Milwaukee Bucks: Filling the void left in wake of John Henson’s injury

The Milwaukee Bucks were dealt a blow a couple of weeks ago when it was announced that reserve big man John Henson is sidelined indefinitely after tearing a ligament in his left wrist. How have they gone about filling his absence since then?

After getting off to a rollicking start to the season, it’s safe to say the Milwaukee Bucks have hit a rough patch in the last couple of weeks.

Their 15-7 record, which currently stands second best in the East, does paint a pretty picture, given that it’s their best start in nearly three decades. Yet bad habits, such as getting down to early deficits in games, and general inconsistencies have festered on and have resulted in some of the Bucks’ more frustrating losses recently to likely lottery teams in the Phoenix Suns as well as the New York Knicks.

To go along with that, the injury bug has recently hit the Bucks, specifically within their bench. The biggest blow was the surprising announcement that veteran big man John Henson had suffered a torn ligament in his left wrist and surgery was required to repair the injury.

With no firm timetable for when the 27-year-old could make his return to the floor, it’s yet another hurdle in a career that’s been full of them for Henson. And considering he’s overhauled his game to fit the pace and space bill that head coach Mike Budenholzer has prioritized since arriving to Milwaukee, Henson’s injury puts a hold on his ongoing reinvention as a player.

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Now in the two-plus weeks since Henson has been out, coach Bud has turned to third-year center Thon Maker to fill the minutes Henson primarily logged as well as turned to more frontline combinations that involve reserve forward Ersan Ilyasova.

Inserting Maker in the rotation has given the 21-year-old his first regular dose of playing time and a response to curb his struggles to this point and following his sophomore slump last year.

As for Ilyasova, the Turkish veteran has been limited in action as he’s missed three games during this stretch as a result of having right knee soreness as well as being placed in the league’s concussion protocol after last week’s 116-113 win over the lowly Chicago Bulls.

The result of these alterations and the ongoing absence of Ilyasova has led to Maker holding down the fort behind starting veteran big man, Brook Lopez. To Maker’s credit, the Bucks have performed competently with him on the floor as he holds a +2.3 net rating in the 98 minutes he’s seen since Henson went down, per NBA.com/stats.

While that’s not exactly a glowing appraisal of Maker’s playing time opportunities in the last few weeks, the key to the Bucks doing just well enough when he takes the court has been on the defensive end.

That may come as a surprise to some, given that the 21-year-old voiced the adjustments he’s had to make regarding the new team’s new defensive scheme under Budenholzer to Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in the wake of garnering his newfound role in the rotation:

"“Sometimes I caught myself stepping up and some of the coaches were like, ‘You’re too aggressive; back up, back up,’” Maker said. “I’m like, I’m just trying to get the energy going. We’re getting stops and I’m getting thirsty for more stops.”"

But by logging a 103.5 defensive rating during this spell, Maker’s hyperactive and fearless defensive energy has stood as a spark in an area where the Bucks have cooled off considerably since their hot start to the season (the Bucks rank 14th in defensive efficiency since Henson went down).

Unfortunately, that can’t be said for the Bucks’ offense when Maker checks in as evidenced by the disparity to how they have performed with and without him since Henson’s injury (the on/off offensive rating difference with and without Maker is -11.3 points per 100 possessions).

That latter aspect of Maker’s performance since taking up backup center minutes is the best indication for how much all of this is a work in progress. Of course, there’s currently bigger fish to fry as it relates to the other issues the Bucks have to iron out to shake this current form of play they’ve been in the last few weeks.

But with this still only being the beginning of how long the Bucks will have to fare without a fine, albeit unspectacular backup center in Henson, Maker’s play, and Ilysaova’s once he heals from this latest malady, will be one to monitor in the coming weeks and months.