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

By Ti Windisch

Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Apr 15, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Milwaukee Bucks guard Khris Middleton (22) drives to the net past Toronto Raptors forward DeMarre Carroll (5) during the first half in game one of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 15, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Milwaukee Bucks guard Khris Middleton (22) drives to the net past Toronto Raptors forward DeMarre Carroll (5) during the first half in game one of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports /

Cuts

Off-ball cuts are an area the Milwaukee Bucks have excelled at lately. The Bucks score 1.30 points per possession when Bucks players cut off ball, good enough for seventh among NBA teams.

No Bucks scored less than 1.0 points per possession on off-ball cuts last season, meaning literally any Milwaukee player cutting to the basket would score more efficiently than any of the Bucks besides Michael Beasley who were posting up.

Khris Middleton was the Bucks most effective scorer, racking up an incredible 1.87 points per possession on cuts. Unfortunately, Middleton hardly ever cut to the basket, doing it just once every two games in the regular season.

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The best Buck to cut with any frequency was Giannis, who scored 1.5 points per possession on 2.2 cuts to the basket per game. The other Bucks to cut more than once a game were Jabari, Moose and Henson, who scored 1.35, 1.29 and 1.13 points per possession on those looks, respectively.

The effectiveness of cuts demonstrates how important off-ball movement is to modern NBA offenses. Milwaukee running more of that sort of offense could definitely help going forward. The Bucks cut more than all but one NBA team in the regular season.

The first-place team was the Golden State Warriors, who found cutters on over 250 more possessions than the second-placed Bucks. It’s no coincidence that Golden State happened to have one of the best offenses in history and they relied on looks like cuts this season.

Next: 2017 NBA Draft Big Board 1.0

Getting good players around Giannis is obviously important, but putting those players in better positions to succeed is also going to be vital to Milwaukee’s success in the coming years.

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