As the Milwaukee Bucks G League affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd, continue to go from worst to first this season, they have plenty to celebrate as they’ve clinched their first-ever playoff berth.
It’s official: they’ll be playoff games played on both levels of the Milwaukee Bucks organization this season.
Following their 115-108 win over the Westchester Knicks Saturday evening, the Bucks’ G League affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd, have clinched the first playoff berth in their three-year history as their league-leading record climbed to 31-9 in light of their most recent win.
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Considering their resounding success this season as the Herd have followed the footsteps of their dominant parent club, accomplishing such a feat was a mere formality as they head into the final month of the 2019-20 regular season.
Still, this is a landmark achievement for a Herd team that continues to enjoy their worst-to-first turnaround this season and has smoothly navigated through the trials and pitfalls that are custom for life in the G League.
There’s no question the struggles the Herd experienced last year and the subsequent changes and additions they made, whether that was hiring head coach Chase Buford and his staff or building up their front office, can be traced to the extensive success the Herd have enjoyed this season.
Trying to tow that line of developing unfinished or overlooked products while enjoying lasting success is no easy proposition, especially in the G League, but Herd general manager Dave Dean talked about improving their on-court product as far back as last June with Margaret Naczek of Oshkosh Northwestern:
"“We do need to send people home happy. They’re spending hard-earned money to see wins every night. I promise you we’re going to do a lot more of that this year,” Dean said."
They’ve unquestionably done that all throughout the season and it’s been through Buford that the Herd have largely been able to mirror the strategy and tactics set from on high by Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer and his staff. That synergy has been crucial to developing a through-line for their two-way players and assignment players like Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Dragan Bender and D.J. Wilson to follow on both levels.
Yet, it’s been Buford’s own aspirations for success going into his first year in charge that Jordan Jacobson of the Appleton Post-Crescent rounded up from his introductory press conference that have held true on the court with his guidance:
"“We’re going to work hard to develop our players, it will be the most important thing we do,” Buford said. “We’re going to teach, support and nurture them in every way we can. Ultimately, we want to build a group of competitors who will fight for each other, fight for the Herd each and every time we step out onto the floor.”“For a G League head coach, if you can lead the league in call-ups, you’re obviously doing something right and personally, I would love to see as many of our guys go on and make that next step in their career,” Buford said. “I want to be a great defensive team, top five in defense. We just want to come in and get better every day, just consistently improving.”"
As of this writing, the Herd have enjoyed two call ups with both Jaylen Adams (Team USA) and Rayjon Tucker (Utah Jazz) and rank third in defensive efficiency, per the G League’s stats database. In regards to the latter, they’re doing that while playing at the second-highest pace in the league, following what the Bucks have remarkably done in both areas of the game this season.
Those achievements and the Herd’s total success this season surely make Buford a favorite for G League Coach of the Year when it’s time for awards season.
But without the talented, productive players the Herd’s front office identified from the G League last offseason, such as Adams, D.J. Hogg, Jemerrio Jones, or the players that had brief cups of coffee in the NBA like Frank Mason III and Cam Reynolds, none of the on-court success the Herd have enjoyed this year would be possible.
10 games still remain for the Herd this regular season and there’s still plenty to accomplish, such as trying to lock down a first-round bye that goes to the two top seeds in each conference under the G League’s playoff format. And if they can do that, they’ll be able to host a playoff game at Menominee Nation Arena and potentially book a trip to this year’s G League Finals, which is played in a best-of-three series.
While the Herd will fight to earn a first-round bye and contend for this year’s G League title, the seeds and growth that have been instrumental to their run were planted well before the season tipped off.