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Milwaukee Bucks fall to no. 7 in The Athletic’s Power Rankings
The spotlight has been on the Milwaukee Bucks’ struggles to start the season. Having seven-time All-Star Damian Lillard in the lineup has raised their offensive ceiling and, at the same time, adversely impacted their defense. As a result, Milwaukee has limped to a 7-4 start, prompting The Athletic to drop them three places in this week’s NBA Power Rankings.
Adjustment period
The Bucks’ front office knew their defense would take a step back when they swapped Jrue Holiday out for Lillard. However, little did they know it would be this bad. With a defensive rating of 116.0, which ranks 25th in the entire league, the Bucks’ defense is so atrocious that even superstar Giannis Antetokoumpo wished they’d get to face defenses like theirs more.
“I wish we were being guarded that way,” Giannis said.
The Athletic’s Zach Harper believes, though, the Bucks will turn things around at some point, given the learning curve needed to adjust to new personnel and the system of first-time coach Adrian Griffin.
“This is still an adjustment to new personnel and a new coach’s system. The Bucks shouldn’t be this bad all season,” Harper wrote.
Awful defense
After authoring wins over the Detroit Pistons and the Chicago Bulls, the Bucks lost two straight to the Indiana Pacers and the Orlando Magic. Even with Giannis’ greatness on full display against the Pacers—the Greek Freak tallied 54 points—the Bucks’ defense, or lack thereof, couldn’t stop Tyrese Haliburton and Bennedict Mathurin from scoring crucial points.
All this points back to the front office’s decision to swap out its tough-defending backcourt of Jrue, Grayson Allen, and Jevon Carter for a more offensive-focused Lillard, Malik Beasley, and Cam Payne.
