Milwaukee, WI
Lori Nickel: On four-game skid, the Bucks are hurting and the red flags are up and waving
Kevin Porter Jr., Kyle Kuzma talk trust, accountability with Bucks
Kevin Porter Jr. and Kyle Kuzma talk about trust, accountability during the Milwaukee Bucks’ four-game losing streak.
Giannis Antetokounmpo has put the Milwaukee Bucks on his back before, to save the day.
But trailing the Atlanta Hawks 104-85 midway through the third quarter Sunday night, Antetokounmpo drove to the basket, was blocked on a close-range shot and was not rewarded with a foul. Looking around in disbelief, he took an uncharacteristic one-second break before getting back on defense.
Nine seconds later, the Bucks called time out and Antetokounmpo took a few seconds more to put his hands on his knees and stare down at the court, alone with his thoughts, before joining his mates at the bench.
Totally understandable. How can this be anything other than frustrating?
The Bucks have fallen two places in the Eastern Conference standings since March 15, lost two straight at home, four straight overall and 6 of their last 10 − but pointing out their many shortcomings feels like kicking a wounded animal. Maybe it is just this simple: Damian Lillard is out indefinitely with a terrifying blood clot, Bobby Portis is serving a suspension for his poor judgment until April 8, his backup Jericho Sims is hurt and AJ Green is hurt. The Bucks are severely undermanned.
But when the Bucks found a unique and mysterious way to lose as they did Sunday to Atlanta − shooting 69% at the half and still trailing, and then losing, to the fast-breaking Hawks − Milwaukee’s red flags are now raised and waving, with coach Doc Rivers trying everything to rally his guys.
“You try to build guys up and you try to teach them,” Rivers said Sunday. “We watched a long film today. It wasn’t necessarily the most positive film, because it showed all our mistakes, but it is positive if you take it as a teacher and as, we have to get better at these things. That’s how I made it. It wasn’t a screaming thing; it was just matter of fact. Things we have to do.
“And I stopped and asked, am I right? Do you see this? And guys were very engaging, and they talk, but then we came out and (lost to Atlanta).”
How did they get here?
Absent Bobby Portis leaves a big hole
A year ago, he was a heavy contender for the NBA sixth man of the year. In 2021 and 2022, he saved the Bucks while Brook Lopez underwent back surgery and missed significant time.
Now Portis is grounded for taking an unapproved medication, and is sitting out 25 games on unpaid leave because of it. His energy is missed.
Antetokounmpo said recently the Bucks have to play scrappy, gritty, defensive basketball, because regardless of talent level and interchanging parts, it is the one thing any competitor can fall back on.
Portis would have helped in this area as the scrappiest of all. Instead, he’s not available for his teammates. Portis was also the kind of leader to call BS when he saw it. He would fire up the home crowd. The NBA is not at fault for his suspension. This is on Portis.
Some of Jon Horst’s moves have been questionable
The Bucks general manager began blowing up this team a little less than two years ago. When Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat destroyed Milwaukee in the first round of the NBA playoffs, Horst fired coach Mike Budenholzer – who had won the NBA title just two years earlier.
Then Horst was responsible for the debacle of hiring Adrian Griffin with great pep rally-like fanfare, before dumping him months later and making the midseason hire of Rivers in 2024. The Bucks lost in the first round of the playoffs again.
It would be shortsighted to lay all of the Bucks woes the past two years on Horst. But he does share responsibility.
He drafted 19-year-old AJ Johnson, who was too inexperienced to help the Bucks in any way this season, so Horst subsequently dealt Johnson in a trade in February.
And then there’s this about Horst’s decisions with the coaching changes:
- Budenholzer had two years and $16 million left on his contract when he was fired.
- Griffin had a multi-year contract worth approximately $4 million per season.
- Rivers is scheduled to make $40 million through 2026-27.
The owners will have to determine if the Bucks look any better for it?
The Bucks haven’t caught any breaks
There are other issues that stand out, too. Lots of roster turnover and little time to gel. Half a dozen close losses by two or three points; too many games where the Bucks have trailed early and had to fight to come from behind. That might just indicate the team doesn’t have what it takes to meet outside expectations.
Another kick in the teeth is that Sunday was the first of five games for the Bucks in seven days this week, and that includes travel to Philadelphia, Miami and New Orleans to make up for a snow out. What a dismal way to follow up a recent West Coast trip at the end of the season when everyone already is exhausted.
To withstand an NBA schedule that is more grueling than the NFL’s and more demanding than MLB’s, a team simply needs a disaster plan B, C and D. Milwaukee looks like it bet everything on Giannis and Dame.
