Lineups The Milwaukee Bucks Should Experiment With In 2017

The ‘Tall Small Ball’ Lineup

PG – Michael Carter-Williams
SG – Khris Middleton
SF – Giannis Antetokounmpo
PF – Jabari Parker
C – Thon Maker

This is not a traditional small ball lineup because it lacks a lot of outside shooting ability. However, Middleton is a phenomenal shooter, Giannis, Jabari, and MCW will hopefully be improved this season, and Thon has shown some glimpses of real range in Summer League. Worst case scenario would be that they’ll only have one consistently good shooter, and maybe one or two who are hot on any given night. Sound familiar?

This is also not a traditional small ball lineup because the shortest player is MCW at 6’6″. What makes this lineup small ball-like is the fact that all five players on the court are all able to handle the ball. When the Bucks have two seven footers who can actually defend the rim and rebound playing against other small ball lineups who won’t have that size, then Milwaukee is going to have a major advantage.

Of all of the exciting things this lineup could do, running the floor and scoring in transition seems to be its best attribute. All five players are tall and athletic. They take long strides and get where they want quickly. When you block their lanes to the basket they can do things like this.

The floor spacing here is not always going to be a thing of beauty. But if MCW, Giannis, and Jabari each improve a little bit it should be adequate enough to get by. The ball movement will be excellent because Khris, Giannis, and MCW are all really effective passers. Overall this lineup would cause unsolvable issues for the opponent on both ends of the floor. The nickname for this lineup by season’s end could be the small ball killer.

Next: Getting Back To Defense