Bucks Film Room: Khris Middleton football outlet passes

Mondays are for the Film Room! Beginning last week and continuing through the season, I’ll head to the film room to break down the Milwaukee Bucks‘ previous week of ball and share a couple of key takeaways I noticed. This week we check in on Khris Middleton the quarterback, lineups without the Bucks’ Big 3, and turnovers (a lot of them).

Lineups without the Big 3

Due to the quick turnaround this offseason and the plethora of injuries Milwaukee is dealing with, we are likely going to see a lot of funky lineups from the Bucks early in the season. Head coach Mike Budenholzer is not concerned with early returns, instead, focused on long-term health and getting the Bucks clicking come playoff time.

Still, it’s interesting to monitor some of the lineups he’s thrown out there so far. In 28 non-garbage time possessions (a minuscule sample size, to be sure), the Bucks’ five-man units without Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday have gotten steamrolled by 46.4 points per 100 possessions according to Cleaning the Glass. Not only do these lineups fail to score the rock efficiently, but they also struggle to get any stop at the other end of the court.

With Holiday battling a couple of injuries early and listed as doubtful for Monday night’s game against the Indiana Pacers, Budenholzer might be better off ensuring one of Antetokounmpo or Middleton is on the court at all times. That would minimize the two stars playing together (the other side of this coin), but it might be worth offsetting these lineups that force Jordan Nwora or Pat Connaughton into the primary scoring role (no offense to either of those guys).

Turnovers, turnovers, and more turnovers

It’s safe to say Milwaukee has been extremely sloppy with the rock to begin the season. After doing a great job taking care of the ball against the Brooklyn Nets in the opener, Milwaukee didn’t maintain that same level of ball security in their next two games against the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs.

A flurry of turnovers in the first quarter against Miami allowed the Heat to get out in transition for some easy buckets while simultaneously taking the Bucks out of their groove. It was a big part of the 5-29 deficit they found themselves in with just a few minutes remaining in the opening period.

Against the Spurs, the Bucks turned the ball over on 22 percent of their possessions–a number that ranks in the fifth percentile according to Cleaning the Glass. Overall, they rank 19th in turnover percentage at 14.8 percent heading into Monday (they’ve been between 13.2-14.2 percent in each of the three years Budenholzer has been the lead man).

The Milwaukee Bucks love to get out and run in transition and it all starts with that first pass, something Khris Middleton has excelled at.

Khris Middleton, Quarterback

One of the best developments in the first week was the emergence of the one-handed outlet passes from Khris Middleton to a number of teammates streaking down the court in transition.

The Bucks love to get out and run following a team’s miss, a part of their game that probably best suits Antetokounmpo and the gravity he demands from every defender on the floor. They ranked first in transition opportunities in each of the last two years according to Cleaning the Glass and will continue to push the issue this season.

After the first week, it appears they’ve found another way to jet the ball down the court that includes Middleton at the hub. The Bucks wing chucked the rock down the court to a streaking teammate–two for easy buckets at the rim and a third for what should’ve been called a foul on Nwora’s dunk attempt–at least three times in the first week alone. This is a fun way to capitalize on a missed shot and an even better way to get easy buckets on the run.