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JJ Redick says the Milwaukee Bucks only have to be ‘good enough’ defensively to make noise in the Eastern Conference
Outside of the Boston Celtics, the Milwaukee Bucks are on a roll right now. They have won six straight since the All-Star break to regain the second seed in the Eastern Conference. Their recent 113-106 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday was more impressive because they did not have either Giannis Antetokounmpo or Khris Middleton in the lineup.
This has led former NBA player turned analyst JJ Redick to surmise that the Bucks need only be decent on the defensive end to have a legitimate shot at winning it all this season.
Turned things around on defense
With Doc Rivers at the helm, Milwaukee has regained its identity as a fierce defensive team, holding four of its last six foes below 100 points. With explosive offensive players like Giannis and Damian Lillard taking the scoring responsibilities, the Bucks have shown they can be a formidable force on both ends of the court. And Redick believes the Bucks can only get better from here.
"I'm a firm believer that if this team defensively is good enough, they don't have to be great, and they've been pretty damn good since Doc took over. Offensively, Doc is going to figure out how to maximize this offense; he did that with the Clippers team, he did that with James and Joel, he's going to figure out how to maximize this offense at some point," Redick said on his podcast.
Defensive adjustments
The pick-and-roll is a staple in today's NBA, and the Milwaukee Bucks have made defending it well a critical point of their resurgence. Whereas the team used to send two defenders to blitz the ball-handler, they now switch often, taking advantage of their personnel's length and quickness.
"Here's what I'm excited about: Their pick-and-roll defense, they were a bottom-10 team in pick-and-roll under Adrian Griffin. They are a top-five team in pick and roll on defense, and you know what, it comes down to they are switching almost 25% more, actually more than 25% more. They're switching on defense more in pick-and-roll, which I find fascinating," added Redick.
