Milwaukee Bucks: New Lineup, Same Old Bucks
By Phil Watson
After the Milwaukee Bucks were embarrassed at home Saturday night by the Charlotte Bobcats, coach Larry Drew promised changes before the Bucks hopped across Lake Michigan to go to Detroit on Monday night.
Caron Butler was dropped from the starting lineup after Saturday’s loss. (NBA.com photo)
Luke Ridnour’s brief stay in the starting lineup ended at Detroit Monday night. (NBA.com photo)
True to his word, Drew made some lineup changes before Milwaukee tipped off with the Pistons after their 96-74 loss to the Bobcats two nights earlier.
Drew was incensed after the Bucks’ eighth straight loss.
"“I owe the fans a big, big apology for the way we played tonight,” Drew told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel after Saturday’s game. “We totally, totally let the city down with our lack of energy and passion. As long as I’m head coach, this will never happen again.”"
Khris Middleton took Butler’s spot at small forward. (NBA.com photo)
Brandon Knight was back in the lineup on Monday. (NBA.com photo)
So Drew benched starting small forward Caron Butler and put Luke Ridnour back on the bench. In their places, Khris Middleton and Brandon Knight joined Ersan Ilyasova, Zaza Pachulia and O.J. Mayo.
The result? A 113-94 pummeling at the hands of the Pistons. Progress, but only in the most literal interpretations of the word—losing by 19 isn’t really all that different than losing by 22.
The game against Detroit wasn’t as close as a 19-point game, either; the Pistons led by as many as 34 in the third quarter.
When Drew came to Wisconsin this summer, he knew he wasn’t going to have an offensive juggernaut. Man, did he read that right—the Bucks are 28th in the NBA in scoring (89.8), 29th in field-goal percentage (41.6 percent), tied for 22nd in turnovers (17.0 per game), 29th in offensive rating (93.7 points per 100 possessions), 27th in effective field-goal percentage (46.2 percent), tied for 26th in true shooting percentage (50.2 percent) and 26th in pace (94.53 possessions per 48 minutes)
The only offensive category where Milwaukee does rank well is in 3-point shooting, where they are 10th in the NBA at 38 percent.
So the plan, then, was to build the identity of the team around rebounding and defense.
This is where it sort of went sideways.
Milwaukee is 29th in the league in rebounding (39 per game), tied for 21st in steals (7.2 per game), tied for 26th in opponent field-goal percentage (47.3 percent), tied for 18th with 99.4 points per game allowed, 28th in opponents rebounding (45.5 per game), last in the NBA in rebounding percentage (46 percent) and 29th in defensive rating at 105.8 points allowed per 100 possessions.
They are in the top half of the league, 12th, in opponent 3-point percentage at 35.6 percent.
Injuries have contributed to the Bucks’ problems. Center Larry Sanders is likely out until the New Year because of surgery on his thumb. Carlos Delfino will miss the entire year with a lingering issue related to a fractured foot. Knight missed significant time with a hamstring injury. Ridnour was out the first couple of weeks with back spasms. Ekpe Udoh’s start to the season was delayed by knee surgery. Ilyasova has been out a couple of different stretches with an ankle he sprained in the preseason opener last month.
Milwaukee took a gut-punch of a loss Friday night in Philadelphia. It appeared the Bucks had the game won until Spencer Hawes hit an off-balance 3 from the corner to tie it at the end of regulation. Evan Turner then outscored the Bucks 8-5 by himself in overtime in the 76ers 115-107 victory.
Drew downplayed the significance of that loss.
"“This is the NBA,” Drew said to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “In an 82-game schedule, you’re going to have some games you feel you should have won and you’re going to have some games (you win) that you should have lost. When you go through emotional games like that, they can let the wind out of your sails a little bit. But you’ve got to be professional and you’ve got to bounce back.”"
The Bucks’ next chance to stop their losing slide—now at nine games—is tonight when they host the Washington Wizards, who will be on the road for the second night of a back-to-back after they beat the Los Angeles Lakers in Washington on Tuesday night.