Looking through Milwaukee Bucks’ potential situational lineup combinations
Looking through Milwaukee Bucks’ potential situational lineup combinations
There are several different offensive situational lineups the Milwaukee Bucks could use at different points in the game; let’s look at three.
Milwaukee Bucks situational lineups: Small Ball
The Milwaukee Bucks have length, as previously discussed. Bucks opponents may look to combat that strength by playing small ball. However, the Bucks have the depth to be able to play that way too.
Starting at point guard, the Bucks could use Jevon Carter and Jrue Holiday, then add Grayson Allen and one of Pat Connaughton, Joe Ingles, or Wesley Matthews. Finally, they could round out the small ball lineup with either Jae Crowder or Giannis Antetokounmpo acting as the center.
Milwaukee Bucks situational lineups: 3-point shooting
The Milwaukee Bucks are built to be a team that scores nearly all of their points in the paint or behind the 3-point line. Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday, Bobby Portis, Jevon Carter, and even Brook Lopez and Giannis Antetokounmpo do work in some mid-range into their games sometimes. That said, the Milwaukee Bucks are always hunting good looks behind the 3-point line or at the rim.
Starting to feel like a broken record, but at point guard, the Milwaukee Bucks can stick with Jrue Holiday. Similar to the small ball lineup, using Jevon Carter and Grayson Allen would also be beneficial to get a higher percentage of 3-point attempts to fall as Carter and Allen are both over 40 percent beyond the arc. A.J. Green has also been something of a revelation from distance this season, using his Michael Redd-esque 3-point release to knock down a high volume of threes.
To fill the frontcourt, Mike Budenholzer could take a couple of approaches. Brook Lopez or Bobby Portis could play center. Lopez is shooting a career-high 37.7 percent behind the 3-point line this season. Portis is a little behind, as he’s shooting just 33.9 percent, but as a Milwaukee Buck, his 3-point percentage is 39.7 percent.
That leaves power forward, where the Bucks could go in a few directions. They could use Jae Crowder, who, in four games so far with the Bucks, is shooting 50 percent from distance. They could also use Joe Ingles, who is shooting better as of late. I know it seems weird to use him in a lineup designed to hit threes, but Giannis Antetokounmpo could also be used here. The reason I think it could be beneficial to use Giannis in a situation where you need a three is for the amount of attention he commands and the fact that he can create open looks for the other four guys around him.
Case in point: the Bucks’ win over the Raptors where Antetokounmpo drew the entire city of Toronto towards him, leaving a pass and wide-open three for Grayson Allen, who sent the Bucks out with a win.
Milwaukee Bucks situational lineups: Free throws
Not a super fun situational lineup to ponder but one that is tremendously necessary, especially when the game slows down in the postseason. For a team to close out games, they have to make free throws. If not, it constitutes a fundamental failure on their part.
The Milwaukee Bucks’ five best players for free throw situations would be Jrue Holiday, followed by Grayson Allen, Khris Middleton, Wesley Matthews, and Bobby Portis. These five all shoot 82.5 percent or higher. If need be should matchups necessitate it, the Bucks could use Brook Lopez, A.J. Green, or Joe Ingles; those three all shoot 76 percent or higher.