Milwaukee Bucks: Meet Larry Drew
The Milwaukee Bucks appeared to make some progress last season, ending a two-year playoff drought under interim head coach Jim Boylan by sneaking into the eighth and final spot in the Eastern Conference. Despite absurd delusions of grandeur from former franchise point guard Brandon Jennings, the Deer proved to be mere cannon fodder for the eventual world champion Miami Heat. Because the series was so uncompetitive, Bucks general manager John Hammond elected to overhaul the roster from top to bottom, including a revamping of the coaching staff as well, starting at the top with new head coach Larry Drew.
Larry Drew joins the Bucks just a few months removed from an unceremonious exit as the head man in Atlanta. In three seasons with the Hawks, Drew coached a team with middle-of-the-pack talent and, frankly, got middle-of-the-pack results. He was able to guide Atlanta into the second round of the postseason as a rookie head coach behind a solid game plan against a heavily favored Orlando Magic team led by Dwight Howard. Known as a defense-first type, Drew strategically chose against double-teaming Howard, instead electing to shut down the perimeter weapons the Magic relied upon in their half-court sets. Howard predictably went off (how about 46 and 19 in Game 1?) but Atlanta’s strategy paid off in the end as they were able to win the series in six games.
Unfortunately for Larry Drew, he could not repeat the same postseason success in the two seasons that followed. Atlanta had similar regular season results, winning 40 and 44 games after that first 44-win season, but the Hawks could not get out of the first round. With his franchise stuck in the mud, Atlanta general manager Danny Ferry elected to give Drew the axe after his third act. Was it fair? Maybe, maybe not. The Hawks had an extremely limited roster, particularly last season after they sent Joe Johnson to Brooklyn for a collection of barely usable spare parts. An argument can be made that Drew got more out of the Hawks in 2012-13 than the talent on the roster warranted, but the team elected to go in a different direction.
So what does Milwaukee have in Larry Drew? A tough, defense-first head coach, for starters. We’ve heard this song before. The Bucks completely tuned out Scott Skiles, whose voice seems to wear thin after awhile in every locker room he’s been associated with. But there’s a huge difference here. Larry Drew, unlike Scott Skiles, is a players’ coach. Guys want to compete for him and many on the Bucks roster are excited about the prospect of playing in his system, including promising young big man John Henson. “I think he’s going to be a real good fit,” Henson said. “He’s just what we need. He’s a player relationship guy and the players are going to know their roles.”
Flexibility and a willingness to adjust are hallmarks of Larry Drew as well. After building an offense heavily reliant on Joe Johnson isolations, Drew had to reconfigure everything after Johnson was traded. And reconfigure he did, turning the Hawks into an up-tempo team that was able to get out and run opponents off the floor when everything clicked. Atlanta, despite having a less talented roster, was able to improve their win total with Johnson gone. With a young roster, that type of open-mindedness and ability to adjust will allow him to constantly put his players in different positions to succeed and make it easier to figure out what situations they’ll thrive in.
Nobody likes a “retread,” the NBA’s new buzz word for failed coaches who get second opportunities over younger guys who haven’t gotten a shot yet. This is part of the reason why the Larry Drew hire was basically met with a collective yawn. Drew couldn’t get it done in Atlanta, why will it be different in Milwaukee? But fact is, Drew got the most out of the group of players he had while coaching the Hawks and his emphasis on defense, structure and defining roles is exactly what this young roster needs to succeed.
[slider_pro id=”17″]