Milwaukee Bucks Roundtable: Early season reactions and predictions

Q2. Which player has benefited most from Coach Budenholzer’s system thus far?

BR: For me, I think it has to be Khris Middleton. He’s a career 39.6 percent three-point shooter who, up until this season, had never attempted more than five per game. This season, he’s attempting 7.5 threes per game and shooting them at a 46.4 percent clip. While that percentage may dip slightly, he’s cut down his mid-range shot diet and is getting more open looks than he ever has before in Bud’s offensive scheme.

DB: Giannis Antetokounmpo has benefited the most from Bud’s offense. Budenholzer has gathered shooters all around Giannis. This leaves the paint open for Giannis to do his work.

JT: It’s certainly hard not to go with Giannis in this regard, simply because most, if not all, his points aren’t the equivalent of pulling teeth anymore. With that said, I’m going to shed some light on Khris Middleton, who has adapted to Coach Bud’s system and philosophy with open arms.

The fact that Middleton hasn’t lost a step in taking the best of his methodical scoring ways and blending them with new age offensive principles has been a welcoming sight to see, especially after some speculation over how that push and pull would go heading into the season. Add in that he’s outpacing his previous high mark in his scoring efficiency and is close to matching his career scoring high, there’s a lot of positive momentum revolving around Middleton and his game at the moment.

AM: Could it be John Henson? Sure, he has the security of his current deal with the Bucks for the next couple of years, but what was his NBA future going to look like beyond that? Of course, he has a lot of work to do and there’s a lot of time yet to play out before we get a true sense of whether his newfound shooting touch is real, but it’s an adjustment that genuinely could transform his career as he advances into its latter stages.

For reference, Henson shot almost twice as many triples through the first six years of his career as Brook Lopez did in his. Sure, Lopez had a mid-range base to build up from, but the work that Bud and his staff have already done with Henson — and to his credit, the work he’s put in himself — is really impressive. Other players’ improvements may be more central to the Bucks’ cause, but I’m not sure if many have so drastically changed their game in the way the longest tenured Buck has.

RC: It’s got to be three-point extraordinaire Brook Lopez, right? Going into this year, Lopez was a veteran all-around center who expanded his game to outside shooting. This year, he’s the NBA’s biggest (and I mean this in a literal sense, he’s huge) three-point threat roaming courts.

Lopez has exploded in Bud’s offense in the early going, becoming a legitimate three-point threat that can punish teams again and again if they come off him to protect the paint against Giannis, Brogdon or Bledsoe. He’s the steal of free agency so far and is likely to cash in with a heftier payday next offseason. With shooting, especially from big men, at a premium in the league, Lopez is proving he is a hot commodity [Lopez hot hand celebration].

BP: I have a tough time arguing that it is Giannis. He is still struggling (by his ridiculous standards) and trying to find his spots in the offense. So I have to say Khris Middleton, who was coming off a string of mediocre games before bouncing back against the Nuggets. Although he had a tough stretch, it is hard not to notice that his scoring this year has come much easier so far, with his tough contested mid-range jumpers being few and far between.

I think the ease of his offense has also helped with his defensive presence. Although he has certainly has his fair share of lapses, he seems more engaged this year, and I think that is due to the demands of Bud and also not having to work as hard on offense to get his shots.

JK: It’s a tough task to narrow it down to one player. I’m gonna go with the dark horse, if there is such a thing with picking players most impacted by a scheme change, and say Malcolm Brogdon. The increased ball movement and better spacing have allowed The Prez to get to the rim at will this season. Additionally, his previously reliable shot has gotten even better this season; Brogdon is posting career highs in a plethora of efficiency metrics including FG%, 2P%, 3P%, and TO per 36.