The Bucks probably expected some level of dropoff after losing their two best perimeter defenders in Jrue Holiday and Jevon Carter during the offseason. But the slippage has taken them from the No. 4 defense last season all the way down to 22nd this year.
Worse yet, they're trending in the wrong direction.
Milwaukee has lost four of its last five games coming into Thursday's matchup against Boston. Its only win came in a close victory over San Antonio, which is in last place in the West. The Bucks have the No. 27 defense during that span.
Much of the team's problems have been laid at the feet of Damian Lillard. If only it were that simple. The truth is that their defensive issues have much deeper and more widespread roots.
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Why Damian Lillard isn't to blame for Bucks' defensive issues
Let's get this out of the way first: Lillard isn't a great defender. His 6-foot-2 size is always going to make him a liability. His transition defense is problematic, and he doesn't contest shots particularly well. He is, however, contributing more than he's given credit for on that end of the floor.
More often than not, Lillard will make the correct (and oftentimes difficult) rotations. He's tied for the team lead in charges drawn and took a huge one to help seal a close win against the Blazers back in November.
Lillard is usually solid at executing the team's schemes as well. The Dunker Spot co-host and former NBA assistant coach Steve Jones has pointed out numerous positive Lillard sequences all season, including getting over screens well, fighting in the post and executing the Bucks' peel-switch strategy impeccably.
The advanced statistics back up that picture of Lillard's defense. His +0.4 defensive Estimated Plus-Minus, which is one of the most well-respected all-in-one metrics out there, is the best that it's been in years. He grades out in the 70th percentile of all defenders. That statistic also paints his backup, Cameron Payne, as a significantly bigger liability and one of the worst defenders in the league.
All that being said, Lillard isn't as good as the top-tier perimeter defenders that the Bucks had last year. He'd be the first to tell you that.
“I’m not gonna come in here and be Jrue Holiday," Lillard told NBA.com's Steve Aschburner at the beginning of the season. "But the people I play against gonna tell you I ain’t no pushover.”
The entire team's screen navigation must improve
Giannis Antetokounmpo spelled out the team's defensive issues to The Athletic's Eric Nehm after a 112-108 loss to the Rockets on Saturday. One of the main points that he harped on was screen navigation and point-of-attack defense.
“We cannot die on screens. We die on screens, including myself,” Giannis told Nehm. "Guys were just driving the ball, straight-line drive, getting to the paint," he later added.
Brook Lopez was named to the All-Defensive First Team last season. He's still defending at an extremely high level, but there isn't much that he can do if guards are blowing by and going straight to the rim. The Bucks' point-of-attack defense has been mediocre across the board, both in ball screen action and in one-on-one matchups.
Part of that perimeter defense issue is simply a matter of personnel. Malik Beasley has been the team's de-facto stopper, and he is not suited to that role. While he has tried his best, he was a limited journeyman who failed to earn minutes in his most recent stops with the Timberwolves and Lakers because of his defensive issues. Khris Middleton has also lost a step and is a below-average defender these days.
The issues have gotten bad enough that the Bucks tried rookie Andre Jackson Jr., a total non-threat on offense, in the starting lineup in place of Lillard on Monday against the Jazz. Lillard's absence (due to personal reasons) didn't help the defense — the Jazz scored 132 points in a blowout win, hitting their highest total in a regulation game since the first week of the season.
The Bucks need better defensive gameplans
Under former coach Mike Budenholzer, the Bucks always knew what they were going to do defensively. Their bedrock was built upon taking away the rim, even if it meant allowing a lot of 3-pointers.
The same hasn't been true under Adrian Griffin. They started the year changing their base defense to bring Lopez higher up the floor before reverting to positioning him closer toward the basket in a deep drop. And they still don't have a defensive identity, according to Antetokounmpo.
“What is our strategy?" he asked Nehm. "Are we going to give a lot of open 3s? Are we going to let them get in the paint? When they go in the post, are we going to stay with ours and play one-on-one? What is our strategy? Right now, we are giving everything. We are giving everything."
Antetokounmpo threw everybody under the bus on Sunday.
"We have to be coached better," he told Nehm as part of a long rant including himself, his teammates and even the team's equipment manager, who "has to wash our clothes better."
The jerseys are looking fresh, but the Bucks' problems remain. Griffin needs to forge an identity, as his predecessor did.
Antetokounmpo is right that the problems don't simply belong to Griffin, Lillard or any other individual source. There are a ton of holes to plug, and Milwaukee's defense is continuing to sink.
