Milwaukee Bucks: 3 things we learned in Miami and rout over Chicago Bulls

The Milwaukee Bucks are ramping up the defensive pressure

Through their first six games of the season, it’s clear the Bucks’ offense is ahead of their defense.

Having as many personnel changes as they did over the offseason has informed the ups and downs we’ve seen from the Bucks’ elite defensive standing. While it’s the start of a long process of building up their defensive chemistry, we’re seeing some interesting changes that could fundamentally alter what the Bucks’ defense eventually looks like over time.

There’s no better indication of that than how the Bucks have ramped up their defensive pressure to force turnovers to their opponents. Last week alone, the Bucks forced 63 turnovers over their pair of games against the Heat and their meeting against the Bulls.

With a 15.8 opponent turnover percentage, which ranks 10th in the league as of this writing, the Bucks have bettered the marks they set in 2018-19 (12.8 percent) and 2019-20 (13.3 percent) in this department.

This is certainly where we’re seeing the early impact Jrue Holiday has had in his first games wearing a Bucks uniform. With his excellent shadowing of opposing ball handlers and top perimeter scorers, Holiday has regularly shown off his size, strength and lightning-quick hands to break up passing lanes and dislodge the ball away from his opponents.

All of that has led to him having logged 26 deflections on the year, the fifth-highest mark in of all players this season. What’s more is that the Bucks have forced the third-highest live ball turnovers (61) to start the year, per pbpstats.com.

Whether the Bucks can marry their newfound defensive pressure with their trademark stout defending we’ve come to see over the Budenholzer era remains to be seen. But the different dimension we’re seeing, along with a little more switching, could give the Bucks the much-needed versatility they’ll need down the road.