Bucks perimeter defense consistently bad

Whatever success the Bucks are having on defense is coming from somewhere other than field goal defense.  At least lately.

I went on Hoopdata.com and examined their advanced box scores to see how teams were shooting against the Bucks in each of the five charted arc areas.  Then I compared that shooting to the opponent’s season average from each of the areas to see how the Bucks defense compared.

Since Christmas the defense has been poor, with periods of “total crap”.  Either the Bucks are just subpar in some way or they take nights off.  Probably a bit of both.

Here are the results.  Now if it says (“-”) that means the Bucks ALLOWED more than the average.   Remember also, this is “against the team’s average”, so if their are “-” points it means they were allowed to score more points from that area than they normally shoot.

Here are the five areas, which will just be in order for each game

(0ft)——(<10ft)——(10-15ft)——(15-23ft)——(3pt)

Golden State:  +2.2 (win)

(-4.9)(+2.9)(+0.9)(+0.3)(+3.0)

Portland: -30.1 (loss)

(-1.5)  (-5.6)  (-10.0 )   (-9.7) (-3.3)

Phoenix: -12.7 (loss)

(-3.9)  (-1.4) (-2.5) (-6.9) (+1.9)

Chicago: -3.4  (win)

(+2.8) (+4.1) (+0.2) (+2.0) (-5.7)

NJ: +2.5 (win)

(+3.6) (+3.1) (-1.4) (-5.2) (+2.4)

OKC: +7.8 (win)

(+4.0)(-3.0)(+2.6)(-4.0)(+7.4)

Orlando: -15.3 (loss)

(-2.6)(-3.4)|(-2.3)(-0.3)(-6.7)

Charlotte: +5.8 (loss)

(-2.4)(+2.4)(-0.8)(+1.0)(+5.6)

San Antonio: -17.4 (loss)

(+o.o)(+0.3)(-7.6)(-10.5)(+0.4)

Washington: -13.9 (loss)

(-1.1)(+0.0)(-4.4)(-1.2)(-7.2)

10 GAMES (4-6) AVERAGE (-6.5)

ZONE AVERAGES

O Ft: (-0.6)

<10 Ft -0.1)

10-15 Ft: (-2.3)

15-23 Ft: (-3.5)

3 pt: (-0.0)

Perimeter Trouble

Clearly a lot of the problems come when opponents step the Bucks away from the basket.  This could speak to a lack of quickness.  It could also be a strategy… let our weak spot be the long 2, the lowest value shot.

Now I advocate that position but not when the net result it is more points allowed.  If indeed this is a “Long Twos” strategy, then the benefits of forcing those low value shots should be seen in many fewer points around the rim and beyond the three.  That’s not happening.  The Bucks are not realizing any benefit.

So, either this is indicative of a failure on the medium perimeter, or if that is a strategy, then there is a failure to execute the strategy with surplus defense in other areas.

Tags: defense, Hoopdata, Milwaukee Bucks