Milwaukee Bucks: An ongoing case of missing identity
By Adam McGee
Q.1 – What word or phrase would you use to describe the Bucks’ basketball identity over the last four years?
Out of the 100 responses to this question, 39 different terms, ideas or phrases emerged as the suggested key to the Bucks’ identity.
Among the terms that proved popular among multiple respondents, the answers were no more definitive in terms of pointing to a recognizable and obvious identity.
The term most frequently suggested was inconsistent, which was the answer put forward by 16 of those who answered. Similarly, phrases like disorganized (9), mismanaged (5), self-sabotage (3) and untrustworthy (2) were among similar sentiments shared multiple times.
Last week, I asked for people to take a quick survey on the Bucks' identity. Article is coming up with more details later, but this word cloud is a snapshot of the 114 responses when asked for a word or phrase to describe the team's identity over the last four years. pic.twitter.com/dQg2fU77VM
— Adam McGee (@AdamMcGee11) March 19, 2018
One of the most popular responses that suggested a slightly different perspective was Giannis. Nine respondents offered the name of the team’s star player as reflective of their identity over the past four years, perhaps pointing to another area of weakness too.
For as incredibly talented as Antetokounmpo is, it’s much more difficult to identify the ways in which the Bucks are hoping to best serve and support Giannis than it is to pick up the team’s blind reliance on him to perform. The Bucks will go as far as the Greek Freak can take them in the coming years, but that doesn’t mean Milwaukee shouldn’t be more structured in finding ways to help their star’s efforts.
One of the driving motivations behind the survey was to get a sense of if there was an ability among a larger sample of Bucks viewers to succinctly point to a basketball phrase to describe the team’s current identity. There were very few suggestions to fit that bill, but those that attempted to were telling.
The closest anyone gets to pinpointing Milwaukee’s overarching style as a team during that span, is with related responses of “mid-range” or “old school”, which was provided twice.
In an era when talk of “pace and space” is indicative of team identities being as clearly identifiable as ever, such a clearly defined identity evades the Bucks. Instead, Bucks fans are left to bemoan inconsistent results rather than any shape of well-intentioned process.