Milwaukee Bucks: Oshkosh Selected As Site Of New D-League Affiliate
Developing Players In Their System
This season, the Milwaukee Bucks have two options to develop their own players, specifically those not yet ready for the bright light of consistent NBA minutes.
The first is to let them run through practices with the team, then spend games whipping towels in celebration of a teammates’ accomplishments.
This approach has the benefit of keeping the players learning within the team’s scheme. If Milwaukee wants their bigs to show on screens, their young frontcourt players can go through drills designed to reinforce those principles.
The downside to this approach is a lack of playing time in competitive situations. Practice can simulate situations, but it’s hard to see how well a player is developing without seeing them in game situations.
Dwight Howard hits every free throw in practice, but when he stands before the crowds he only makes half of them.
The second option is to assign a player to the D-League. Because the Bucks have not had an affiliate team, when they have made assignments – such as this season with Rashad Vaughn – they are placed on another team, which most likely runs a different system than the Bucks.
On the one hand, players receive playing time. Check Diallo of the New Orleans Pelicans has spent the last two weeks on the Greensboro Swarm, the D-League affiliate of the Charlotte Hornets.
He has received consistent minutes, averaging around 30 per game despite a lack of affiliation with the organization.
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On the other hand, those players are not reinforcing the system they will soon hope to play in.
In addition, their development is placed in the hands of another coaching staff, rather than under the supervision of personnel hired by the team.
A direct affiliate team in the D-League allows the Bucks to have their cake and eat it too.
They can assign players to the lower levels to get playing time, gaining experience in high-pressure situations and keeping their bodies primed for competitive basketball.
At the same time, the Bucks are able to put into place a coaching staff and organizational personnel that they trust to develop their players well.
Rather than trusting their players to another team, they can ensure any assigned players are trained and played within a familiar system and inside a ring of accountability.