All Praise Jason Kidd
The Milwaukee Bucks have been fire lately, winning 14 of their last 18 games. One man deserves to be recognized for their success.
Jason Kidd has ruffled a lot of feathers in his four years as an NBA head coach. His ruffling of feathers actually goes back even further to his playing days. It started while he was in college at California when he was blamed for starting a mutiny to get his head coach fired. It continued in the NBA, including being arrested in 2001 for hitting his wife and pleading guilty in 2012 to driving while ability impaired, amongst other incidents.
Kidd has always tip-toed the line between gamesmanship and a dirty reputation. In 2010 Kidd bumped then head coach of the Atlanta Hawks Mike Woodson. Woodson was barely on the floor when Kidd appeared to deliberately run right into him. The refs gave Woodson a technical foul, helping to lead the Mavericks to victory, but not without controversy.
Fast forward to his one year coaching in Brooklyn and more controversy followed. Jason Kidd was responsible for the infamous spilled soda incident that once again flared up questions about his integrity. The Nets were down two with 8 seconds remaining and no time outs. Kidd appeared to tell his player to “hit me” and then spilled his drink on the playing floor which stopped play.
Kidd would go on to lead the Nets to a second round playoff exit that season. After the season was over, Kidd tried to leverage his position to acquire more power within Brooklyn’s organization. He realized that the Nets had mortgaged their long-term future for a one-time mediocre playoff run. When that failed, he decided that it was time to move on from a sinking organization. He promptly demanded out and sought out the Milwaukee Bucks head coaching position.
The only issue was that Milwaukee already had a head coach, Larry Drew. This fact didn’t stop Kidd from using his connections with Bucks ownership to leverage the Bucks into a trade for his services. The Bucks and Nets came to an agreement of two second-round picks in exchange for Jason Kidd. Not exactly the best way to enlighten yourself to a franchise.
In Kidd’s first season as the Bucks head coach, he led Milwaukee to the playoffs and their first non-losing season in five years. The Bucks eventually lost in six games to the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the playoffs. Kidd’s chaotic defensive scheme appeared to be revolutionary as it caught the NBA off guard. The constant pressure forced their opponents into turnover after turnover.
This resulted in 17.9 turnovers per 100 possessions, the most in the NBA. The Bucks were also fourth in the NBA in allowing 100.1 points per 100 possessions. The Milwaukee Bucks future looked bright when you combined Khris Middleton’s rise, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s enormous potential, and Jabari Parker’s return from injury.
However, the Bucks had a disappointing season in 2015–16 when they finished the year 33–49. The NBA figured out Kidd’s defensive scheme and he failed to adjust to their adjustments. The Bucks forced almost two fewer turnovers per 100 possessions and gave up 106.5 points per 100 possessions as a result.
Moving on to this season and it has been a roller-coaster ride for anyone who falls on the fire Kidd spectrum. After a victory over the Heat on January 13th, the Milwaukee Bucks had a 20–18 record and looked to be on the rise. That never happened however as the Bucks lost 10 of their next 11 games and finished the month of February with a 5–6 record. Then March happened. The Bucks caught fire in March, winning a franchise record 14 games in the month. This hot streak has propelled the Bucks into fifth place in the Eastern Conference.
While you can associate the Bucks’ good play with the return of Khris Middleton, Jason Kidd deserves at least equal praise. He has smoothly transitioned Middleton into the Bucks starting lineup after losing Jabari Parker for the year to another devastating knee injury. While this transition seems to be a no-brainer the logistics are not as easy as they appear. Middleton and Parker play different positions and have different capabilities on both ends of the floor. Parker, a limited perimeter defender, was often matched up with the opposing teams small forwards. He also defended power forwards as well, something that Middleton is not able to do as effectively.
Middleton struggled mightily on the defensive end after his return from injury. It was painfully obvious that he had not played basketball at the NBA speed in 10 months. Even with the Bucks’ season on life support, Kidd was patient with Middleton and allowed him time to develop his feel for the game. Kidd didn’t push Middleton too hard nor too fast upon his return. Instead, he held true to the minutes limitation he had placed on Middleton. This has all provided huge dividends for the Bucks as they are playing their best basketball of the season at the most crucial time.
Kidd also deserves credit for the constant development of the young players on the Milwaukee Bucks. He has worked incredibly hard with Antetokounmpo, Middleton, and Parker among others. The constant improvement in their game is not only testament to their dedication to basketball but also to Kidd and his coaching staff’s understanding of how the game works.
During Kidd’s first two years in Milwaukee, he severely limited Antetokounmpo to shooting from downtown. Instead, he encouraged him to be aggressive and take the ball to the rack. This allowed Antetokounmpo to refine his game from inside out and develop a plethora of moves while driving to the basket.
Now, in Antetokounmpo’s fourth year, Kidd has loosened the leash and allowed Antetokounmpo to shoot from outside more often. Giannis has made constant improvement in every category since he entered the NBA. Kidd has also employed the same strategy for Parker which was showing positive returns as well before the ACL injury ended Parker’s season.
Kidd’s willingness to experiment with Antetokounmpo at point guard last year is still paying off for the Bucks this season. After defensive rebounds, the Bucks always look to get the ball in Antetokounmpo’s hands. He is so good in the open court, both when looking for his own shot or a shot for his teammates. Often a Giannis fast break ends like this:
Kidd is also a big factor in a number of the Bucks’ free agent acquisitions. Before Giannis fully develops into a superstar, their coach is the biggest attraction Milwaukee has. He has brought in Kevin Garnett on a number of occasions to work specifically with players like Antetokonumpo and Thon Maker. Kidd’s also a big reason why players like Mirza Teletovic, Matthew Dellavedova, and Greg Monroe have come to Milwaukee in the past two years.
Speaking of Monroe, Kidd also deserves credit for the position he has put Monroe in this season. After Monroe signed a max three-year deal with Milwaukee in the summer of 2015, he had a disappointing first year with the Bucks. Kidd adjusted to Monroe’s defensive liabilities and moved him to the bench at the end of last year. Monroe has taken advantage of playing against backup centers who are typically less athletic players. This has resulted in Monroe leading the Bucks’ second unit, which has become an area of strength for the Bucks this season.
Jason Kidd has received a lot of recent praise from those in the NBA spotlight. In the past week, both Rachel Nichols and Zach Lowe have mentioned Kidd as a fringe coach of the year candidate. Before Sunday’s game against the Mavericks Rick Carlisle had this to say about Kidd:
While those in the NBA spotlight are beginning to take notice of Kidd’s work in Milwaukee, the hate for Jason Kidd is still real. There are a growing number of twitter handles who have morphed their name into some form of “FireKidd.” While Kidd may not react and make changes as fast as some like, he has made quite an impact on the Bucks in his three years. It is also important to remember that he has only been a coach at any level for a relatively short period of time. He is still learning and doing so on the fly.
This season Milwaukee hopes to clinch their first winning record since 2009–10. Given the Bucks’ roster limitations at key positions and the loss of Parker, it is remarkable they find themselves in this position with the playoffs right around the corner. With the way they are playing nobody in the NBA wants to see the Milwaukee Bucks in the playoffs. It has been a long time since anybody could honestly say that. We should all praise Jason Kidd.
