The Team the Bucks Want to Be is Out There, But It’s Not Who You Think

Stop me if this sounds familiar: an emphasis on ball movement, making the extra pass, frenetic help defense from a rotation of long, athletic wing players. A coach with a plan and a hungry roster. You’re probably thinking Milwaukee Bucks, right? This is a Bucks blog, after all.

YOU’RE WRONG! But also right.

What I mean is, I’m talking about the Atlanta Hawks.

Atlanta Hawks guard Jeff Teague (0) and Washington Wizards forward Kris Humphries (43) and guard Bradley Beal (3) dives for a loose ball. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Look at (might’ve been a Buck) Jeff Teague, possessed by a demon perhaps, getting after a loose ball while sandwiched between two Wizards, one subtle indicator of the kind of hustle and scrap we’re used to seeing regularly here in Milwaukee.

I’m sure, if he ended up getting a hold of it (and it didn’t immediately catch on fire from his evident rage), he’d swing it ahead to a teammate filling the void left by an extra Washington player pursuing the ball. Ball movement is the essence of the Hawks’ offense, but don’t take my word for it:

Right off the bat in this video you see the Hawks utilizing their two talented big men, Al Horford and Paul Millsap, to control the paint. Horford is an excellent passing big man. Think Zaza.

Right after that play, you see Horford again find a cutter with a tricky pass into the paint, this time through the back door to Kyle Korver. Korver, another excellent passer, then kicks it out to Demarre Carroll for a corner 3.

At around 4:23 we see Shelvin Mack run a nice drive-and-kick out to Pero Antic in the corner. Antic, sensing the closeout, passes up a decent look and throws to the top of the key for a successful Thabo Sefalosha three-pointer. That is a total of seven players in those three plays.

More from Behind the Buck Pass

I hear time and time again that the ideal small-town franchise after which the Bucks should be modeling their rebuild (yay, we can say that now!) is the Oklahoma City Thunder. I get it, it’s pretty tantalizing thinking about the Bucks having their own Westbrook and Durant. With Jabari and Giannis, the Bucks may even approach that stratosphere some day.

But I don’t think that should be the goal. The ball doesn’t move for the Thunder the way it does for the Hawks, if it did the Thunder might not have floundered quite so much after starting the year so banged-up. The Bucks under Jason Kidd share nothing in common with the Thunder. Just watch:

Starting ten seconds in, we see the Bucks begin a possession with Larry Sanders holding the ball between the three-point line and the free throw stripe. This shows how Jason Kidd often likes to initiate his offense through the big men, and why having bigs who can run is so important.

Larry looks at the defense and hands the ball to Brandon Knight on the run, who drives and kicks to Giannis outside the arc after drawing an extra defender. Giannis, still timid from distance, passes up the shot and dumps it down low to Jabari (RIP) for a quick post-up, who quickly gets by his man for a nifty reverse layup.