old skool wrote:I am not sure that is what happened with the Bucks. Too often I would see two or three players converge on the ball handler, leaving others wide open (Maker and Liggins in particular). I did not see that kind of breakdown in Kidd's first season with more veteran players on the court.
As PP pointed out, losing Zaza, Dudley and (maybe) Ersan has had a big impact on the defense. Having players who know where to be, who know where others need to be, and who communicate this is essential. Currently the Bucks are short on defensive leaders, and possibly on defensive IQ. That would be an issue for any defense, but it's worse in a system that requires near-perfect positioning and communication at all times.
I realize that it doesn't always work to cite a small sample of breakdowns, but I wonder what percent of the breakdowns were due to a lack of execution. Contrary to the general opinion here that the Bucks coaches are inept dummies, I would expect that the coaching staff would have been able to distinguish if execution failures were the problem, or if teams had identified a way to beat the Bucks' defensive scheme. I also expect that if players were executing the defense reasonably effectively and were still getting beat, the players would have pointed that out to the coaches, even if the staff disagreed.
Clearly there were many execution failures - you could see them every game. And just as clearly, other teams knew what to do against the Bucks defense. Several opposing players even said so in interviews - against the Bucks you'll get your corner threes.
We know Sweeney is the architect of this defense, but we don't know how he feels about its implementation. Jason Kidd was the only one responsible for that. Considering how rigid Kidd was with his defense (rarely adjusting for opponent), how long he stuck with his aggressive trapping, and how he publicly lied about changing it, I think he deserves all the criticism he got.
That is even before discussing the idea that any defensive scheme in the NBA will work without a physical defensive center. The only reason for Maker to ever be on the court is to develop him for the future. No coach is safe when Maker gets meaningful minutes at center at this point of his career.
The Bucks are among the worst teams in the league in points allowed at the rim. When both your centers have the lower body strength of a newborn giraffe, that is to be expected. Agreed that this is a problem independent of system.
