The Milwaukee Bucks' front office delivered some surprise across the league this past week when they fired erstwhile head coach Jason Kidd. The team’s All-Star, Giannis Antetokounmpo, was among the most who got caught off-guard, as he even offered to intervene for his beloved mentor.
Such situations usually mess things up, but this Bucks squad is looking to be one of the great exceptions. They have now won four-straight games since the firing, and in doing so, have also put together a couple of great stats:
Per @cleantheglass, Bucks (albeit vs PHX, BRK, CHI, PHI no Embiid) have #5 O, #2 D, #1 net rating since Kidd firing
— Nate Duncan (@NateDuncanNBA) January 30, 2018
Well, who saw that one coming? Who knew that letting go of someone who's widely perceived as having the highest basketball IQ's ever would boost that team's offense, defense, and net rating?
In the current four-game winning streak, the Bucks are scoring 110.8 points per game on 51.4 percent shooting (42.7 percent from beyond the arc), while also forcing opponents to commit 16.3 turnovers per contest.
Though initially devastated by the franchise's new direction, Antetokounmpo is still playing the leader role and producing like the imposing figure that he is on the court. He's netting 33.0 points, 13.3 rebounds, and 7.0 assists per game in the past week.
Following the win over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday, “The Greek Freak” shared to reporters that the team is now “playing harder.” Andrew Seligman of Madison.com quoted the Bucks forward in saying the following:
“I see that guys are playing harder… Some guys — I don’t know what they’re thinking in their heads. Maybe (they were) not OK with what happened [Kidd's firing]. I just see guys playing hard.”
Antetokounmpo reiterated his observations after they extended their streak with a victory against the Philadelphia 76ers Monday, via Seligman's colleague in Madison.com, Genaro C. Armas:
“We're just playing harder, trusting one another… Just in general having fun when we've been out there.”
Let's see how far can the surging Bucks push this good stretch. With a 27-22 record, they are currently tied with the Washington Wizards for fifth in the Eastern Conference.
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