Milwaukee Bucks: Coach Bud needs to adapt with how he uses the Lopez twins

A lot has gone wrong for the Milwaukee Bucks in their opening four games of the 2019-20 season. Is Coach Mike Budenholzer’s use of the Lopez twins playing a part in their woes?

It’s been a rough start for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Though their record stands at 2-2 through their first four games, the team is quite fortunate to find themselves at that record given their performances so far this season.

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Several things have contributed to that poor start, much of which has already been or will be discussed by other writers here at Behind the Buck Pass in the days to come. In this piece, I wanted to focus on a specific part of the Bucks’ approach so far that is a smaller part of their struggles, but is still something worth discussing, that being their use of the Lopez twins.

When Milwaukee brought Robin Lopez into the fold this summer to join his brother Brook Lopez as the other main center option, it was easy to see why they chose to do that. One of the problems the Bucks encountered last season, at times, was lacking a true center who could anchor the defense beyond Brook Lopez.

To help remedy that, they brought Pau Gasol in late in the season after he was waived by San Antonio. However, Gasol sustained an injury shortly after signing, which caused him to miss the entirety of the team’s playoff run last Spring. That left the Bucks to make do with the same big man rotation they had used before he was acquired.

Even though Robin Lopez’s signing helped them to address this need, Coach Mike Budenholzer’s use of him and Brook so far has been less than optimal.

Specifically, the Bucks are getting exposed on the defensive end of the floor because of the lack of lateral quickness that both players have. This was on full display in their second half collapse in Boston on Wednesday night.

The Celtics made an adjustment early in the second half on the offensive end by going smaller, and using a two-man game in the half-court to create scoring opportunities. In particular, Boston was making aggressive use of the pick-and-roll to try and get the Bucks to rotate one of the Lopez twins into a match-up on a smaller, but more athletic wing or guard who could stretch the floor.

Because the Lopez twins have been instructed to stay closer to to the lane to take away potential drives and cuts to the rim, Boston’s shooters found themselves in miles of space on a consistent basis whenever they forced a switch. They abused this to perfection, particularly in the fourth quarter when they shot lights out from behind the three-point line.

Milwaukee failed to adjust to what Boston threw at them. Even as the Celtics got red hot from distance, both Brook and Robin continued to stay deep to guard the lane. By the time Coach Budenholzer took Brook out of the game to counter this, the outcome had already been decided.

Through four games so far, the team has done a good job of limiting team’s scoring in the paint. They’re tied for the fourth fewest points conceded in the paint per game (41.5).

Where they’re getting killed, however, is from deep. Opponents have hit an average of 15.3 three-point shots per game against them this season, which is the third highest total in the league. They’re also shooting 35.5 percent against them from three so far this season while taking the most attempts per game against them from that range. Though some of that total can be explained by bad luck, a significant amount of it cannot be. In fact, the defensive approach Milwaukee uses with their big men is a major reason why this is happening.

The Toronto Raptors showed in the Eastern Conference Finals in May that the Bucks can be forced into mismatches via this strategy. Several of the decisive runs that won the Raptors the series came from using a smaller line-up consisting of shooters, then running a two-man pick-and-roll  that forced Brook Lopez to guard a smaller, but more athletic shooter. Because Toronto had the shot-makers who could capitalize on this space, they made Milwaukee pay the price for this defensive approach.

Moving forward, the Bucks are going to have to adjust to what teams are throwing at them on that end of the court.

If teams are going to go smaller, and play a lineup that has four or five good shooters in it, Milwaukee needs to counter by going small on their own to match-up with them.

They possess the personnel to run a dominant small-ball lineup on both ends of the court, especially with Giannis Antetokounmpo having the size, skills, and athleticism to anchor a defense. It’s time they explore that further to prevent teams from exploiting the advantages they can create by going small.

There’s a lot to be concerned about with the Bucks right now. However, their defensive issues can be solved by adopting a more flexible approach. This means using both Brook and Robin Lopez for fewer minutes in games where they’re struggling to defend smaller lineups.