I intentionally waited a full day to process every emotion that the Bucks put me through on Wednesday night. Had I written just minutes after the game, my analysis would have been centered around a 24-point collapse that could prove to be a foreshadow of the season to come. However, optimism is back! Here are a few of my thoughts...
1. Lineup Combinations
With thirteen healthy contributors on the team, I was expecting this to be a talking point and will be for much of the season. I was more than content with Coach Kidd's starting lineup, mixing in veteran leadership while not using all of his firepower in the first unit. This was evident when the second unit came in with the help of OJ Mayo, Ersan Ilyasova and Giannis Antetokounmpo to close the deficit and regain the lead. Another encouraging factor was the ability to create mismatch problems. Ersan looked great moving bigs around the perimeter and I've always thought one of Jabari's biggest assets coming into the league was his ability to play both forward positions. At one point in the second quarter, he was matched up against Cody Zeller and had many opportunities to use is offensive arsenal. Although he wasn't aggressive enough throughout the game (we will get to this later), he showed the ability to have a field day on the offensive perimeter when matched up against bigger guys. I would have liked to see John Henson play more at the PF (played mostly at C with Ersan at PF) and Kendall Marshall find playing time at some point but you can only ask for so much during the first game. All in all, Kidd can only play five guys at once and with exception to the final minutes in the fourth and OT, I liked his combinations.
2. Transition Offense
The first half featured a Bucks team looking to play like the Phoenix Suns teams in the early 2000's. To my surprise, they looked to push the ball every opportunity they got and were fairly productive in doing so. I always worry about pushing the ball with a young, inexperienced core but after only 4 turnovers in the first half versus 10 in a much slower second half, you have to look for the Bucks to continue to look to score early and often. They have been on NBA League Pass alert all summer and I wouldn't be surprised to see them climb up after a few more Jabari transition baskets ( Jabari Parker vs. Hornets ) and Giannis (and Jared Dudley?!?) blocks to lead fast breaks.
3. Defense
The Bucks ruined an excellent defensive effort for three quarters with a sub-par fourth that was largely due to Charlotte's 15 offensive rebounds (Charlotte posted a startling 31.9 ORB% compared to the Bucks 7.9). Without surprise, this led to 21 more Hornets FGA (101-80) and left a very small margin for error. This will be a problem the Bucks will face all season and as much as Sanders and Henson's length can be assets, they will also get pushed around quite a bit (...enter Zaza minutes). I loved the different looks Kidd gave throughout the night, most notably the swarming doubles to force deflections and steals (9). The ability to disrupt initial play sets has been a focal point of many defenses around the league (i.e. Doc Rivers' led teams) and without Kemba's tenacious combination moves to score late in the shot clock, this strategy would have led the Bucks to their first victory of the season.
What to Expect against the Philadelphia 76ers:
1. Jabari Parker
Look for Jabari to look to assert himself more than his first regular season game as a professional. As someone we expect to score at least 15 points/game, he will need to shoot more than nine times and I also expect more than two free throw attempts. This will come with time but I still think Parker will come out aggressive from the start and look to create in the post or on the perimeter, depending on the match ups.
2. More Lineup Combinations!
I told you we would be talking about this again. I expect Henson to get considerably more playing time, partly due to the fact that he only played 12 minutes Wednesday but also for matchup purposes where he will most likely find himself guarding Nerlens Noel for a large portion of the night. I also imagine Kendall Marshall will play his first meaningful minutes as a Buck. Look for him to come in and create off pick and roll sets to find the plethora of shooters that he will most likely be playing with (possible Marshall, Mayo, Dudley, Parker, Henson lineup??)
I look forward to checking back early next week with a hopeful 2-1 Bucks team!
