5 emerging trends from the Milwaukee Bucks’ first five games

The Milwaukee Bucks are off to a slow start to the 2020-21 season with just a 2-3 record to show in their first five games. To be clear, a team’s record isn’t everything this early in the season as we’ve seen encouraging and worrying signs from the team. Let’s take a moment to dig deeper into five early trends we’ve seen.

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The rise of Donté DiVincenzo

It was a nightmare scenario for the Bucks when an offseason trade for Bogdan Bogdanovic was prematurely leaked to the public before it finally fell through. The worst part was the possible loss of a great shooter at Bogdanovic, but a close second was the necessary damage control for young Donte DiVincenzo.

DiVincenzo was rumored to be the centerpiece of the deal, but when it fell through, he was still needed to be a major contributor in Milwaukee. Fortunately, he has been locked up on the court; especially behind the arc. After shooting 26.5 percent from downtown in his rookie year, he improved that number to 33.6 percent last season. It looks like he’s taken another leap this season, hitting 16 of his first 26 3-point attempts (61.5 percent). Obviously that number won’t hold up, but it’s nice to see his shot look pure from the outside. Even if he has taken another leap forward and improved his three-point shooting to the league average (about 37 percent), that’s a huge improvement for the Bucks.

Three point shot

Speaking of 3-pointers, there is good news and bad news for the Bucks on this front. Let’s start with the positives: Milwaukee is winning 41 percent of its non-garbage 3s, ranking sixth in the NBA according to Cleaning the Glass. Of course, they set the NBA record for the most triples in a game against the Miami Heat on Tuesday, but they hit 39 percent or more in four of their five games. There is a long season to go, but this is an encouraging sign to start the games.

At the other end of the spectrum is your defense. Head coach Mike Budenholzer continues to allow opponents to shoot 3-pointers almost at will and has already hurt Milwaukee numerous times. There was the game against New York where the Knicks went wild from center, but both Boston and Miami were also successful. This is a troubling trend that is nothing new for the Bucks, unfortunately, but something they need to address if they want to take the next step in the playoffs.

Ball pressure

One of the biggest differences we’ve seen from the Bucks defense this season is the amount of ball pressure they apply on a regular basis. Jrue Holiday’s straight dogs take on point guards as soon as they cross the middle of the court, making life as difficult as possible for them. Tyler Herro wanted nothing to do with Holiday’s ball pressure, and the Heat were forced to find other ways to start their offense.

It’s not just Holiday either, as Divincenzo, Khris Middleton and others are getting in on the action. They are not that effective, but the annoyance is still there to counter the offenses. It may not be the change we expected to see in Budenholzer’s offense, but it is a step in the right direction.

Paint score

After feasting on paint in Budenholzer’s first year at the helm, Milwaukee took a step back in 2019-20 and finished in the middle of the pack in terms of frequency of shots around the rim, according to Cleaning the Glass. They appear to have taken another step back this season, ranking 22nd in the NBA in shooting percentage from four feet from the basket.

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Part of that has to do with the level of competition they have faced: Three of their five games have been against good defenses in Boston and Miami. The Bucks took less than 32 percent of their shots around the rim against those two teams, while they took about 41 percent against the Knicks and Warriors. Generally, the better the defensive teams, the better they’ve been at keeping Antetokounmpo and company out of the paint. As the schedule softens a bit in the coming weeks, it won’t be surprising that Milwaukee is back to doing what it does best; applying pressure to the rim.

Slow start by Giannis Antetokounmpo

The reigning two-time MVP is off to a slow start this season. At least by their standards. In five games, he is averaging just 22.4 points, 11.6 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game while shooting 47.6 percent from the field, 25 percent from behind the arc and 62.2 percent from the free throw line. Those are his worst numbers in three years.

The Celtics and Heat, two of Giannis’ best defensive teams, have certainly played a part in his slow start. It also hurts that Antetokounmpo didn’t throw the ball well. He’s struggled from anywhere other than directly at the basket, landing just 29.2 percent of his shots five feet or more from the basket. Bottom line: he needs to play better if the Bucks are to achieve their ultimate goal of winning the NBA Finals.

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