Half the season is complete for the Milwaukee Bucks with 41 games in the book.
They've compiled a 22-19 record, which prior to any Saturday games played had them solely in seventh in the Eastern Conference, two games behind the fourth-place Miami Heat and two games ahead of the ninth-place Philadelphia 76ers.
The Bucks' record represents their best at the halfway point of the Jason Kidd coaching era. However, with one of the best players in the league in Giannis Antetokounmpo and raised expectations following a sixth-place finish and solid playoff performance last season, Milwaukee's best midpoint record in five seasons isn't considered an accomplishment.
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The Bucks have the talent, continuity and experience to be better.
"I think we've honestly underperformed so far," Bucks guard Malcolm Brogdon said. "But I think we have a lot of potential, and we're going to rise to the expectations and rise to the occasion in the second half of the season."
Heading into a difficult set of back-to-back road games against the Miami Heat at noon Sunday followed by a 1 p.m. Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee in Washington, D.C., against the Wizards on Monday, here's a look some of the positives and negatives at the midpoint of the season.
THE GOOD
Star power: The best teams in the NBA invariably have at least one superstar player, and Antetokounmpo has become that for the Bucks. He's in line to start his second successive All-Star Game, averaging the second-most points per game in the NBA (28.5) and has filled up the stat sheet averaging 9.9 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. Led by Antetokounmpo, the Bucks rank in the top 10 in offensive efficiency (tied for seventh) despite owning the fifth-worst three-point shooting percentage (35.2%) in the NBA.
Addition paying off: Before trading for point guard Eric Bledsoe, the Bucks were 4-6 and had the worst defensive rating in the NBA. Since then, they're 18-13 and have been close to average defensively, though that's only boosted their cumulative rating to 25th. Bledsoe's been a strong contributor since joining the team and slotting directly into the starting lineup. He's putting up 18.0 points and 4.2 assists per game while ranking second in the NBA with 2.1 steals per contest. His speed and playmaking have been definite positives, especially in late-game situations.
Help on the way: Forward Jabari Parker, who has spent nearly a year rehabbing from his second left ACL tear, is coming back soon. He's projected to be back in action the week before the all-star break and if he can return at the same level he was playing at last season, he'll provide the Bucks with another dynamic scoring and playmaking option as they push down the stretch run. In 51 games last season, Parker averaged 20.1 points while pushing his three-point percentage up to 36.5% and adding 6.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.
THE BAD
Up and down: You never know what you're going to get from the Bucks. Some games they're operating like a well-oiled machine, moving the ball, knocking down shots, rotating perfectly on defense and using their length to disrupt everything. Other games they can't make wide open shots, look totally lost defensively, can't rely on their bench and have no answers as the opposing team waxes them. Sometimes the Jekyll and Hyde performance happens multiple times in a game.
It's not a good look, especially for a team that brought back virtually everyone from last year, that Milwaukee can't string good performances together. Yes, the inconsistency means that the Bucks aren't down for long, but they don't put extensive winning streaks together, either.
“I think, as other teams in this league, we’re fighting to be consistent," Bucks coach Jason Kidd said. "That’s the area we have to work at. Understanding being consistent can help you win games and for us being consistent would definitely put us in the right direction. Then looking at getting better at rebounding and (getting) our bench play to a better level than it has (been) here in the first half of the season.
Too close: The Bucks have the second-worst point differential among teams currently in the playoffs having been outscored by an average of 0.7 points per game (only the Heat at minus-1.0 is worse). Part of that stems from the fact that Milwaukee lets teams hang close and doesn't run them off the court. Among the current 16 playoff teams, the Bucks have the fewest wins of 10-plus point (5) and it's not all that close with the next lowest teams each having seven such victories. While a win's a win, it's not a good practice to let teams hang around, which is exactly what the Bucks have done most of the season.
Playing down: Milwaukee has played the 10th toughest schedule to date, which could bode well for the second half of the season as things even out. However, the Bucks haven't won at a high rate against sub-.500 teams, going just 11-6 in those contests including two of their worst performances against the Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz. With more than half of their remaining games against teams currently under .500, the Bucks will need to take advantage over the second half, similar to the way they revved things up last season.
"We’re pushing," Bucks center John Henson said. "Last year this is kind of when we picked it up a little bit. ... We’ve got a big week coming up with the Wizards and Heat, so we’ve definitely got to be ready for them.”