Milwaukee Bucks: Get to know head coach Mike Budenholzer

Offense

Budenholzer’s offense evolved to suit his team’s strengths and capabilities throughout his time in Atlanta, but at its heart there are certain characteristics that jump out and can be traced back to his time alongside Gregg Popovich.

Under Budenholzer, the Hawks have consistently placed an emphasis on quality shot creation by way of purposeful and unselfish passing. Budenholzer’s teams are ball movement disciples, but they don’t zip the ball around aimlessly. There’s almost always a deliberate nature to what they’re looking to achieve from those passes.

With clear goals for possessions established, Budenholzer has often allowed his teams to employ an offensive system that was very reliant on his players making quality reads and being willing to improvize.

Speaking of the most successful 2015 iteration of the Hawks, Jeff Teague outlined some of Budenholzer’s principles to Sports Illustrated:

"“We’ve basically got two plays—strong and weak. That gets us into positions, but from there, we all have to make split-second decisions on what we do out of it: maybe a high pick-and-roll, or a dribble handoff, or Kyle coming around a screen. We look at the defense and just do what feels right. Other teams will call out, ‘Thumb four!’ and we know exactly what they’re going to do. No one knows what we’re going to do because we don’t even know ourselves. It’s like controlled pickup.”"

As Lee Jenkins further explained in that same article:

"“They must adhere to a few rules. No one is allowed to hold the ball for more than two seconds, and when somebody drives, others have to account for a few key spots: the low block, the top of the circle and the 45-degree marks on the wings. ‘We pass to those places blind,’ Teague says.”"

These rules and ideas allowed the Hawks to build a half court offense that was measured in its setup, but wide open in terms of options. The players understood the desired spots on the floor they were aiming to unlock shots from, but had the freedom to use motion principles of cutting and frequent screen-setting to set those shots up.

In a profile on Budenholzer and his Hawks team from 2015, ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz further expanded upon the impact those offensive strategies had on the players, and their desire and ability to achieve positive results.

"“The Hawks rave about the collaborative nature of the offense, in which players are encouraged to make smart reads so long as the ball moves. So why wouldn’t a coach give that freedom and sense of ownership to his players? … The Hawks also testify to how awesome it is that they’re treated like grown adults who participate in efficient practices, assume they’re professionals and take pride in the work.”"

In order to play in that style, Budenholzer generally employed capable three-point shooting across his lineup, guards and wings who were comfortable and competent in setting screens, and forwards or centers who were capable of passing and making plays.

In that regard, elements of the triangle are often evident in Budenholzer’s offense. His teams work on creating quality post touches in a very traditional sense, reminiscent of the Spurs, but in a more modern twist that platform is generally then used to set up playmaking opportunities rather than standard post-ups. Keeping with the theme of quality shot creation, the ball finding it’s way into the post was often the trigger for a kick-out to a perimeter shooter, some high-low passing among bigs to get to the rim, or a chance for wings to make cuts.

Most importantly of all, in a feature that equally applies to his defensive approach, Budenholzer doesn’t believe in a rigid system or approach. There isn’t one set way he coaches his team to play that will either succeed or fail. As he told Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today in reference to his team’s offense:

"“A philosophy sounds more profound and complicated than anything we’re doing. I do believe in guys playing ball, making reads and making decisions and playing off each other and covering for each other.”"

Speaking to BBall Breakdown, Budenholzer went even further when asked about his approach:

"“I think you kind of learn your players as you go a little bit, and you adjust and tweak it based on their skills and what you see them doing well and most comfortably.”"

Budenholzer is open to adapting, as evidenced by his switch to a greater emphasis on pace last season, and so although there’ll be pieces of his Hawks teams visible in what he asks the Bucks to do, there may well be new ideas too.