Milwaukee has a problem they've yet to acknowledge, and it has everything to do with their system. It's that the Bucks are playing heliocentric basketball when they have the personnel to do the exact opposite. And it's slowly burning out their franchise player.
Watch contending teams like Oklahoma City or Denver play offense and you'll see constant motion, guys cutting and relocating, the ball pinging around until someone gets an open shot. Milwaukee too often just hands it to Giannis at the top of the key and expects him to figure it out while everyone else stands and watches.
The stats show everything wrong with the Bucks offense
The early returns on NBA.com/stats paint a clear picture of where the disconnect lies: Milwaukee ranks 28th in the NBA in passes made per game (277.6) despite ranking 13th in assists per game (26.7). That means when they do pass, good things happen -- they're just not passing nearly enough.
Perhaps that means they're not moving enough to get to the spots that open up passing opportunities, considering their offensive distance per game (8.8 miles) stands at 25th in the league. (They're also just 25th in drives per game at 42.3.)
So the point is -- they're passing with intent, but they need to keep the ball (and more importantly, their bodies) moving to avoid burning Giannis out.
A team with eight players shooting above 36 percent on the three-ball has no business moving like this. With a deep cast of shooters, the Bucks should emphasize ball and player movement to generate more looks at the basket that don't require Giannis to create them. Ryan Rollins, Cole Anthony, Myles Turner, Gary Trent Jr. -- Milwaukee has legitimate shooters who can punish defenses if they get quality looks. But those looks require an offense that actually moves the ball.
That 28th ranking in passes is organizational malpractice at best -- and at worst, a sign of things to come -- for a team with championship aspirations. It means Milwaukee is playing like they have one creator and four spot-up shooters, when they actually have multiple guys who can make plays if the system lets them.
The silver lining is that their 16th-place potential assists number (48.8) proves the talent is there. When the ball moves, good shots materialize. The problem is Doc Rivers' system isn't demanding enough player movement to complement its emphasis on ball movement. Too many possessions die with one or two passes before someone forces something.
This approach might work in November, but it falls apart in May when defenses tighten and Giannis is exhausted from carrying the entire offensive load for six months. Milwaukee needs to build sustainable offensive habits now, not hope they can flip a switch in the playoffs.
More passes mean more open shots, more rhythm threes, more easy baskets in transition. It also means Giannis gets to attack mismatches and scrambled defenses instead of set five-on-five every possession.
Rivers needs to implement an actual motion offense that demands ball movement and player movement on every possession. Set assist targets for the team. Penalize guys who over-dribble or kill possessions with early shots. Make passing contagious.
The talent is there. The shooting is there. The system just isn't maximizing either one. Fix that, and Milwaukee suddenly looks like a championship contender instead of a first-round exit waiting to happen.
Giannis deserves an offense that makes his life easier, not one that asks him to be superhuman every night just to compete.
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