Milwaukee Bucks: 3 seamless steps to get back to the NBA Finals
By Luke Duffy
2. Milwaukee Bucks must commit to their championship defensive identity.
This may seem a little misleading, as the Bucks actually led the league in defensive rating during their playoff run last year (102.7). To be fair to them, you want to come good as a group once the postseason begins, and that is exactly what they did. Yet this doesn’t tell the whole story.
It is hard to capture in words written on a website, but to see Giannis in full flow is to see an alien playing a sport with humans. Everything he does when he is on the court alters how opponents approach trying to score. Antetokounmpo isn’t the only player who has ever achieved this, but right now, the former Defensive Player of the Year award winner is among the best to ever do it.
This is why it is puzzling that the Bucks ranked a lowly 14th in defensive rating (111.1) during the regular season. To be around league average with Giannis and an above-average defender in Middleton on this roster, as well as Holiday who is among the best defensive guards in the league, is unacceptable.
Is it possible that the Bucks saw what it took to win a championship, and so took their foot off the gas defensively for much of the regular season? It looks that way, yet even though they turned it on when it really mattered, it wasn’t enough to make it all the way back to the NBA Finals. That can’t happen again.
Effort is not something that you can turn on and off, and building good habits to start the season is crucial. Once the Bucks are known as a fearsome defensive group, be it in November or May, then some of the invincibility that surrounded them during their title run will begin to reappear. When you look at their talent and continuity, there is really no reason they shouldn’t be a terrifying prospect to play on any night.