"The feeling is great:" Rookie Giannis Antetokounmpo helps Bucks make the NBA playoffs

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- The Milwaukee Bucks will soon take the court in the NBA playoffs. That's a far cry from where they were a season ago -- and a player who was almost completely unknown last year will be leading them into the post-season.

This is the story of a transformation of a player and his team. Giannis Antetokounmpo literally dropped in on the Bucks -- coming out of the seats at the NBA Draft when chosen in the first round in 2013.

The wide-eyed rookie from Greece made strides in his first season -- but Coach Larry Drew's squad really didn't, limping home with a mere 15 victories -- the worst in franchise history. It took new owners to make Milwaukee relevant again. On July 1st, 2014, those owners brought in a new coach -- Jason Kidd.

Nine moths later, Antetokounmpo and the Bucks delivered a playoff berth.

"The feeling is great. I know my teammates worked hard. Last year we struggled. Most of the guys didn't want to come in again this year and do the same thing, so we practiced hard, worked hard and thank God we made the playoffs," Antetokounmpo said.

"What happened last year, the lesson is something that's inside of me. I'm going to remember it, but at the same time, it was a lesson and we learned from it," Bucks center Zaza Pachulia said.

It's a problem the Bucks didn't have much last season. They didn't win many games. They certainly didn't go to the playoffs last season. It is a different feeling -- largely a different group, but the guys who were here last year really appreciate the contrast.

"Everyone who was a part of the team last year, at the end of the season, it was a bad taste in our mouth and going into the off-season, I think we wanted to focus on getting better individually and at the end of the day, it would make our team better," Bucks guard O.J. Mayo said.

That brings us back to Antetokounmpo. His growth as a player is obvious, with much of it coming through dedicated work. One game after Kidd sat him out for a game in the second to last week of the season, Antetokounmpo was back in New York. He made a Antetokounmpo play and a Antetokounmpo face.

"I tried to be angry in my play. I tried to be mad. I had swag too. When the game started, I kept thinking of the game taking off, bad things and that made me emotional, so I just get angry," Antetokounmpo said.