Milwaukee Bucks: 2015-16 Season Outlook

Three Key Storylines

1. Can Milwaukee Retain An Elite Defense With Greg Monroe?

If you took a random survey of 100 NBA fans and asked them name the top five defenses in the league last season, the Milwaukee Bucks probably wouldn’t come to mind for 90 percent of them. And yet, there they were, using length and Kidd’s defensive strategy to swarm opponents and make up for an entirely underwhelming offense.

Jabari Parker’s season-ending injury may have enhanced Milwaukee’s excellence on that end, since he was never known for his defense at Duke and there’s a sharp learning curve for rookies anyway. But the biggest surprise of it all was Milwaukee’s ability to field an elite defense without an A-list or even a B-list name playing the center position.

This summer the Bucks went out and changed that dynamic by adding Greg Monroe, who should give Milwaukee a bailout option when the offense sputters. The question is, how will the flat-footed Monroe impact this formidable defense? The thinking here is that what Monroe lacks defensively, he’ll make up for it on the offensive end, but Bucks fans shouldn’t panic about what will happen to that stout D either.

Though the addition of Monroe and the return of Parker will obviously cause the defense to take a step backward in 2015-16, it’s worth noting that John Henson was the only defensively inclined center to consistently play for Milwaukee last year — and he wasn’t even a starter for most of his 67 games.

The other bigs rotating through the position were Larry Sanders (27 games, stopped playing early in the season due to his personal issues), Zaza Pachulia (45 games as a starter, a willing defender but not a great rim protector) and Miles Plumlee (who is still Miles Plumlee).

Henson is an excellent shot blocker, and the Bucks are reportedly working on an extension for him, but he only played 18.3 minutes per game anyway. One way to negate Monroe’s defensive flaws is to do what Kidd did all season anyway: flank his big with the length and versatility on the perimeter; perhaps the longer Antetokounmpo could play center, as has been discussed.

Milwaukee’s defensive game plan is built on versatility, and Monroe’s flat-footedness obviously hinders that. But Kidd has proven himself in his limited time as a head coach and should be able to find a way to limit Monroe’s defensive flaws enough to keep Milwaukee’s defense in the top-10 where it needs to be.

Next: Storyline: How Long Before The Future Arrives?