Milwaukee Bucks Roundtable: Reflecting on the Conference Finals loss

TORONTO, CANADA - MAY 25: Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks and Kawhi Leonard #2 of the Toronto Raptors talk after Game Six of the Eastern Conference Finals on May 25, 2019 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Mark Blinch/NBAE via Getty Images)
TORONTO, CANADA - MAY 25: Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks and Kawhi Leonard #2 of the Toronto Raptors talk after Game Six of the Eastern Conference Finals on May 25, 2019 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Mark Blinch/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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MILWAUKEE, WI – MAY 17: (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WI – MAY 17: (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) /

6. Now that their season is over, would you consider Milwaukee’s season a success or a failure? Did their loss in the Eastern Conference Finals change your evaluation?

Dan Larsen (@DanLarsen34): This season is absolutely a success. Anyone saying otherwise is letting their wild expectations in the high of the moment get to them. They may not have made it as far as we were expecting, after the way they started this series. However, people need to remember where this team was a season ago.

Milwaukee looked like they might have missed their moment. They hadn’t won a playoff series in 18 years. They had little cap space to work with moving forward, and it looked like they had a collection of guys who didn’t really fit together.

They went from being a mediocre team that was poorly coached, to looking like the favorites in the East. They had the best record in the NBA. They won 10 of their first 11 games in the playoffs. This team was a historically great side by many statistical measures too. No one, not even the most optimistic fan, would have seen this coming before the season tipped off.

So long as they can keep their core together and make the necessary improvements, this might be the thing they needed to be even better moving forward, which is what I argued in my piece earlier this week.

Theo Konstantellos (@theokon7): Of course the season is a success. The Bucks got even more regular season wins than I had predicted before the season (I had predicted 58 wins and I was one of the most optimistic), won two playoff series and lost in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals. If anyone told the Bucks that at the beginning of the season, they would have taken it. The Bucks accomplished their goal at the beginning of the season, which was to play like a contender.

Of course, since the Bucks played like a contender and arguably the top one at that, there is the natural disappointment of the contender that fails to get there. Especially if you consider the circumstance of Kevin Durant’s injury that makes the Warriors look more vulnerable than previous years, and the fact that Bucks missed a lot of opportunities in winnable games against the Raptors. You could say the Bucks missed a really good chance at winning a title.

However, Milwaukee succeeded in becoming a top contender and their star is just 24 years old, he keeps getting better and has every intention to stay, as long as the Bucks give him a chance to compete at the highest level. So if the Bucks retain their core this summer, and come back determined, it is safe to say that there will be more chances to come.

Jordan Treske (@JordanTreske): Without question, the Bucks’ 2018-19 season was a resounding success. Saying so doesn’t make the untimely ending any less bitter obviously.

But it finally fulfilled what all Bucks fans clung to throughout the Jason Kidd era, that this was a team, at its core, that was capable of contending for the Eastern Conference and an NBA title. It obviously took the hiring of Mike Budenholzer and a number of shrewd personnel decisions to make that happen, but the main principle behind it was finally laid bare for everyone to see and it resulted in one of the best seasons in the history of the franchise.

Adam McGee (@AdamMcGee11): An undoubted success. Don’t lose sight of where this team has come from, and don’t overlook the fact that the offseason could still shake out in a way that leaves Milwaukee in an equally strong, or better position, for the years ahead. This is the best season the franchise has had for 30 years. It’s always disappointing not to win it all, but by no measure should this year be deemed any kind of failure.