With youth on the rise in the NBA, the Milwaukee Bucks, one of the oldest teams out there, oftentimes struggle to keep up against these young, energetic squads.
It was an issue that plagued them throughout all of last season - and one that Doc Rivers never made a significant effort to correct. Unfortunately, he hasn't done much to address this issue throughout a trio of games to begin the 2024-25 NBA season. After besting a wounded 76ers team in the opener, the Bucks have lost consecutive games to young squads in the Bulls and Nets.
What's been the catalyst? The Bulls and Nets have shown more effort, hustle and energy. A clear-cut example is their lack of rebounding, as opponents have feasted on the glass. Brooklyn, not known for it's size, grabbed 12 offensive boards against the Bucks, which led to 21 second-chance points. The Bucks, on the other hand, had just seven second-chance points. Stuff like that just cannot happen.
The Milwaukee Bucks need a youthful spark
With the way Doc Rivers raved about the young Milwaukee Bucks this past summer, many hoped that they would get more involved in the rotations. While AJ Green has seen some time, it's been a smaller role, and he's not the "athlete" some of the other young players are in terms of leaping ability or sheer quickness on the defensive end.
Unless they want to continue getting taken advantage of by these young squads like they did all of last season, Milwaukee needs to get their youth involved in the rotation.
The frustrating thing is that the young players Milwaukee has do possess eye-popping athleticism that this team could use. While they are still unpolished - as are all young players - they at least have the physical tools and internal motor to make hustle plays when they touch the court, and that's just something this Milwaukee Bucks team has lacked for basically the past year.
There's no better example of an energizer than 22-year-old Andre Jackson Jr. Last season, he was a raw prospect, but he always showed potential when he touched the floor.
He was one of the team's best defenders in their playoff series against the Indiana Pacers, holding players to 7-of-26 field goal shooting (26.9 percent) across six games. Why? Because he could keep up with them and not get blown by constantly due to his athleticism and quickness, two things that this team is desperately lacking throughout their 1-2 start to the 2024-25 campaign.
Jackson is the most promising young prospect, but even Chris Livingston, MarJon Beauchamp and the two rookies, AJ Johnson and Tyler Smith, have the type of athleticism and youthful engine that is currently missing from the Milwaukee Bucks. Should they all get involved? No, but Rivers should turn to at least one of them to spark some life into this Milwaukee team when effort is low.
Yes, young players will make mistakes, but those are easier to digest than watching veterans who simply cannot keep up with opposing young players anymore.
Rivers needs to shake up his rotation to get one of the young players more minutes. As to who should lose time, it's Pat Connaughton. There was hope he could bounce back after struggling mightily over these past two years, but he's looked relatively the same. Jackson getting time over Connaughton could be the shot in the arm this second unit needs. All eyes are on Doc Rivers now.
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