Finding the Perfect Rotation for the Milwaukee Bucks
A few weeks into the season, the Milwaukee Bucks are far from a well-oiled machine and have yet to iron out their optimal rotation. However, that hasn't stopped the young team from getting off to a great start—relatively speaking.
After winning just 15 games in 2013-14, the Bucks have already won four games and are looking much better. And with the league's fourth-best defensive rating, they're getting it done at that end of the floor.
The great defensive effort has been priceless considering the team's struggles offensively.
That, perhaps, is the No. 1 reason why the Bucks need to develop a tight, consistent rotation sometime in the near future. It's great to be able to go deep into the bench, but, at some point a sense of cohesion is vital.
Point Guard
When Milwaukee signed Kendall Marshall—who was coming off a very good season—during the summer, it wasn't unreasonable to assume that management's confidence in Brandon Knight was questionable.
Through the early portion of 2014-15, though, Knight has squashed any thought of him being replaced as the team's starting point guard. The 22-year-old has remained the team's best offensive threat and is averaging two more assists than he did a season ago.
And while he still has room for improvement—namely in limiting his turnovers—there's no denying the fact that Knight's value is continuing to trend in an upward direction. Without his emergence as a distributor and his knack for scoring, the Bucks would be struggling on offense even more than they currently are.
Knight is averaging 32.1 minutes per game—which also leads the team—and that seems to be a good number for him. Where the question marks remain, though, is with the reserves.
Jerryd Bayless has been getting the vast majority of minutes at the point off the bench, while players like Marshall and second-year man Nate Wolters have seen surprisingly little action.
Ideally, Marshall would be the best backup for Knight, but Bayless' play has been tough to ignore. The well-traveled veteran is averaging 8.1 points on 47.9 percent shooting from the field and an equally impressive 41.7 percent from three-point territory, proving that he can provide the team with an offensive spark in a short period of time.
Wolters and Marshall are both talented youngsters, and it's unclear just what head coach Jason Kidd is trying to do by keeping them on the bench, but it's hard to question the judgment of a guy who was one of the greatest point guards the game has ever seen.
Shooting Guard
Without question the biggest weak spot for the Bucks, shooting guard remains a position of concern moving forward.
Early on, Jared Dudley has claimed dibs on the starting duties, while a seemingly reinvigorated O.J. Mayo has embraced his role coming off the bench.
Still, Mayo has remained inconsistent in his scoring efforts, and if he's not shooting well his value takes a big hit. On the season, he's connecting on just 40.2 percent of his shots and a measly 35.0 percent from three-point range. For a team that needs scoring, that's not going to cut it.
Meanwhile, it's difficult to understand Dudley in the starting spot. The veteran has had success in his career as a spot-up shooter but hasn't been effective in that role so far this season and provides little on defense.
Neither of the players logging the majority of minutes at shooting guard seem to be the clear choice, so Kidd and the rest of the coaching staff should take this opportunity to experiment.
Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton are both capable of playing the 2, and with others struggling, they should be afforded the chance to log minutes there.
Ideally, Mayo would take a step forward and assert himself as the team's go-to option at shooting guard, but that may never happen. If it doesn't, the Bucks are incredibly thin and will need to find someone who can consistently fill the role.
With the versatility the Greek Freak and Middleton provide, it's not far-fetched to think they could do it.
Small Forward
Middleton, Antetokounmpo, Dudley and Jabari Parker are all capable of fitting in at small forward.
And that's part of the problem.
In the cases of Antetokounmpo, Parker and Middleton, each man brings a unique skill set to the floor. For the Greek Freak, it's clearly his athleticism, length and defensive prowess. Parker, on the other hand, is a strong offensive player who can score in a variety of ways—though he hasn't quite lived up to that claim yet. Finally, Middleton is an all-around player who can score in bunches.
All three deserve quality, consistent minutes, which brings small forward back around to shooting guard.
The versatile Antetokounmpo and Middleton should see a good chunk of their time at shooting guard, with Parker soaking up as much time at small forward as he can.
With Parker averaging a large bulk of the minutes at the 3, either Antetokounmpo or Middleton could start at shooting guard, with Mayo continuing to provide a spark off the bench. This would shift things around a bit, making the lineup bigger and also giving them more talent on the floor than with Dudley starting.
Realistically, Dudley should be used sparingly, and minutes between shooting guard and small forward would best be distributed between four players: Antetokounmpo, Middleton, Mayo and Parker.
Only Parker would have trouble at the 2, so it only makes sense that he would eat up minutes at the 3.
Power Forward
For most of Milwaukee's games through the first couple of weeks, Ersan Ilyasova has started at power forward. Given that, like Dudley, he has struggled mightily out of the gates, Kidd's decision to start him is another peculiar one.
The 27-year-old Turk is scoring just 5.9 points per game on 43.5 percent shooting and has only managed to haul in an average of 3.3 rebounds. And while he is only playing 18.3 minutes per game, it's hard to understand why he's getting much more time than John Henson.
After averaging 26.5 minutes last year, Henson's minutes are down to just 12.1, and he hasn't been able to get his feet underneath him. In 2013-14, he averaged 11.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.7 blocks while shooting 53.8 percent and providing the team with its only legitimate scoring option in the paint.
While he doesn't always look the smoothest, Henson has a soft touch around the rim and an arsenal of post moves that no other player on the roster has perfected as much. In fact, from 10 feet in a season ago, Henson converted 57.4 percent of his attempts, per Basketball-Reference.com.
Given those facts, it seems Henson would be the ideal fit for the team at power forward, but Kidd hasn't viewed it that way thus far.
Ilyasova has struggled to redeem his poor play from last year, and while he can play the 4, Parker is more suited to small forward.
Given that Ilyasova cannot be relied upon consistently anymore, Henson is the team's best choice for power forward. Then Ilyasova could relieve Henson off the bench, and when the Bucks want a quicker, more athletic lineup, Antetokounmpo or Parker could grab some minutes.
Ideally, though, Henson gives them the best offense-defense combination at the 4 and should get most of the minutes.
Center
Surprisingly, center is the one position working out well, though the production isn't anything remarkable.
Larry Sanders has been slow out of the gate with his offense—just 5.9 points per game on 43.5 percent shooting—but has picked up where he left off defensively and on the boards, averaging 2.0 blocks and 8.1 rebounds.
As he continues to get his feet back under him after a 2013-14 season in which he missed plenty of action, he should continue to improve.
Meanwhile, reserve big man Zaza Pachulia has earned his playing time and has been a welcome, effective performer off the bench.
The veteran bruiser provides the Bucks with a blue-collar mentality and spells Sanders when he needs a breather or gets into foul trouble.
And as he recently showed, he's got some passing skills as well:
Pachulia's eight points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two steals in a recent game against the Oklahoma City Thunder is probably not a stat line he will replicate on a consistent basis. However, with some good backup play the big man will prove to be vital as the season progresses.
For now, center—which was a big question mark heading into the season—seems to be relatively stable. Assuming Sanders progresses, the outlook should only continue to improve. Splitting the minutes between him and Pachulia seems like the correct move.
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