The Milwaukee Bucks' defeat to the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday once again highlighted their problem of being dominated on the glass by other teams, and they simply have no answer.
Bucks' lack of rebounding is contributing to their downfall
They bounced back with a win on Sunday against the Indiana Pacers, snapping a four-game losing streak. Rebounding was a much-improved factor with the Bucks matching their opponents, but that is against a Pacers team on a 13-game losing streak that is in contention for the league's worst record.
On Saturday, Atlanta outrebounded Milwaukee 47-37, with the Hawks grabbing 15 offensive rebounds compared to the Bucks' five. Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, and Jock Landale had four offensive rebounds each, and the entire Milwaukee Bucks team combined for five.
It has been an issue all season long with the team ranking 28th in the league for total rebounds, and dead last in offensive rebounds with just 8.6 per game. Only five teams are in single digits; the other four are all teams in the West that are considerably better than the Bucks and will likely be competing in the postseason. That also makes the Bucks last in second-chance points per game.
Giannis Antetokounmpo wasn't available on Saturday, but even he is having a poor rebounding year at just 9.7 per game; the last time he didn't average double digits was the 2016-17 season. Bobby Portis is averaging 6.3, the lowest of his six-year tenure in Milwaukee. Big free agent signing Myles Turner is averaging just 5.4 rebounds per game, the lowest of his entire NBA career.
Bucks' rebounding strategy isn't working
Doc Rivers spoke recently about going with a bigger lineup to combat these issues, and it clearly hasn't worked. Jericho Sims partnered with Turner in the frontcourt against the Hawks, where they combined for just eight rebounds. There have even been lineups with Ousmane Dieng and Kyle Kuzma playing the two and three, and the Bucks are still struggling to crash the glass.
The insistence on shooting 3-pointers has continued, but the percentage has dropped off a cliff. This now just exposes the rebounding issue even further, with opponents having so many free defensive boards with the Bucks spreading the floor so often. Some will blame the player's effort as well, which is, of course, always going to be questioned when the team is playing poorly, and things as basic as crashing the glass are failing to be met.
Milwaukee has been plagued by this all season, and no matter the lineup, they continue to give up easy opportunities. Even going with an extremely big lineup hasn't sorted the issue, so you have to look at the roster building and scheme. Leaning so heavily on 3-pointers leads to very few offensive boards, while defensively, missed assignments are just giving teams second-chance points.