“Our goal is to be a state team, not just a Milwaukee team.” Bucks head coach Jason Kidd put it simply when asked about why his team is practicing in Madison this week. They are making the Kohl Center their home in an effort to come together as a team and reach out to the greater Wisconsin community.
Practicing and living in the capital for a week is a different environment from what the Bucks are used to.
“When you’re at home, everybody kind of goes their separate ways once they’re out of practice, but here, everybody’s in the hotel, everybody’s right there,” center Greg Monroe explained. “It’s definitely fun being here, being away. It’s helping us focus more.”
Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan was generous enough to let the team use his team’s facilities, and he spent a lot of time talking to the players and coaches at practice Monday. He and Kidd in particular talked for a good portion of the session.
“I had to thank him for having us here,” Kidd said. “He liked the way the guys worked. He was great.”
It was an even more memorable reunion for one Milwaukee Buck, Marcus Landry, who was one of Bo Ryan’s Badgers from 2005 to 2009. Landry bounced around the basketball world for the last six years, but now with the Bucks, he found his way back to Madison.
“To find myself back on this court again with all these colors around me - my favorite color red - and then to see Bo Ryan back on the sidelines, it’s unexplainable. It leaves me speechless,” Landry said.
He and Ryan were able to catch up and reminisce in the gym Monday, and Landry knows how valuable their connection is.
“He’s always been there for me,” Landry said. “He’s been there for me in some very important situations in my life after college as well, so I’m really appreciative of him.”
Landry and Ryan provide a nice connection between the Bucks and the Badgers. The Milwaukee team really seems to appreciate the opportunity they have to spend this time in Madison together. It’s going a long way towards making the Bucks a state team as they continue to look toward the future.
