Milwaukee was the best team in the regular season last year and they seemed to be destined for another great postseason run when they got shockingly crushed by Miami in 5 games in the first round.
It is interesting to see that Milwaukee was once again an elite defensive team, but they actually changed their system. The Bucks were known for allowing their opponents to shoot from the outside (they were #30, #28, #26 and #29 ranked in 3pts volume% allowed in the four previous seasons), but they changed that last season by being ranked #5 in the league in this area.
Oddly enough, Milwaukee just couldn’t stop Miami’s 3pts attempts during their playoff series as the Heat shot 15-25, 16-33, 13-32 and 17-45 3pts on their wins.
2023/24 OUTLOOK:
This Milwaukee team will be very different from the ones we saw in previous seasons. They have a new head coach, as Mike Budenholzer is gone and Adrian Griffin is now their new coach. Being a rookie head coach on a contending team is no easy job and the Celtics went through that with Mazzulla last season. Weirdly, assistant coach Terry Stotts has already resigned from the team during the preseason, so there are some questions regarding Milwaukee and their coaching unit in the air for this season…
Apparently, Giannis Antetokounmpo demanded some changes and the front office responded by trading for Damian Lillard. The star PG is an elite shooter and one of the best offensive guards in the league. The defensive attention that he demands will change the way Milwaukee operates on offense. On paper, the Bucks will gain a big boost on offense but they will achieve that by sacrificing their defense as Holiday is a much better defensive player than Lillard.
Milwaukee with both Lopez and Giannis will have an elite interior defense, but their backcourt will struggle more in this area. Middleton has been struggling with his fitness for a while but the team will need him at his best, as their rivals Celtics will once again be led by Brown and Tatum. However, the main issue for the Bucks this season will be their lack of depth, a recurring problem. Eventually, Milwaukee might not end up being the powerhouse that they used to be during the regular season in recent years and might end up being more focused on playing their best basketball in the postseason.
