The Milwaukee Bucks’ three scrimmages over the last week in Orlando illuminated the need to take care of the ball better ahead of the season restart.
Under head coach Mike Budenholzer, so much of the Milwaukee Bucks‘ identity for the last two years has been based in the fundamentals.
We’ve been getting used to seeing that identity once again over the last week as the Bucks have now wrapped up their three scrimmages before they kick back on their 2019-20 season Friday evening against the Boston Celtics.
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Even as the Bucks were far from full strength and Budenholzer toyed with a number of different lineup configurations that may never see the light again, the Bucks largely played up to the standard and vision they have played with over this span.
But having come off such a long layoff and rushing back into 5-on-5 action upon arriving in Orlando, a team as great as the Bucks clearly had some kinks to work on. Among them is taking better care of the ball on offense.
Even as the Bucks’ offense clicked back into their familiar cylinders for stretches, thanks to shooting outbursts from the likes of Brook Lopez and Kyle Korver, Milwaukee’s offense was plagued by mistimed passes and careless decisions with the ball. That was especially relevant in their lone loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night where they actually had totaled more turnovers (21) than assists (18) for the night.
Over their three scrimmages, the Bucks accumulated 68 assists to 56 turnovers, making for a 1.21 assist-to-turnover ratio. For the regular season, the Bucks’ 1.74 assist-to-turnover ratio, which ranks 12th in the league.
Clearly, there are some big discrepancies behind those numbers, the least of which goes to the small sample size of the scrimmages compared to the Bucks’ 65 regular season games.
The same goes for some of the key absences the Bucks have been dealing with throughout their growing time in Orlando, such as starting point guard Eric Bledsoe. And as the Bucks have dealt with other absences and precautionary injuries, that has only led to players taking on miscast roles leading the Bucks’ offense on an emergency basis.
It feels safe to assume, even as Bledsoe readies to return to action following his COVID-19 prognosis, the Bucks and Budenholzer won’t carry that over into the seeding games and beyond.
After all, the Bucks have been one of the better teams in making decisions with the ball and avoiding miscues during live action. According to pbpstats.com, the Bucks’ 49.6 live ball turnover percentage ranks third-best in the NBA this season, standing behind both the Philadelphia 76ers and the Toronto Raptors.
As the Bucks regain their familiarity of playing with one another again, those careless mistakes will be corrected over time and it was far from a surprise to see them occur in the team’s return to competitive action. And this is certainly an aspect where their continuity will come in handy and how five-man lineups will be constructed moving forward under Budenholzer.
Rarely has committing a slew of mistakes gotten the better of the Bucks over the last two seasons. But of course, it’s better to be in a position where those mistakes aren’t committed in the first place and hopefully that will improve once the real thing starts on Friday.