Milwaukee Bucks: Looking at how the Bucks perform at different types of offense

Pick And Roll

Pick and rolls are complicated because they’re broken down into two plays–those when the ball handler keeps the ball, and those when the roll man ends up getting it. The Bucks are quite good at one look, and horrible at the other.

On the bright side, Milwaukee’s roll men were brilliant last season. The Bucks scored 1.12 points per possession when the roll man got the ball in pick and roll, fourth-best among all NBA teams.

Unfortunately, the Bucks weren’t as skilled when the ball handler kept the rock. Bucks PNR ball handlers averaged just 0.77 points per possession, with only the Philadelphia 76ers getting less out of those looks.

A lack of practice likely didn’t help. The Bucks are near the bottom of the NBA in pick and rolls per game for both their roll men and ball handlers, which is something that should probably be rectified going forward considering the versatile players Milwaukee has.

Although Malcolm Brogdon has been a revelation at point guard for the Bucks, he’s not terrific initiating pick and rolls. Some of that may be from his lack of experience running the point, but still Brogdon was worse than 43 percent of ball handlers in pick and roll scenarios.

No Bucks besides Gary Payton II were above the 57th percentile in terms of points per possession as a ball handler in PNR, with Jabari Parker surprisingly leading the way for rotational Bucks.

In terms of the other side of pick and rolls, Giannis was an absolute monster when he worked as the roll man. The Greek Freak averaged 1.43 points per possession in those scenarios, putting him in the 96th percentile among NBA players.

Finding a point guard who is effective at initiating pick and rolls with Giannis, or molding Brogdon into one, would be huge for the Bucks offense going forward. Getting the Greak Freak moving without the ball makes it very difficult for teams to handle him.