Milwaukee Bucks: A very different kind of disappointment
By Adam McGee
In the aftermath of another season ending, Milwaukee Bucks fans are dealing with disappointment again. It’s just not the same type they’ve grown accustomed to.
The reaction to the Milwaukee Bucks’ playoff exit essentially tells the story of how much has changed with the franchise over the course of a single year.
Having lost four games in a row to fall foul of the Toronto Raptors, after having taken a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals, it’s possible to characterize Milwaukee’s ultimate end as a failure. Whether that’s fair is certainly debatable, but in its own right that notion is worth further exploration.
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After a 38-year wait for a 60-win season, the Bucks delivered such a campaign this year.
After an 18-year wait to win a playoff series, the Bucks won two series in 2019.
The 45-year wait to return to the Finals will continue for at least one more year for Milwaukee, but coming within two games of that goal can’t merely be glossed over in any post-mortem analysis of what went wrong. On that same point, the Bucks losing from a position of command doesn’t cheapen how close they got, in fact it arguably should even strengthen the perception of this team, what they’ve done, and what they can do in the years ahead.
Of course, just 12 months ago, the Bucks had the latest entry of a spate of first round exits that have largely defined their recent history. That led to disappointment too, but it’s a type borne out of a sense of underachievement. Even that underachievement was built on a sense of the imagined, though.
Before this year, all conversation surrounding the Bucks’ prospects of success was purely theoretical. There were glimpses of progress, signs of potential, and a combined feeling of hope, but a 44-win season was not, in reality, enough to suggest a genuine contender was about to be awakened.
Now, the Bucks are finally living in a new reality, though. They’re certainly not a perfect team, and the offseason holds its share of uncertainty in terms of free agency, but the Bucks will return for the new season having laid down a marker and gained from the experience they picked up along the way.
In Giannis Antetokounmpo, they’ll almost certainly have the league’s Most Valuable Player, who will come back more motivated than ever, and having been left with plenty to work on in spite of a phenomenal overall season.
In Mike Budenholzer, the Bucks will likely have the reigning Coach of the Year, who with a year at the helm and a tough postseason end to draw from, will undoubtedly look to improve the team’s approach and tweak some of their philosophies further.
On top of all of that, the Bucks will have greater cohesion and confidence, and less reason than ever to fear the spotlight or the moment. So much of this year’s run could be described as brand new for this team, and with that came questions as to how they’d handle each step along the way. In the end, one of the final steps proved to be a bridge too far.
Next year, Milwaukee will be prepared to handle that situation better, simply by virtue of having gone through it before.
To return to the present, the disappointment is real and it’s weightier than it’s been for quite some time in Milwaukee. And it’s real because the ultimate dreams of a fanbase were within touching distance this time, as opposed to the occasions when the team could almost sniff the second round before meeting its end.
If anyone wants to describe the Bucks’ 2018-19 season as a failure, let them. That sentiment is certainly questionable on the surface, but it’s a narrative that’s evidence of something greater. The expectations for Milwaukee have changed, the franchise’s reality has shifted.
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The Bucks are no longer an afterthought, a footnote or an irrelevancy. Therefore, the hurt that comes from a Conference Finals exit may be greater than that which accompanies a first round loss, but the hope that can follow this year’s fate is beyond comparison to what’s gone before.