How Milwaukee Bucks Can Maximize Jabari Parker-Giannis Antetokounmpo Pairing
While the Milwaukee Bucks toil in the basement of the Central Division during their rebuild, two beacons of light will give the franchise and its fans hope.
Rising prodigy Giannis Antetokounmpo and highly touted rookie Jabari Parker serve as the team's brightest young assets. They aren't capable of turning the Deer into playoff material in the immediate future, but if properly empowered, the youngsters could quickly become a dangerous duo and push the team in the right direction.
The two 19-year-olds took vastly different paths to the NBA, and they're at different stages of development skill-wise. They could do a ton of damage together, though, especially if coach Jason Kidd unleashes their strong suits and enables them to collaborate often.
How exactly can the new skipper get the most out of Parker and the Greek Freak? Let's break down some key principles and offensive sets that would maximize their budding talents.
1. Steady Diet of Running
"Push the ball and look for transition points" isn't rocket science, but it can't be stressed enough and the Bucks need to prioritize it.
Both Parker and Antetokounmpo should be encouraged to move the rock up the floor and attack, either individually or cooperatively. Parker has the scoring prowess, agility and ball-handling skills to thrive in the open floor, while Antetokounmpo's rapidly growing finesse accompanies a 7'4" wingspan and mile-long strides.
It will be extremely difficult for opposing teams to quickly steer such rangy weapons away from the hoop.
Here's a reminder of the Greek Freak's ability to slice through defenses when they aren't set:
And Parker can also flourish in transition, even when it's not a classic two-on-one fast break:
Put them on the floor at the same time? Good luck to the defense.
Despite Larry Drew's best intentions, the 2013-14 Bucks ranked 24th in pace factor with just 91.8 possessions per 48 minutes. A big part of the problem was Milwaukee's talent. They had an underwhelming backcourt and a raw frontcourt.
This year, there are fewer personnel excuses. In addition to Parker's arrival, the Bucks acquired speedy guard Jerryd Bayless and fast-break quarterback Kendall Marshall. They're set up to run more effectively, and they should aim to be in the top half of the league when it comes to pace.
Kidd's 2013-14 Brooklyn Nets were sluggish, ranking 25th in pace, but that's not indicative of his preferred style. Before the campaign, writes The Brooklyn Game's Devin Kharpertian, Kidd "preached a desire to 'explore early, get up and down more.'"
That was before the Nets got older over the 2013 offseason and became a predominantly half-court squad. Now at the helm of a younger unit, Kidd should get a chance to send his boys off to the races.
2. Interchangeable and Unpredictable Pick-and-Rolls
Parker enters the 2014-15 season a more polished ball-handler than most rookies and a more dangerous scorer than anyone on the Bucks. As such, they should (and likely will) put the ball in his hands often and let him initiate offense from good spacing and high pick-and-rolls.
With Giannis setting the screen, things could get quite dicey for opponents. They'll have to keep tabs on a confident driver while the Greek Freak rolls to the basket as a lengthy option.
That being said, Milwaukee should continue to regularly use Antetokounmpo as the pick-and-roll facilitator as they did in 2013-14. It will keep defenses off balance and create some undesirable mismatches for them.
His summer league exploits showed that he's increasingly adept at negotiating pick-and-roll defenses:
If foes overreact to Antetokounmpo even for a split-second too long, it will allow Parker to dive toward the rim or set up as a pick-and-pop threat.
Antetokounmpo is an unselfish player who will find open teammates if he doesn't have a navigable path to the tin. He averaged 2.8 assists per 36 minutes as an 18-year-old rookie, and during summer league Kidd expressed interest in using him as a facilitator frequently:
"We'll see how the roster shakes out, but we're not afraid to play him at the point, as you see," he told Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
In the following scenario, we have Parker setting a high pick for Giannis, who can turn the corner with a right-hand dribble. Parker can turn and roll toward the bucket, or he can pop out to the wing as a shooting option.
Center Larry Sanders will read the play; if Parker decides to pop, he can sneak along the baseline as an option for Antetokounmpo.
If Antetokounmpo's drive stalls, Parker's roll to the rim can turn into a quick post-up, provided everyone exercises ample spacing.
The bottom line is that Kidd should constantly vary the pick-and-roll roles, never letting the defense become comfortable. On any given play, there could be one of three different quarterbacks (Parker, Antetokounmpo or point guard Brandon Knight) running the set, so the Bucks should use all three at different points during every game.
3. Triangle/High-Post Set
Kidd might not be a triangle offense guy, and we're not advocating him to try in vain to run it copiously. But it would be beneficial for him to intermittently implement some triangle movement throughout the year.
Triangle sequences are valuable because they keep opponents moving with both east-west and north-south movement; they're also great because they don't necessarily have to feature one ball-dominant scorer.
Point-forwards are awesome resources in those sets, and Antetokounmpo could give the Bucks a taste of what great triangle forwards can do (think Scottie Pippen or Lamar Odom).
Once Giannis and Co. kick-start the offense and get it moving to one side, it will give Parker a chance to flash toward the top of the key. That's where he does his best damage, as he can catch and shoot an in-rhythm triple or pump-fake and drive into the lane.
As his Duke shot chart illustrates, those are his two most lethal spots.
As previously mentioned, the Bucks aren't going to magically transform into a force in the East any time soon. The arrival of Parker isn't going to turn Milwaukee into an offensive juggernaut, and the growth of Antetokounmpo won't give the team 50 wins this season.
Nevertheless, they're an exciting pair bursting with versatility. Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune noted that, based on the glimpses we saw in summer league, their potential is tangible and awe-inspiring:
"What (Parker) and fellow forward Giannis Antetokounmpo have shown this week should scare the rest of the league," Jones said.
Summer league was just a tiny slice of things to come.
If the Bucks work on running more often, switching up the pick-and-roll approaches and using some triangle principles, they will point the duo toward success.
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