By Dave Begel Contributing Writer Published Apr 16, 2015 at 10:15 AM Photography: David Bernacchi

At the start of the year nobody gave a single thought to the Milwaukee Bucks reaching the playoffs this year.

Everybody thought they’d be better than the last year's 15-win season, but the playoffs seemed like a dream.

Well, the dream is here and the Bucks enter the playoffs as the sixth seed, opening against the Chicago Bulls Saturday night in Chicago. The second game will be Monday night and then it's back to Milwaukee for two games, Wednesday night and Saturday late afternoon.

"Chicago is a tough team," said John Henson after learning that the Bulls would be the opponent. "We are going to have to strap it on and bring it. They’ve been there before and for us we have a lot of guys who are don’t have that much experience."

The Bucks are 1-3 against the Bulls this year but did win the last meeting on April 1. And, for the first time they managed to keep Pau Gasol from killing them. Gasol averaged over 25 points and over 14 rebounds a game against Milwaukee but in that game he was held to 14 points and 11 rebounds. The Bucks double teamed Gasol early in the possessions and it was effective.

"That was one of the best games we played all year," coach Jason Kidd said. "We played well for 48 minutes, mentally and physically. We’ll have to go back and look at that. I’m sure there were things that we can fix, but we played well."

A big task for Kidd, and other veterans on the team, is to impress on these young players how important every possession is during the playoffs. Ersan Ilyasova is one of those veterans.

"This is playoff basketball," he said. "And no matter who we play, it’s all about us. If we play the way we have this year it will be okay. If we play well, we’ll be good."

While Chicago has some nagging injuries to Joakim Noah, Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose, the Bucks are healthy.

"We got out of that last game without anybody getting hurt," Kidd said. "So now it’s time for playoff basketball. It will be a great experience for these kids."

Henson recognized the unique nature of a series between two teams separated by only 90 miles.

"It’s a rivalry," he said. "It’s going to big for the fans to be there. I’m going to buy a bunch of tickets and we need to have our fans at home. We don’t want the first four games to seem like road games."

Information of game times and tickets is available here.

Dave Begel Contributing Writer

With a history in Milwaukee stretching back decades, Dave tries to bring a unique perspective to his writing, whether it's sports, politics, theater or any other issue.

He's seen Milwaukee grow, suffer pangs of growth, strive for success and has been involved in many efforts to both shape and re-shape the city. He's a happy man, now that he's quit playing golf, and enjoys music, his children and grandchildren and the myriad of sports in this state. He loves great food and hates bullies and people who think they are smarter than everyone else.

This whole Internet thing continues to baffle him, but he's willing to play the game as long as OnMilwaukee.com keeps lending him a helping hand. He is constantly amazed that just a few dedicated people can provide so much news and information to a hungry public.

Despite some opinions to the contrary, Dave likes most stuff. But he is a skeptic who constantly wonders about the world around him. So many questions, so few answers.