Although 3-point shooting can sometimes be flukey, it's hard to deny when a pattern emerges, and the Milwaukee Bucks were on the wrong side of one in the 2025-26 season. Despite all their effort, of which there was plenty, the Bucks couldn't seem to contain teams on the perimeter last year. It's an issue that compounded year-over-year in Milwaukee, eventually catching up to them as they missed the Playoffs for the first time in a decade. Yet those lingering defensive issues opened the door for Taylor Jenkins to return to Milwaukee, now as head coach of a team he was once an assistant for.
So a problem that once kept Doc Rivers up at night now belongs to Taylor Jenkins, who will almost assuredly make this a point of emphasis as he and an energized new coaching staff restructure the defense in Milwaukee. But before looking ahead, we have to understand what happened in the past to avoid making the same mistakes.
During the 2025-26 season, the Milwaukee Bucks allowed the third-highest 3-point percentage in the NBA at the third-highest volume in basketball. One of their most crucial lineups — Ryan Rollins, Kevin Porter Jr., AJ Green, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Myles Turner — allowed the highest 3-point percentage of any eligible five-man lineup at a sky-high 44.4% last year.
2025-26 Lineups that had the highest opponent 3P% against them… pic.twitter.com/5HVT4GsN0a
— Basketball University (@UofBasketball) August 16, 2026
Four of those five players are returning and expected to handle significant roles under Jenkins next year, so unless they want to repeat the same mistakes, the defensive scheme will need to change dramatically as Jenkins takes over.
Taylor Jenkins and the Bucks need to make a statement by chasing opponents off the 3-point line during the 2026-27 NBA season.
Even through such roster turnover, the Bucks still have the bones of last year's team, regardless of where Giannis is playing. So that means the same habits have a chance to carry over, just as they did in the previous several seasons under Doc. That's not an option that Taylor Jenkins can afford if he's going to rebuild the culture and reset the tone in his first season with Milwaukee.
So chasing opponents off the 3-point line should be one of their top defensive priorities. It sounds like a simple concept, but it's one that takes discipline and trust that someone will pick up the slack on the backline when a perimeter defender jumps out to blitz a shooter. Whether it means playing more zone and leaning on each other, or leaning into man-to-man defense with each individual playing up against shooters, there are an endless number of ways to chase teams off the perimeter.
Sure, that might mean funneling them into the paint, but Milwaukee has the backline to make it work between Turner, newcomer Kel'el Ware, and bouncy backup bigman, Jericho Sims.
Without a real reason to tank next year, the Bucks are going to focus on building winning habits and hopefully stringing together some Ws in the process. That starts with refining their defense, and if they can accomplish that, then we're going to see the foundation laid for a special team down the road in Milwaukee.
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