Milwaukee Bucks: Season At A Crossroads
By Aaron Mah
For years, the Milwaukee Bucks had been stuck in NBA purgatory, perpetually flirting with the 6-8 seeds in the Eastern Conference. As the 2013-14 season commenced, the Bucks were, once again, headed on the same path after making a handful of obdurate signings.
However, in a stroke of blind luck, Larry Sanders began to smash bottles, O.J. Mayo began to overeat, while the Bucks began to lose… a lot. In fact, they seemingly unintentionally tanked their way to the worst record in the league, earning Milwaukee the No. 2 overall pick in this past year’s draft.
Not only were the Bucks able to draft the highly coveted forward out of Duke — Jabari Parker — through their anemic performance last year, they were also able to discover and develop the NBA’s most intriguing player, Giannis Antetokounmpo, during their lost season.
Suddenly, a deluge of amount of optimism has infiltrated the Bucks’ brass. In addition to their two young, wildly versatile combo forwards, the Bucks were also able to pry Jason Kidd away from the Brooklyn Nets, albeit with much controversy, to replace the rather mundane Larry Drew as their head coach.
The early season results had basketball geeks giddy, as the Bucks’ style of play fully accentuated the team’s army of length.
Specifically, Kidd has proven to be one of the league’s brightest young coaches, devising a defensive scheme that capitalizes on the Bucks’ primary strengths. With the Bucks’ length and athleticism, they are able to play a scrambling brand of modern defense aimed to clog the boxes and elbows, with the end goal of forcing all opposing actions on one side of the floor.
The Bucks are particularly good at making opposing ballhandlers see extra help from their interior bigs early by using their wings to bump hard on diving 4s and 5s, while their guards push the opposition’s guards to one side of the floor. Consequently, the Bucks are able to clog the lane — blowing up the initial pick-and-roll and forcing the other team to go into their second and third reads.
On this play, Knight does an exceptional job of angling off Kemba Walker while fighting through the screen, making him take a much wider path coming off of the pick.
Thus, it forces the offensive action to one side of the floor, as opposed to the middle where options are plentiful. Sanders shows hard and corrals Walker along with the quick recovering Knight. Meanwhile, Antetokounmpo bumps Al Jefferson, preventing him from a free dive towards the hoop.
Consequently, without a clean look, Walker had to swing it back up top to Cody Zeller as Antetokounmpo and Sanders swiftly recover back to their respective checks — thereby, forcing the Hornets to go into their 2nd option/action.
Their ability to unleash their hyper-active style of defense is contingent upon their players’ capacity to cover a ton of ground — most notably, due to Antetokounmpo’s and Sanders’ abnormal length. In addition, Kidd loves to move Antetokounmpo around, swinging him from the perimeter to the interior, as the Greek Freak has played 2 through 5 this season.
Offensively, Kidd has implemented elements of the Dallas Mavericks’ offense to Milwaukee. With the size, skill, and versatility of guys like Parker, Antetokounmpo, and Khris Middleton, the Bucks are able to run their own version of the double high screen, with Parker, Middleton, or Ersan Ilyasova popping, and Sanders — doing his best Tyson Chandler impression — diving. However, Sanders simply does not have the hands nor the tenacity, when cutting towards the hoop, to replicate Chandler’s success.
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Other than that specific exception, Kidd has similarly let his players play to their strengths on the offensive end. Notably, Kidd has given point guard Brandon Knight free rein to attack whenever he sees fit, especially on secondary breaks where Knight can stop on a dime for a pull-up three, or utilize his rather effective change of pace dribbles and attack the rim.
In addition, Kidd has encouraged side-to-side ball movement, multiple pick-and-rolls, and hard cuts — thereby, putting Parker and Antetokounmpo in the most advantageous positions to make plays, usually with a full head of steam attacking the hoop. In fact, Parker and Antetokounmpo shoot 42.2 and 57.3 percent of their field goal attempts from 3-10 feet, where they convert such attempts at 72.1 and 67.1 percent, respectively.
The combination of Kidd’s revisions, along with the spontaneity of Parker and Antetokounmpo, had made the Bucks appointment league pass TV. The excitement had led to tangible success as well. In fact, the team rushed out to a 10-7 start, possessed a top-10 defense, and was good for one Antetokounmpo coast-to-coast escapade per game.
However, the Bucks’ honeymoon period has prematurely come to a halt. Since their surprising start, the Bucks have lost eight out of their next 12, while Parker suffered a season-ending ACL injury some 10 days ago.
It’s not so much that the Bucks are significantly worse without Parker — in fact, the Bucks are slightly better when he is off the court, especially on the defensive end — but their losing ways has more so to do with the gradual regression of their defense, where they have fallen from top-10 to 14th in the league.
At present, the Bucks are under .500, but still hanging on to the sixth seed in the (L)eastern Conference. As such, a decision is looming in the background; should the Bucks proceed with their current trajectory — which will most likely land the Bucks back into NBA purgatory — or sell off some of their assets, get a little bit worse, and play for the draft?
Looking at the Bucks’ roster, you can immediately identify their two cornerstone pieces in Parker and Antetokounmpo.
Meanwhile, Sanders is an elite rim protector and the central hub to their defensive scheme. However, he is still a below-average rebounder, is not a threat on the offensive end outside of 10 feet, do not have the best of hands, and fouls at an inadmissible rate.
Meanwhile, at the point, Knight is an exceptional scorer — an ultra-quick guard equipped with a highly functional handle, capable of scoring on all three levels of the floor (from the three-point line, midrange, and at-the-rim) — however, he often suffers from tunnel vision, especially in pick-and-roll situations, and is more suited to be the designated scorer off-the-bench.
Clearly, the Bucks’ roster still persists plenty of glaring needs. Even if the Bucks identify Sanders, Knight, Middleton, and perhaps, and the injured John Henson, as keepers, drafting a blue chip guard or big would solidify the Bucks’ future.
In many ways, the Bucks remind me of the Oklahoma City Thunder circa 2008 — where they have their Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. How they decide to end this season will determine whether or not they can acquire their James Harden.
Looking at the current crop of prospects, Emmanuel Mudiay could be the perfect fit alongside Parker and Antetokounmpo on the break, while Karl-Anthony Towns may the poster-boy of the modern day dominant NBA big.
Although it is very much still a taboo to “tank.” another plummet down the standings may result in our next NBA powerhouse — in Milwaukee.