After going out in embarrassing fashion to the 5th seeded Heat in the bubble last season, the Bucks chose to shake up their roster by bringing in notable names such as Jrue Holiday, Bobby Portis and Brynn Forbes. They got some much needed shooting in all three, as well as some shot creation, ball handling and defense. Although they kept what was arguably the largest reason they got sent home, their coaching staff, the Bucks are not the same team they were last season. In this article I will be assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the Bucks and laying out what gives them the edge over the other juggernauts in the East. Let’s get into it.
Strengths:
Star Power: Something the Bucks have lacked in the past is any kind of scoring or playmaking punch outside of their stars Giannis and Khris Middleton. With the addition of Jrue Holiday the scale takes a drastic tip in the Bucks favor. Defenses will have to respect the Bucks perimeter play more this time around with Jrue or Middleton out there instead of Bledsoe and Middleton.
Ball Handling: On top of his defense and shot creation, Jrue Holiday brings a level to the Bucks offense that they have been sorely missing in their past two post season runs, ball handling. Khris is an elite ball handler at the forward position but in the past that’s where the list stops. The Heat and Raptors did not respect Bledsoe’s ability, or lack thereof to score out of pick and rolls or isolations and instead used his man to form the wall against Giannis. The same goes for Donte and Pat, they just don’t bend defenses the way Jrue does when the ball is in their hands. Now the Bucks can run Jrue/Middleton and Giannis pick and rolls with one of the two not involved hovering around the perimeter, creating havoc off the ball even if they never get passed to. This is what Kerr did with the early Warriors and even The Hamptons 5, he would leverage Curry or Klay to get cleaner looks for whichever of the two was on the ball by running the other around the court for no other reason than to make the defense think. Not that Middleton or Jrue are on the level of Curry and Klay as shooters, the tactic can still be applicable.
Defense: I never thought Bledsoe’s defense was all that, his production on that end was entirely situational and his form in New Orleans proves that. With Jrue and PJ, the Bucks can roll out a lineup with the worst defender being Donte Divincenzo, who is still an excellent team defender and above average man defender. PJ can play a small ball five with Giannis as a help side rim protector or they could switch and have PJ take the perimeter with Giannis as the sole rim protector. They can play Middleton at the nail to funnel things into Giannis and they can stick Jrue on the opposing team’s best guard, which will be important in a conference that has the likes of Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Jaylen Brown, Jimmy Butler, and Trae Young. They can run ICE coverage against pick and rolls, every type of zone defense, box-and 1, they can hedge, drop or switch. There’s a lot of scheme and match up possibilities for the Bucks and that makes them a very high level defensive team that can scale up to playoff offenses.
Experience: Much like the Sixers, it does not matter how you may feel about the Bucks, it is undeniable that they have experience. Giannis has been facing the wall for 3 years now, Middleton has been aside him each of those runs, PJ Tucker went 7 against the greatest team of all time and Jrue pulled off one of the best playoff upsets in recent memory. Although I have my doubts about their coaching and supporting cast, their core has been there and done that and they will make adjustments this time around.
Weaknesses:
Scheme: If my understanding of the Bucks scheme is correct, they play 4 out on both ends with Brook and Giannis alternating who is on the inside and who is outside on offense and defense. With the addition of Jrue, an elite pick and roll ball handler, Giannis has spent most of his offensive reps on the perimeter, which is not a bad thing. What I don’t like is that Bud is still insisting on posting him up in the mid-post where Giannis is very weak and prone to traps. His jumper is still not reliable enough for defenses to respect so this play type will be easily contained. Bud is also still isolating Giannis on the perimeter a little too much for my liking. Yes, Giannis is an elite isolation scorer but teams crack a smile when they see they have time to form a wall against his drive. Using him with the Bucks other stars makes defenses think twice about walling up, which is what the Bucks are going to have to do if they want any chance of making it to the ECF. On defense, the Bucks are still sacrificing the 3 point line in favor of defending the paint. Even Jrue Holiday is going under almost every screen he encounters and has been visibly slower closing out to shooters. I have seen him turn up his perimeter intensity against better shooters, but the Bucks perimeter scheme remains similar to last years which will cost them playoff wins.
Coaching: This should not have to be explained.
Play Style resilience: I don’t have any worries for Jrue seeing as his playstyle is balanced but everyone else has a massive hole that teams will look to exploit. For Giannis it’s his jumper, for Middleton its his jump shot reliance, for Bobby it’s his post up oriented offense(but he’s shooting the hell out of the ball so this probably is just me overthinking), for Brynn it’s his defense, for Connaughton and PJ it’s their lack of total offense and for Donte it’s the same. If played right, teams won’t be able to exploit the holes in the Bucks roster, but if played wrong teams will find themselves going on massive runs with Giannis, Jrue or Middleton on the bench. The lack of rim pressure outside of Jrue and Giannis, the average defense off the bench, the lack of respect defenses will show towards the bench’s and Giannis’ jumper and the shot chucking habits of the supporting cast gives me reason to fear the Bucks getting sent home early again.
Verdict
I don’t care if I end up on freezing cold takes, the Bucks are my pick to make the ECF and put up the best fight against the Nets. Their offense will look much better with Jrue and Middleton working off of Giannis and their defense is much better than before. If they can shore up some scheming issues and make sure their role players aren’t chucking up threes unprovoked, this team could surprise a lot of people.
CubeHoops 