The Sixers have two games remaining in Brett Brown's second season as the team's head coach. They have 18 wins heading into tonight's game against the Bucks, a game that brings Michael Carter-Williams to Philadelphia for the first time since being traded Feb. 19.
Jason Kidd, who has guided the Bucks to a sixth seed one year after Milwaukee had a league-low 15 wins, has nothing but good things to say about his starting point guard.
"I think he has fit in perfect," Kidd said after Milwaukee's shootaround. "Anytime you are part of a midseason trade, whether you are a veteran or a young player, there is always a process of understanding a new system offensively and defensively as well as learning new teammates.
"I think Michael is playing as well as he has all year, and probably like he did when he was Rookie of the Year. He is putting the ball in the basket, and he is making the game easy for his teammates."
The knock on MCW's game was his poor outside shooting. As a rookie, he shot 26.4 percent from three-point range. He shot 25.6 percent from behind the arc in 41 games this year with the Sixers, and with Milwaukee that percentage is 15.4 percent in 23 games.
Kidd does not find those percentages alarming.
"He is only 23 years old, so there is always going to be a flaw," Kidd said. "No one is perfect. It takes time. His strength is getting to the basket and finding his teammates. He does both at a high level. I think the time he spends on his jump shot the rest of his career, it is only going to get better."
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This season Carter-Williams has 885 field goal attempts and 285 of those have been at the rim. He has made 58.9 percent of his shots at the rim. Carter-Williams' percentage three feet and beyond is 29.5.
In April MCW's field goal percentage is 50.0 percent. Kidd wants, not just MCW, but all his players playing their best basketball entering the playoffs.
"Right now we are focused on playing Philly," Kidd said. "We talked about that this morning. We are not in the playoffs yet. We still have two games to go, and those are two opportunities for us to get better.
"It is important for a young team to understand that because we have been going back and forth winning two and losing two. Going forward we have to continue to get better and win these two."
The Bucks have won their last two games. They are 40-40 and will face either Chicago or Toronto in a first-round playoff series.