Milwaukee Bucks: Ball Movement Helping Three-Point Shooting Numbers

If the Milwaukee Bucks want to continue their recent shooting success, they must continue to move the ball with efficiency.

There are many components that make up a team’s success. Good shooting, an ability to create shots in clutch situations, and rim protection make up a few of the things a team needs to do in order to win games.

The key component to the Milwaukee Bucks’ recent success has been their ability to move the ball on offense, and as a result, make a higher percentage of shots.

Unlike the Houston Rockets or Golden State Warriors, the Milwaukee Bucks cannot rely on jump shooting to carry them to victories on a consistent basis.

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Thanks to a productive summer of recruitment, the Bucks now at least have players capable of making shots. However, outside of Jabari Parker and Mirza Teletovic, the Bucks have no other shooter who is currently making more than 35 percent from deep on three or more attempts per game.

Tony Snell, who’s replaced Khris Middleton as the Bucks starting shooting guard, is shooting just 33.8 percent from three on over five attempts per game. Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has had a great deal of success this year, has only made 29.5 percent of his shots from deep.

Overall, the Bucks rank in a tie for ninth in three point percentage, a significant improvement over last season, but still five full percentage points behind the league’s best three-point shooting team (San Antonio Spurs at 41.1 percent).

This makes the continued success of the Bucks’ offense particularly contingent on their ability to move the ball. Without being a team who is loaded with shooters, you have to move the ball well to create high quality opportunities.

Unlike many of the league’s best teams, the Bucks do not have players who can create their own shots on a consistent basis. Antetokounmpo and Parker can score in a variety of ways. However, they’re most effective when cutting to the lane.

In order to counter this, teams crowd the paint, setting up double and triple teams whenever Antetokounmpo and Parker have the ball. This forces Antetokounmpo and Parker to take a highly contested shot or pass, neither of which are ideal options.

Spacing the floor with shooters is one way to counter this tactic. By fielding shooters who can hit open shots, defenders are forced to guard their man rather than help someone else out.

However, as has been shown over a larger sample size, the Bucks often lack the production they need in order to make that strategy work on a nightly basis. In addition, many of their best shooters aren’t great defenders either.

This leaves the Bucks with one reliable option: move the ball as often as they can in order to create.

By moving the ball well, the Bucks can confuse the defense, creating mismatches and countering the traps that get their ball-handlers in bad situations. If the team moves the ball enough on offense, they’ll eventually create a decent scoring opportunity.

When the team has had its best success, it’s come when they’ve moved the ball well. The Bucks rank third in the NBA in assists over their last 10 games, averaging 26.8 per game. As a result, they’re also second in the league in three-point percentage for that period at 40.7 percent.

Their best display came against the Detroit Pistons on December 28. In their 119-94 victory, the Bucks moved the ball with deadly precision. The Bucks recorded a total of 36 assists, a season-high, while turning the ball over just seven times. It was an incredible demonstration of efficiency, a hope for what they can achieve with better consistency.

The Bucks have a real opportunity to move up in the Eastern Conference standings. Currently, Milwaukee is sixth at 17-16. However, they are now within striking range of a top-four spot.

If the Bucks are going to put a string of wins together, they need to continue to move the ball like they have of late. When they move the ball well, it helps open up the lane for their key scorers to drive, maximizing their skills and the team’s efficiency on offense. Not only that, but as the numbers suggest, it boosts their shooting too.

The Bucks have the personnel at every position to run a highly efficient offense centered on ball movement. Dellavedova and Brogdon excel at moving the ball. Antetokounmpo has thrived when given the duty of primary ball-handler. Jabari Parker and Greg Monroe have also been solid at creating opportunities for their teammates to score.

Next: Milwaukee Bucks Player of the Week (Dec 25. – Dec. 31.)

With time, the Bucks will develop into a well-oiled offensive machine. They just need to focus on what’s been working and continue to move the ball on the offensive end.