5 takeaways from the Milwaukee Bucks’ season opener

The Milwaukee Bucks tipped off a new era of basketball on Wednesday night, falling to the Washington Wizards 128–116.

This season will be less about wins and losses for a Bucks squad that isn’t expected to compete for a playoff spot. Instead, the focus will be on building for the future.

On that front, Milwaukee was competitive for most of the night, taking a three-point lead into the fourth quarter before Washington stormed back with an offensive outburst.

The Bucks dropped their opener, but they still had plenty to build on. Here are five takeaways from Game 1.

Young Bucks

Several young Bucks showed out on Wednesday night.

Kasparas Jakucionis was the first sub off the bench and finished the game in Ryan Rollins’ place. He played 26 minutes, finishing with 15 points on 4-for-7 shooting, three rebounds and three assists. He showed off a crafty game, creating scoring opportunities for himself and others.

Brayden Burries also had several positive moments in his NBA debut. He played with strength, control and composure beyond his years, finishing with 12 points and five rebounds while going 2-for-2 from behind the arc.

Ware’s woes

At the other end of the spectrum was Kel’el Ware, who finished with just seven points, three rebounds and one assist.

Ware had a miserable Bucks debut, fouling out in just 14 minutes. He was too handsy on defense, and Anthony Davis took full advantage, drawing him into several silly fouls.

That’s part of the package with Ware, and it drove the Heat crazy. He has moments when he looks like a beast on both ends of the court. Then there are nights like Wednesday, when he appears to be coasting.

In the clip above, Ware’s man sets a ball screen toward the wing. Ware traps the ball-handler as his man rolls to the hoop.

When the ball-handler swings the ball to the top of the key, Ware takes his sweet time lumbering back to his man, who is unguarded on the block. The ball quickly finds the roller for an uncontested dunk.

It’s that kind of effort Ware needs to clean up if he wants to reach his full potential.

Help defense

Milwaukee had some positive defensive moments to build on in Game 1. However, there were also plenty of possessions when its defense fell apart at the rim.

Kuzma’s man sets a ball screen before this first clip begins, leaving Kuzma in drop coverage as Jakucionis works his way back in front of the ball-handler.

Kuzma’s man rolls to the rim as Trae Young continues dribbling toward the basket. However, nobody in a white uniform steps up to stop the roller.

Ware sticks with his man up top, while Tyler Herro stays planted on the weak-side block. If my understanding of the Bucks’ defense is correct, it’s on the low man—Herro—to tag the roller and prevent the alley-oop.

The next clip features an empty-side ball screen with the ball-handler driving down the middle of the court. When that happens, Jenkins wants a help defender at the nail—the center of the free-throw line—to prevent a straight-line drive.

Instead, Kuzma is glued to his man outside the three-point line, leaving a big gap for the ball-handler to attack. It ends in a layup, with the rest of the defense unprepared to help.

This final clip showcases some of Young’s mastery, but it also captures another Milwaukee breakdown.

Young comes off a ball screen toward the middle of the court as the screener rolls to the rim. He leaves his feet as if he’s going to pass to the wing before lobbing the ball to Deandre Ayton.

The look-away fools Rollins, the low man responsible for tagging Ayton. As a result, Rollins is out of position and unable to contest the alley-oop.

The Bucks defended pretty well in the first half, giving up just 51 points. However, they collapsed after halftime, allowing Washington to take over in the final 24 minutes.

Rotation mostly on point

Jenkins used 10 players in his normal rotation. An 11th, Jericho Sims, played just two minutes because of foul trouble for Ware and Myles Turner.

For the most part, the rotation was on point. Rollins, Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kuzma and Turner started. Ware and Jakucionis were the first subs off the bench, with Burries, Ousmane Dieng and AJ Green joining the game later.

The only bone I have to pick is with Kuzma’s minutes. Kuzma was a train wreck for the Bucks, even accidentally scoring two points for the Wizards on a tip-in. If he’s going to play that poorly, Milwaukee is better off starting Dieng and bringing Nate Ament into the rotation.

The numbers game

Here are some notable Bucks stats from the opener:

• Attempted 41 three-pointers, making 15 of them for 37 percent.
• Grabbed 13 offensive rebounds.
• Outscored Washington 16–9 in fast-break points.
• Allowed 70 (!) points in the paint.
• Committed 32 fouls, helping Washington get to the line for 41 free-throw attempts.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow