Milwaukee Bucks: Taking a look at their efficiency when posting up

While it’s far from a focal point in their repertoire this season, the Milwaukee Bucks have generated great success incorporating a few more post-ups in their offensive system.

Variety is the word that all Milwaukee Bucks fans have turned to when answering what they’ve hoped to see out of the team the most this 2019-20 season.

Of course, there’s been very little to complain about in a campaign where the Bucks hold the best record in the NBA at 32-6, have a historical point differential (11.9) and are the only team to rank in the top 3 in both offensive and defensive efficiency, per NBA.com/stats.

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Even so, the Bucks’ Conference Finals collapse last season against the Toronto Raptors still stands fresh in the memory of fans and followers alike and all Bucks fans are hoping for some lesson being learned well ahead of their playoff run in a few months.

Little by little, we’ve seen the Bucks open up their five-out offense to add in different looks and actions to keep opposing defenses off guard as they continue to roll through their opponents for the majority of the year.

Like we recently detailed in regard to how Bucks All-Star swingman Khris Middleton has regained his comfort operating from mid-range this season, the Bucks and head coach Mike Budenholzer have also turned to adding more post-ups within their third-ranked offense.

Now the term ‘post-up’ conjures plenty of groans from analytically-inclined basketball fans, and Rick Carlisle, and the images of retired NBA players turned talking heads lamenting the death of the big man act as something of a throwback to a time where the game was played at its most primitive during the 1990s.

The NBA has changed immensely and the Bucks have recently been at the forefront of league-wide trends such as playing at a blazing and league-leading pace, launching threes to copious degrees and getting in the paint and attacking the cup, all designed to maximize the talent and skill set of reigning MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The tenets of the Bucks’ offense under Budenholzer and what makes NBA teams successful in this day and age won’t change anytime soon. However, posting up has given the Bucks a safety valve through which they can operate their offense for brief stretches, even if it’s far from a prevalent tool in their arsenal.

Per Second Spectrum’s tracking data, the Bucks are averaging 9.8 post ups per game, good for 10th in the league, and they have the highest field goal efficiency of any team on possessions that end up on post-ups at 58.8 percent. Furthermore, they have the second-highest points percentage (69 percent) on post-up possessions, ranking just behind the Detroit Pistons. For context, both numbers would be all-time marks since they started tracking such data going back to the 2013-14 season.

Compare that to last season and the Bucks averaged 8.3 post-up possessions per game and converted such opportunities at a 49.8 field goal percentage.

Utilizing the block has been one way for Brook Lopez to combat his season-long struggles as he’s enduring through what’s tracking as the least efficient season in his NBA career, judging by his 53 true shooting percentage (his injury-shortened 2011-12 campaign where he made five appearances doesn’t count). On his 53 post up possessions this season, Lopez is scoring 1.09 points per possession, which helps him rank in the 89th percentile of players around the league.

The same has helped his twin brother, Robin, as he has recently found his rhythm offensively in his first year with the Bucks as he holds the 14th-highest frequency of post-up possessions in the league at 20.3 percent. The 31-year-old is also scoring 1.09 points on his 47 post up possessions so far, thanks to his automatic right-handed hook shot that he regularly uses over defenders.

And the aforementioned Middleton has always used the post to punish mismatches and smaller defenders and after ranking in the 39th percentile in that regard last season, the 28-year-old has climbed back up to the 79th percentile this year where he’s averaging 1.02 points over his 48 post up possessions.

One negative in regard to Bucks players’ post up play has been the amount of turnovers Antetokounmpo has compiled when setting up shop in the post. Of players averaging two or more post up possessions per game, the 25-year-old has the highest turnover frequency at 24.1 percent.

While 3-point looks and drives to the basket reign supreme in the Bucks’ offense, operating out of the post gives them a way to maneuver and generate scoring opportunities late in the shot clock. We’ve seen that for stretches specifically with Brook, especially when Antetokounmpo has been hit with foul trouble, and it does give the Bucks a way to slow things down when they need a source on offense.

We’ll see whether the Bucks can keep up this level of efficiency as the season moves along as well as into the playoffs, but perhaps it gives the Bucks a weapon they didn’t fully have in their quiver last season.