may not have been as efficient, but he still excelled at putting up points. Big Dog averaged 20.9 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.0 steals per game. Although he led the Bucks in production for a long time, he was now serving as second banana thanks to Allen’s emergence.
Coming in third on the team was Sam Cassell, an absolute joy to watch and an ideal third guy. Cassell played better than some Bucks first options in bad years had, honestly. He posted 18.6 points, 9.0 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.
If that seems like a ton of assists, it’s because it is. Cassell set the Bucks record both for total assists and assists per game with his generous passing in that season. It’d take a hell of a passing performance to break either record, considering Cassell missed just one game all season.
In what was typical for that group, the Bucks big three missed two games between them. Big Dog sat out once too, and Allen played all 82 games. That explains how even with a mediocre supporting cast that saw Ervin Johnson, a full-time starter, score less than five points per game, the Bucks still went over .500 and qualified for postseason play. Opponents saw their best players basically every single night.
The team finished 42-40 and found themselves matched up with the Indiana Pacers for the second straight postseason. Milwaukee was looking for revenge after Indy swept the Bucks last time out.
Reggie Miller was even older in this season, but unfortunately for Milwaukee the Bucks saw more of breakout star Jalen Rose, who set a new high for per game scoring in that season. Reggie was still the most effective Pacer, putting up 24.2 points per game in the series, but Rose added another 19.0 points himself.
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Indiana needed that extra scoring punch to combat Milwaukee’s offense. Allen led the Bucks again, posting 22.0 points per game. Unfortunately, his teammates could not manage to keep up their scoring ways.
Both Robinson and Cassell scored less than 16 points per game on inefficient shooting numbers. Luckily Tim Thomas and Scott Williams managed to add double-digit scoring figures each night, but Thomas scoring as much as Robinson was a problem considering they both averaged 15.4 points per night.
The Bucks fared better against Indiana, taking the second and fourth games of the series to tie it up at 2-2, but in a deciding Game 5 the Bucks couldn’t match the seasoned Pacers. Reggie Miller knew a thing or two about clutch playoff performances, and his 41 points ensured his Pacers were going to the next round.
Next: 49 years in 49 days: 1998-99 season
Even though the team still didn’t get to the second round, Ray Allen and Sam Cassell both having such strong seasons left room for improvement in Milwaukee going forward.