By Tiffany Crouse
The Bucks beat the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday, February 25. The win was a welcome turn around for the team compared to their resent loss to the Chicago Bulls, 71-87, on Monday, February 23. After the game against the 76ers the teams standing was 32 wins to 25 losses. That is about a 56 percent game win rate.
This is the Bucks’ best season since 2012, and it’s not over yet. The Bucks have a lot of talk surrounding their new players, Michael Carter-Williams, guard from the 76ers, Tyler Ennis, guard, and Miles Plumlee, forward both from the Phoenix Suns.
The team traded Brandon Knight and Kendall Marshall to the Suns to get the three new players to Milwaukee. Head Coach, Jason Kidd, said that he has high hopes for Williams.
“He’s a young kid that has done a lot early, he is filling up the stats sheets, he rebounds well, he sets the table, and he is not afraid to score the ball. So that is exciting,” said Kidd. Kidd tried out some of the new recruits in the game against Philadelphia on Wednesday, before they headed out to the west coast.
“For us, getting the new players acclimated into the sense of their new teammates … Our energy and effort, we have got to get that back too,” said Kidd discussing the 76ers game. As for the rest of the team they are looking forward to keeping up this season’s statistics.
As such a young team we exceeded expectations early on and I want to keep up with that and improve as the season goes on said Jared Dudley, forward. Dudley said that over all he is excited about where the team is at.
“It is always nice to get a win before going out on the road, and, for us, after making a trade trying to get chemistry and continuity on the team is important,” said Dudley.
Not only does the team have their best winning streak in 3 years but they have been busy working with the community as well.
The NBA has a history of endorsing literacy programs for kids and although the Bucks are obligated to participate in these community outreach programs Dudley said he like his community work, especially his work with the boys and girls club.
“Any time you do community stuff, you shouldn’t do it for the fans you should do it to give back to the city you’re in and as role models it is nice to give back, “said Dudley. This has been a busy season for the Bucks because the team’s home court is also under scrutiny.
There has been talk for years now about building the new sports arena for the Bucks.
“I always think that nice stadiums and pro sport teams helps the economy because you have all these new people wanting to go check it out … always something nice and unique.
And who doesn’t want something new?” said Dudley.
Dudley believes that the winning season may help change those who are skeptical about the new stadium minds.
It is a busy season for the Bucks and they still have March Maddens to step up to. First the team will be on the road for a few days before they come back home to Milwaukee; hopefully bringing home wins with them.