Pulse of the NBA

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(SportsNetwork.com) – The Golden State Warriors and Atlanta Hawks have grabbed plenty of headlines, as both teams have soared to surprising levels. But it would probably surprise you to learn that neither team is the most improved from last season. That’s not an opinion, but a fact.

That distinction belongs to the Milwaukee Bucks, who had the league’s worst record last year at 15-67, which translated to a .183 winning percentage. This year they’re playing .542 basketball with their record at 26-22. That means the Bucks have improved their winning percentage by 66.2 percent.

The Warriors winning percentage this season is .826, after playing at a .622 pace the previous year. That’s an improvement of 24.7 percent.

As for the Hawks, they’ve gone from playing .463 basketball last season, to their current pace of .816, which means an improvement of 43.2 percent.

The head coaches of the Warriors (Steve Kerr) and Hawks (Mike Budenholzer) have deservedly got plenty of praise, but it’s time for Milwaukee’s Jason Kidd to get his props. He’s the one big change from last season, and it looks like the controversial offseason move to fire Larry Drew and replace him with Kidd has paid off big time.

When you look at the disparity between last years’ numbers and this season, it’s easy to see how the former Brooklyn Nets coach has had such a dramatic impact on his new team:

Note: The numbers in parentheses are for the league rank

2013-14 2014-15

PPG: 95.5 (28) – 98.4 (29)

FG%: 43.8 (26) – 46.4 (6)

3-PT FG%: 35.3 (T-18) – 37.8 (5)

ASSISTS PER GAME: 21.5 (17) – 23.6 (7)

PT DIFF: -8.2 (29) – +1.8 (13)

OPP PPG: 103.7 (25) – 96.6 (4)

OPP FG%: 46.8 (T-25) – 44.3 (3)

OPP 3-PT FG%: 38.2 (30) – 32.6 (4)

STEALS PER GAME: 6.6 (28) – 9.5 (3)

On top of the team-wide improvement, we’ve seen a number of the Bucks players play significantly better than last season.

Starting point guard Brandon Knight, who was in the conversation for All-Star consideration, is having his best year as a pro. He’s currently putting up career-highs in field goal percentage (43.7), 3-point field goal percentage (40.5), free throw percentage (89.2) and assists (5.3).

Second-year forward Giannis Antetokounmpo has seen his game rise dramatically from his rookie season. “The Greek Freak” has been a versatile, high-level defender, able to guard multiple positions, and has made great strides offensively. Antetokounmpo, who turned 20 in December, is averaging 11.4 points, 6.3 rebounds and shooting 49.4 percent from the field this season, after putting up just 6.8 points and 4.4 rebounds and shooting 41.4 percent from the floor his rookie year.

Third-year shooting guard Khris Middleton, who was acquired from the Detroit Pistons along with Knight in the summer of 2013, is also playing the best ball of his young career. He’s third among shooting guards in 3-point field goal percentage at 45.1 percent and ranks sixth in field goal percentage at 47.5 percent.

The 23-year old Middleton, who was the 39th overall pick by the Pistons in 2012, has been even better since Jabari Parker went down for the season with a torn ACL in mid-December, averaging 12.4 points, and shooting 50.4 percent from the floor and 48.7 percent from 3-point range.

Two veterans have also stepped up their play.

Jerryd Bayless, who is averaging eight points off the bench, is hitting a career-high 45.3 percent from the field and leads the NBA in free throw shooting at 93.1 percent.

Meanwhile, Jared Dudley, who was basically a bust in his one season with the Los Angeles Clippers last year, has been a very productive role player for Milwaukee. The seven-year veteran is shooting a career-best 49.8 percent from the field while connecting on 41.7 percent from long range.

What’s even more impressive about the level of success the Bucks have achieved under Kidd, is the fact they’ve had to absorb a number of key losses, including the aforementioned Parker, who was the leading candidate for rookie of the year at the time of his injury. In addition, Larry Sanders has missed 21 games, Ersan Ilyasova 21 games, and backup point Kendall Marshall also went down for the season with a torn ACL in mid-January.

Despite the lack of star-studded talent that his division rivals in Cleveland and Chicago boast, Kidd’s team is miraculously three games back of the Cavaliers and 3 1/2 games behind the Bulls.

I guess, in Milwaukee, the Buck stops with Kidd.

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