Disinterested parties make for a bad look
Sunday night’s crowd, which had many celebrations for Pride Night, had little else to cheer about. The Bucks gave up 118 points to Atlanta in the first three quarters, smothering their own impressive offensive output.
It was so flat at times in Fiserv Forum that a fan at the end of the third quarter could be heard as clear as day shouting: “Let’s go! We have a whole other quarter!”
There have been gaps of empty seats at Fiserv Forum all season long. Nothing to cause alarm, but noticeable, nonetheless.
It’s hard to remember the last time Antetokounmpo was on the court with 3 minutes left in the game, fighting for his life and his team’s comeback attempt while disinterested spectators headed toward the aisles and streamed for the exits like they did Sunday.
By the time Antetokounmpo finished his postgame workout and treatment, and addressed questions from the media, the handful of reporters who had been there to cover the whole game had shrunk to just two.
Even in the darkest days in Green Bay, the Packers draw so much interest that losses are covered and analyzed ad nauseam because fan interest demands it.
Antetokounmpo doesn’t deserve this. He’s played another season at MVP-caliber status. He’s played tough and smart, taking essential-only days off when needed to stay healthy. He’s the heartbeat of the team, the backbone of its drive, the leader in every way. And with so many roles that he fills already, now he’s traffic cop as well, directing new teammates to the spots where they are supposed to be on offense and defense.
Just three years after the Bucks were in a ferocious playoff war with the Boston Celtics to try to defend their NBA championship title, they are now faced with the most unthinkable task of all.
Trying to find a way to not lose in the first round of the NBA playoffs once again.
“We’ve just got to come in and have pride,” Kyle Kuzma said. “And take criticism constructively. Be better than we were. The best thing about this league is we always play another game …
“At least now. In the regular season. So we got another chance to get back on track.”
Milwaukee’s current wastewater treatment contract holder, Veolia Water Milwaukee, is under fire, with some calling for an audit.
A look at MMSD’s South Shore and Jones Island wastewater plants
A look at MMSD’s South Shore and Jones Island plants as leaders weigh a contested $700M, 10-year operations contract in Milwaukee.
It goes without saying that Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) is an essential community asset.
Recently, MMSD has been in the news and not in a good way. The MMSD Commission voted to approve an audit of the district’s private wastewater operator. This is less than six weeks after the community organization Common Ground launched a public campaign calling for an audit of Veolia Water Milwaukee, alleging mismanagement of the Jones Island and South Shore wastewater treatment facilities.
I was briefly on a six-member MMSD advisory committee for the 1998 United Water Services contract. Now 28 years, and 2008, 2018, contracts later, the question is what firm to hire for the 2028 contract. I read Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Urban Milwaukee articles, whistle-blower letters and other materials and jotted down concerns listed below (there are others):
- Veolia cut corners on treatment time and process chemicals
- Veolia allowed MMSD assets — buildings and process equipment — to deteriorate
- Veolia provided inadequate staffing
- Employees, particularly those who questioned management, were treated poorly
- Reversing these conditions will be very expensive, if it is even possible to do so
Aren’t these issues sufficient to disqualify Veolia from future consideration?
MMSD has an innovative civil engineering history.
The national American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) designated the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewage Treatment Plant a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark when they honored Milwaukee in 1974 for developing the waste-activated sludge treatment process and pioneering a beneficial reuse of biosolids (Milorganite). MMSD has also been recognized for the Deep Tunnel and many innovative infrastructure and flood management projects over the years.
Wisconsin has a strong civil engineering community, which includes the American Society of Civil Engineers-Wisconsin Section (ASCE-WI); five civil engineering university programs with three —Marquette, MSOE and UW-Milwaukee — in Milwaukee); as well as many technical school and apprenticeship programs. Civil engineering projects require many types of expertise and skills.
Is anyone asking questions such as what should be the future of wastewater treatment in Milwaukee? Or what do citizens know about wastewater treatment? Or what do citizens need to know about treatment options to make informed decisions about parameters such as feasibility, public health, environmental protection, costs and financing?
Before the next contract is decided and awarded, shouldn’t human waste generators (citizens), civil engineers and the wastewater industry be asking some of these important questions?
Carol Diggelman, PhD, Emerita Professor, Milwaukee School of Engineering, where she taught for over 30 years, has since retiring, resumed volunteer activities with the League of Women Voters and organized many programs at the intersection of infrastructure and natural resources.
MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee city workers have been working overtime and on weekends to patch potholes in what is shaping up to be a record year for that type of work. But for many residents, the patching is not enough.
