BTBP Roundtable #2: Spacing, Point Guards and Big Men

Mar 17, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Ersan Ilyasova (7) shoots and misses at the buzzer during the fourth quarter of game against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center.The Pelicans defeated the Bucks 85-84. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Kidd’s current preferred starting five of Michael Carter-Williams/Khris Middleton/Giannis Antetokounmpo/Ersan Ilyasova/Zaza Pachulia hasn’t always managed to get firing offensively. Do you feel there’s a spacing problem with that group?

Adam McGee (@AdamMcGee11): It all hinges on how Giannis can develop his mid-range and long game. Right now, there is, but I don’t think it’s as severe as many anticipate. Zaza isn’t a paint-only center, and actually does have an above average range for his size, while if MCW becomes the distributor everyone hopes he can, I don’t see major problems with that lineup or any similar.

Ti Windisch (@TiWindisch): Oh absolutely. That lineup, along with losing Jared Dudley, Jerryd Bayless and OJ Mayo for long stretches, is probably the biggest reason the Bucks keep losing games since the All-Star break. Out of those starting five only two (Middleton and Ersan) can shoot, meaning opponents can clog up the paint without fear of getting beat by threes from Giannis and MCW (who are both shooting under 25 percent from beyond the arc this season).

Daniel Glassberg (@OffTheGlassberg): Yes. Ersan Ilyasova is shooting 35.6 percent from three, Zaza does not attempt threes at all, and Giannis and Carter-Williams are shooting at 17.9 percent and 7.7 percent respectively. Again, since coming to Milwaulkee, Michael Carter-Williams is shooting 7.7 percent from three. He’s making Josh Smith looks like Ray Allen out there. Even worse, the entire lineup generates only a little less than 8 three point attempts per game.

Khris Middleton is shooting 45.5 percent from three, but only 4.1 of his 15.1 field goal attempts per game are three point shots during that stretch. Per NBA.com, he has shot 43.0 percent on shots classified as “mid-range” (inside three-point arc, but not in the paint or restricted) and has attempted 270 mid-range shots, versus 215 total threes. Middleton is also shooting above 50 percent from both corners and has only 86 attempts combined from those areas. It seems likely that this data paints a suggestion that he is being forced into taking fewer shots from the outside by defenses that are sagging off Giannis and Carter-Williams.

Jordan Treske (@jtresk26): There definitely can be spacing issues at times, but I think when the offense has a problem with producing, it’s due to a lack of ball movement. Now that definitely can be attributed due to spacing issues, but for the most part, the offense becomes stagnant due to rushed shots or a lot of iso-ball.

The first half of the Brooklyn game this past Friday was a good example that this unit can perform well offensively when they scored 68 points. With Giannis and MCW only shooting efficiently from such a limited range, spacing will continue to be an issue for the Bucks this season but one that hopefully goes away in the future.

Antony Ludwig (@AntonyLudwig): As of right now, yes, but I think there should be enough shooting talent in this lineup to carry the Bucks, if everyone were at the top of their game. Ersan is shooitn exactly his career average of .366 beyond the arc, but he’s proven to have .400 talent. We need that. Giannis shot almost .350 from deep last year, but has fallen off a cliff. The potential is there, but the execution has been miserable.

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