Behind the Bucks Pass
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Milwaukee Bucks: Transition defense starting to hold up with breakneck pace

By Jordan Treske

MILWAUKEE, WI - JANUARY 14: Elfrid Payton #6 of the New York Knicks shoots the ball against the Milwaukee Bucks on January 14, 2020 at the Fiserv Forum Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2020 NBAE (Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images).
MILWAUKEE, WI - JANUARY 14: Elfrid Payton #6 of the New York Knicks shoots the ball against the Milwaukee Bucks on January 14, 2020 at the Fiserv Forum Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2020 NBAE (Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images). /
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The Milwaukee Bucks have maintained their push as the fastest NBA team in terms of pace this season and their work when defending in transition has become a growing emphasis in their overall game.

Much of the Milwaukee Bucks’ 2019-20 season has been about reinforcing the identity that they had captured throughout their run last year.

With this being the second year in Mike Budenholzer’s reign as Bucks head coach, the 50-year-old, along with his coaching staff, have fine-tuned many of tenets they brought to Milwaukee that unlocked the Bucks’ core. And with the team prizing continuity and making vital veteran additions last offseason that were made with their system in mind, the Bucks have obviously taken their formula for success up a notch this season.

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Take their penchant to play with pace, for example, which was one of the edicts Budenholzer name checked in his introductory press conference back in May of 2018.

After ranking fifth in that department last season by averaging 103.57 possessions game, the Bucks have climbed to the top spot where they lead the league in pace this 2019-20 season at 105.11 possessions per game, per NBA.com/stats.

Along with that, the Bucks post the shortest time of possession of any team in the league at 19.7 seconds this year. Last season, Milwaukee averaged 20.3 seconds per possession, a mark that ranked them seventh in the NBA. Playing at a high tempo and with such an incisiveness has become a key characteristic to the Bucks’ M.O., but one would think it would have adverse effects on Budenholzer and the team’s defense-first philosophy.

Remarkably, the Bucks’ defense currently comes in better than what they did last season as they surrender just 101.3 points per 100 possessions, good for the top spot in the NBA in defensive efficiency. That’s down from the 104.9 points per 100 possessions they allowed last year, which also stood as the top mark in the league during their 60-win season. Leading the NBA in both pace and defensive efficiency is something only the 1977-78 Phoenix Suns have previously done, per Basketball-Reference.com.

Now as they continue to maintain their elite defensive work, the Bucks’ transition defense surprisingly still stands as something of an area of improvement for the 39-6 club.

On the season, the Bucks rank 17th in opponent fast break points allowed per game (13.1), but that has risen considerably in the month of January where they have allowed 11.3 fast break points to their opponents, good for eighth in the NBA.

Despite the jump they’ve made in limiting easy scores to the opposition on the break since the turn of the year, the 1.08 points the Bucks have allowed per transition possession ranks 11th in the NBA. Milwaukee has undergone quite the fall as they allowed a league-leading 0.97 points per transition possession throughout last season.

The slip in their defensive efficiency when defending in transition obviously hasn’t done anything to sink the Bucks’ top-ranked defense. But with a coach that prizes the fundamentals as much as anyone in his position, one can look back to the comments Budenholzer made following his first practice as Bucks coach back in September 2018 as Ben Steele of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel rounded up:

"“That’s where your defense starts,” Budenholzer said. “If you are not good in transition, you probably aren’t going to be good. Or you’ll be taking it out of the net and playing a lot of offense.“You have to understand your roles and responsibilities.”"

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Milwaukee have and will continue to roll through their opponents as the season trucks along and if they’re able to make an improvements in building up their resiliency getting back in transition, they may be even more fearsome than they already are as the NBA’s best.

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