The city’s Department of Public Works has received more than 18,000 requests for pothole service so far in 2026. Workers have already filled more than 10,000 potholes this year — right around what the city has averaged annually over the past five years.
Following a winter marked by repeated freeze-thaw cycles and a spring that brought additional weather-related challenges, city officials held a news conference Thursday with an update on the situation.
Raneissa Baker, a driver on Milwaukee’s north side, said her car is currently in the shop with suspension damage she says will cost her $1,100 — the result of the sheer number of potholes she has hit this year, not any single one.
“Streets are horrible, and every time that you hit a pothole, all you hear, doo doo doo doo doo,” Baker said.
Watch: Milwaukee residents demand permanent fixes as city logs record pothole repairs
Milwaukee reports high number of pothole requests
Baker said avoiding the craters is not an option and potentially dangerous depending on traffic.
“It’s impossible to try to avoid it,” Baker said.
At the news conference, TMJ4 asked DPW Commissioner Jerrel Kruschke what his message was for drivers like Baker who have had their cars damaged and spent thousands of dollars on repairs.
“The first thing I tell the public is please pay attention. If you focus on driving ahead of time, a lot of times you can avoid potholes on the roadway. We know they exist. We know it’s frustrating,” Kruschke said. “If you do have some sort of damage to your vehicle, there is a claim system that you can go onto the city website and file a claim.”
Mike Beiermeister
Baker pushed back on that response.
“He said to pay attention and try to avoid it. How are we going to be able to avoid it if you’re driving and there’s a car right here, and there’s a pothole right here? How am I going to try to avoid that?” Baker said.
Patrick Housfeld, who lives on South 12th Street, said the problem on his block is nothing new.
“This wasn’t new this year; this has happened for 21 years straight,” Housfeld said.
Mike Beiermeister
Housfeld has stopped using 12th Street altogether and believes more craters will soon reemerge after the latest round of patching. He called the work on his block performative.
“Make the problem go away. I don’t care what the numbers were or are,” Housfeld said.
Both Baker and Housfeld want more permanent solutions than pothole patching.
Road reconstruction, however, is expensive — running into the millions of dollars depending on the work required.
“You fill it up with Oreo crumbs today, it’s a bigger sinkhole by tomorrow, it’s not making sense, just repair the roads,” Baker said.
DPW estimates it still has about 5,000 potholes left to patch. The city says it will be all hands on deck until that work is complete.
The department says residents can report potholes or repair concerns through Milwaukee’s Service Request page or by calling the city’s Unified Call Center.
Report here: https://city.milwaukee.gov/ReportPotholes
Call here: 414-286-CITY (2489)
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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Sneak peek inside the new Milwaukee Public Museum under construction
See inside the new Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin, the future successor to the Milwaukee Public Museum, under construction on Nov. 20, 2025.
The Milwaukee Public Museum has now packed 600,000 items from its collection of 4 million as the staff prepares to move them into their new home: The Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin at 1310 N. 6th St.
The staff could still be working through 2027 to move the remaining items, said Collections Move Project Manager Sara Podejko on June 24.
“We will continue packing here even after the future museum opens,” Podejko said.
According to the museum’s June report to the County Board’s committee on parks and culture, construction continues to move along on track, and the new site is expected to open mid-way through 2027.
About half of the total collection has already been inventoried, a painstaking process that has given the museum the opportunity to streamline its electronic storage system.
“There’s been a lot of work ongoing in the collections departments prior to digitize their material, but not everything was. And so, a real upside to this move is that we are able to not only inventory, but barcode all of our specimens,” Podejko said.
That barcode allows collection move technicians to easily input items into an inventory spreadsheet and immediately relocate them.
“It kind of eliminates some human error, which is really important when you’re dealing with four million things,” Podejko said.
Twenty-nine staff members are facilitating the move, including the technicians who were hired and trained specifically to move the artifacts.
“Every time they pack an object, they first assess it for its condition, weaknesses, areas of stability, and then they adapt the pack to that object itself,” Podejko said.
Many of the technicians are also recent graduates and early professionals looking to break into the museum collections scene.
“Collections can be difficult to get into and a job like this kind of gives them (a) foot in the door,” Podejko said.
The public museum’s current facility has continued to face structural challenges amid the move. In January, a passenger elevator failed and was out of service for two months. The only elevator was a small one for wheelchairs, which led to wait times as long as 30 minutes. During that time, an escalator was also taken out of service for repairs.
The museum’s 350-ton water-cooled chiller is also close to failure and needs bearing replacement to keep it functioning throughout the summer.
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