The Bucks young core is getting it done on offense for head coach Jason Kidd. However, the defense is still yet to come around.
Milwaukee scored at a high level didn’t defend well in a 118-113 loss to the Washington Wizards and a 106-87 loss to the Toronto Raptors.
“I think we’ve got to take pride in defense,” Jason said. “We’re trying to outscore people and it’s affecting our defense. We’re not getting stops when we have to, but it goes back to guarding the ball. We’re not guarding the ball.”
Milwaukee had forward Giannis Antetokounmpo on the floor for the first time this season against Washington after serving his one-game suspension. “The Greek Freak” started where he left off last year, scoring 27 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Center Greg Monroe had his second consecutive impressive game with 22 points and five rebounds. Forward Khris Middleton dropped 18 and had five assists, while point guard Michael Carter-Williams continued his terrific start, scoring 13 points and adding six rebounds and 11 assists to secure the double-double.
“Michael did a wonderful job of getting his teammates involved tonight. Having 11 assists and 11 points, he got guys in places to be successful,” coach Kidd told reporters. “Again, when you look at the improvement for him individually, I thought he got better tonight.”
The Bucks were great on offense in the first half. Twenty-three of Antetokounmpo’s 27 points occurred in the first two quarters, and Milwaukee jumped out to a 65-61 advantage at halftime. However, the same problem they had against the New York Knicks happened at home against the Wizards: defense and an ineffective second unit.
Last year, the Bucks boasted one of the best benches in the NBA. However, Friday night marked the second game in a row when a reserve on the opposition scored more than 20 points. For the Wizards, that player was point guard Ramon Sessions.
“You look at Sessions, has 23 off the bench, it’s kind of like what happened in New York, you have someone that comes off the bench and gives you a spark,” Jason told the media. “That’s something that we have to take a little more pride in.”
Coach Kidd did applaud the play of applauded they play offensively of several of his reserves, including, point guard Greivis Vasquez, small forward Chris Copeland, center Johnny O’ Bryant III and combo guard Jerryd Bayless.
“I think Vasquez has been in this league for some time and he’s been a very good point guard, veteran guy off the bench and I think he’s learning a new system offensively with teammates and defensively,” J-Kidd told reporters. “Again, we trust he’s always going to do the right thing when he has the ball and tonight I thought again his shot wasn’t going but he did some good things for us on the floor.”
Vasquez still hasn’t quite gelled with his teammates in the Bucks’ system. Milwaukee has had to play with multiple point guards on the floor simultaneously due to injury. Forward John Henson is nursing a sore left Achilles and forward Jabari Parker has not made his season debut, missing a majority of last year with a knee injury.
“Again, he’s trying to run a new group, new guys with Bayless, again I thought he played well for us, Cope, when he was in, Johnny O’Bryant, there’s a lot of good things, and right now we are guard heavy,” J-Kidd told the media. “Until we get fully healthy, there will be tendencies of having just one point guard out there. Right now, we’re playing with two a lot of times.”
Two nights later, the Bucks traveled to Toronto for their first road game against the Raptors. It was a good test for the Bucks, facing a team that finished fourth in the Eastern Conference last season. Unfortunately for the Bucks, the Raptors are red hot and Milwaukee gave up more than 105 points for the third straight game.
The Bucks couldn’t solve the Raptor defense in the first, second or fourth quarters. However, Milwaukee was able to tally 30 points in the third to get within 10 points. The Raptors led 81-71 after three and with one more surge and stellar defense, the Bucks could have escaped Toronto with their first win. Instead, the Raptors buckled down, allowing only 16 Bucks points in the final quarter, staying undefeated at 3-0 and winning the contest 106-87.
Milwaukee did a nice job of cutting the Toronto lead to seven with 8:35 remaining in the game, but the Raptors turned it on to finish the game. Antetokounmpo ended the contest as the leader for the Bucks with 20 points, nine rebounds, two assists and one block. Monroe added 14, MCW turned in 12 points and seven assist, and Copeland tallied 10 as the final Buck in double digits.
Milwaukee had a tough time on the defensive end, allowing four of the Raptors starting five to score 14 or more points. Power forward Patrick Patterson and small forward Terence Ross scored 16 and 11, respectively.
Again, it came down to defending for Coach Kidd.
“We’re playing veteran teams that know how to move the ball and they’re swinging it,” Kidd said. “We’re not slowing the ball down with high hands or deflections. They’re shooting corner 3s, which is one of the easiest shots in this league. Right now we’re having a tough time defending that.”
NEXT UP
Jason will now head into a big meeting with his former team, the Brooklyn Nets (0-3), as both squads are in search of their first win of the season.
The Bucks went 3-1 against the Nets last year, the only loss coming in Brooklyn in three overtimes.
They’ll look to avoid the same fate when they take the court at the Barclays Center 6:30 p.m. CT.
