Throughout the 2023 offseason, the Milwaukee Bucks acquired All-Star level guard Damian Lillard in a blockbuster three-team deal, immediately positioning them as the stylish decide to win the 2024 NBA championship. With new head coach Adrian Griffin on the helm, the Bucks began the season robust, racing to a 30-13 file.
Nevertheless, in a virtually unprecedented transfer, Griffin was changed midseason by veteran coach Doc Rivers. Below Rivers, the group struggled, ending the yr with a disappointing 17-19 file. Their subsequent postseason was a letdown. Giannis Antetokounmpo missed all the first-round sequence towards the Indiana Pacers, whereas Lillard was sidelined for 2 video games. Milwaukee ultimately misplaced 4-2, ending probably the most irritating campaigns within the NBA.
Heading into the 2024-25 season, the Bucks opted for stability, making solely peripheral roster changes. The one notable modifications embrace swapping beginning taking pictures guard Malik Beasley for Gary Trent Jr and bringing in Taurean Prince to switch Jae Crowder.
With the identical core group of gamers, Bucks followers have one query: Can Antetokounmpo, Lillard and firm rebound from their disastrous 2023-24 marketing campaign and problem for a Finals berth within the Japanese Convention?
Offense
One cause the Bucks’ entrance workplace opted for a midseason teaching change stemmed from considerations a couple of disjointed offense. Administration felt the group lacked a cohesive assault or clear offensive units, relying as an alternative on isolation performs. Nevertheless, the statistics paint a special image.
No matter whether or not Griffin or Rivers was on the bench, Lillard’s pick-and-roll averages remained related, averaging 9.9 possessions per game- a top-6 mark within the league. His effectivity because the ball handler was as elite as ever, scoring 0.99 factors per possession, which aligned exactly with the Bucks’ technique once they traded for him. The Bucks’ roll sport was additionally removed from predictable, with Brook Lopez, Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis splitting time diving to the rim after setting screens, racking up stable numbers within the paint.
The offense typically hummed, with the Bucks averaging solely 8.4 isolation possessions per sport, a quantity that sat sq. in the course of all playoff groups. Fueled by Lillard’s play-making, Beasley’s sharpshooting (41.3% from three), and Antetokounmpo’s rim assaults, the Bucks’ offense completed the season ranked sixth within the NBA.
Protection
The Bucks’ struggles primarily stemmed from their porous protection. With Lillard and Beasley, two notoriously poor defenders within the backcourt, and Khris Middleton battling accidents, Milwaukee’s perimeter protection was among the many league’s poorest. Their dismal 11.8% compelled turnover price, the worst within the NBA, underscored their obtrusive lack of ability to pressure opposing groups into miscues.
Compounding the issue, Lillard and Beasley’s defensive liabilities have been uncovered whereas guarding the decide and roll. Routinely crushed off screens, they have been the primary cause the Bucks surrendered the second-most factors per sport to pick-and-roll ball handlers (19.7 PPG). Regardless of Lopez’s wonderful rim safety — main the league in contested photographs on the rim with 722 – and Antetokounmpo’s sometimes wonderful protection, Milwaukee couldn’t overcome its perimeter woes. The Bucks completed the season with the Nineteenth-ranked protection total and even with Doc Rivers on the helm, they have been seventeenth in DFRTG all through 27 post-All-Star sport contests.
Are the Bucks nonetheless championship contenders?
The Japanese Convention is deeper than ever, with Boston retaining its championship core, the Knicks including Mikal Bridges, the Magic bolstering their younger core with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and the 76ers making the most important splash in free company by signing Paul George. In the meantime, the Bucks failed to deal with their most obtrusive want: a defensive-minded wing able to guarding the opposing group’s prime scorer and disrupting pick-and-roll actions.
Maybe Milwaukee’s entrance workplace believes Khris Middleton can regain his 2021 championship type and turn out to be a real defensive stopper as soon as once more. However after two offseason ankle surgical procedures and at 33 years outdated, anticipating him to constantly lock down elite perimeter gamers appears unrealistic.
Whereas it’s unwise to low cost a group led by a former two-time MVP and NBA champion in Antetokounmpo, the Bucks’ defensive deficiencies stay a big concern. Except they handle their perimeter stopping energy via a midseason commerce, it’s troublesome to see Milwaukee advancing previous the second spherical of the playoffs, not to mention capturing one other title.