Milwaukee Bucks: How to Fix the Defense
By Dan Larsen
With the Milwaukee Bucks defense struggling to find any consistency, it’s time to consider a new approach.
It’s safe to say the Milwaukee Bucks defense has been a disaster this season. After posting the second best defensive rating in the NBA last year, the Bucks have crashed to 28th, giving up 106.3 points per 100 possessions.
What was once the team’s greatest asset has now become the their biggest liability.
The results have been far reaching. Instead of being in thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race, the Bucks sit in the middle of the lottery, closer to securing a top three pick than making the playoffs.
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In addition, there are more questions than answers about the long-term viability of the team as currently constructed. This puts the Bucks in difficult position as the trade deadline approaches.
Many factors have played a role in the demise of the team’s once great defense, much of which were covered here.
Major turnover in the starting line-up has thrown off the team’s chemistry and understanding on defense. Signing Greg Monroe and trading Zaza Pachulia had farther reaching consequences than many expected.
When the Bucks signed Monroe, a slight drop in defensive efficiency was expected. Monroe wasn’t the quickest defender, nor was he known as an elite rim protector. In his five years in Detroit, Monroe never averaged over a block per game.
In addition, Monroe was moved to the power forward position, in part, because Andre Drummond was a much better rim protector and interior defender.
The weaknesses in his defensive game, however, weren’t that different from that of Zaza Pachulia. Pachulia, like Monroe, was not the fleetest and foot nor the greatest rim protector. After all, Pachulia never averaged more than .5 blocks per game in his 12 year career.
If the Bucks could get their scheme to work with Pachulia anchoring the defense, then Greg Monroe could certainly fit in.
With Monroe at the helm, however, the Bucks defense has dropped off a cliff. How can this be so?
When you begin to take a closer look at defense, three things are clearly different. First, the communication on defense is almost non-existent.
Last season, when the Bucks were at their defensive peak, communication was a common theme. The veteran guys, led by Pachulia and Jared Dudley, talked with the young guys on the floor, telling them where to be, when to rotate, and what to do in certain situations. Their extensive knowledge and experience helped set an example for the young guys on how to play successful basketball. Without communication, the team cannot function efficiently, particularly on the defensive end.
This season, however, the defensive communication has all but disappeared. Instead of calling things out to their teammates, the players try to correct the mistakes on their own. This puts guys woefully out-of-position and creates numerous shot opportunities for their opponents. The result is numerous uncontested lay-ups and three-point shots, two things you can never afford to give up if you have any chance at winning in today’s NBA.
The only real communication occurring on the floor are constant complaints to the referees, particularly from Michael Carter-Williams and Greg Monroe. Thus, it’s readily apparent that the young guys have not yet mastered the art of communicating on defense.
A second issue with the defense is the lack of understanding and over aggression on the defensive end. Last season, the team mastered double teams and seamless rotations, causing general chaos all over the floor by aggressively pressing the ball-handler as soon as they brought the ball up the court.
This season, however, has been a different story. Too often, three defenders get sucked in to watching the ball-handler rather than their own guy. This makes it easy to split the defense open as one simple pass can set up a lay-up or a wide open three-point shot.
The team has also suffered in their ability to rotate because of the lack of defensive ability that two of their starting five players have. Monroe and Jabari Parker, unlike John Henson and Giannis Antetokounmpo, simply aren’t capable of guarding players on the wing. Thus, the team isn’t able to rotate as easily on pick-and-rolls because doing so would create major mismatches.
The third major difference this year is the lack of effort being given on the defensive end on a nightly basis. Last season, we saw 48 minutes of guys giving maximum effort on the floor, fighting for every loose ball, scraping for every board, and pressuring the ball-handler. The defense brought an intensity to the game that few teams around the league were able to match.
This season, however, that intensity has all but disappeared. Too often, the double teams are lax, guys check out when they’re off the ball, and the Bucks are beat to loose balls on a consistent basis. Only a few times this season, when the team has played against the best in the NBA, has the team looked anywhere close to the team we expected.
Given these differences, a few simple fixes would go a long way towards making the defense better.
First, there needs to be improved communication. Instead of doubting themselves, the guys should call out what they’re seeing and tell guys what to do when the situation warrants it. Too often, the players seem afraid to call out what they’re seeing because they aren’t sure of themselves. It’s time to get past that and improve the general communication. Every successful defense thrives because of communication.
The team also needs to tone back the aggressive defensive scheme that Jason Kidd has implemented. Though the defense was successful for much of last year, the warning signs of a potential collapse were there at the end of last season. When you play an overly aggressive scheme orientated on pressuring the ball-handler with double teams, you naturally leave yourself exposed on the perimeter. Even when they were at their best last season, the team got killed by the corner three, and by teams who could successfully move the ball.
It’s become readily apparent, now that the season is over half-way through, that playing this aggressive scheme for 48 minutes can’t work. Teams have scouted our defense and know what to expect on a nightly basis. Thus, it’s time that the Bucks experiment with a more reserved approach, toning up the pressure when necessary, but staying more reserved as a general rule.
There also needs to be improved effort on the part of the players. Though the team has certainly fallen below the lofty expectations many had coming into the season, the Bucks can still manage to make some noise if they can better their effort on a nightly basis.
These fixes, communication, toning back the aggressive scheme, and improving effort, won’t fix all the problems that the team has on defense. With Parker and Monroe on the floor, teams can put those guys in pick-and-rolls nearly every possession and create mismatches because of their lack of lateral quickness. Thus, there are real questions about the long-term ceiling of this team with both Monroe and Parker, something the team may need to visit sooner rather than later.
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However, with these fixes, the Bucks would give us a real chance to evaluate just how good this team can be.