Milwaukee Bucks Season 57 — Episode 1

It is a new NBA season and, just like every fan, we are all optimistic about our favourite team and our chances to better the previous season. To some, success is making the playoffs via the Play-In. To others, it is a Conference Final appearance or the NBA Finals. For the Milwaukee Bucks, it is to win a playoff series.

Ravaged by injuries over the past few years come the playoffs, the Bucks have been unlucky to say the least since their 2021 triumph. The last time they won a playoff series was 2022, where their injury woes began. In hindsight, putting the Bucks’ history into perspective, this is the “most successful” period of time they are having ever, using the metric of consecutive playoff appearances (9) and the newly inaugurated NBA Cup tournament, where they are defending champions, having reached the semi-finals in the debut appearance.

In order to keep this streak alive and push for more success in this their golden era — or should I say “Giannis” era — General Manager Jon Horst of the Bucks made very bold moves to the roster to give them a fighting chance in the Eastern Conference. In a later article, we would discuss those moves much more in detail and give my thoughts and verdict on the offseason moves, but for now, as the title of the article shows, we will be discussing Game One of the season between the Bucks and the Washington Wizards… Khris “Ka$h Money” Middleton’s homecoming.

Following the conclusion of the 2024/2025 NBA season, where the Bucks fell to the Pacers in five games, several cracks or issues within the team were exposed and warranted very important fixes to make further progress this new season.

So, what did we do very well though? Three-point shooting from the Bucks was elite. The Bucks ranked first in three-point percentage last season, showing great shooting ability and efficiency. In a team led by Giannis, it is important that the team provides spacing for him, and in a league where team identity is important, spacing can be said to be the team’s identity. They were also elite on the defensive boards (ranking second in the league), and that’s about it.

The Bucks didn’t do anything else at an elite level last season. Their defense wasn’t bad but wasn’t elite or great — just average or slightly above average. For example, they weren’t good with steals or blocks to force transition offense. They did not excel at forcing turnovers, especially steals. Milwaukee was near the bottom of the league in steals — only 7.3 steals per game (rank 28th). For comparison, the league average steals per game was around 7.5–8, and the best teams were over 9. The Bucks were also middle-of-the-pack in shot-blocking with 4.7 blocks per game (rank 19th).

They were very slow and got punished whenever they faced a much faster side. Milwaukee’s pace was about 99.3 possessions per game, which is around league average — they didn’t play as fast as some high-scoring teams (for example, Memphis averaged 103+ possessions, pushing their PPG up), hence affecting their field goal attempts. They also ranked dead last in offensive rebounding.

For some other things which might be more eye-test heavy, they had so many players unable to play off the dribble when the three ball was cut from them. The coaching, Doc Rivers, has a lot to be desired. The inability for him and his coaching staff to make appropriate and proactive adjustments in-game and even before games is very glaring. Sometimes, against teams having their way against the Bucks, Doc Rivers and his coaching staff fail to make appropriate defensive adjustments either to the schemes or individuals. This was evident against the Pacers in the playoffs when the whole world knew Brook Lopez and Kyle Kuzma couldn’t hang with the rest of the team against the Pacers and made adjustments late.

Finally, Kyle Kuzma… Mr. “Binary number.” He can’t play ball and doesn’t fit the team. That’s all I have to say about him. These things cost the team severely last season. Hence, they are the main things I’m looking for improvements in this season, which can take the Bucks to at least a playoff series win.

In our first game against the Wizards, I did see improvements with pace from the team. There was better ball movement and off-ball movement — although still not the best — but a sign of progress. The team recorded 31 assists, which is good to see. Due to the nature of the squad being much more mobile and younger, they were able to switch easily on defense, which is a good thing but also a bad thing, as it can then accommodate lazy coaching from one of our weaknesses (Doc Rivers) to rather put hopes on individual brilliance than creating or implementing much better defensive schemes that might be more appropriate than just switching.

More to the pace, the Bucks had 107 possessions on the night. For further context, they had five total games with 107+ possessions last season. While this is just one game, it is something Bucks fans should be much more on the lookout for. The team also shot very well from three and from the field in general with 41% and 51%, respectively.

On the defensive end, it is still much to be desired just by the fact that heading into halftime, it was a 19-point lead and, at some point in the game, that lead was cut to seven! The team gave away 37 points in the third quarter! The Bucks’ struggle with the third quarter remains a story as old as time. As mentioned earlier, we need to get more blocks and steals, and on the night, we had six blocks (three from new recruit Myles Turner!) and eight steals. More will be better, but we should keep it up.

Ryan Rollins seems to be taking a defensive leap, which will be great for the team. His hands are very active, although he needs to slow down with the fouls. Cole Anthony, who is another great defender, got into foul trouble early and is something to note about the team. In the preseason against OKC and the Bulls, there was a lot of fouling. When they don’t foul, they give away an easy bucket. Again, as mentioned about coaching, this is where that is important and needs massive improvement.

I also saw more plays or actions on the offensive side to accommodate not just Giannis but sharpshooter AJ Green (“Dairy Bird”), who just signed an extension with the Bucks. The team needs to utilize him more and get him open to shoot. Gary Trent Jr. picked up from where he left last season after that unfortunate end to his season against the Pacers, where he dropped the ball after having an astounding game. It is great to see that he hasn’t allowed such a devastating circumstance to derail his excellent game.

Other players such as Bobby Portis and Mr. Binary Number, Kyle Kuzma, didn’t play badly but seem to be a problem, especially Bobby. With Kuzma, we know he is already not good and needs to be traded. However, with Bobby, who is significantly better than Kuzma, this new identity of the Bucks — with an emphasis on pace and moving the ball — seems to be moving faster than him. He looked slow out there. We know he is a cone on defense already, which is a problem on its own, but offensively, his time for his slow post-up game might be done. But it’s just one game though, and a lot could change.

Finally, to the main man Giannis. He hasn’t lost a beat yet. Very casual 37-point game with his usual ridiculous efficiency. Fingers crossed, we get to see him either shoot above league average from three or from the line in one of these seasons in his prime. It would be generational.

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In all, not a bad showing against the Wizards, but definitely a lot of improvements to be made. On to the game against Toronto — our first road trip of the season — and hopefully, we see improvement in our form away from home.

Until next time, FEAR THE DEER!