Milwaukee Bucks: 3 things Marvin Williams still needs to improve on with Bucks system

Anchor the paint

Williams’ most translatable skill over his growing time in Milwaukee has come on the defensive end.

Budenholzer hasn’t been shy in tasking the former Tar Heel to take on prominent defensive assignments in their recent run of high-profile games, such as Toronto Raptors All-Star forward Pascal Siakam. To say Williams passed that test with flying colors would be an understatement as it was key to the Bucks holding off the Raptors in a 108-97 road victory late last month.

It’s Williams’ blend of size, speed, and defensive savviness that have made him a clear upgrade over fellow veteran Ersan Ilyasova, and further reinforces the Bucks’ top eight players being far from defensive liabilities when everything is on the line come playoff time.

What will be vital for Williams to accomplish on that side of the ball is being able to offer something close to the rim protection the Bucks have gathered and to do so in small ball units.

This season, opponents have been able to convert 62.8 percent of the shots are taken within six feet of the basket with Williams on the floor. Of course, there’s plenty of noise within that number, the biggest of which being most of those attempts came in Charlotte and not within the structure of the Bucks’ historically elite defense.

Williams will have plenty of help in this regard as most, if not the vast majority of his minutes when the Bucks go small will come with Antetokounmpo providing plenty of help on the other side of the paint. Speaking of which…