Milwaukee Bucks: Coping With Life Without Khris Middleton

It has been nearly three weeks since Khris Middleton suffered a ruptured hamstring that will keep him out of the Milwaukee Bucks lineup indefinitely. Fighting to keep their playoff optimism alive, their best bet may lie with the hopes of a seasoned rookie.

In the eyes of many, the Milwaukee Bucks took a more than a couple of steps back last year when the team disappointingly missed the postseason.

With the high of a surprising playoff run fresh on the Bucks brass minds, many predicted the team would continue their rise amongst the Eastern Conference elites — especially when taking into account the upward trajectory their core of young pillars, like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker, would make internally.

However, underestimated was the defensive impact their fleeted veterans had on the Bucks. With Zaza Pachulia and Jared Dudley moving onto greener pastures, their replacements, in Parker and Greg Monroe, had a hard time replicating Milwaukee’s trademark high-pressure, helter-skelter brand of D.

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In fact, not only did the 2015-16 rendition of the Bucks win eight games less, the team also allowed nearly 6.5 more points per 100 possessions when compared to the season prior, dropping them from the 4th most efficacious defense in the league to 23rd, per Basketball Reference.

Lost in their overall regression, though, was the progression their young core made.

Antetokounmpo (POINT GIANNIS!) developed into a nightly triple-double threat by the end of the season, Jabari fully recovered from his ACL injury and looked like one of the most explosive forwards on the planet, and their silent assassin, Khris Middleton, quietly evolved into the team’s primary scorer.

So, even though the Bucks did not enjoy the type of team success most had envisioned, last year still served as a seminal year for development.

And as Milwaukee headed into training camp this year, overall optimism surrounding the team had resurfaced. Not only have the Bucks identified their franchise stalwarts, they also added several pivotal complementary pieces, such as Matthew Dellavedova and Mirza Teletovic, to effectively support the respective skills of Giannis, Jabari, and Khris.

But, with the news of the Khris Middleton injury coming down in late-September — specifically, a ruptured hamstring that is expected to keep him out for six months (a.k.a. until the end of March) — many have been quick to write the Bucks off.

Such prognostications are not without its merits, as after all, Middleton led the team in scoring last season pouring in 18.2 points per game, and was the team’s best (and only) consistent shot creator in half court settings, not to mention the team’s second most efficient 3-point shooter.

In essence, without Money Middleton, Milwaukee concurrently lose both their go-to player and floor spacing — two aspects the Bucks are desperately deprived of.

Accordingly, thus far this preseason, coach Jason Kidd has juggled his lineups around in an effort of finding some modicum of spacing without totally punting their defense.

In their preseason opener, the team experimented with starting a very young and inexperienced backcourt of Rashad Vaughn and Malcolm Brogdon, alongside Giannis, Jabari, and Miles Plumlee. However, the team struggled out of the gates, and through an ugly first six minutes of play, they were trailing 14-3 to a newly-formed Chicago Bulls team.

More alarmingly, the Bulls packed the paint and dared the young Bucks to go venture inside the arc for contested shots. Milwaukee would eventually settle in and get back into the game on the power of their veteran-laden bench.

Fast forward to preseason game No. 2, Kidd would make a prompt adjustment, inserting Delly and Telly (I would watch the s–t out this reality show) into the starting lineup, with Moose manning the middle.

The change also moved Giannis to the 2 and shifted Parker from the 4 to the 3. Though the Bucks benefited from much better spacing, the team failed to convert many of their attempts at the rim, as Milwaukee started just 5-of-21 from the field.

Defensively, Giannis wasn’t as comfortable defending 2s, and likewise Jabari defending 3s, as both got backdoored by their quicker contemporaries. At this point, the Greek Freak is much more equipped to defend 3s and 4s, interchanging with Parker depending on the opponents’ strengths.

The immediate solution may be to blend the two strategies. Instead of throwing a totally green backcourt combination out there, look for the Bucks to tether one of their younger guard prospects with Delly, while running Giannis and Jabari on the wings.

Ideally, Kidd would be wise to bring Monroe off the bench with Teletovic, as the Bosnian sniper commands the much needed floor spacing the Moose needs to create havoc down low.

Of Vaughn and Brogdon, on the other hand, the latter has been much more impressive, to say the least.

While no playoff team should rely on the services of a second round pick (or any rookie for that matter) to assume a major role in the rotation, Brogdon’s ability to run the pick-and-roll in a pinch (6 assists to one turnover in his second preseason game), prudent decision making (ex. recognizing J.J. Barea was on him, took him straight into the post and hitting a turnaround), and conservative defense provides the most ideal combination of skills, barring a trade, to fully unlock the potential of Giannis and Jabari going forward.

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Nonetheless, rotational experiments are what preseason is all about.

The gaping hole that the Khris Middleton injury has left on the Milwaukee Bucks’ lineup will be a sour point for the remainder of the season, but also one that will be very intriguing to monitor over the next several weeks.

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