Have the Bucks found the right formula?

In the period after reassuring statements from Giannis Antetokounmpo about his future and desire to spend his entire career in Milwaukee, he and his teammates achieved a small feat by winning on the Lakers’ floor. This is the fifth win in seven matches, in the middle of a formative “journey”.

“We’re playing well, really well. But we can’t afford to get comfortable. We can’t relax.” warns Giannis. “Still, we’re going in the right direction. We had four road games, we won two. We were very competitive against the Warriors. I’m very, very proud. Really proud. Obviously, you can’t put yourself in those situations. We didn’t do very well offensively. But at the end of the day, they’re not a very good team to win the game, so I’m happy.”

Refusal of isolation

Not everything is perfect with Doc Rivers, there are still stretches where the offense stagnates and that’s a problem. “I made us a bit sloppy. We had a lot of good movement, but if you look at the match more closely, out of 48 minutes there were 36 minutes of very good movement and 12 minutes where we stayed static, playing iso. That’s not our identity.” the Bucks coach insists. “We see it right away: When we play in isolation, our 3-point attempts go away. When we move the ball, we get open 3-pointers. In the second half, we took less because of that. The good news is we won. The best news is we can look at the tape and fix what we didn’t do well tonight.”

What Rivers shouldn’t fix is ​​his starting five. In 10 matches, he scored the same five with interesting efficiency: 7 wins with 3 losses. It consists of Kevin Porter Jr., Ryan Rollins, AJ Green, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Miles Turner. Which allows us to use Kyle Kuzma and Bobby Portis in the 6th and 7th man, but also to use the shooter (Green) to create space for Giannis.

More spacing, more defense

“I have the impression that we are more and more on the same wavelength in attack. We are looking more to create an advantage in attack and we are doing it together” notes Green, author of a big first quarter against the Lakers. “Whether it’s one screen that gives us an immediate lead and a shot, with one pass, or after five passes … It’s important that we understand what we’re trying to accomplish, and we’re getting there more and more. That comes through our spacing, our rhythm, our multiple actions. Defensively, I think we’re playing harder. And we’ve got to try to keep going.”