The Milwaukee Bucks are currently facing an identity crisis. What style should they play after losing one of their most important bigs, Bobby Portis?
Their recent defeat against the Houston Rockets highlighted a clear weakness the Bucks have: they don’t have as much size with Portis currently suspended. That allowed the Rockets to completely control the boards, and they were able to obtain 16 offensive rebounds. That is 12 more than what the Bucks had all game.
In order to weather the storm, Doc Rivers seemed forced to play Brook Lopez heavy minutes. He played the soon-to-be 37-year-old for a total of 35 minutes.
This caused him to be ineffective. But you can’t blame him; he was completely gassed by the end of the game. He was also being out-hustled on the boards, and he didn’t have the legs to convert on 3-point shots. He finished 1-of -6 from behind the arc.
At this stage of the season, playing someone with that much mileage in their legs isn’t a good idea. In the short term, he’s going to have more nights like these where he won’t be contributing much on both ends of the floor.
In the long term, forcing him to sustain that kind of workload will cause him to look exactly like this when the playoffs roll around. The best-case scenario is that he will not be fresh and ready to go. The worst-case scenario is that he gets injured and is not with the team when the postseason begins.
Doc Rivers has a hard choice to make for the Milwaukee Bucks
From River's standpoint, the only way his team had a chance to come out with a victory was to play their only quality big man as many minutes as he could withstand.
This is a strategy that he needs to seriously reconsider. They’re going to face many more teams in the upcoming weeks that will present the same problems. Rivers will have to be creative to address the team’s lack of size. The way he played Lopez should be the exception rather than the norm.
It’s his job to make the proper adjustments when there are changes to the roster. Sometimes that requires changing the identity of your offense for a short period of time. This helps the team to become more versatile. This is an essential quality when facing certain opponents in the playoffs. If presented with a disadvantage, the teams that are capable of changing their style to counterattack an opponent’s strength are usually the ones that are competing for a title.
This is the time for his team to cultivate these winning qualities. It will be up to Rivers to swallow his pride and to make tweaks to the system he has established to survive the next coming weeks. There is no way that he could make this team any bigger at this point of the season. Unless he wants to add Dwight Howard… I heard he’s still pushing for a roster spot. On a more serious note, there are ways he could make the most of what he has.
It’s time for the Milwaukee Bucks to go small
The answer is staring at us right in the face. Sixty-five percent of the team’s roster is under 6-foot-9. Of the five players that are over that height, only Giannis Antetokounmpo and Lopez are playing significant minutes right now. It’s in the team’s best interest to keep those two players as fresh as possible for the postseason.
Doc Rivers may have no choice but to play small for long stretches of any given game.
That will require changing when he decides to play Brook Lopez and Giannis at the same time. When they’re both sitting, this will present the same problem of teams killing them on the boards. But if he can manage well their time on the court, he can present an exciting new look to their offense.
They have a surplus of versatile wing players who can rack up the points and play with energy on defense. If he matches any four of those players with Giannis or Lopez as the center for brief periods, they will have the opportunity to receive much-needed rest to close out games.
The more conservative approach for the Bucks
If going small isn’t a style that he’s willing to try, then he needs to give some of his young bigs a chance to shine. Most notably, Jericho Sims could prove to be a valuable asset. He was brought in specifically to add size to the roster. Even with the limited minutes that he played with the New York Knicks, there are two games where he pulled down over five offensive rebounds. That is more than any current Milwaukee Bucks player other than Giannis and Bobby Portis.
Energy on the glass is what the Bucks can use, and he can provide that. With Portis out, this is the perfect opportunity to acclimate him to the system. There aren’t many choices outside of him. It will be up to Doc Rivers to decide what kind of adjustments will be made.
The point is that he needs to do something. The Bucks cannot afford to lose another big for an extended period. It’s in his hands to prevent that and to make something out of this dire situation.