Milwaukee Bucks: 3 big questions heading into 2018-19 NBA season
3. How different will the team be under Mike Budenholzer?
While it was seemingly clear to fans of the Milwaukee Bucks for years, during last season Milwaukee’s ownership decided the best path forward for the franchise was to remove Jason Kidd as head coach. Interim head coach Joe Prunty was given an opportunity to earn the job and roundly failed.
Milwaukee’s coaching search this summer was wide-ranging and thorough, ultimately landing on the consensus best candidate available in former Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer. He joins a team that last season finished 44-38, ranking ninth in offense and 19th in defense.
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When Budenholzer took over as the Hawks’ coach in 2013, his first head coaching position, his impact was not immediately felt in terms of on-court success. The team hovered around .500 his first season in Atlanta, before leaping up to a 60-win season in 2014-15. Will Budenholzer raise this team’s fortunes immediately, or will it take more time?
The biggest area Budenholzer will be looked at to address is the defense. Despite a roster littered with defensive potential and physical gifts, the Bucks have finished 19th or worse in defensive rating for three straight years. An inflexible, hyper-aggressive defensive scheme instituted by Kidd led to more wide-open shots than it did turnovers.
Budenholzer is known as a defensive coach, studying for years under Gregg Popovich in San Antonio. Depending on personnel, he has shifted his schemes from conservative — dropping the bigs — to more aggressive, hedging or blitzing on pick-and-rolls. Presumed starter Brook Lopez would fit more on the conservative end, but lineups with Thon Maker or Giannis Antetokounmpo at center could be best deployed with more action.
Other areas where Budenholzer should be an improvement will be consistency on offense, developing shooters, late-game strategy and media interaction. While his teams have consistently punched above their weight in the regular season, they have largely disappointed once they reached the playoffs. Can he turn that around in Milwaukee, armed with a star in Antetokounmpo better than any he coached in Atlanta?
There will be changes, and most likely this team will be better than it was before. But which changes will be most evident, and how large of an effect will they have this season? The defense should take a major step forward and the offense will probably stay roughly the same, most likely pushing the Bucks further up the standings.